Anna ~ Don't let anyone dull your sparkle ~ & Maven's Queen

[Lynn]

Dasha should have guessed he would be so noble as to sacrifice his entire portion. She had to bite her tongue to keep from automatically arguing that really it was him who needed it the most after working around a hot forge all day. Arguing would get them nowhere and she didn't want to upset Mattie and make him feel like a burden. "We can always make an impromptu stew." She suggested as that would make it stretch better amongst the three of them. "There are still some wild carrots and onions growing just over the ridge, I can go pull a few of those." She moved to stand, intending to go about the task before it could be argued against. She did so too fast, the abrupt change in posture making her feel light headed for a second or two and she reached out a hand, setting it on the firm surface of the fireplace mantle to steady herself. In doing so her fingertips brushed the texture of rough spun cotton. "Oh," she spoke, the brush of the fabric enough to spark the memory of something that now felt like it had happened days away instead of only this morning. "Etta let me take the last of the old bread today." Now that she felt steady again she let go of the mantle and instead grabbed the small bundle that she had stored up on the ledge. "She didn't have as many boarders as usual the last few days." It wasn't much- no more than a little over a quarter of a loaf was wrapped within the fabric, and she knew it probably was starting to go stale, but it was something. "Between it, we should have just enough for everyone." She reasoned, holding out the still wrapped bread in offering.

[[deleted user]]

"That sounds like a great idea," Jarin agreed quickly. "If you know where those are, I can get the water boiling." He watched her and suddenly, without thinking much about it, shot a hand out to steady her when she seemed a little lightheaded. It surprised him. He hadn't ever intentionally touched her before, and even though this moment hadn't been on purpose either, he still felt strange. "Oh, sorry. You good?" he asked uncertainly. He turned his attention to the bread. He took it carefully in his hands. "I can slice this up for us. Bread goes well with stew. And there's going to be plenty for all of us."

Little Mattie still seemed uncomfortable about making such a big deal about the food. He felt bad asking for any of it when he knew he really hadn't been working as hard as either of them. His biggest challenge was simply staying out of the way and trying not to let his mysterious father find him.

[Lynn]

Dasha was surprised, not so much by Jarin's touch but by the fact that she didn't so much as stiffen from it. In her line of buisness it was common, even beneficial, to be tactilely defensive and she had certainly become so.  Usually any hand that was laid on her meant to bring harm. The last person to touch her had been Shiloh, and she was sure that if she were to think back to it for more than just a mere second all her muscles would tense and her skin would crawl just at the memory. That wasn't the case here. She wasn't set on edge.
She felt safe she concluded after a moment even though the notion seemed ridiculous given the circumstances. She gave a nod when asked if she was ok, the words to confirm such evading her momentarily while the realization she had come to settled. ". . . Just stood up too fast." she added in explanation after his hand had dropped away and he took the bread she had held out.
"Perfect," She gave a small smile, glad that it was settled. "I'll go gather those then."
She started to head out to do that but paused at the doorway once she reached it. She spared a glance back, catching on to the young boy's uncomfortableness. "Would you mind coming with me, Mattie?" She asked, hoping that giving him a task would distract him from thinking any further about the conversation that had just been had. "I could really use your help." She added for good measure.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin still had a look of concern written on his young, tanned face, but he simply nodded. He'd try to keep an eye on her if she let him, to make sure she wasn't growing ill or sunsick. He knew she thought herself to be tough, and while she was, she wasn't invincible. He knew that, for only recently had he gotten over a serious fever. He glanced over as she asked the boy to help, then busied himself with preparing part of the stew and slicing the bread.

Mattie hopped to his feet, Rudy copying him. "I'll come help. I can carry a lot of things," he explained happily, seemingly relieved to be granted such a task. The three of them headed outside into the still warm air and started walking towards the river bank. Mattie occasionally kicked at a stone or a twig or would send a glance at Dasha to see if he could understand what she was thinking. Rudy wandered around while sticking close, nose to the ground.

[Lynn]

Thankfully it would not be all that long or strenuous of a walk to the destination that Dasha had had in mind. Even so she made sure to slow her pace a little to ensure that Mattie could keep up easily. It was probably a good idea for her anyway given the recent lightheadedness she had experienced. Besides, a few more minutes added on to the commute wouldn't harm anything.
During the walk she made sure to keep tabs on both the boy and the dog, making sure both didn't wander off too far. The last thing she wanted to do was add searching for either to the list of things that needed to be done.
Once they had made it to the spot they had been set for she showed Mattie where to look for the onions and what the tops looked like, then gave him the task of finding some good ones that were not completely shriveled or rotten. She set to gathering the carrots herself as those could sometimes be trickier to identify and pull up.
As she set about the task she continued to keep an eye on Mattie- every minute or so glancing up and making sure he was still safe and hadn't ventured too far. In doing so the general store owner's comment about the saloon owner having a little boy came to mind. The idea had been troubling enough before, but now that she knew the saloon owner was like herself it made it all the much worse.
There were only two possible ways the saloon owner's boy could be here with him. He could of traveled in with him . . . but a special permit and license was needed to travel into the past with any child under sixteen, and even then it would only allow a few hours- a couple days at the very most and it had been greatly beyond that time frame. Not to mention that seemed unlikely to begin with- from what she had witnessed Shiloh didn't seem at all like the fatherly type. She couldn't imagine him even bothering to bringing along a child illegally, without going to the trouble of putting all the proper paperwork in place. That left only the second option; the boy was born here- more likely than not to a woman from this time. The child probably didn't even know what his father was.
She didn't want to believe that Mattie was that boy, but even if he wasn't that didn't change the fact there was still one out there- a boy who's existence in this time was a blatant violation of board regulations. She didn't know what would happen to such a child should the board ever get wind of their existence. A heaviness settled over her even at the abstract of the idea and she decided she didn't wish to ever find out.
Between pulling the scrawny root vegetables she caught herself searching for any visible similarities between Mattie and and the saloon owner. Dasha decided that she would have to bring up the subject, even if it was uncomfortable. It would be best to know for sure, even if she found she didn't like the answer.

[[deleted user]]

Mattie instantly loved his job and was scrounging the ground nearly as well as Rudy. He gathered up a handful of the vegetables, holding them in his arms tucked up to his chest. He hummed to himself and mostly didn't say anything at all. He was busy with his job and he felt like he wanted to properly complete it. That took patience, and unlike the saloon owner, he actually seemed like he wanted to help. Similarly, his dirty blonde hair ruffled in the breeze, green eyes squinting at a specific plant tucked beneath a large boulder. "What's this? Is this also an onion?" he asked, hesitating to reach for it. Rudy trotted by, occasionally pausing to dig in the dust and yank up something tasty all for himself.

[[deleted user]]

(Sorry my posts are short))

[Lynn]

((Its cool. Sorry for my delay in reply. Murphy's law has hit me hard the last two weeks.))

Dasha had been in the middle of trying to pry a particularly hard to pull carrot from the packed earth when Mattie asked about the plant. The gave one more sharp tug and the root came free. She sighed when she saw it was smaller than most of the others that she had had a way easier time pulling up. For all that effort she had been hoping that it would be bigger. She added it to her pile anyway and then stood, wiping a layer of powdery dirt from her hands as she walked over to get a better look at the plant in question.
"I'm not sure." She answered after she had looked it over. The ends were shriveled just enough that it was hard to be certain. She didn't know about all the flora around and although it probably was just an onion or something else harmless it was better to be safe than sorry. "Best to just leave it."
She noticed the handful of onions he held "Looks like you nearly have enough already anyway. A few more should do it. You're a fast worker." She gave the boy a smile and then turned to go back to her own task. She paused however and turned back to glance at Mattie, deciding that there would be no ideal time to bring it up and it was best just to get it over with before she talked herself out of asking.
"The saloon owner" she started " . . . he's your father, isn't he?" She asked even though she was fairly certain she already knew the answer. The hint of it was visible in his bone structure ; the angle of his jaw, the set of his cheekbones- subtle markers she was used to looking for to identify marks as those couldn't be as easily altered as other traits such as hair color. She watched Mattie for any sort of reaction. "You have the same eyes." She noticed now that she had been close enough to see it clearly and paying attention, stating the fact aloud as a point of evidence to back up the sudden accusation she had just laid out. "Though your's don't hold the same calculating iciness as his."

[[deleted user]]

"I did get a lot of them, didn't I," Mattie stated, seeming pleased that she thought he had done a rather good job. He was good at digging around the dirt and yanking things up as long as he had a task of what to look for. He left that one unidentifiable plant alone and searched around the surrounding areas for a couple more of the small bulbs they could add to their stew.

The instant the question came up, Mattie, without meaning to, stiffened up at that and his little lips went into a thin line. He didn't look over at her and tossed a rather shriveled looking onion hard onto the ground. "I don't have a father," he said flatly, digging quickly at a second plant that definitely wasn't edible. He didn't care though and just wanted to yank on something to deal with his fear and frustration about the saloon owner. All of his actions and his quick, stubborn denial of even having a father would tell anyone that yes, in fact, the saloon owner was his father. Just whatever had happened between the little boy and the man was a whole other story. "I got all the onions- can we go back now?" Mattie stood and glared over at her. He turned and started striding across the dirt with his little legs, not wanting to talk about it and clearly trying to avoid the subject. Rudy didn't get what was going on but he could sense something, so he jumped to his feet and trotted after the boy, sticking to his side like glue.

[[deleted user]]

((No worries really I'm always the one that takes months to reply. Literally))

[Lynn]

Whatever shrivel of uncertainty Dasha had been able to cling to in the matter crumbled with Mattie's reaction. She had her answer, even if the confirmation had not actually come directly from his mouth. It was more than evident from his mannerism. She fought to keep her own expression neutral as a swirl of emotions tugged at her.
Dasha didn't trust her voice enough to verbally answer and instead simply nodded when Mattie asked to go back. She let him start off ahead, figuring it was best to let him have a little bit of space. She couldn't imagine being burdened with having a man like Shiloh for a father- it was utterly unfair. Cruel. She supposed she should consider herself lucky to not know who her own parents had been- based on Mattie's reaction she knew he would probably give anything for the same luxury. She backtracked and collected the small pile of carrots she had gathered, utilizing that time to filter down the onslaught of emotions into just one. The one she was most familiar with and the only one that felt safe for her. The only productive one. Anger.
Carrots in hand she started after Mattie and Rudy, a fair distance behind them. As she walked her anger simmered into quiet rage- rage against that scumbag of a saloon owner and apparent irresponsible time traveler that she knew now was also undoubtedly Mattie's father. The gold ring he had returned to her suddenly felt like a weight hanging from her neck. Shiloh had insisted that there were no strings attatched to it, but she knew in reality nothing was ever truly free. He wanted something. But she wanted nothing more to do with him, the sooner she severed all possible ties the better. She would go tonight instead of tomorrow night like he had instructed, the more inconvenient for him the better, and pay him for it with every remaining half cent she had managed to come across. And if he so much as looked at her wrong in the process she would punch him square in his stupid smug face- hopefully break his nose, and maybe throw an elbow or two into his gut for good measure. She was cotemplating further methods of causing bodily harm when she faintly registered the fact that her hand felt damp. At some point she had clenched her free hand into a fist- one tight enough that her jagged fingernails had managed to draw a bit of blood in a couple places. For a moment she thought it odd that she hadn't felt it, but her focus had after all been solely on her ever growing hatred for Shiloh- that was intense enough to block out nearly any outside stimuli. She automatically wiped her hand off on the dark fabric of her pants, not liking the sticky feeling of it drying on her skin.
By the time the outline of the rickety structure they had been staying in came into view Dasha had her anger towards Shiloh under better check for now- the only evidence that it had ever been inflamed more than usual laying in the crescent moon shaped cuts on her palm and a bit of dried blood that she hadn't been able to completely scrape away under her fingernails. She hoped Mattie had cooled down by now too. She supposed she would find out soon enough once they were both back in the same close quarters. She bought a minute or two more for Mattie to have his space from her by pausing outside to cut off all the wilted green tops of the carrots. She discarded them before heading in with a handful of the now ready to use roots in tow.

[[deleted user]]

Mattie knew he couldn't stick around Dasha and Jarin for long if they knew who his father really was. He was afraid to go back and face him, and he'd do anything to avoid him. He had to come up with a plan. It might take some time, but he'd figure something clever out and then he'd feel safe.

As he walked, thinking about how angry he was in his little body about the man who was his father but not a very good one, Mattie kicked hard at the dirt and created scuff marks along the dry cracked earth. He picked up pebbles and tossed them and even once caught himself about to kick poor Rudy. But it wasn't Rudy's fault, and some of Mattie's frustration dissipated when he glanced over at Rudy's solemn face, his worried brown eyes searching Mattie's. "I'm sorry, Rudy, I'd never hurt you," Mattie said as the two were far enough away from Dasha to have some secrecy. "But now we are in trouble and we can't let him get us again."

Finally, they approached the shack and stepped inside.
"Hey, guys," Jarin greeted them cheerfully, stacking up some of the wood nearby the fireplace. When he didn't get a response, he frowned to himself and watched Mattie stomp over to the very far corner of the building after dumping his collection of onions in a messy pile. Jarin scratched his head but didn't ask what was wrong. He'd give the kid some space.

Mattie slumped in the furthest corner, pulling Rudy to his chest and stroking his fur. He said nothing, but his little mind was racing a mile a minute. What would be the best way to get out of here while he could without making either of the adults suspicious? He lay down on his side and curled up in a ball. Rudy copied him, watching the room carefully in order to protect his child.

[Lynn]

Once she was inside and her eyes had adjusted to the change in light intensity Dasha immediately scanned the area for Mattie. She spotted him and Rudy along the far wall. She noted that he still looked and acted upset. She would keep an eye on him- give him a little more space for a while ,and if need be try and smooth things over later somehow. She wasn't sure how she would go about the latter if it proved needed- she wasn't exactly practiced in such exchanges and she didn't want to end up making things worse. There was no sense in worrying about it now- for now she would just believe that a little more time and space was all that was needed.
Wordlessly she moved on to further prepping the carrots she had brought in- using part of one of the dust worn smooth boards that had fallen from overhead as a makeshift cutting board. It was better than cutting it directly on the floor- at least the board she could wipe down a little more thoroughly before use. Her knife was beginning to dull, making it a bit harder to cut through the vegetables. For that reason she was glad they were more on the scrawny side, she didn't think she would of been able to cut through any much thicker or fibrous. She wondered if Jarin had picked up on Mattie's odd mood- she assumed he had given that she had walked in on a quiet room. She hoped he wouldn't find a moment later to ask her what had happened while she and Mattie were out to cause the boy's foul mood. Even if she just gave him the surface level explanation that the saloon owner happens to be Mattie's father she felt that would be stepping into unstable territory. She thought back to the night that felt so long ago- when they had both been seated on the floor near the fire and she had admitted to somewhat unsuccessfully trying to punch the saloon owner. Jarin had laughed at first, the memory made her smile a bit now . . . but it dissapeared as she remembered his swift turn to angrily wanting to confront Shiloh. She had been able to convince him to leave it be last time, but she doubted she would be able to do so a second time- especially since the issue at hand was bigger than just an unpleasant conversation in the street. At the very least Shiloh was guilty of severe neglect, but she suspected that was just the tip of the iceberg judging from what Mattie's reaction had been. Yes, it was best that Jarin didn't know about it or anything else to do with that saloon owner for that matter. She didn't want him anywhere near Shiloh. She would find a solution to this herself- she would find a way to ensure that Shiloh would never lay eyes on Mattie, or with luck any of them, ever again.
Carrots all now chopped she got up to hand them off to Jarin. "If you'll put these in I'll get started on the onions."

[[deleted user]]

Jarin glanced up again from his task at hand when the dark haired woman stepped into their little shack. He watched her for a moment, then glanced back over at Mattie and met her eyes. He didn't say anything, and he wasn't sure he should ask what the matter was. At least not with the little boy in the same room where he could hear since whatever was going on seemed to be quite sensitive. Mattie hadn't even said hello to him and lately the boy had started becoming interested in what Jarin was doing.

"Absolutely," Jarin said, taking the crude wooden "cutting board" from Dasha and using the side of his hand to push all of the carrots into the boiling water. He flinched momentarily as the hot water splashed back onto him a little. "We know that's hot," he said, shaking his hand. "Well, what else can I do?" he asked, glancing at his friend. A few months ago a friend was the last thing he would ever consider Dasha to be. A few months ago, Dasha was dragging him through his home city against his will and threatening to kill him. Now she wasn't doing that and he hoped that she didn't mind him considering her a friend. Because what else were they? Simply allies? In a way he hoped not.

Mattie's brain kept simmering, turning over new ideas one after another. He could knock Jarin out and tell Dasha he was going to get more water, but he was too small to knock out Jarin, Dasha would have questions about why he had just done that, and she probably wouldn't let him go off alone out there for more water since the creek was slowly drying up anyway. And Mattie couldn't kill them because they were nice, he didn't want to kill, he didn't know how, and that just would make him an awful person. Not that he'd ever actually try it. He stayed in his corner all through while dinner was being prepared and even after the two adults were spooning up the tin cups of watery stew. He was hungry but he was still annoyed at Dasha for asking him about his father so he completely ignored her when she came to ask him if he was going to eat.

[Lynn]

She frowned when he burned himself and started to reach for his hand to look at the damage but thought better of it and abandoned the motion before her hand could stray very far from her side. She instead turned and busied herself with neatly gathering the onions that Mattie had dumped in a messy pile on floor.
"You can help with the onions if you want." She answered. She hated chopping them and his help would make the unpleasant task go faster. She could handle the boring repetitive motions of chopping and the watery eyes it always produced, it was the smell that she hated- so sharp and lingering. No matter how many times or how long she scrubbed her hands after, it always seemed to stick around on her skin for a few hours at the very least. One thing was certain- once they were out of here she would not be using any onions by choice for a very, very long time.

Once the stew was done and dished up Dasha glanced over to Mattie's corner and found he hadn't budged- nor had Rudy, or the boy's ill mood she would wager. That theory was confirmed when he refused to come eat. She went back and grabbed one of the dented tin cups, careful to grab it at the rim where it hadn't had a chance to get so hot from the contents yet. She gave a wordless glance to Jarin, her eyes trailing over to the direction the boy was in- a silent explanation that she was going to go talk to him and try to get him to eat.
She walked back in Mattie's direction, cup of watery stew in hand. "You really should eat." She tried again, holding it out in offering. "You went to all that work pulling all those onions. It would be a shame for you not to even try the product of your labor." The cup rim was beginning to heat up from the contents- it wouldn't be comfortable to hold for much longer.
He was stubborn, she would give him that. She decided she would have to change her tactic. It was handy that she was quite stubborn herself. She would not even think about touching her own portion which she had left over by Jarin until Mattie ate his. She moved so that she was against the wall, about a yard and a half from the boy's left, and settled in on the floor- back pressed to the still sun warmed boards, no longer blocking his view of the doorway. She had set the cup down in the midway point of the space between them. She didn't say anything for a little while and just sat, staring up into the rafters and through the holes in the roof that gave a glimpse of the darkening sky.
When she did speak she made sure to keep her voice low so it wouldn't carry over to Jarin. "You're going to need your strength if you plan on running." She stated in a factual manner, no hint of accusation in her tone.
The few times she had glanced up to check on him while she stew was being prepared she had noticed his rapidly shifting gaze, as if he was running through exit strategy after exit strategy- she could practically see the little gears turning in his head. It was a look she knew well. She had done the same many times before- both for purpose of her employment and when she had been around his age, maybe just a little bit older.
"You don't have to you know. You can stay. No one knows you're here." The unspoken meaning hung in the air He doesn't know you're here and I won't tell him.

[[deleted user]]

Mattie glared at the boards creating the wall across from him. He crossed his arms in a big huff. "I didn't say I'm going to run away and I don't know what you're talking about! If this is about a father I don't have we shouldn't talk about it. It isn't true." He scowled at her, only once glancing at the tin cup of food. As watery as the food was, it still did smell a little good and his little tummy growled hungrily for it. But he was still refusing to eat it because he was in a bad mood and the tiniest bit afraid of what might happen to him. Rudy shifted his paws and rested his chin on Mattie's lap to remind him he was still there and would not leave his side.

However, despite the two of them being nearly equally stubborn, Mattie finally gave in with a big huff. He reached for the tin after some time and did not look at Dasha. He drank all the broth, fished out a couple chunks of meat for Rudy, and ate the rest. "I'm just eating it but not because I am running anywhere. There's nowhere to run to," he stated, glancing over in her direction. He shifted and stayed in his corner against the wall.

Jarin meanwhile, ate his tin of soup (although he'd done his best to slip a few of the chunks of meat and vegetables back into the pot before consuming his portion) and stayed sitting by the non existent door. He wanted to talk to Dasha about what had happened between herself and the young boy but he didn't know when would be a good time.

[Lynn]

Dasha could of pointed out that she hadn't been the one to outright bring up the father part again but she elected to remain silent.  Such facts would get her nowhere in patching things up with the boy. In truth she didn't have the slightest idea what would - that wasn't a typical skill set that most lone wolf types like herself had the need to master. When she did speak again she used the same soft tone as before.
". . . I didn't mean to upset you, Mattie- not out there and not now. Your past is none of my buisness, I know that. It's your future that I care about." She was indeed concerned about what further years would have in store for the boy:  his horrid father, and what would happen should the regulatory board find out about him- an additional point of tension that she was sure Mattie probably had no clue about. "I just want to keep you safe and that's easier if I know of any potential hazards or complications, thats the only reason I asked." She briefly paused, making a decision. "Obviously I was wrong though." She would play along with his denials if it would aid in smoothing things over. It wouldn't truly change the fact that she knew, but perhaps it would put the boy more at ease again. "It must of been the heat playing tricks on my mind . . . I'm sorry."

[[deleted user]]

Mattie listened to her, tipping the tin cup back quite far in an attempt to rescue the last several drops of watered down stew. He nodded an okay to her and set the cup to the side. "I am sure it was just the heat," he said, in a rather stiff tone for such a young boy. But he had relaxed somewhat, like he knew she wasn't going to be constantly bothering him personally about something he refused to admit was true. He lay down on his back, arms behind his head to cradle it, and sighed. Rudy sighed beside him and snuggled close.

[Lynn]

Although she wasn't sure she had succeeded in smoothing things over much, Dasha recognized the signal for the end of the conversation and knew it was best to leave it at that. Knowing that he probably needed some more time alone- or as alone as one could be in this dilapidated structure- she got up from where she had been seated to give him some space. She didn't even bother to try and wipe off the powdery dirt her clothing had collected. It was everywhere anyway and if she wiped it away more would just take its place the next time she brushed against any surface or sat down.
She headed to the exit rather than straight back to where Jarin sat, needing a couple minutes herself. That conversation had dragged her from her comfort zone and it had gone far from how she had wanted it to. "I'll be right back." She spoke to neither in particular before ducking out.
She ended up walking over to the one scraggly tree that grew a few yards from the structure. She flopped down under it and breathed a long sigh. After a moment she pulled out her knife and added a new tally to the ever growing collection of them along one of the gnarled roots. The board that she had been using the first few weeks had ended up getting burnt one night when the fire had been near dying. The tree was a little more permanent- though she made sure to keep her marks fairly shallow. Today had been so eventful she felt like she should be adding at least three marks instead of just the one- the day had felt so long. And yet even as the sky was further darkening it still wasn't over. She still had buisness to attend to tonight. The thought didn't do much to restore the appetite she had lost while talking to Mattie.

[[deleted user]]

((I was thinking Mattie would still try to run away; maybe get hurt/lost on the way or even run into his father? I don't know, thinking about ways to add more conflict!))

[Lynn]

((Oh yeah, totally. I suspected something along those lines would come up tbh. I'm down to throw whatever issue/inconvenience we can come up with at them.))

[[deleted user]]

((I guess it was pretty obvious, wasn't it XD Okie, maybe I'll skip ahead a bit and post :) ))

[[deleted user]]

The evening drew on, and eventually it was late at night. Jarin settled down for the next watch nearby the door and stared up at the bright stars illuminating up the sky. It was a majestic sight; back where he came from, the amount of light pollution from the city and surrounding neighborhoods hid most of the stars. But out here, everything was so clear and wonderful and unspeakably beautiful.

Jarin's watch went on, and after a little while, Mattie's small head poked out from the doorway beside him.
"Hey, everything alright?" Jarin asked him in a soft voice so as to not wake Dasha.
Mattie nodded. "I have to pee," he whispered back in just as quiet a tone. "I'll be back." He didn't wait for Jarin to tell him that he'd come along and snuck out, turning around the side of the building. Rudy followed along next to him.

Mattie did have to pee, but it didn't take long. He couldn't stay here any longer if it meant he would be taken back to his father, or if it meant his father knew he was around still and hunt him down to teach him a lesson. He didn't know where he was going to go, but anywhere was safer than this town. But being a young boy with only fear and no real experience, he didn't truly understand that he could get hurt out in the wild.

He walked for a long time and occasionally ran, chancing landing in a rabbit hole or stomping his foot into a gopher hole. Right now he was following the creek because it was at least better than wandering in the middle of nowhere. He was doing great until he heard hoofbeats and a man's voice call out, "Hold it right thar or I'll shoot!"

[[deleted user]]

((I was thinking that Shiloh has some buddies who like to go out and patrol as if they're police -- even though they aren't -- and one of them finds Mattie and drags him back with him to Shiloh's place.))

[Lynn]

Although earlier Dasha had had every intention of paying Shiloh a visit tonight she ended up deciding to put it off until morning. It made more sense that way- she could stop in and deal with him bright and early before she headed to the boarding house, that way she didn't have to make an extra trip and wouldn't have to come up with some explanation for her absence if Jarin woke up and noticed she was gone while she was meant to be on watch.
She took first watch knowing it would be harder for her to wake up again and take over later as she did feel quite drained. Besides it gave her the opportunity to make sure Mattie fell asleep. Despite his claim earlier that he wasn't going to try and run she didn't quite trust his word. She had debated filling Jarin in on such but there hadn't been a good time to mention it and she figured her baseless suspicion was probably just a byproduct of her cynical nature anyway. Once the boy had fallen asleep she had felt a little more at ease. She spent the rest of her watch throwing fuel on the fire when it had started to burn low and trying to work out Shiloh’s identity. He had seemed so sure she would be able to place him and it threatened to drive her mad that so far she couldn't. She didn't like being blind on details, it put her at a disadvantage- even if her only mission at this point was to wash her hands of him. She tried to remember the crest that she had saw etched into the signet ring that he had worn the first time she had run into him. She traced crude renderings in the layers of dust that covered the floorboards of what she thought she could recall about the crest. By the time Jarin took over watch she had had seven variations, but each had felt a little off and had done nothing to get her any closer to piecing together the man's true identity. She had smeared the lines away before abandoning her post and settling in to get some sleep. It hadn't taken her long to drift off, she was tired enough that she had practically already been asleep before getting settled completely.

((Ok yeah cool that will work. Sorry about the delay in reply.))

[[deleted user]]

((No problem.))

Mattie froze, a cold wave of fear washing down his little body. He raised his eyes up to the man sitting atop his horse. He was a terrifying man. Mattie knew him by the silver eyes glaring at him and the long jagged scar running down the side of his face, thick like a pale rope. Evans was one of Shiloh's friends -- one of his dad's evil friends.

"N-no, please," Mattie shook his head. His voice sounded so pitiful in the dark. "Don't hurt me."

"I won't if only you'll listen to me," Evans scoffed. He gestured with his pistol. "Git yourself over here 'fore I shoot."

Mattie didn't want to go back. He didn't want to climb aboard the horse behind Evans or let him drag him up like a helpless child. He wanted to run away or climb up a tree. Even though he wanted to, Mattie wouldn't be able to escape. He knew that Evans would shoot.

So the little boy walked over, pulled himself up onto the horse, and tried not to pee himself as he thought about what would happen. Maybe he could jump off the side of the horse while they were riding, and Evans wouldn't have enough time to react. That idea left his mind the instant they started cantering across the field back towards town.

Meanwhile, Jarin was growing concerned. It had been some time and Mattie hadn't returned. How long did it take for a young boy to relieve himself? It shouldn't have taken this long. Jarin wished he had a watch from his own time period but had to settle on where the moon was now sitting. Dasha had shown him a few things but it was hard to grow used to and not on the dime accurate. He sighed, glancing over to where Dasha was sleeping. He didn't want to wake her in case Mattie came walking around the corner a minute after he'd shook her awake, but it scared him to think that something awful had happened. He curled a hand around one of the knives at his belt and peered into the darkness. What to do...

[Lynn]

Typically Dasha tended to be a light sleeper- but that wasn't the case now, nor had it been the last few nights. These days it took more than an out of place creak of a board or the sound of distant gunshots to rouse her. Even with the added sleep she got fom not waking up at every little disturbance she would still wake up tired- that seemed to be her constant state now.
She placed part of the blame for that on her dreams. It was hard to wake feeling any way refreshed when you felt as if you had spent the whole night running. That was always all she could recall upon waking; that in her dreams she had been running- from what she could never say. The only other thing that lingered was a varying sense of danger, one that so far had only increased in intensity each night since the dream had first plagued her a little over a week ago- like whatever she had been running from was catching up to her.
She was in the throes of the dream now, sleeping somewhat unpeacefully. She shifted so that her back was to the fire but did not wake.

[[deleted user]]

He would deal with Dasha' wrath later if it really came down to it. Jarin knew Dasha had a heart and from what he could tell, the little boy had touched a part of that heart. She'd want to find out what was going on and if it were all for nothing, no harm would be done. But he had no idea what would happen if Jarin said nothing at all and the boy never returned.

He crossed the rough boards over to the young woman who was sleeping near the fire. He crouched and watched her as she breathed softly. Her face seemed unhappy like she wasn't sleeping well. But who slept well here anyway.... Jarin remembered his huge mattress with soft silk sheets and mounds of pillows as huge and fluffy as clouds. He'd been pampered back then; now he was almost used to sleeping on boards and dirt and baking in the heat all day. "Dasha," he whispered. Jarin stuck a hand out and gently shook her by the shoulder. His body tensed in case she would leap up and try stabbing him with a knife or something. She had quick reflexes and he wouldn't put it past her if she did that.

[Lynn]

She wasn't fast enough, the danger was gaining ground on her. Closer . . .closer still. A dead end ahead- endless walls of brick that did not fit with the rest of the scenery. She tried to find purchase upon the bricks to climb over but her holds kept crumbling underhand and she was out of time. A heavy weight settled over her and she knew it was over. The danger was upon her, she was caught--
Dasha jolted awake when Jarin shook her but instead of surging forward on the offensive she shifted away as if trying to escape his grasp. Her pulse roared in her ears and her breaths came fast, product of her panic. Reaching for her knife came secondary, and when she did her fingers closed around air. Her knife wasn't at her belt like it was supposed to be. She must of set it down earlier after using it to pry up the edges of a few splintered floorboards to burn to get them through the night and never picked it back up. Stupid. She blindly felt around for something to use as a weapon- her hand landing on one of the rusty fireplace tools. Better than nothing.
She bagan to raise it to swing in defense when the haze of sleep cleared enough for her to take notice of the face that the dim firelight somewhat illuminated. Her panic swiftly decreased and she let the rusty fireplace tool drop back to the floor. She breathed a sigh and let herself lay back into a resting position, draping an arm over her eyes as her heart rate and breath evened out. "Geez Jarin . . . you're lucky I didn't have my knife." It hadn't crossed her mind to wonder why he had woken her up yet- for now she was simply thankful that she hadn't hurt him.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin scrambled back quickly when he saw her startle awake, hand grabbing for the rusty fire poker. As Dasha didn't seem to be fully awake enough to recognize him, he moved back further until his back was pressed against the rickety walls of the dilapidated building. His hands were up, shielding his face and particularly his eyes as the poker was just about to stab him. "Dasha," he said quickly, hoping his voice would bring her to the present. Thank goodness she dropped the tool, otherwise he might be missing an eye or two, or be dead.
"I had a feeling you were going to react like that," Jarin said, swiping away a drop of sweat that had formed on his brow. He crept over to her side and gently tugged her arm from her face. "I didn't want to wake you up yet, but I was worried. Mattie left to go use the bathroom -- erm, relieve himself," he corrected himself, since this time period didn't exactly have "bathrooms" and it would be blatantly obvious to say that anywhere else, "and it's been probably a good twenty five minutes now. I thought maybe I should go look for him in case he got hurt or something." He sat back on his heels, glancing momentarily towards the open entrance of their shack. He still didn't know what had happened between Mattie and Dasha, but at the moment, he wasn't considering that what was going on might be related to his disappearance.

[Lynn]

Dasha started to connect the dots before Jarin had even finished presenting his concern. She glanced over to the corner Mattie had been huddled in with Rudy and found it empty. With the added visual confirmation that he was indeed gone she was up in a flash, suddenly wide awake. A muttered curse slipped from her mouth- the first that had done so in a while. The boarding house owner had scolded her on more than one occasion over using such language, citing that it was unbecoming for a lady to wield such a vocabulary. While she may have had a point it felt warranted in this situation. She started to head for the door before remembering she should grab her knife before heading out- forgetting about Jarin's presence all together. The rest of her words came out more as a stream of consciousness than actual sentences as she hunted for her knife. "Stupid . . . I knew. . . shouldn't of listened . . . could be anywhere by now." Another muttered curse escaped her lips as she found her abandoned knife and nearly nicked herself in her haste to pick it up and return it to its rightful place along her belt.

((Hey I saw your reply to my post on the rp request thread of another group and figured I'd just chat with you here about it to save us some trouble/prevent spamming up that thread. I would totally be willing to try out that idea as well with you if you are still interested in it. We are both obviously already aware of eachothers general posting habits, so I personally do not anticipate having a problem with that. I know I noted that I was strictly looking for someone to write for A but I would be willing to write for either if you have a strong preference for one or the other. Just let me know if your still interested in that plot or not.))

[[deleted user]]

((Hey! As far as the RP plot goes, I don't think I'd mind trying out character A; that's the guy who has those strange deathlike powers? Whatever you called them lol it's late. I'm still interested in it if you are! And yeah, my posting can be sporadic as well sometimes so at least that seems to be okay between us. Do you want to try it in this group?))

[[deleted user]]

Jarin immediately sensed something was seriously wrong. He hopped to his feet, attention focused on the young, experienced woman before him. He had been a prince in his previous life, despite now living among the dust in a half destroyed shack, and in a town that no longer existed in his time. He didn't know a thing about tracking someone down, no more than the next person. He was quick to follow her to the door. "Dasha, please, tell me what's going through your head. I need to help, I let this happen, and I'll be more in the way if we aren't on the same page." He attempted to stand in the doorway to block any further advancement from Dasha.

[Lynn]

((Alright cool, yep that's the one! Yeah we can for sure try it out in this group if you want- might be easier to keep up with if we have both our rps within the same group. I should get a reply for this one up tomorrow- I was going to try to tonight but I'm bushed and my writing brain has decided to go out to lunch.)) 

[[deleted user]]

((Sounds good! And no problem at all. Literally had a bad day at work so I just want to do nothing but curl up and read or sleep lol.))

[Lynn]

Dasha was broken from her thoughts and reminded of Jarin's presence when he stepped in to block her path. She stopped mid stride, just short of pushing past him, thrown off. She never worked with anyone on jobs, she was always on her own. She wasn't used to explaining herself or even voicing a simple theory aloud- there was never any need to. She took a moment to recollect her thoughts. "Time is of the essence." She settled on. The longer he was gone, the slimmer the chance that they would find him . . .  especially if he didn't want to be found which Dasha knew was the case. In jobs she regularly took there was always a technological footprint to find- with so many cameras and other devices around it was impossible to avoid them all. She didn't have such a resource to tap into here- the only thing to find would be tangible traces, things such as a footprint that could easily be blown away with a strong gust of wind. "Do you happen to know the general direction he headed off in? That will be the place to start."

[Lynn]

((Great, I'll get a new thread set up then. ))

[[deleted user]]

Jarin studied the dark sky outside, then turned his vision towards where he believed the little boy had gone. "I didn't follow him, so I didn't see much, but he headed this way. I guess we can hope he wasn't good at covering his tracks, then maybe..." He let himself trail off and didn't finish his sentence. There was no point. They didn't have the option of choosing the easy way. Mattie might be in danger and the longer they waited around wondering, the longer Mattie had to suffer if he truly was in trouble.
"This way. I saw him go this way," Jarin said, rubbing thoughtfully at the wristband that would be forever locked around his arm. He started out in that direction, knowing that Dasha would follow.

[Lynn]

Dasha trailed close after Jarin, trusting that he was right about the general direction. There was no time to waste if he had indeed run. As they walked she made sure to keep an eye out for any clues to confirm that they were heading in the right direction.
After a minute or so of silence Dasha decided it would be best if Jarin had an idea of what they were possibly heading in to since he was probably still working under the firm assumption that Mattie had gotten hurt somewhere. While there was a chance that could still be the case, Dasha was more convinced he had run off.  ". . . It's possible he won't want to be found. Not by me anyway." It was the most she had said in reguard to her and the boy's disagreement so far.

[[deleted user]]

Jarin hurried along beside her. They couldn't exactly run because that could lead to missing some important clues and potentially miss the little Mattie altogether. "You don't think he got lost or hurt, do you. You think he ran." Jarin glanced over at Dasha's face, a new concern washing over his features. "What were you two talking about last night? He was so upset. I didn't ask at that point because I didn't want to make things worse...but I should have known it was something more serious. I shouldn't have let him go on his own like I had." If Mattie had taken off to run away, the boy might not have had a set direction in which to go. If he was angry, he might not have let logic direct him on a safe path.

[Lynn]

Dasha didn't verbally confirm Jarin's suspicion, but her lack of response was confirmation enough. She took a deep breath and then breathed it out in a sigh, "It's not your fault." She quickly assured him. He wasn't the one she blamed. "You didn't know.  . . I should of told you- if nothing else I should of at least clued you in that he was a flight risk . . . I asked about his parentage." She finally offered in explanation. "Obviously it was a very sore subject." She didn't want to go into the gritty details now, in this moment they didn't matter nearly as much as finding Mattie. Dasha suddenly slowed, veering a few steps to the right. She stooped down, examining what had caught her eye- a faint footprint in the dust, child sized. "Well we are headed in the right direction at least."

[[deleted user]]

"Oh no," Jarin muttered, letting out a slight grunt. He had wondered about the boy's parentage himself but he had never figured out the right way to question it. Maybe Mattie was afraid and that's why he'd taken off. He voiced this thought out loud, turning to see if Dasha would react. He peered down in the dust, making out the barely visible imprint in the constantly shifting dust. "How far do you think he could have gone in thirty minutes?" he asked uncertainly, attempting to find any further clues. "Is this a footprint also? Looks like one," he said, pointing at a second track a little farther ahead than the first one.

[Lynn]

"I doubt there's any other reason that would have been enough to cause him to run like this." Dasha agreed as she straightened and wiped a layer of her fingertips. "I'm not sure, could be a little over a mile if he was going slow, could be three if he was running and kept a steady pace . . ." there were too many variables at hand to be completely sure. She went over to check the track Jarin had found. "Looks like it." She confirmed and then paused to check a second imprint about a foot to the left of the one Jarin had pointed out, this one canine. "He has Rudy with him." That lessened the possible dangers at least a bit. That dog was smart enough to alert him to any snakes or other wildlife that could be an immediate hazard.

[[deleted user]]

((I realized I never mentioned what happened to Rudy so I'll make something up. My bad))

"At least the dog will help him stay out of trouble...hopefully somewhat," Jarin muttered. He scanned the ground further, hoping to see something else. It would take forever if the boy had really been running and they would pause to find each footprint. Instead of saying something dumb, he rubbed the back of his neck and stuck with Dasha. It was better than nothing to keep looking.

After twenty minutes of moving along and searching for more footprints in the dark, a small figure on fours hurried towards them, barking and soon whimpering, trying to get their attention. It was that raggedy dog, Rudy, alone, without his boy beside him. Rudy was too anxious to let them get closer than a couple feet. He paced back and forth, and on his left side, Jarin saw that his fur was matted down with blood. Fresh blood. And Mattie was nowhere in sight.

[Lynn]

Dasha was beginning to get frustrated. At this slow of a pace it was very possible the boy was gaining even more ground ahead of them. It was impossible to go any quicker though, not unless she wanted to chance missing something- which she certainly didn't. She continued along with Jarin, forcing her sense of frustration down.
When the dog first came into view, Dasha wasn't able to tell it was Rudy and her hand strayed to where her knife was sheathed, resting on the hilt. It soon became apparent by the barking and whimpering though that it was a dog and she forgot about the knife. Once it was closer she could tell it was Rudy- injured and alone. Mattie was nowhere in sight. She couldn't help but say a very un ladylike curse again. That dog had been sticking to Mattie like glue, he wouldn't of left his side unless forced to by circumstance. If the dog was injured chances were Mattie was injured just as bad. . .or worse. It was too hard to tell in the dark from this distance the extent of Rudy's wound, all she knew was that there was plenty of fresh blood matting his fur. "Somethings wrong, somethings very wrong."

[[deleted user]]

((Will try replying to these soon. Been busy.))

[Lynn]

((That's fine, no rush. Thanks for checking in and letting me know though :) ))

[[deleted user]]

Rudy pawed at the ground and paced anxiously. He paused long enough to bark at the two of them. He took a few steps in one direction before pausing and swinging his head back to look at them. He barked again.
"Rudy wouldn't leave his side unless he was forced to," Jarin muttered, clenching his fists around an imaginary knife that he wished he could use against whoever had hurt the dog and taken Mattie. "Someone must have found Mattie. Someone bad. Rudy has a better nose than us. Maybe he'll lead us to Mattie."

[Lynn]

Dasha felt as if a heavy weight had settled over her when Jarin voiced what she had been thinking aloud. Her mind was quick to conjure one possible culprit- the very man she had accused of being Mattie's father. She did not want the path to lead to him though, not now, not with Jarin in tow. There was more than one ruffian in this little town though, and for now she would stubbornly choose to believe that it was someone unconnected and easier to handle . . .perhaps a robber who needed a hostage to make a clean get away, or someone grief stricken enough with the loss of their own child to kidnap someone else's when an opportunity presented its self. Although both choices were arguably logical, she had a hard time convincing herself fully of either.
"We'll follow him." Dasha agreed, already starting to move forward again to follow the injured dog. She grabbed Jarin's hand and pulled him along. Though she was sure he probably needed little such prompting, it made her feel slightly less anxious to have a physical tether to him. She had already lost one of her boys tonight, she wasn't about to get separated from the other out here. "He may not be able to track Mattie to his current location, but should be able to show us where they were together last at least." She said it  more for her own benefit than Jarin's- to assure herself that they weren't just wasting time, that Rudy would lead them to something . . . even if it was just more clues that would aid their search and not Mattie himself.

[[deleted user]]

((Her boys 😍 love it. Will try to reply within the week!))