Well, here's the second chapter. The story is coming along slow but steady, mostly thanks to real life keeping me busy as a bee.

But behold! I have a beta!
The amazing life and story saving Liza45 have offered me her assistance, and I have gratefully accepted. Thanks to her, this story is no longer suffering from fatal mistakes and grammatical errors that will make most people twitch their eye in annoyance.
Thank you, Liza, for your help and assistance.

So, without further ado, here is chapter 2. Enjoy!

By nightfall, the fever had increased, much to Cloud Dancing's concern.

Sully, as the man's name was, was caught in its claws, struggling against its hold. And losing, Cloud Dancing feared.

He sat at the young man's side, wiping his brow and holding him down when his feverish mind got too much control over his weakened body. Like a dying animal, the man gained strength as the fever ran through his body. His arms fought the shadows only his mind saw and his legs tried to carry him away from them.

Cloud Dancing wished he wasn't alone with the man. He barely dared to leave him to fetch water, and he also had the fire to look after. But he managed somehow. As the darkness grew around him, Sully slowly fell silent on his bed, and Cloud Dancing knew the time had come.

Either Sully would live or the shadows would take him.

Sitting on his knees beside him, Cloud Dancing began to sing. Slow, deep words he knew by heart. He hoped the sound would reach the Spirits and incite them to guide the man back to the light.

He sang and rocked back and forth slowly, the trance taking him away, far away for a time he barely noticed passing, only to be brought back abruptly, ending his song.

He opened his eyes and looked down at Sully, who lay completely still. He carefully touched Sully's forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. The fever had broken. He closed his eyes and gave thanks to the Spirits. Sully was going to live. Cloud Dancing's work didn't end there, though.

It seemed that hours had passed. The moon was high above him and the darkness was thick. He gave the fire new life and made tea, which would soon be needed. He fetched more water and brought it into the shelter to bathe Sully. He was careful around the cuts and bruises but satisfied that they were healing well. He carefully grounded more herbs up and applied them. A few days and the cuts would be nothing but scars, ready for the sun to tan and hide.

Clean and still deeply asleep, Sully looked peaceful. And young. Cloud Dancing covered him with his blanket and sat close by the fire himself.

He shuddered as a cold breeze came down from the mountains. He expected it would be an early winter this year and the thought made his heart long for Snow Bird. He would soon be with her, though he feared her reaction to his extended absence. She would probably yell at him, he thought with a smile.

He remembered all too clearly his brother's words when he had so long ago confided in him about his love for Snow Bird.

"Most women are like a creek, but you have chosen a river, brother. Never fight the current, but flow with it. Only then will it wash you safely ashore."

Back then, Cloud Dancing's heart had been too full of love to truly understand, but his brother had been given his name for a reason. Cutting Word has seen who Snow Bird truly was; a woman with a fierce heart, unsuited for men unwilling to accept the strength in her. It did not take long before Cloud Dancing saw it too.

How she could be calm and cool like still water on a summer day, or roaring and powerful like a river taking flight out over the tip of a cliff. No matter what, it was a sight to behold, and one he longed for now.

Still, it had to wait. Glancing back over his shoulder, he watched Sully as he slept.

Did he have a woman somewhere? In town perhaps? Did he have children?

It was strange how he had come to Cloud Dancing. Barely dressed and with no horse, or weapons… or anything actually. Except for his pants and boots, which had been filthy and sweaty. Cloud Dancing had recognized the clothes as those of a soldier. He wondered if Sully was returning from the war he had heard stories about, or perhaps a fight with Cloud Dancing's own people.

It was an uncomfortable thought.

If the young man had the blood of Cheyenne on his hands, then Cloud Dancing wasn't not sure what to feel. Helping someone who had killed his people was… was easily something that would make him feel… guilty. To make him a part of the terrible things that fell on his people. Still, it was not in his nature to not help someone wounded. And from what little the Spirits had let him know about the younger man, Cloud Dancing didn't believe him to be a heartless killer.

There was a darkness around him. The same darkness he suspected had haunted him during his fever. It was like a shadow that clung to Sully, and Cloud Dancing found it very troubling.

Even though his eyes were on Sully, Cloud Dancing was lost in thought and barely noticed the other man stir from his sleep. Eyes still clouded from sickness opened slowly and settled on Cloud Dancing with surprising ease.

He got up and took the bowl of water, crawling into the shelter and placing it beside Sully before moving away. Sully had more color but he was still as pale as moonlight. A small improvement. Slowly, Sully managed to lift himself up on an elbow and take the water. He brought it to his lips, hand shaking slightly, and drank it all. Breathing heavily, he placed the bowl back down and nodded to Cloud Dancing.

"Thank you."

Cloud Dancing nodded back. He found some dried meat and handed it to Sully. "Eat slow. Chew good." Meat wasn't ideal but it would have to do. Cloud Dancing had run out of plants and Sully needed the strength. He just had to chew it properly.

Sully seemed to understand and ate the meat in very small pieces, all the while watching Cloud Dancing. "Why did you help me?" he asked in between bites.

"Spirits bring you," said Cloud Dancing.

"Yeah, you said that. But why… why help me?"

He doesn't understand, Cloud Dancing realized. He moved closer. Sully didn't shy away but instead made room for them both. Cloud Dancing tried to explain.

"You hurt so I help. Or you die."

Sully met his eyes. They were still very red to look at. And still very blue. "Was it really that bad?" Cloud Dancing nodded. "You still didn't have to."

"No," said Cloud Dancing. "But I did." He hoped Sully would understand. It wasn't about having to do something or even wanting to. It was about doing because it was right, no matter who Sully was or what he had done.

A shadow passed over Sully's face. "You should have let me die," he whispered and then lay down without another word. He rolled over, turning his back to Cloud Dancing.

Letting the man be with his darkness, for now, Cloud Dancing returned to the fire, keeping watch throughout the night.

Sully did not feel well when he woke up, but he did not feel as if he were dying either. Sunlight was streaming into the shelter through the opening, but also through the small spaces between the leaves and branches that made up the roof. It almost seemed like looking at the stars during the day.

For a moment, he just lay there and looked at the light. It was not so long ago that he had been certain he would never see it again. Hours, probably. The disappointment settled in him, heavy as a stone on his heart. The guilt that followed that thought threatened to make him sick.

What was wrong with him?

Taking a deep breath, he rose from his sickbed, sitting up in the shelter to look around. He winced and looked down at himself, seeing something green smeared all over his chest. Scraping slightly at it with a nail revealed a long rift across his chest, the source of the stinging he had felt. He smoldered some of the green stuff between his fingers and lifted it to his nose, giving it a sniff. It smelt sweet and earthy.

Frowning, he looked at his chest and arms, seeing it all over him. Then he remembered the tumble he took down the hill. Must have cut himself bloody on his way down. Had the Indian done this too?

Cloud Dancing, he remembered. Looking around, Sully could not see him. He was alone in the shelter. The area outside was deserted as well, but the fire was still alive, and something was cooking in the pouch above it. It smelled good.

Ignoring the shakiness of his hand, Sully threw the blanket aside and slowly tried to make his way out of the shelter. Or rather, he would have if the pain had not shot up his leg as soon as he tried to put weight on his right foot. He hissed, drawing the foot closer, his hands clutching the leather boot.

He did not dare take the boot off to look at it. It would hurt like hell and what if it was broken? He had seen broken legs where the bone stuck out through the skin. He tried to move it and flinched at the pain.

He set his jaw. It did not hurt that bad. Broken bones hurt. Really hurt.

Telling himself the pain was bearable, he clenched his teeth and held his foot as high and still as he could, slowly crawling his way out of the shelter, thankful no one was around to see his humiliation. Still, he breathed a sigh of relief when he managed to reach the fire without hurting himself even more, and nearly collapsed beside it, shaking from exhaustion.

The sun streamed down from a cloudless sky above him, but the air was still cool. Sully wondered what day it was? How long had he been walking since he had...?

He wondered where Cloud Dancing was. There was no sign of the Indian, except the camp he had built up around Sully. Alone, he remembered. He could not help but be impressed. Cloud Dancing had done it all alone and apparently nursed Sully back to health.

And he could not do a thing. Not when he was shaking like a newborn foal, and with a hurt foot on top of it. Instead, he just settled by the fire, pulling the blanket towards him and wrapping it around himself.

He did not know where he was. It was a clearing, so much he could see. A grassy bank by a creek that ran downhill and disappeared into a forest that seemed to surround him. It was very peaceful.

There was almost no life at all, except for a few birds that flew from tree to tree. And if he had not moved from his hunched position by the edge of the forest, Sully might never have seen Cloud Dancing at all. The Indian appeared from between the trees as if he before that moment had been one of them.

Walking almost silently across the clearing, the Indian headed straight for Sully, who for the first time got a good look at the man. He was dressed in clothes made from animal skin. There were images of birds flying across his chest in different colors, and feathers and beads hung from his long black hair. He was older than Sully, though it was hard to tell by how many years.

He stopped near the fire and looked at Sully with a small smile. He had a mouth that seemed to easily smile and his eyes... there was something about them. They were the darkest eyes Sully had ever seen and when they looked at him… They saw things. Sully was not sure he liked that, so he quickly looked at the fire instead.

Cloud Dancing did not seem to take notice of this, but placed a bag he had been carrying on the ground beside the fire. He checked the pouch hanging over the fire and stirred whatever was inside with a stick before sitting down opposite of Sully. He sat cross-legged and looked at Sully, his eyes taking in every detail of his appearance.

"You better," he said.

"I feel better," said Sully. Cloud Dancing smiled and leaned a bit forward, resting his arms on his knees.

"I glad."

Sully's smile felt like a broken mask on his face. He could not say the same. "Thank you for… saving my life," he said, vaguely remembering the night before. "I'm grateful."

"No, you not," said the Indian, his smile gone. He said it so calmly, so certain. Sully felt his whole body grow tense as those dark eyes settled on him, unblinking.

"I am."

"No," was Cloud Dancing's only answer to that. As he tilted his head ever so slightly to the side, his eyes narrowing a bit, Sully felt a shiver run through him. He felt… transparent. Like glass.

Was he really that bad at hiding how he felt? How he hurt?

Cloud Dancing looked at him with those dark eyes, clearly seeing Sully – faults and all – and when he realized that, Sully felt himself giving in to it. His mask cracked.

"No, I'm not," he said in a low voice. Cloud Dancing's face somewhat softened and finally looked away from Sully, turning his attention back to the fire. As soon as he did, Sully felt as if all strength flowed out of him. The tension disappeared and he nearly slumped forward. What a relief it was. To just give in.

Ever since he pulled the trigger he had wanted to die himself.

After Abigail died, he had hoped to lose himself in the war, just not like this. His escape had turned into a nightmare even worse than the one he already lived in. The idea that he could still do something good, still help in some way, as little as it might be, had been the driving force behind him pulling that trigger.

One man's death would be the salvation of hundreds of others. He had been blind, and stupid. Too eager to question. He had killed an innocent man and ever since then, he had wished to die himself.

For a moment, a very short-lived moment, he had thought he would succeed.

Then Cloud Dancing had saved him.

His reason remained a question to Sully. He kept saying the Spirits, as if that was more than enough an explanation, but Sully did not buy it. It was like saying God wanted him to live. Nonsense.

Whether God was true or not, Sully had turned from him. Abigail was dead, Hannah was dead… and Sully had killed a man; a father and a husband. An innocent man. What God would let such things happen?

What Spirits would let him live despite everything he had done?

It almost made him want to pity the Indian. Poor man had done so much for Sully, believing it to be the will of some higher power beyond them. He would regret it when he realized what kind of person Sully truly was.

Maybe he would even kill him. Sully was white after all. Their people were enemies and Sully would not blame him if he did.

He might even thank him.

The Indian filled two bowls with food and handed one to Sully. His face was calm, kind even and he no longer looked at Sully with those intense, dark eyes. Instead, it was as if the last few minutes had never happened. They could be old friends, sitting like this by a fire.

They ate in silence. Sully had no idea what he ate but he liked the taste, weak as it was. When his bowl was empty, he told Cloud Dancing that his foot hurt.