Basics:Alright, so last night after getting a few snippets of "Nephilim" up, I started working on the third chapter. And then finished it. And started working on the fourth chapter. And got halfway done. But it didn't save correctly on my thumb drive , so that when I wrote more this morning it decided it didn't like me. FUN. So wrote like. A fourth of it in English today and then came back and replaced the part I'd written that had saved on my laptop with the part I wrote in English and now it's kinda... Better? I think. Oh well. XD Enjoy, you guys!

Pairings: Cowboy!Alfred and Indian!Kai. :3

Summary: While on the Oregon Trail, Alfred encounters an exotic Indian woman-- countless times. Who is she? And why does she infuriate him so much? AlfredxOC

Chapter Four: Trouble

Alfred immediately startled out of his dozing state.

"O-Oh! Hey, it's... Um, you," he said, lamely, scrabbling for a way out of this. The situation wasn't... Bad, exactly, but it wasn't all that pretty either.

Lies. It was pretty. Especially looking at Pride now.

"Yes, it is me," she snapped, glaring at him with her hands on her hips. "The question is, why are you here? Are you not supposed to be with your wagon train family? Or what ever it might be?"

Alfred huffed. "So what if I am? America's a free country!"

Pride looked down her nose at him, sooty lashes fluttering lightly in indignation. "I hate to destroy your dreams, boy," she stated after a moment, "but this isn't America yet."

"Yet!" Alfred exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "You said yet! So there!"

"Yes, precisely. Not yet is it America," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "Meaning this is not a free country." She seemed to be regretting the word "yet" now, looking almost dubious because Alfred was now extremely unflappable.

"Manifest Destiny!" he exclaimed. "Why, I'll tell you, Miss Pride-- one day, this will be America, and it'll be more beautiful than anything!"

She stared at him for a moment, and he thought maybe his words had touched her heart, when she parted her lips and said, "What did you call me?"

Uh oh.

He seemed to be getting in these situations a lot lately.

"What?" he asked, innocent as can be, and Pride cleared her throat in a no-nonsense sort of way. Honestly, she was quite intimidating, especially up close. Her sharp cheekbones, dark eyes, strong nose-- her lofty attitude. It was all quite wonderful, quite annoying.

"I asked, what did you call me?" she repeated, slowly, as if speaking to a child, and Alfred kept his innocent face on-- as much as the temptation of annoying her further was, he wasn't about to risk ruining his face. He was pretty sure if he told her, he would become mighty familiar with the ground.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, clearing his throat, almost nervously. She stared him down for a long while, and then rolled her eyes.

"White settlers," she scoffed.

"Indian women," he countered, and she made an annoyed noise at the back of her throat, stepping past him. She said nothing, but he knew that she was heading back to camp. "I'll walk with you!" Alfred offered in a chipper tone, bouncing up to her side. She didn't say anything, but he saw her jaw tense and her teeth clench inside her mouth. Good. Some sort of reaction.

"I do not need you to walk back to camp with me," she stated bluntly, tucking ebony hair behind her ear. Alfred grinned cheekily.

"Who said anything about needing? Personally, I think I heard your heart call out to me. I think you were wanting."

"My heart did no such thing!" Pride exclaimed, indignant, and Alfred's grin widened.

"Oh, really? Then why are you so defensive right now?" he asked innocently, making her feathers ruffle even more.

"I am not being defensive," she said shortly, bristling at his words. He just laughed and slapped a hand on his thigh.

"I'm just kiddin' you, Miss Pride," he teased. "Trying to get some sort of emotion out of you. It's nice to see that you have some sort of humanity left."

Pride looked at him, and then a fleeting smile whispered across her lips-- it was there and gone, but it was still there. It couldn't be denied.

"If you really want to get an emotion out of me, call me Miss Pride again," she suggested, shortly, and he swallowed.

"I think I'm good."

They continued on in a sort of companionable silence then, or so Alfred liked to think. Perhaps he was making progress now? Breaking through her icy exterior to something nicer? That'd be fantastic! Ha, score one for the Hero! Now all he had to--

Where'd she go?

He stopped in his tracks, glancing around. She was gone.

Gone.

Just like that.

It was unnerving. She had just melted away while he'd been lost in his own thoughts. How was it even possible he hadn't noticed her disappearance? How was it even possible she'd managed to escape his attention?

No matter, he assured him self. I'll just head back to camp anyway. She can handle herself... Right?

But what if she'd gone off the trail and she'd gotten hurt instead? No, that wasn't possible. He'd have heard her.

... Right?

Images of what might have happened to Pride flashed through his mind and he turned a 360 and scanned the area. There was no sign of her anywhere.

Strange.

The world had suddenly become silent. Funny, he thought with a sort of nervous laugh, how the night birds can just suddenly stop. Hilarious.

It wasn't so funny as he thought.

And the camp fires, the lights in the distance that led to his wagon train, had been so close before. Now, as he looked at them, they seemed miles away. Dangerously far, even.

"That doesn't matter," he said aloud, if only to hear some sort of noise besides the eerie sound of the wind brushing through the trees. But instead, the way his voice sounded so lonely, so...

To say he expected what happened next would be a lie. He had no idea. He didn't hear the slight ruffle of the grass, didn't hear the way she laughed softly. He was too concerned with whether he should call out for help.

Before he knew it, someone collided with him and tackled him to the ground. Alfred yelped, wriggling-- before he realized who had tackled him.

Pride was grinning.

Step two complete.

Assuming she was grinning because of him.

"That was for calling me Pride," she told him with the most innocent expression anyone could ever pull. She had him pinned effectively to the ground-- but if he timed it just right, he might be able to...

Quickly, he grasped her forearms and shifted his weight forward so that she tumbled to the side and he had her pinned. Now he was the one grinning.

"If not Pride, tell me what else I can use," he replied. She watched him evenly, dark features a stark contrast against the soft green of the grass and the gentle hue of the ground. Once more, both of their weights shifted as she lurched forward, now back in their first position.

"Why should I?" she replied nonchalantly. "Perhaps I could just keep punishing you until you learn to not call me 'Pride' anymore." Alfred didn't move. He allowed himself to be pinned to the ground- grinning all the while.

"Well, if this is the punishment you had in mind..." he began, quirking a pale brow upward, and she narrowed her eyes at him. She seemed to be thinking about what he meant for a while before...

He could have sworn she was blushing. Furiously.

Pulling away from him, she straightened and smoothed out the front of her clothing. Shreds of dignity still clung to her features despite the pink that Alfred imagined he saw beneath the caramel surface of her skin.

"Do you always think like that?" she asked shortly, clearing her throat, and Alfred grinned.

"You were the one straddling me, Miss Pride."

She bristled at his words but let out a feminine, irresistible hmph and turned on her heel, marching away.

Alfred sighed, running his fingers through his hair and watching as she stalked away. He was in trouble. He knew it. He was going to get burned in the end but he wasn't sure if he really minded it.

Sighing again, all he muttered to himself was, "Damn," as he made his way back to camp. Briefly, he glanced over at the Indians-- who were in racuous laughter, looking and pointing at him before shouting words and grinning at Pride, who had her arms crossed over her chest, clearly not as amused as her companions.

Yep. Definitely in trouble.

Whee! Hope you guys like it!

More to come, I hope. :3