A/N: Been WAY too long since I last posted a chapter, I know. Sorry! While this is rather short, I will be continuing with it in the next chapter, whenever I can manage to get that up. When my muse stops being a stubborn little shite, you will have more.
Disclaimer: The Magnificent Seven belong to their creators, unfortunately enough. I only own Hespera the Horse and Cavey the Sad, Wet Cave. (I know I know, I could have come up with something better, but why bother?)
When It Rains... Split. Splot. Splatter.
Ezra blinked and looked up at the sky. Water? Had that been his imagination, or--no, there it was again.
Split. Splot.
Rain? Ezra moaned silently. Good Law'rd, what next?
He glared gloomily at Hespera's head as she plodded cheerfully across the dried up ground. They had only been traveling for a few hours and already Ezra was sore and achy, wishing he could just let himself collapse on the ground and curl up into a ball. He had been quite content to embark on this journey if it meant that he could ride Hespera, but he was now beginning to wish that they had never left that wretched town.
And on top of all that... it was raining?
Split. Splot splot, splatter splatter. Sploosh.
Much like the way a child will move from teary-eyed melancholy to outright sobbing, the rain was a mere sprinkle one moment and a frightful downpour the next. He could faintly hear the sound of Chris swearing from somewhere near his right and saw, through a thick curtain of rain, the outline of Vin and Nathan's horses to his left.
He tried to squint through the watery haze, wondering if they would be stopping until the rain lifted. As he felt Hespera come to a stop beneath him (for she had taken a liking to Chris's horse and felt to need to copy his every move), he gathered that they would be stopping after all.
A few minutes later, huddled tightly against Vin to preserve warmth, Ezra watched with detached amusement as Chris paced restlessly about the hidden alcove they had stumbled upon, glaring at its walls as if they were the cause of all his problems. Ezra was just thankful they had found the damn place, especially since it meant they would be out of the wretched rain for the time being.
The alcove--which was really a small cave--had a rather wide entrance, but narrowed sharply towards the end of it where there appeared to be a path leading through the inside of the mountain. When Chris caught him peering into the darkness, Ezra and the others had been explicitly ordered not to go off exploring.
"You might get lost," Chris had lectured tersely. "Or worse, trip down some hidden canyon and get yourself killed, and that's the last thing we need right now."
Ezra had been sure to stay away from it after that.
Nathan was now attempting to start a fire while Vin sat sullenly where Chris had ordered him to sit. All of his attempts at helping had been rebuffed, and he was now sitting and glaring a hole into the ground. With the unhappy emotions flying around the small enclave, Ezra felt a sudden urge to scrunch up into a defensive ball lest the irritation and fear overwhelm him.
Brushing that feeling aside, he gently scooted out from under a lightly dozing Vin and moved silently towards Hespera, whispering soothingly to her as he stroked her back. She huffed and skittered nervously, but eventually calmed down under Ezra's calm ministrations.
He stayed by her side for a moment more, not wanting to go back and sit down, but having nothing left to do. Something about being stuck in a cave with the rain beating a steady staccato onto its sides made one very restless. Still, he wasn't quite in the mood for human company right now. Having a bit of 'bonding' time with his new friend couldn't hurt.
Ezra jerked sideways in shock when Nathan's voice suddenly boomed through the dimly-lit cavern. It took some effort, but he managed to keep Hespera from panicking.
We're going to drive each otha' mad if we don't get out of here soon, he thought in exasperation.
"Quit your pacing, Chris, for God's sake! Pacing and glaring at the walls ain't gonna make the rain stop any faster!"
Chris didn't alter his pace, even as Nathan's exasperated voice cut through his silent fuming. "Well, it sure makes me feel a Hell of'a lot better!"
Nathan calmly retorted that he certainly wasn't having a calming effect on Ezra, so now would probably be a good time to stop.
Ezra, who had tired of standing and gone back to sit by the fire, shook his head in disagreement, nowhere near eager to be involved in a fight. "Ah'm fine, please don't stop your... ruminations on mah account."
Nathan sighed as the taut figure continued without any sign of having heard Ezra's polite decree. He contemplated the possibility of them getting out before dark, but concluded that that was highly unlikely. This type of rain was sure to continue for a two or three days at worst, maybe half a day if they were lucky. Any more than half a day and they were likely to kill each other off. Good thing Vin was still asleep.
Seeing Ezra begin to shift restlessly from his new seat by the fire, Nathan decided to give him something to do lest he get too bored and get into any mischief.
"Here, Ezra, would you mind placing this pot outside where it can gather rain? I reckon the rain water should be good enough to drink."
Ezra nodded obediently and walked hesitantly to the edge of the cave. Putting the pot outside as far as he could reach without getting out from under the cave's protective covering, he stopped for a moment and simply stared out at the falling rain.
The rain may have lightened a bit, but it was close to impossible to tell. Though it was only around one o'clock in the afternoon, the clouds and the rain made it seem much later, and even if the sun had been out, you wouldn't be able to see anything through the rain. He stifled the sudden urge to shiver; for a moment, it had felt like someone was watching him. He squinted, hoping to catch some sign of movement, but the rain continued to fall in heavy sheets, hindering his ability to see. He brushed the feeling aside uneasily, acknowledging that even if there had been something, there was nothing he could do about it right now.
Blowing out the air in his cheeks gustily, Ezra turned back into the center of the alcove. Maybe Chris would agree to let him get out for a bit; he was starting to get cabin fever.
Opening his mouth to ask, Ezra was interrupted when Nathan spoke up. "Now that we don't have much else to do but wait for the rain to stop, how about you tell us where you're from, and who that man was? You told us that your parents are dead, but you never did tell us why that man's after you, or where you used to live."
That question did stop Chris in his tracks. He moved back towards the fire and stared down at Ezra piercingly.
"Well?" He asked when Ezra didn't immediately answer. "He asked you a question."
Ezra withheld a wince. Could they have waited a BIT longer?? He still needed to come up with a good enough lie.
Deciding that what he had would have to be good enough, Ezra opened his mouth to spout off a story designed to instil pity (something his mother had trained him in expertly), when he happened to glance at Chris's face. His mouth shut automatically with a click. Something about his face just then seemed to warm him about the dire consequences of lying.
Ezra swallowed, a trickle of sweat beginning to slide down his face. This was not good; definitely not good.
A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short. My muse has been dead for ages, so I figured I might as well get this out, even though it isn't much. I haven't spent as much time editing it, so if you see any major messups, DO forgive!
A question for all of you: should I delve more into the whole 'there's-a-little-road-that-leads-into-the-mountain' thing? I dunno, I just felt that that might go somewhere, but if ya'll prefer if the plot got moving a bit instead...