AN: I don't own either HP or Outlander or the book series.
Claire shuddered as the horse underneath her rode on through the night, jostling her with every trot. With each hurried step, she was jostled and fell back against the man behind her. The Scottish Highlander whom she had patched up twice, once for the shoulder that had popped out of its joint and again for a bullet wound.
The man's cloak was warm against her, covering most of her left side and him, providing protection against the biting rain and wind.
Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, her hair was loose and splayed over her shoulders and back, tie lost. She could see no car, no electric light, no familiar sight, except the moon and stars. It was just the mountains of Scotland around them and the man's other comrades ahead of them.
The moon shone down on them, bright and eerie, and Claire had traveled back in time.
Back in time to what she thought was 1743, before the end of the highland culture. One minute she had been in 1945, after World War 2. Now… she had gone through those stones and…
Thunder echoed in the distance and the man behind her sucked in a tight gasp. Rain fell much more silently around them even as the horse underneath them whinnied in fright. The sound of wings filled the air and Claire gasped, her heart pounding in her chest at the sight that had drawn Jamie's eyes too.
"What…"
A horse rode alongside them, perhaps a few feet away, and a man sat atop the horse's back. There was no saddle that Claire could see but she could easily enough see the wings and… the skeletal likeness of the horse. There was not an ounce of fat on the horse and nor was it any kind of horse she had ever seen. The black horse was all thin and skeletal and nothing she had ever seen before, with milky glowing white eyes.
The man wore a black cloak, with a hood over his face, and Claire could just barely see a stick peeking out behind an ear, like a pencil, and a ring flickered in and out of view on one of the man's fingers. The sound of swords clashing and horns filled the air, drums pounding out a rhythm joining them within a minute. Shadows pooled around the horse even though the sun was gone.
"'Tis the horseman of Death, Sassenach," Jamie whispered, his voice shaky. "No one's seen him for a while."
"Him? Horseman of Death?"
"Aye. Dinna make eye contact for he'll mark you for death."
The eerie horse snorted out breath as it matched Claire and Jamie's horse pace for pace, its wings fluttering against its flank. The man stared ahead and didn't say a word. Claire turned around slightly in the saddle to meet Jamie's narrowed eyes.
"How do you know?"
"The men who do die not too long afterwards."
"What about the women?"
Jamie blinked and tilted his head in confusion. "I dinna know of any women who have seen him. Your the first."
Claire's heart pounded away in her chest and she turned back to look at the horseman.
A black ghost wolf joined the eerie beast and man, tall and proud, and howled. Claire shivered and Jamie shuddered behind her.
They ran together as fog circled the horse's hooves, filling the valley where they were riding. It didn't appear that anyone else saw the man and beasts either. No one was remarking on the strange beast or the man but for her and Jamie. The wind howled around them and Claire felt their horse shudder with fright as the winged beast alongside them veered towards them, cutting them off.
Jamie froze behind her and drew the reins tight, muttering something in Gaelic.
The winged beast, wolf and man rode towards them and Claire leaned further back against Jamie's chest, feeling his arms close around her more.
The winged, skeletal horse finally came to a stop and Jamie pulled their horse to a stop too. Their horse snorted with fright, its ears pinned back at the sight of the wolf. The hooded figure seemed to stare at them for a moment and then Claire's eyes widened as the figure tipped his hood back, letting the material fall back, revealing a man.
A man that looked as young as she was, perhaps a year older than her at 27 or 28. He had messy, even wild black hair that fell to his shoulders, and bright green eyes that were almost glowing. The scar on the man's forehead drew her attention more, likening the shape of it to a bolt of lightning. The branches of it forked downward like real lightning, faint and red. The man wore a dark green shirt and leggings that were unfamiliar to her.
The cloak around his shoulders shimmered in the moonlight and then Claire met his eyes fully, gasping at the sight of them. They glowed and Claire wasn't entirely certain that it was the moonlight making them so.
"Your not taking the lass," Jamie remarked, raising his voice. "She's no yours!"
The strange, ghostly man stared at them, his eyes narrowing at Jamie's words. Claire stiffened and the ghost man… the Horseman of Death dipped his head to them and then the skeletal horse reared and galloped off.
Claire stared at the spot where the horse, man and wolf had been, heart pounding away. Jamie shivered behind her and the fog disappeared and the winds calmed down.
"Jamie! Where you at, lad?"
"That was the Horseman of Death?"
"Aye. You dinna look into his eyes, did ya?"
Claire paused in answering Jamie. "Did you?"
Jamie's friends came riding back to them and still Jamie didn't answer.
"Let's go."
"I did," Jamie finally answered just as they started to trot off again. "Several years ago."
Claire blinked and Dougal came around then, staring at them in irritation. They moved forward and Claire looked back to the spot where the horseman had been, thinking she'd see something, anything. There was nothing there to indicate that they had both seen the ghostly man, no tromped on dirt, no anything and Claire shuddered.
She was heading into an unknown future with superstitious men and the only man who had seen the rider was Jamie.
"Dinna mention the sighting to anyone, sassenach," Jamie murmured, as they rode off north. "'Tis better that way."
"Fine."
Jamie snorted and tucked her closer.
AN: This is courtesy of coronavirus binge watching. I've watched seasons 1-3 of Outlander already and I didn't really mean to.