Bakhtegan Lake, 1988
"Y'know…Joseph…" Hol Horse adjusts his hat as he gets out of the open-topped convertible, trying to shield his face a bit from the beating sun. His eyes desperately scan the area around him, sweat pouring over his entire body.
"Yeah?" Joseph answers with a chipper tone, feet propped up on the dash as he stretches.
"When you said there was a lake here to cool off in…"
"Amazing, right? A little lake out here in the deserts of the Middle East..."
"…There ain't no goddamn lake here! There ain't even a puddle!" With a violent swing, Hol Horse crashes his hand down onto the side of the vehicle, only for him to flinch away on contact with the burning hot side of the car.
"…What do you mean? I flew over it just a month or two ago- Oh yeah! That was 1939…"
"Do you have no sense of time at all? And you two, how the hell can you stand this heat?" The cowboy grits his teeth as he angrily points at Anne and Jotaro. Both of them sit utterly unperturbed in their seats, shooting daggers with their eyes as they stare at the shouting Hol Horse.
"Easy, Horsey Boy!" Joseph swings his door open and gracefully tumbles out to stand next to Hol Horse. "One of the basic skills of Hamon is maintaining your bodily functions immense control of your breath!"
"Yeah!" Anne breaks her cool stare to throw a thumbs up at the two outside the car. "Me and Jotaro are Hamon masters by now!"
"My ass!" Hol Horse curls his mouth into a snarl as he is about to smack the car again, but holds his hand back at the last moment.
"He's got a point, Anne. You haven't trained once since we got on the road." Nodding sagely, Joseph sets his prosthetic hand on the car door beside him and looking Hol Horse in the eyes with a smile.
"Oi, Anne. Another one." Jotaro tosses a hand behind him, what appears to be a melted bagged ice pack drooping limply from of his grip on the metal rim at the top. In a flash, Anne bends down, opens a hatch below her seat, and pulls out a solid ice pack before exchanging it with Jotaro.
"Hey! I've been sweatin' like a sheep in the Mojave while y'all been-" As Hol Horse rants, Anne bends down again and retrieves what appears to be a very cold juice box. "-Seriously?"
"Alright, kiddos! Time to train! Today we're doing…"
"Breathing?" Jotaro rolls his eyes as he looks away.
"Uh…"
What was that for? If only I had that breathing mask Lisa Lisa used, then he wouldn't complain about what I put him through.
"Oh! Oh! A useless and niche Hamon technique someone's grandpa thought up!" Anne grins as she speaks. Hol Horse takes a cigarette out along with his lighter, but starts to fumble with the metal lighter as heat bears down on it.
"Oi, put that away. Just take this and find some shade." Jotaro tosses his fresh ice pack at Hol Horse, who eagerly catches it and offers a faint smile in return.
"Hey, you're just gonna let him roam free?" Anne kicks Jotaro's chair, but he simply holds out his hand for another ice pack.
"It'll be okay." Jotaro looks at Joseph as he speaks, "If he runs away I'm blaming Jojo's training."
"SPEAKING of which. No, your ideas make me seem like I'm a lame teacher." With a flourish, Joseph spins on his heel, brandishing the contrasting pair of clackers from his pocket, one shining and polished while the other creaked with rustiness. "Today, we're learning your signature techniques." A smirk forms on his face as he watchs Anne's face light up.
Until he feels a blunt, clacker-shaped force on the back of his head, causing him to wobble off balance and faceplant into the dust.
…Dammit.
Wandering through the desert, Some god damned place in the middle east
Y'know, you could just run…
Hol Horse stops near a bit of a steppe, the dry brush around him crackling as he steps through it.
"Shit's worse than Arizona 'round here."
He speaks to himself to pass the time in between his thoughts, his fingers fidgeting while twirling a cigarette in between his fingers.
Could just wander off, get lost, and find my way off this death ride…
"Damn sun…"
Their fault for being careless…
"Fryin' in my own damn sweat…" He presses the ice pack into his midsection and readjusts his hat to cover more of his exposed neck and chest.
And if they find me, I can just say I got lost… Seems obvious I can't just kill 'em and go back all honkey dorey with DIO. That treasure he's sittin' on…down the damn drain.
"Reminds me of home too much. Shit sucks."
But…
"But…"
But… he trusts me. Jojo…and I guess Jotaro. Am I so low to shoot 'em in the back of the head?
"Gah, this sucks either way."
Or worse…leave 'em to die? After saving me from that witch…I can at least give it one go. One fight. And if it's too terrible, I'll consider it even and book it so fast that even Joseph can't catch me.
"…Ugh." Hol Horse trudges himself up and stretches. "Why can't there ever be a gas station…"
Yeah…just one fight. Joseph said I'll get paid if I help. And…
Looking at the sandy scrubland around him, he tracks down his footprints to follow them back. Sweat drips down his face as he laughs silently to himself.
I trust that bastard.
Khorramshahr, 29 Days Remaining
Getting out of the convertible to stretch his legs, Jotaro leans on the nearby wall of the gas station while scanning his surroundings. The city is fairly barren, apparently hard on its luck after an almost decade long war with a neighboring country. Still, some passersby watch the motley crew of theirs with wide eyes.
No one quite yet…I'm sure in the few hours before we meet to collect Iggy…Hm.
Anne runs back up to their currently refueling vehicle with Joseph behind her, carrying what appears to be several fairly large and full paper bags. He seems to be nonplussed, but not struggling. Hol Horse wipes some sweat off his brow as he sees Joseph approach, though he keeps his head down and continues to refuel the car.
"Hey Jotaro! We got everything we need for another leg of the trip!" Anne's face is beaming as she proudly holds up a small pouch. "They even gave me my stuff for free!"
"That's because you picked a junk signature technique…" Joseph grumbles as he passes Anne and sets the bags down in front of the trunk. He begins to unload each one individually, putting some items in the cooler mounted underneath the backseat.
"Nuh-uh. Way better than 'Clacker Volley'! You picked a kid's toy!"
"No way, tell her, Jotaro." Joseph turns around and puts his hands on his hips, as if his triumph will arrive on Jotaro's words.
"You're a child." Jotaro spoke flatly, before approaching to help with the bags. The first one he picked up, however, felt a bit heavy.
"Told you!" With a leap, Anne completely clears a Hamon-fueled jump over Joseph's head into the back seat of the car, an onlooker gasping a bit and crossing to the other side of the street as she does.
"Why you-"
"Jojo." An intense amount of concern shadows Jotaro's voice as his hand retrieves the heavy items from the paper bag in his hand.
"What?"
Idiot…
"Why did you buy this?" He pulls out a gorgeously decorated ceramic bowl. The detailed patterns of blue and clay-colored lattice coat the whole surface of the shallow… soup bowl? The purpose of it is hard to ascertain other than being a pretty table piece.
"I love buying souvenirs from places I visit. I think I have a ceramic bowl from this area back at home…or well, former home. They're pretty table pieces."
Of course…but…
"…Why two of them?" He pulls at the bottom of the bowl, revealing that two of them seemingly had been stacked together tightly.
"Two?" Joseph scratches his chin while examining both bowls. "Huh. Her loss. I only paid for one! Can't argue with a good deal!"
"…Yare yare daze…" Jotaro carefully wraps both bowls in paper bags for cushioning, before tucking them in a corner of the trunk.
"Such a party pooper, huh?"
"We have to hurry, Jojo." Jotaro slams the trunk shut and leans on it as he looks at Joseph. "We have a ways to go for the drop-off site."
"Speaking of which, Jotaro, I've updated my guess on who our mystery companion will be."
…Good grief. He has no urgency…
"I'm keeping track, y'know!" Anne shouts from the backseat.
"Good, then write this down. I'm calling it, the only reason they're parachuting this guy in over a warzone is that he's a grizzled war veteran! Scraggly face, thousand yard stare, the works! Some no nonsense guy who is dangerous and needs instructions so we don't piss him off!"
"…The hell did get sent to you then…" Hol Horse mumbles as he finishes fueling the car and the last of the reserve gas cans.
"Alright, then my vote on oddly dressed teenager with a dark and mysterious past still stands…" Anne scratches out an apparently long guess on her notepad before hurriedly notating Joseph's guess.
"Just… get in the car, Jojo." Jotaro presses his palm to his face as he shoves off the car, walking around to his seat before hopping in.
"Yep, on it!"
"Now, can ya refresh me on the plan? Since, from my understanding, I'm stuck with Joseph for it." Hol Horse's words are tinged with an apparent anxiety.
"Anne and I will drop you off just before the Iraq border. You both will walk north until you reach a village just off the path. At about 5pm, a small plane will fly overhead and drop off Iggy by parachute along with his instructions and some supplies for him. Apparently he's very…specific. After you collect him, hurry back as soon as possible. We will be waiting in a lot just outside the border so we can get back on the road."
"…So why do I hafta walk so damn far when Joseph could go by himself?"
"Cuz I need the company!" Joseph adjusts the rearview mirror and ignites the engine while speaking.
"Rather," Jotaro calmly corrects Joseph, "Our safest bet is that we will be attacked at some point during this rendezvous. Things have been too quiet, and I'm sure DIO has found someway to track us by now. If we leave the car unattended, we may be stranded for longer than necessary."
"So, Jotaro is strong enough to guard both the car and Anne, while me and you are stuck with fetching the new person!"
"…Wonderful."
"Hey, Horse-Face! Could be worse!" Anne happily exclaims as she lightly punches Hol Horse in the arm.
"…It just got worse from you calling me that."
"Well…" Anne's tone grows sinister, "Would you rather be stuck guarding a car with me?"
"I'm…fine with walking…" Hol Horse puts his elbow on the door and looks out the window, the breeze flowing past them as Joseph picks up speed.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jotaro spots some movement from behind them.
Hm?
He can't quite tell what caught his attention…all he sees is a car or two behind them on the highway…
Did…the trunk lid move?
"What's wrong, Jotaro?" Joseph beams a wide grin as he looks over at Jotaro.
"Not sure. But, Joseph?"
"Yeah?"
"Drive fast." Only a moment of placidity hung in the air before Joseph jams his foot down on the gas, the engine roaring to life as they sear down the highway.
END OF CHAPTER 24