Basics: Eh... Kinda forget this when I first posted the chapter. Sorreh, guys. -3-' Anyway, this chapter was... Fun. A lot. I really enjoy picking on Alfred. Is that wrong? .3. Ha, well, hope you guys enjoy! More to come!
Pairings: Trail!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 Two: Indians, Part Two
They'd been on the trail for a good while now. He was in the front of the wagon train, heading along the worn down path. He loved being the front; even though he knew others had been on the trail before him, he felt that every step his horse took was the first before many others.
He walked his horse at first. Then he was trotted, slowly, just ahead of everyone else; and then he was cantering, going way along the trail until he cantered back.
The hook-nosed Indian usually rode beside him, except for when he cantered ahead. Alfred learned that his name was Akando, an Indian name meaning "ambush" (hmmm, suspicious?), and appreciated the older man's quiet company. It seemed to him that all Indians had a strange lack of emotion, but perhaps it was just a defense machanism. Or maybe he did have emotion and he was just smart enough not to show it.
"You are going to wear your horse out," Akando chastised him after watching Alfred right back and forth. Alfred bristled slightly, lifting his chin.
"Oh?" he asked, nearly in defiance, and a ghost of a smile whispered over the Indian man's lips.
"Horses are good creatures," Akando replied in a calm tone. He leaned down, resting his cheek against his horse's neck. "They want to make you pleased with them. But if I were a horse, I would have bucked you off because you are stupid."
Alfred might have been insulted. He almost was. But as he looked at Akando, opening his mouth for a retort, he saw amusement glittering in the dark eyes of his riding companiong. Clearly, his comment was not meant to be hostile.
Alfred shut his mouth.
"Yeah, you're probably right," he muttered, slowing his horse down to a walk once more. The equine snorted softly and shook its head, pacing lightly but staying at a walk. Akando gave him a small grin, which was quickly wiped away as they began setting out at a more intentional pace again.
When they'd been riding for a good long while, they took a while to stop for their lunch break. Alfred untacked his horse and tied it up with the other horses, stretching. He was sore from all of this riding, anyway, and a break was much appreciated. The sun tickled his face as it came down from the sky; it was hot, yet, but it was comfortable, even. He stopped by the river, kneeling down and feeling the cool breeze that floated up from it. If anything, he was even more nervous with the smell of the water. They'd be crossing the river, including all of the cattle and the likes, and it was as dangerous looking as he'd heard. While this was not perhaps once of the worst river crossings, there was always the chance of some sort of failure.
He dunked his head under the cool, sweet-smelling water, sitting there for a few minutes before pulling out and taking a breath of air. The water felt good, especially on his flushed face, and he rubbed it in for a while before getting distracted by the sound of voices from camp.
She was there again.
Astride her horse, she looked as regal, as condescending, as superior as ever. Now he could see her more clearly in the hot, noon-day sun. She was even more magnificent. Even more infuriating, because he could see the planes of her disdainful expressions.
Standing, he ran his fingers through his hair and settled his hat back atop his head, smoothing out the front of his shirt as he headed back into camp. He wouldn't take her superiority.
No way, no how.
He fell into step next to her horse, tilting his hat back to be able to look at her better. She glanced down at him, gaze not at all curious, but instead-- bored.
"Fancy meeting you here," he greeted with a cheeky grin. She didn't smile, but instead looked back again.
"There is nothing fancy about it," she replied, stonily. She was stoic, he thought, but he could break that mask. He was sure of it.
Why? Because he liked a challenge.
"Oh, I think there is," he continued in a conversational tone. The Indian girl rolled her eyes, looking annoyed, but he plunged on. "After all, weren't you going to stay with your tribe?" he queried, looking at her with an almost defiant gaze. She ignored him for a while.
"I came to help my people help you. That is all," she said in a tone that was forced tranquil. "Do not make something out of nothing."
"I'm not doing that," Alfred said innocently. "I just think it's funny how you keep ending up where I am. Don't you?" he asked, proffering a wide, charming smile.
No response from her.
After a few moments, she said, "I think it is funny how you are under the false impression the world revolves around you. What do you settlers call it? Oh, yes-- self-conceited."
Alfred coughed. Ouch.
She raised her hand in greeting to the other Indian men-- Akando, a young boy named Chua, and a more elderly man named Gudahi. While Gudahi was more... Well, seasoned than Alfred would have expected out riding with the younger men, he didn't for one second underestimate him.
"So that's Akando, Chua, and Gudahi, right?" he asked her, and when she nodded, he hummed in thought for a while. "Then what's your name?" he queried innocently. She looked at him in a calculating manner, and then rolled her eyes.
"Not important. To you, at least." Her reply was clipped, proud. He sighed. Alright, so maybe this was more of a challenge than he'd intended-- but it would be interesting to see how everything turned out.
And now he had a real goal to go for.
He mapped everything out in his head:
Step One: Find out her name.
Step Two: Get her to smile.
Step Three: Get her to laugh.
Step Four: ...
Well, that was about as far as he got.
But it was a plan, nonetheless! Something he could work towards that was planned out, set at a certain bar.
She exchanged warm words with her fellow Indians, seeming like a changed woman almost instantly as she conversed with them. Still nameless, but she remained proud-- and that's how he recognized her.
Pride.
Pride looked between her tribemates, continuing to speak with them in exotic, foreign words. If Alfred listened closely, her accent was different from theirs-- more curling, more flowery, even. If you could look at Pride as flowery.
He perked up as Akando motioned toward him in the conversation and broke out in laughter. The other two boys joined him, and soon Pride had her eyes narrowed and looked indignant. She chastised them, but soon Alfred noticed that she was trying to supress her own laughter as Akando mentioned something else.
He was completely lost.
Indians were so confusing.
"Chua" is Hopi for "snake", and "Gudahi" is Omaha for "there it (a coyote) goes!" Yes, I realize they are not the same tribe, but... Bare with me?
Btw, I sadly do not own Hetalia. Just Miss Pride over here. :3
