Hey y'all, back at it again with another chapter! I managed to get this one out a few days earlier than I expected so I figured I'd get it out to you guys now since I left y'all on a cliffhanger. This chapter is gonna have a whole ton of angst, and Zane is going to have to do something he's not gonna like and deal with the reprecussions of his actions. So be ready! This chapter is not for the fainthearted.
Also, peep the new cover image! Made by yours truly ;)
Now for review responses!
ProfessorYeti: You would like to order more, huh? Well in this chapter we're gonna have a whole lot more where that came from, so feast your eyes! I'm super glad you like the series name, and yes I decided it would be best to since I realized you cant copy and paste published content on desktop mode so people couldn't type it into Google translate. Character collapsing is your jam, huh? Well, then you'll be pleased today. And if you think things are already dark, we're about to take it to a whole another level!
ok: Stay tuned to find out!
Guest: Heavens no! This is not a story solely where an OC saves the day. Personally I dislike stories that are entirely OC centered, so in mine I try to give equal attention to both OCs and canon characters. Even in chapters with my OC in them, I pay more attention to Zane than Hailey. WARNING: BLOOD AND DEATH AHEAD! If you have a weak stomach or otherwise are uncomfortable with blood and killing YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
"Shit!" Christopher cussed.
Zane saw them take the guns from their belts and empty the ammo out of them before they tossed them to the ground, got off their horses and held up their hands. He gritted his teeth and slowly reached for his gun. It would take more than this to end their run.
One of the outlaws saw him.
"You so much as lay a finger on that gun and you're a dead man." He warned.
Zane glared at the thief, his hand hovering over his gun. He refused to stand down.
"Just do it, Zane." Tony told him. "They're in a better position than you are."
Finally, heaving a sigh of defeat, he grudgingly slipped his gun from his holster and got off of Gale.
"That's more like it." The man said. "Now, what are you fools doing out here?"
"Minding our own business." Christopher spat. "What are you doing bothering us?"
"Does it look like I was born yesterday? Don't act like I don't know who those two are." He gestured to Hailey and Zane. "I'm no damn fool. So let's try this again. What are you doing out here?"
"We got your message." Zane told them, glowering. "And we're coming to get the innocent man you unjustly captured."
"And he'll be a dead innocent man if you keep talking to us in that tone." The second one retorted.
"Shut up and let me do the talking!" The first snapped at his partner. He turned back to the group, his eyes settling on Zane. He got off his horse and walked to him, gun in hand.
"So you came with the money?" He asked. Zane looked him dead in the eyes. "I hope you remember what we said in the message. You either give us the fifteen grand or the last thing your friend sees is the barrel of El Picazo's gun."
"I'd like to see the man alive first." Zane said. "That's not how proper business is done."
"The hell with proper business!" The outlaw snapped. He jabbed his gun at Zane's chest. "Now I don't know where you're from, chico rudo *tough boy*, but I can tell you that you're in Untamed territory, and here we do business as improperly as we please."
Tony leaned to Christopher. "What is he doing?" He hissed. "We don't have the money!"
"I don't know…" Christopher said back.
"This is the last chance I'm giving you." The outlaw warned, jabbing Zane in the chest again. "You better cough up the money now or you and your posse are gonna be left for the buzzards!"
Zane didn't waver, even with the man's threat.
"Samuel will be seeing the barrel of no gun." He growled. He narrowed his eyes at the man holding him at gunpoint.
"And you will be seeing no money."
It took a second for the outlaw to process Zane's words. When he did, an angry look passed on his face.
"Why you dirty-"
The man didn't have a chance to finish. Zane jumped at the man and tackled him to the ground.
The man on horseback aimed his gun at Zane and the other outlaw. Seeing he was distracted, Tony dove for one of the guns laying on the ground and pointed it at the bandit. His horse reared as a shot rang out and he fell to the ground dead, killed by Tony's shot to the heart. Hailey and Christopher scrambled for their weapons and ammunition.
The outlaw and Zane gouged and wrestled in the dirt. The man tried to shoot Zane, but he overpowered him and wrestled the gun from his hand. The outlaw swung and caught Zane in the jaw. He grunted in pain and the outlaw shoved Zane off of him before scrambling up, grabbing his gun and running for his horse.
Hailey shot at him but missed. Tony and Christopher were still struggling to reload their weapons. The outlaw jumped into the saddle and rode away.
"He's getting away!" She cried. She ran to Ranger, but Zane had already leapt onto Gale's back and went peeling off after him. In a second they were nothing more than a cloud of dust.
Dust was thick in the air as the outlaw's horse galloped ahead of Zane as they raced down the trail. Zane was bent over Gale's neck as he felt his horse almost fly off the ground beneath him. The sounding of pounding hooves rang in his ears. He needed to stop the outlaw. If he escaped, he would alert the Untamed that they were coming to rescue Samuel. Then they'd kill him for sure.
But Zane wasn't going to let that happen. Not on his watch.
He spurred Gale to go faster. The outlaw was well ahead of them, but if they could keep up they would be able to close in on him.
Slowly, Zane and Gale began to gain on the horse thief. The man looked behind his shoulder and pulled his gun and began firing at them.
Zane gripped the reins harder and ducked behind Gale's neck as they pursued the outlaw. He didn't let up on the chase as the bullets flew through the air past him and praised Gale when he didn't either.
"Atta boy!" He said to him, slapping the horse's neck.
Zane peered from behind Gale and saw they were right on the outlaw's horse's tail. Zane stood up in his stirrups.
"Easy now!" He said to his horse. As they approached the other horse, Zane waited until the moment was right. Then he jumped out of his saddle and tackled the outlaw out of his own. Together they fell to the ground and went tumbling down the side of the hill. When they reached the bottom, Zane and the outlaw jumped to their feet. The man swung a few punches at Zane who blocked the first two, but the last one hit him in the jaw and he stumbled back against a rock. The outlaw lunged at him but Zane kicked his legs up and pushed him away. Zane rushed over and hauled the man to his feet, who swung at Zane again. This time Zane blocked it and threw a punch of his own.
The man fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding nose. He kicked Zane in the back of the leg, making him fall. He jumped on top of Zane and pinned him to the ground. Zane fought against his hold, but the outlaw kept him still.
Reaching into his waistband, the outlaw drew his gun. Zane found the strength to get the heavy man off his back. But just as he got up and turned around he felt him slam him on his back to the ground. A hand kept his chest pinned down as the other recovered the gun. Zane saw the gun pointed at his face and instinctively grabbed the man's arm to push it away. It spoiled his aim, and the bullet meant for Zane went into the ground next to him.
Zane and the outlaw began wrestling each other for control of the gun. Both of them could only use one arm- Zane was using one to steady himself and the thief was using one to keep Zane pinned.
The thief tried turning the gun's barrel toward Zane as he fought to keep it away from him. They struggled, and another shot rang out as the thief pulled the trigger. Fighting Zane's hold on his arm, the thief's other hand suddenly closed in on Zane's neck as he tried to choke him out.
Zane gasped as he suddenly felt his airway being cut off and struggled to free himself. The man tightened his grip around his throat as they continued to battle for leverage over the gun. Zane fought against the man's hold, but he was growing weaker as his vision began to go dark.
'No…' Zane thought as he felt his eyes close. 'No! Not like this…'
The outlaw smiled sickly as he gripped Zane's neck harder. The blue sky began to go gray and the man's face went fuzzy as Zane slowly began to slip out of consciousness.
In one last deadbeat attempt, Zane summoned his remaining strength and lunged for the gun in the thief's hand that he could barely see. The man must have not been expecting it. Zane felt his hand wrap around the barrel and pulled as hard as he could, ripping the weapon from the thief's grasp, who cried out in surprise. Without a second thought, Zane spun the gun around and shot the outlaw on top of him in the chest.
The shot rang loud in his ears. The stench of gunsmoke filled his nostrils. Zane watched as the outlaw froze, clutched his chest, and fell sideways to the ground. Zane gasped for air as he felt his grip loosen around his throat.
Zane let his arm and the gun fall to the ground as he lay there, struggling to regain his breath. He craned his neck to see the outlaw laying next to him, blood pooling from a hole in his shirt and staining it red. His chest rose and fell twice before going still. A trickle of blood ran from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the sand.
Zane's eyes fell on the bloodstain on the outlaw's shirt as it slowly spread. A sense of dread filled him as he realized the outlaw was dead.
Zane had killed his first man. He had shot him through the heart. He had to. Only one of them was going to walk away from that fight alive, and the outlaw was trying to kill him. If Zane had done anything else, he would have been the one dead. And if that happened, Hailey, Christopher, and Tony would have no one to help them rescue Samuel, and his brothers back in Ninjago would have never seen him again.
But those thoughts didn't help him get over the fact that he had just killed someone. He had watched them take their last breath and their lifeblood stain the sand. Even if it was in self-defense, it still didn't feel right.
Then Zane thought of something else. He had fought many enemies in his past, especially serpentine. More often than not he used his ice powers to freeze them solid. How many had he unknowingly killed then? The serpentine were generally very peaceful now. How many families had he destroyed during that time that would have been whole today if it weren't for him?
Zane looked at the dead outlaw that lay in the sand. A puddle of blood had formed under him and his skin had gone pale. Did this outlaw have a family and he had taken him from them? Even if he was trying to kill him, it wasn't fair for the family to suffer. Did this add another tally on his count?
Zane pondered this a moment more while catching his breath before the faraway sound of hoofbeats disturbed him from his thoughts. He heard faintly some voices before the hooves vanished before he heard them again, steadily approaching him. Was it another outlaw?
Zane lifted his head and saw a familiar black and white horse coming towards him.
"Zane!" Hailey called as they came closer. She jumped from the saddle and ran to his side, kneeling down next to him. "Are you hurt?"
Zane groaned and tried to sit up. Now that the adrenaline from the fight had worn off, his body felt battered and bruised from the punches and his tumble down the hill. Hailey helped him sit up.
"Damn, you took a beating." She said when she saw the cuts and bruises on his arms and face. She looked over at the outlaw's body and turned back to Zane. "Did you plug him?"
Zane nodded weakly. "I had to. He was trying to kill me…"
Hailey went over and turned the man on his back, searching him for anything of use. She found a couple boxes of ammo.
"Where's the gun?"
Zane reached over and handed the gun to Hailey, who checked the chamber for any ammunition. She clicked it shut before shoving it in Zane's holster. She picked Zane's hat up off the ground and handed it to him and pulled him up off the ground and supported him as he limped over to Ranger. She helped him climb in the saddle before she got on and they rode along the base of the hill until they found a safe way to get to the top of the ridge.
Soon they got back on the trail, where Christopher and Tony were waiting for them. Tony held the reins of one of the thief's horses, and Christopher held Gale's and the other horse.
"He's alive!" Hailey called as they approached.
"Thank the Four Legends!" Christopher said as they rejoined them. "We heard the gunshots, we thought you got plugged. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'll be okay." Zane said. Hailey helped him get off and get back on his own horse.
"What are you two doing with them?" Hailey asked as she saw the outlaw's horses.
"I suggest we take them with us." Zane said. "If Untamed finds them running loose it will arouse their suspicion that we are after them. Plus, we can use them as pack horses or have them ready in case our own horses are unable to ride."
"We should find the other horses we saw before we got held up." Hailey said, untying her lasso. "We could need them too and we need to be certain that they're the ones Zane and I saw at the camp."
"I'll go with you," Tony said, also undoing the lasso from his saddle. "We don't want you being alone."
"We'll keep watch in case anyone else is coming." Christopher said, drawing his gun. "Someone could have heard the shots and decided to see what's going on."
Zane reached for his holster and grimaced at the sight of the outlaw's gun in his hand. The same gun he used to intentionally take a life. His stomach churned as he remembered the way the gun kicked back into his hand as he pulled the trigger, the shocked look on the outlaw's face as he realized he had been hit, and the way his glassy eyes reflected the ground he could no longer see as the sand became stained red.
Zane glanced down at his shirt and saw drops of blood. The outlaw's blood.
Suddenly the firearm felt heavy in his hand. How many people had the outlaw killed with this gun?
Then he noticed something strange. On the handle were little notches etched in the wood, as if someone had carved them with a knife. They were tally marks, sixteen of them.
Zane leaned over to Christopher. "What's the meaning of these marks?" He asked him.
Christopher took the gun from Zane and examined the notches.
"Is this the outlaw's gun?" Christopher asked.
"Yes. I took it from him as we were fighting."
"The notches on this pistol is how many people were killed with it." Christopher explained. He handed it back to Zane. "After he would plug somebody he'd cut a tally in the butt to keep track of his kills. He was about to make you number seventeen. He obviously knew his gun well, you're lucky you're not dead."
Well, regardless of who was killed, it was another notch next to the others. And this time it was Zane behind number seventeen.
Zane suddenly felt sick. He swallowed thickly and shoved the gun back in the back of his waistband as a wave of nausea came over him. He didn't want to touch or even look at that weapon that had taken so many lives in cold blood, especially since he had now added to that number.
"Here's yours, by the way." Christopher said. He held out Zane's gun to him. "But keep that other one with you just in case."
Zane took his gun back. It didn't carry the same weight as the other did, and he didn't feel sickened at the sight of it. Gratefully, he slipped it into his holster. But he could still feel the cold metal of the outlaw's gun bite into his back.
Hailey and Tony returned sometime later, leading a line of six horses joined together by a long rope.
"These horses look familiar to me." Hailey said as they regrouped. "They were easy to catch."
Zane peered at the horses. As he searched his memory cache, he could recall what the horses looked like.
"All six are a match." He confirmed. "And those outlaws that held us up must have been sent to capture them when we happened to run into them. "Let's take these ones too. If we leave them out here they won't be able to fend for themselves."
Hailey tied the lasso around the first horse to her saddle horn. Together they continued down the trail, leaving the bodies of the two outlaws behind.
As Zane rode away, he cast one last glance behind him. He hoped he would never come to this spot again. It would be forever stained with the blood he had shed. It was a moment that wouldn't be easy to forget. Even though the fight was long over, he could still hear the gunshots echoing through the hills and see the outlaw falling to the ground as Zane killed him.
As the brush vanished from view, Zane turned back to the long and dusty trail still ahead. He hoped he wouldn't have to kill another man. But he saw how ruthless these men could be, and if the rest were anything like them, he would have to again be ready to defend himself. Even if that meant adding an eighteenth notch to the outlaw's gun.
…
"Easy, this might hurt."
Zane gritted his teeth and hissed as there was a stinging pain.
The sun had set over the desert and the search party had stopped for the night. Zane was sitting on a rock at the edge of camp with his shirt off. Hailey was patching him up after the fight he had with the outlaw. He had cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over him, some worse than others.
"Damn, y'all got tore up pretty good…" Hailey told him, looking at all the cuts on his back. She dabbed her finger in a small container of ointment they had found in the saddlebags of one of the outlaw's horses. "The rocks got to you more than that man did." She saw a particularly large laceration on his shoulder and covered it with the ointment. Zane grunted in pain as it burned.
Hailey finished up with Zane's back and set down the ointment and picked up her canteen and a bandana. She kneeled in front of Zane and wet the bandana. Gently she wiped the dirt and dried blood from Zane's face. He watched as she worked when suddenly a worried look passed over her face.
"Hold still." She told him. She grabbed his chin and tilted his face sideways. She saw her grimace. "Yeesh, that's bad…"
"What?" Zane asked her. "What's the matter?"
"Your lip." She answered. She pointed to her face. "It's busted wide open." She picked up the ointment. "It looks pretty bad, I'm gonna have to clean it."
Zane gingerly reached up to touch his face. Sure enough, he felt a large jagged cut on his lip that went from the edge and up to the bottom of his nose. Some silver blood dribbled down the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away.
Hailey brushed Zane's hand out of the way and flushed out the split lip with water. She dabbed it dry with the bandana before applying ointment to it.
"It shouldn't take too long to heal." She told him. "But it's gonna scar for sure."
Zane sighed. "Great…" He muttered. Now he had a physical reminder of him killing his first man.
Someone approached Zane from behind. "How is he?"
"Ah, looking a little worse for wear." Hailey answered as she finished up with Zane's face. "Nothing too terrible though…"
Christopher stepped into view. He looked Zane up and down. He tsked.
"That fall must've done a number on you." He said. Zane nodded.
Christopher handed Zane's shirt to him that he was holding in his hand. "I managed to get the blood out, but not much else."
Zane silently mumbled his thanks as he buttoned his shirt back on.
"Tony and I are taking watch tonight." Hailey told Zane. "After all that happened today, you need some downtime."
She helped Zane up off the rock and he walked over to his bedroll. Grunting in pain, he pulled off his boots and hat before flopping down on the mat and pulling the blanket up closer to his face. He exhaled sharply in pain. His whole body was sore and aching, and his injuries were still burning from the ointment. He closed his eyes and let the sound of the nearby horses and the chirping crickets lull him to sleep.
…
Lightning danced overhead and thunder rolled across the sky. The wind howled across the desert. Zane stumbled to his feet after getting thrown down and got into his battle stance. Bruises and cuts were all over his face. He looked around wildly, but the darkness enveloped him from all sides, save for the brief flash of lightning that cracked across the night sky.
"Who are you?!" Zane called over the raging storm. "Show yourself!"
There was nothing, save for another rumble of thunder. But Zane knew something was there.
"I said show yourself!"
Then a fork of lightning flashed, and in it's light he saw a figure walking across the sand towards him. A moment later he emerged from the darkness. Another flash of light lit up his face.
Zane gasped. It was the outlaw he had killed in the fight earlier, covered in blood. How was he still alive? He had watched him die!
Without warning, the outlaw lunged at Zane. His hook caught Zane in the face and sent him reeling back. The outlaw jumped on him but Zane threw a punch which hit the outlaw in the nose. He fell off of Zane as he clutched it. Both him and the outlaw got back to their feet at the same time.
"How are you here?!" Zane demanded, fists clenched. The outlaw wiped the blood off his face and looked at Zane with those cold, steely eyes.
"To teach you a lesson." He said, grinning evilly. "You can run, but you can't hide from the past!"
"Wha-" Zane began, but was cut off as the outlaw landed a solid blow to Zane's chest, knocking the wind from his lungs. He stumbled to the ground. Trying to catch his breath, he tried to get up, but suddenly a rough hand seized the back of his neck and hauled him up. The outlaw spun him around and grabbed Zane around the throat, the same way he had before Zane had killed him. He lifted him off the ground.
"You thought you could get off that easy, didn't you?" The outlaw asked Zane, who was gagging and clawing at his arm, fighting for air. He tightened his grip around his neck and shook him. "Didn't you?!"
Zane kicked the man in the side. He cried out and dropped him. Gasping for breath, he staggered away before facing the man. Lightning flashed above them
"You can fight all you want," The outlaw said. "But the past will always catch up with you!"
He ran at Zane, throwing punches left and right. Still trying to recover, Zane weakly blocked and dodged all of his hits. Then the outlaw threw a left hook, which caught Zane in the jaw. He fell to the ground again with a grunt. He groaned and tried to get up, but the outlaw's hand wrapped around his neck again and hauled him up.
"P-please!" Zane begged, fighting against the man's iron grip around his throat. "I didn't want to kill you! You left me with no choice!"
"Maybe not." The outlaw said. "But you still did anyway. Whether you wanted to or not doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't change the outcome."
Then the outlaw's voice dropped to a whisper, dripping with venom. "My life came to an end because of you, and now it's time for me to get even."
The outlaw's hand flew for his belt, and he drew a knife. Still gripping Zane's neck, he plunged and ripped it through the nindroids abdomen.
A roar of thunder drowned out Zane's scream of pain. The outlaw threw Zane onto his back.
Tears of agony rolling down his face, Zane gasped raggedly for breath and clutched his stomach, his silver blood spilling freely past his fingers and soaking his shirt. It dripped off his body and fell to the ground and soaked the sand.
The outlaw towered over Zane, a vile smile on his face as he watched him suffer. Zane looked up to the man, a pleading look in his eyes.
"Don't! Please!" Zane cried, trembling in pain. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to kill you! I HAD TO!"
The outlaw's sick smile only grew wider as he reached for his gun. Zane went for his, but his hand grabbed only air. He looked wildly for his gun, and saw with a jolt of horror it lay in the sand behind the outlaw.
Zane tried to get up, but the searing pain in his stomach wouldn't let him. He tried to scramble away, but suddenly something wrapped around his ankle.
Looking down, Zane was horrified to see a red and black snake's tail buried in the sand that was twisting up his leg. But it wasn't any snake tail. He recognized it somewhere.
Something cold and scaly seized Zane's wrist. He turned and saw another snake tail around his hand, this one blue and yellow.
Zane fought against the two tails holding him down, but a black tail with orange spines shot out of the sand and wrapped and around his other wrist, pulling him to the ground as a green tail snaked around his other leg.
The outlaw chuckled as he watched a bleeding Zane struggle uselessly as the tails restrained him. He walked up to him, loading a single bullet into his gun.
Looking at the tails, he recognized them with a jolt of horror. These weren't just any snakes, these were the Serpentine!
Zane looked back up at the outlaw, tears streaming down his face. "PLEASE! I DIDN'T WANT TO KILL ANY OF YOU! I'M SORRY!" He fought against the tails, but it was no use.
"It's time to pay your dues." The outlaw said. "I know I'm not the only one with blood on my hands. You're just as guilty as I am." He stepped forward and raised his gun. Zane stared down it's barrel.
"There was going to be a seventeenth notch on my gun either way." The outlaw told him. "But this time, it's your turn."
"NOO!" Zane cried. "PLEASE! YOU DON'T-"
BANG!
Zane was cut off as he felt a burning pain deep shoot in his chest. Something inside him ruptured and he felt the metallic taste of blood rising into his throat. Silver liquid oozed heavily from a hole above his heart. He couldn't move. He couldn't talk. His vision darkened and his hearing became muffled. He felt the Serpentine tails finally release him, but it was too late now.
The last thing Zane saw was the lightning flicker behind the outlaw, who was laughing gruesomely as he watched the lifeblood drain out of the nindroid and stain the desert sand.
Just as Zane's vision went black and he took his last breath, the outlaw bent down and whispered in his ear.
"How does it feel?"
…
"AAH!"
A terrified scream shattered the silence of the night.
Hearing the cry, Tony straightened up and drew his gun. He stood in his saddle to see if any danger was nearby. He glanced over to Hailey, who was on the other side of the camp. She heard it too, for she was also standing in her saddle, gun in hand. They scanned the moonlit desert around them, but saw nothing of concern.
Thinking it was just an animal, he was about to dismiss the noise until he saw Zane thrashing around in his bedroll.
Gasping, Tony and Hailey raced to Zane. Hailey got there first, diving out of her saddle.
"Zane!" She called, shaking him. "Zane, wake up!"
"What the hell is going on?!" Christopher asked them as he ran up. Zane was whimpering and saying things that no one could understand as he continued to flail about.
"Zane screamed but he's not waking up!" Tony said. "My canteen!"
Christopher grabbed it off of Tony's saddle and passed it to Tony, who unscrewed the lid and doused the water on Zane's face.
Zane's eyes flew open as he quickly sat up. He gasped and coughed and jumped to his feet.
"NO!" He cried. "DON'T! PLEASE! I DIDN'T WANT TO DO IT!"
Zane staggered around the camp shouting at the top of his lungs while clutching his stomach.
The three followed. Zane tripped over a rock and fell to the ground. He cried out in pain, making the horses spook.
Hailey ran up to Zane and turned him on his back. He scrambled away from her, his eyes wild with fear.
"NO!" He yelled again. "DON'T! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!"
"Zane, easy!" Hailey told him, holding her hand up to him as if he were a scared animal. "Easy! It's me! Hailey! You're safe! No one's going to hurt you!"
"It's alright, son." Christopher said. "You're okay."
"It's us, amigo." Tony added.
Zane was still for a moment, clutching his chest and stomach, breathing heavily. But as his eyes passed over each of their faces, his eyes softened and began to relax. Then he heaved a sigh and just lay on the ground.
The three carefully approached him.
"Zane, are you alright?" Hailey asked him quietly. "We heard you scream and thought something happened to you."
Zane continued to lay there, completely spent. He didn't have the energy to move, much less talk. His limbs felt like lead and his heart was pounding.
It was so vivid, Zane thought it was real. He still felt the burning in his chest, the knife disemboweling him, the cold of the scales holding him down. He still tasted the blood in his mouth and heard the thunder roll in his ears. No, he wasn't alright. The outlaw had made a point. He wasn't the only one with blood on his hands. Zane had killed him, and god knows how many Serpentine too. He was just as guilty as any outlaw was. He was built to protect, not to take lives. But he did just that.
'How does it feel?"
That voice. That damned voice. Even now, awake, Zane still heard that vile voice whispering in his ear as he bled out. It wasn't one he would forget anytime soon.
Then suddenly Zane burst into tears. It all just became too much for him to handle.
"Shit!" Hailey cussed silently. She looked at Tony and Christopher. "What do we do?"
While the two men knelt down to Zane to console him, Hailey happened to spy Gale. Zane loved his horse. Maybe he could be of some use.
Hailey made her way to the horses and untied Gale before walking him over to where Zane still lay. She rested a hand on Zane's shoulder to let him know she was there and gently grabbed his wrist. He pulled away the first time. She tried again, gentler, and placed his hand on Gale's muzzle.
Zane didn't seem to notice. Gale took a step forward and lowered his head, sniffing at Zane's hair.
The warm breath from Gale's nostrils made him look up. Through his teary vision he saw his horse's face. He rested a hand on Gale's cheek before resting his own forehead back on the ground.
Hailey looked at the other two again. "Now what?" She asked.
The three allowed Zane to have his space and decompose before helping him back to his bedroll. Exhausted from the day's and night's events, he fell asleep almost instantly. The others watched and made sure he was okay before Tony and Hailey went back on watch.
"What got to him, you think?" Hailey asked Tony as they got on their horses. Tony shrugged.
"I don't know." He said. "But whatever it was, it was not good."
"I think I know, but I want to be sure."
"Killing one of the Untamed?"
"I mean, that stuff can mess you up, and with Zane being- well- Zane, I guess, he's probably never directly killed someone, and made it worse."
"Perhaps, but now is not the time. Let's allow him to compose himself before you start asking questions."
Hailey nodded, and the two went back to their lookout spots outside the camp.
Awww, poor Zane! Stay safe, and be sure to drop a review on your way out. I do read them and enjoy reading your thoughts!