John II.
After half a day of riding back up north, the boys had reached their chosen destination. They were going off the map that they've been handed back at Riverrun and although it didn't cover the rest of this country the old scroll did show off the many towns and landmarks in this particular region known as the Riverlands. John had spent some time analyzing the entirety of said map and based of their last location and the that of the Twins, they had traveled quite a distance from the coastline where everyone else was currently at, waiting for their safe return.
It would take them an entire day to make it back to the others, but the sooner they finished this assigned mission the better. Dutch had taken a detour towards a market town specifically called Fairmarket with the two knight escorts sent along with them. Talked about getting some wagons and supplies for their family and get them out of that miserable spot they were in.
Arthur wished him safe travels and carried on with John and Micah to the rendezvous point.
XxXxX
Once again, the sun was slowly starting to set off in the distance, the bright yellow star was now a strong orange as the skies changed from blue to reddish, granting the land around them a new outlook only seen at peculiar hours of the day. It was around this time of dying daylight that the group had reached what was believed to be the point of contact. The only visible confirmation they held were the two men up ahead seemingly waiting for someone, that someone must've been them three.
"You fellas looking for something?" Arthur questioned the two men as they pulled up alongside them on the dirt road.
"Just three oddly dressed men claiming to be reputable fighters and asking for more than they may be actually worth." One of the two men present spoke with such a condescending tone.
John scoffed, allowing a small grin to form, "We got's us a live one here."
The three dismounted their horses and approached the knight duo before them. Both were older men with gruff, weary complexions on them. Aside from their leather garments, both wore chainmail and sets of metal pauldrons for their chests, shoulders and forearms as well capes composed of the colors red and blue. The symbol on their chest plates was that of a white trout with a red and blue background, the sigil House Tully.
"Careful now Marston." Arthur jested, seeing how the two knights were unamused with them, "Don't want this man here to gut you open like a fish, Abigail will never live me be if that were to happen to your sorry ass."
"Yeah...that would be a pleasant nightmare for you to suffer." John joked back.
The main knight took initiative and reeled in the conversation back to the main topic at hand, "Seems you men are in high spirits. In that case it's best you head on over the hill up ahead and engage the enemy camp with the same morale. Then again...it's just three of you after all."
"Those some big words now mister. Best be smart about it, I'm not great with keeping my head cool." Arthur warned them.
"Enough already you two!" The other knight got in between the two, having tired of the entire exchange, "Let us carry on with this task at hand and not allow such shallow words claim our dignities." Both men relented and focused back on the original objective. Micah simply scoffed at everyone while John just wanted to get it over with it.
"So how many bandits we talking here?" John asked, he didn't doubt their gunslinging capabilities, but Intel is always valuable regardless.
Before the knight could respond a rustling noise from the bushes alerted the three outlaws. The figure of a man stumbled out of the brush and not knowing who he was, John and the others aimed their revolvers at him. The person saw them and halted, raising both arms up in the air.
"Not one more step forward!" Arthur threatened.
"Wait!" The knight got in between them, shielding the young man from possible bodily harm, "This is my squire, I sent him up ahead to scout the camp."
"Oh, okay then." Arthur acknowledged. John put away his revolver, Micah held on to his, both fingers gently caressing the triggers.
The young squire who looked to be in his late teens let out a sigh of relief but kept his eyes on the three men next to his liege. John noticed that the kid had his own small dagger but lacked the armor that the two older men possessed with them, the kid was more likely to get harmed faster than they would. Guess in this world it's all about rank, not so different from their own camp rules.
"Dennis what have you learned?" The knight asked his squire.
"It's a full camp, but the ringleaders, if I heard correctly from those drunk around the campfire have traveled down to the Reach for unknown purposes. We'll need to call in more banners to take them out here and now!" Dennis finished the assessment of the situation.
To John it made no difference if the gang leaders had skipped town, they were still going to exterminate that camp, but perhaps it may be a problem down the line if they have run-ins in the near future. Anyhow, he would take it one day at a time as he has always done. With everyone gathered together and on the same page they decided to commence their plan of attack.
XxXxX
John, as quietly as he could approached the camp from the east side, daylight was already dying, so he was provided plenty of cover by the shadows. Arthur and Micah had taken different routes for the impending ambush of theirs. Micah would strike from the west and Arthur as bold as he was known for would walk right up the main path into camp and publicly introduce himself to these soon-to-be dead men. Once Arthur gave the signal, which would clearly be the sound of his two guns going off, would the rest attack simultaneously. Perfect plan and as long as there were no lethal surprises it would be over in a matter of minutes.
Approaching the camp, John caught sight of a few of the men loitering around the place's perimeter. One single look and it was quite obvious to him that these men were doing a piss-poor job at keeping their guard up for possible intruders. This would be much easier than he had originally anticipated. Taking out his knife he quietly approached the closest man who was busy drinking a bottle of liquor instead of noticing his incoming killer. John reached the bandit who was still oblivious to the young outlaw. With one hand he covered the man's mouth and slit his throat open with the other. Struggling against John, the bandit tried to scream, but with his mouth covered the sound was muffled. John stabbed him a few more times on the heart and let go once the bandit went limp.
"Oi, Roddy you okay mate?" Another of the bandits on lookout called out, the dying sound of his brethren not as silent as John had hoped for.
Before moving on John, looted the dead man out of habit and got himself a pair of daggers. A small and heavily dismantled stone wall laid between him and the next bandit, John ran up to it for as much cover as it could provide him. He could hear the other bandit approaching, calling out for his dead comrade, but John remained hidden even thought his area of cover was abysmal. Touching his gun, John relented and instead grabbed one of the daggers he had acquired and waited for the man to get just close enough to him. "Roddy did you fall asleep? You worthless shit!" John took a peek and saw him just to his right by a few meters away. Best opportunity he would get John stood up raised his dagger and threw it with all his might at the man who caught a glimpse of his attacker.
"Urgh!" The dagger impaled the man on the chest, dropping him to the ground in a state of shock.
"Two down..." John whispered as he hoped over the stone barricade and made his way deeper into the enemy camp.
Closing into the center, John takes notice of the rest of the gang gathered around. It was around fifteen of them loitering about with no purpose, just waiting for something to occur. Some of them are resting by the main campfire, others stood around talking or drinking or eating the cooked meat. Scanning his surroundings John managed to catch a glimpse of Micah's form on the other side of the camp, they were both now in position, it was now up to Arthur to kickstart this ambush. Retrieving his revolver, John cocked back the hammer and picked his targets, the one-sided battle would commence soon enough.
"Hey there!" Arthur's voice boomed loud and clear. Some of the men took notice of the intruder who was casually approaching camp from the main entrance.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" A few of the bandits approached Arthur who remained still, both hands on his holsters.
"I'm just looking for directions is all, no need for hostilities now friends." Arthur continued the conversation.
"You sure found yourself lost in the worst place possible now, hehe." The bandits spread out wide in front of Arthur, all ready to strike the unconcerned cowboy.
John was patiently waiting for the signal, but knowing Arthur, the guy loved to get on people's nerves beforehand and that was exactly what he was doing. "Not really lost...actually I'm in the right spot, its you fellas that find yourselves in the worst place possible." Arthur remarked, getting a rise out of the four bandits in front of him.
John peeked over and saw Micah already aiming his guns at the bandits on his side of the camp. That lunatic was about to start opening fire without waiting for John or Arthur. John had no idea what to do, sure they had the superior firepower and could lay waste to this entire camp in a matter of seconds, but if they don't coordinate their efforts then even the simplest of plans can go easily awry. It was too late now, Micah fired off the first shot, striking the first man down with a direct hit to the skull. The whole camp just as quickly came to life. John cursed out Micah, broke cover and opened fire. The whole camp descended into chaotic confusion as men were being dropped left and right in a matter of seconds, John took quick aim and killed three men who were just standing around, confused and spooked by all the loud gunfire. This was turning out to be the quickest, one-sided gunfight he's ever been in. He could hear Arthur cussing up a storm at Micah who happily bantered along, he just focused on the bandits running around like headless chickens. John jumped over the small stonewall and ran up for the next closest cover. A bandit ran out from one of the tents holding on to a crossbow, he was aiming at Arthur who was dual-wielding revolvers. John simply raised his arm and shot the man directly on the back.
"Jesus! This is a massacre!" John yelled out.
"Better them than us, Marston!" Micah shot another man on the neck. The bandit crumpled down clutching on to his throat as he bled out.
Arthur shot another bandit who unwisely rushed him with a small sword right on the leg, before finishing him off with a headshot, "We'll talk about it afterwards!"
"Demons! Monsters! You inhumane creatures wearing human faces!" The last standing bandit screamed in horror and agony, crawling backwards on all four from the three men who have now grouped up.
"Yeah. That sounds about right." Micah cheerfully responded.
"What you wanna do with this one?" John asked Arthur who put away his guns. The bandit has been shot in the liver and was bleeding out.
"Not much. He ain't going to make it to wherever it is that we could even take him on time." Arthur shrugged.
"Where your bosses at? Any more of you out here?" Arthur knelt next to the petrified man, who kept his wide saucer eyes on the cowboy.
"You do that Morgan. I'm just gonna check some of these tents here for some... valuable treats." Micah walked away from the two and began scavenging the area.
John stuck with Arthur, wondering if they should take this man prisoner or put him down like the dog he was. In the end Arthur chose to apply some medical knowledge on the bleeding man, having learned some tricks from Charles. With the wound dressed, the man would love for one more day. It was decided to take him prisoner and present him to the Tully knights as a token of goodwill. Wrapping a cloth around his mouth, and placing him in a hogtie they shoved the bastard next to the campfire, all the while they searched the area for any well-earned trinkets, they were outlaws after all.
"This spot don't look to bad. Wide and spacious for the whole gang." John looked around. Despite it being nightfall, the moon was still present and shining down on the now devasted campsite.
"Might be, Marston. This spot is decent enough." Arthur nodded.
It was settled then. Micah would take their prisoner back to Fairmarket where Dutch would be taking the others. In the meantime, Johna and Arthur would stay behind and clean up this now deserted camp of all these warm bodies laying about. After double checking and making it clear to Micah to not murder their prisoner the older outlaw took of on horseback. John and Arthur got to work on dumping the bodies far from the camp grounds.
XxXxX
With the last body thrown into the pile, both cowboys could now take a relaxing break under the moonlight and cackling of the warm fire. It was getting quite late now, of John had to guess it was close to midnight. Both men laid down on the campfire, taking in all the events that had occured in the last twenty-four hours. Arthur grabbed a pair of wine bottles they had found, tossing one to John and unscrewing them.
"You know... I'd thought we've be all dead by now." Arthur confessed as he took a big swig of wine, "Either drown, die of starvation or become food for the locals. Instead here we are, surrounded by weirdos and fools. All of them...stuck 200 years in the past or...the other way around..."
John thought to everything that they've witnessed this far and he too was just as stumped about it all, "Talk about a fresh start. This sure ain't Tahiti, but... it's something that's for sure."
Relaxing further against the log Arthur let out a yawn, "Dutch and Hosea sure are going to have a field day with the locals. All of these folks are odd in their own ways." Them Tullys, they seem decent enough, a bit stubborn with their laws, but better than those Braithwaites bastards back in Rhodes."
John who chose to sit on his log stared into the fire wondering how the hell this was all going to work out in their favor, "You sure this ain't Europe? I know I'm not that smart, but this feels too...damn strange to experience. Like we got...I don't know...like sent here on purpose."
"God's got a funny sense of humor if that's the case." Arthur let out a low chuckle, "With a group like ours, it sense He would mess with us."
"So, does Dutch have a plan after this?" John inquired.
"You can always ask him when he arrives with the others." Arthur replied. He stood up and walked over to one of the tents, he was down for the night.
"For now we stay put and try to gather as much information about this country. See how our relationship with the Tullys stands with this job now completed. I'm going to bed Marston. If you want to keep watch fine by me."
John was now alone. He took another drink of that wine bottle, savoring it's taste down to the last drops. It was getting real late, he should sleep and the fact that these tents had proper bed rolls was heavenly to him. Of course this nice sleeping arrangements only made him think of his family and how they were still out by the coastline, sleeping on rocks and covered in filth and damp clothing. As John laid down inside his tent he hoped to see them both tomorrow. Too much chaos in the last few days it would be nice to finally relax once this spot of theirs got transformed into a proper camp.
Hopefully if all went well with the local family in charge he could take Abigail and Jack out for a stroll without worries of another bounty on his head. It's a whole new world out here. John wondered if they could survive in this one and finally settle down for good.
I hate my job. Not enough free time. Wish I could be more consistent with updates. Also I'm beyond exhausted. Please, enjoy.