"Shit. I'm so late."
Soul curses as he gauges the high position of the sun over head.
Half past 1:00 by the looks of it.
How had it gotten so late?
Sure he had doddle a bit, not looking forward to meeting his new ward, or the thought of going into town, but damn it that sun was rising fast.
My first fucking day taking care of the kid and I'm already doing a lousy job.
A mental picture of Stein ghosted across his thoughts.
He looked pissed.
Soul shuddered a bit at the thought.
"Better hurry boys." Soul called out to the horses, urging them into a faster trot.
The wagon creaked underneath as it rolled down the road towards the little hell hole they called a town.
About halfway there, the horses slowed unexpectedly, their ears pricking forward with curiosity.
"Whacha see boys?" Soul asked as he leaned over the wagon side, straining to see what was up ahead.
Something small was weaving sporadically across the road up ahead.
"What the hell?" Soul asked the horses.
It kinda looked like a person.
A very drunk person judging by the weaving.
As the wagon got closer to the dancing shape, it definitely resembled a human, a very small and disoriented looking human, but a human none the less.
"Oh god, please don't let that be him." Soul pleaded, his crimson eyes going heavenward.
His pleading must have fallen on deaf ears though, because as the person got closer it became apparent to Soul that he was totally fucked.
The kid weaving in the road was most definitely English.
He was the most English looking dandy he had ever had the displeasure of seeing.
His boots were polished and very undoubtedly english.
His cap, his trousers, fuck even his hair was long and English looking.
He was built small and wiry.
His cheek bones were delicate looking and there was no trace of sun exposure on that pale face.
God, was the kid actually skipping?
Soul stared in utter disbelief.
The kid dipped and swayed and paid no mind to him.
He most definitely was skipping.
He was undoubtedly the most feminine looking young man Soul had laid eyes on.
The kid, who was obviously in his own little world hadn't noticed Soul watching him yet.
He weaved from one side of the road to the other, stopping periodically to bend over and pick wildflowers.
Soul cursed inwardly when he saw the pile of flowers held tightly in the kids arms.
Soul sighed in despair.
What the hell was Stein thinking, leaving this kid in my care?
There's no way I can turn him into a cowboy, let alone a true grit one.
Soul's pride and the sought-after position of forman was hanging perilously on the line.
He wouldn't let this English twit ruin his plans.
He wasn't ready to give up so easily.
Soul was often described as being stubborn, but thought of it more as having a fortifying resolve.
He was going to turn this kid into a man, even if it was the last thing he did.
"Hey kid." Soul barked out as the kid drew closer.
The kid, unaware of the brooding cowboy who was watching him walked right past the wagon as if it wasn't even there and continue picking flowers as he went.
"Hey, hey kid!" He growled loudly, causing the horses to fidget.
Shocked out of his daydreams the kid spun around, his eyes wide as he dropped the flower he had been holding.
The kid stared up at Soul, his mouth hanging open slighly.
Soul held his gaze for a moment.
Damn if that kid didn't have the greenest eyes he'd ever seen.
They were almost unnerving.
The kid remained silent, and they eyed each other warrily, neither knowing what to say.
Finally Soul cleared his throat, breaking the silence.
"You better watch where you're going kid, you almost ran smack dab into my wagon."
"Oh I beg your pardon sir, I didn't see you there." The kid chirped apologetically, bowing his head slightly.
Oh God, even his voice sounded girly.
Soul cringing inwardly at the sound.
The other cowboys on Forsaken were going to have a hay day with this one.
The kid said no more, but continued to stare at him, leaving him with a weird feeling in his gut.
"Well?" Soul said finally, tiring of the kid's eyes being on him.
"Well what?" The kid asked, his face scrunched in up in confusion.
"Well aren't you going to get in the wagon?" Soul huffed, his patients beginning to wear thin.
"Why would I get in the wagon with you?" The kid asked suspiciously, his face showing signs of mistrust.
Soul sighed, wearily before answering.
"Because I'm the one picking you up dummy."
The kid eyed him warrily, appraising him from top to bottom.
"I thought my uncle was going to pick me up? You're far too young to be him."
"Stein sent me to fetch you." Soul grit out, his patients definitely being tested.
"Oh I see, well you are very late sir." He said crisply his tone of voice bordering on scolding.
Soul bit his tongue, trying his damned best not to snap at the kid.
"Get in the wagon before I leave you." He huffed as he gathered the riens.
The kid neatly nodded, and stooped quickly to gather the flowers he had dropped.
"And leave the damn flowers kid or the other cowboys will eat you alive."
Maka looked down at her colorful array, saddened to leave it behind, but she knew the grouchy cowboy was right.
She didn't want to cause any unwanted attention to herself once she got to Forsaken.
Silently, she climbed up into the wagon, leaving her treasure behind for the wind to scatter and take to the far off corners of the prairie.
Soul considered the kid as he climbed up onto the buck board, noticing how he sat as far away on the seat as possible from him.
Soul didn't mind though, he was used to people avoiding him and giving him strange looks.
His odd appearance had always frightened the locals, why would this kid be any different?
"Sorry I'm not who you were expecting kid." Soul mumbled as he flicked his wrist, sending the wagon lurching forward.
"My name isn't kid, Maka stated as she gripped the edge of the wagon tightly, steadying herself on the bumpy seat.
"It's Lord Maka Albarn. And it's quite alright, I'm thankful that you came to get me... Even though you were terribly late." She finished with a sniff.
Soul shot her a sideways glance, his strange red eyes glaring, but he wisely said nothing.
They rolled on in silence for awhile, nether of them very comfortable with the situation.
The prairie grasses rustling in the wind and the gentle rocking of the wagon was the only sounds to be heard in the great vastness that surrounded them.
"Do you work for my uncle cowboy?" Maka asked finally, almost hesitantly, efectively breaking the award silence.
"Yep."
His reply was short and clipped.
Maka bristled a bit at his rude tone.
"My name ain't cowboy either," Soul said mimicking her earlier statement.
"It's Soul. Soul Evans."
Nice to meet you Mr. Evans." Maka said, nodding her head cordially.
Soul glanced at the kid, wondering if he was mocking him, but the kid's face looked genuine.
"Hmph same." Soul mummbled.
The kid smiled brightly in return, his gangly legs swinging back and forth with the wagon.
Good lord, what had Stein roped him into?
Maka had a vague idea in her mind what actual cowboys would look like..
She imagined they'd be wise and dusty looking old men who rode big steeds and wore ten gallon hats.
But this.. this wasn't what she had expected.
The young man who sat next to her on the wagon was unlike any she had ever seen.
His face was brooding and handsome and he held a slightly bored air about him.
He was young, but it was hard to tell from his face, he was rather scruffy and in need of a good shave.
He would have been tall if not for his slouch, he obvously didn't care much for his posture.
Most shocking of all though was his hair and eyes.
His hair was a disheveled mess of snowy white and his eye burned a deep and intelligent crimson color unlike any she had ever seen.
They were fascinating eyes.
He tuned his head to look at her, his pale eyebrows scrunching up.
"What?" He barked, tired of feeling her stare at him.
"Oh I'm sorry." she mumbled sheepishly, quickly casting her eyes to the ground.
"It's fine, I know I'm kinda scary lookin'." He scoffed nastily.
"Oh its not that, I've just never seen a real cowboy before." She confided quietly. "You're quite the specimen."
"Ah I see."
Soul was reminded just how far away this kid was from home.
"May I ask you a question cowboy?" Maka asked.
"I suppose." He said dryly, his face still very bored looking.
"I thought cowboys wore big hats or am I wrong about that?"
Soul snorted at the sterotpyical question.
"I reckon most cowboys wear hats."
"Oh, then were is your hat?" She asked curiously.
Soul gave her a sour look, remembering that his Stenson was still resting on the barnyard ground after throwing it at Blackstar.
"That's none of your business kid." He huffed, not able to hide the irritability in his voice.
"Are all cowboys as grumpy as you or is that just your personality?" She grumbled in retort.
A corner of his mouth quirked at that. "That's uniquely me."
Maka smiled at that, obviously relieve that not all Texans were as surly as this one.
"Are Englishers usually this damn nosey or is it just you?"
Maka frowned slightly, having the questions unexpectedly turned onto herself.
"I'm not nosey, I'm just naturally curious. There's a difference." She said after a moments thought.
Soul grunted as if she had said something amusing.
"Sure kid."
Maka fumed a bit at the nickname kid, but said nothing.
"Do all Englishers wear such fancy clothes?" Soul chuckled.
He was making fun of her.
"I dont know, do all cowboys wear such tight trousers?"
Soul coughed roughly, his ears turning a slight pink shade.
This englishers had no shame.
"These are denim jeans and they're for work." He managed, choking down his surprise.
His denim jeans weren't that tight, where they?
"It seems silly and indesent to wear clothing that tight." Maka commented, looking rather too close at his denim clad thighs.
Soul didn't like the way those green eyes were gauging him.
"You're not an oddball are ya kid?" Soul asked a little skeptically.
"A what?" Maka stared at him, unsure what he was asking.
"Err, do you have a little sugar in your boots? He explained akwardly.
"Oh, you mean do I like the same gender?" Maka squeaked, finally realizing what he was implying.
"No sir, I uh, like women, they're bloody brilliant."
She willed her face not to burn up as she pointedly looked anywhere but his face.
"Well that's a comfort." He mumbled seeing the shocked look on the kids face.
"Not that I would judge or anything." He added hastily.
It would have been the end of him and his career if his boss came back to find his nephew trying to bunk down with one of the hands though.
"May I ask why you would assume that Mr. Evan?" She still couldn't look him in the eye.
"Well first off, don't call me Mr. Evans. Secondly, between the flower picking and tight pants comment..." Soul mumbled half heartedly.
He was ready to be done with all this useless talking.
"Oh I see." Maka sighed, mentally kicking herself for her lack of concentration.
She would have to try harder to fit in or her cover would surely be blown.
She was already in love with this Texas place, and leaving was not an agreeable option.
She would never go back to England or Ragnarok.
Never.
They rolled along the prairie, neither talking.
It seemed like the grumpy cowboy was trying his best to ignor her very existence.
"When will be on Forsaken cowboy?" Maka asked, fidgeting on the wooden buckboard.
The silence was slowly driving her mad, her rump was getting sore from all the bouncing, and it was taking forever to get there.
"We've been on Forsaken for the last few miles," he answered after a moment.
"Really?" Maka asked skeptically as she surveyed her surroundings.
To her Forsaken didn't look any different from the rest of the country side she had seen.
Was there some kind of marker she had missed?
In her mind she had built up a story book idea of what Forsaken would look like.
The books she had read about Texas had painted a very different looking picture.
"It doesn't look very special." Maka commented as she watched the grassy land pass by their wagon. "I suppose I was expecting more."
Soul turned in his seat and pinned her with a glare.
"Forsaken is the best parsel of land on this god forsaken earth kid. This place means the world to us and everyone around these parts depends on it for its food and shelter. You wouldn't be here wothout it. Don't forget that."
His eyes were like daggars. She felt them burning through her.
"My apologies." She mumble bowing her head to avoid those strange eyes. "I had no idea this place meant so much to you."
"It's everything to me." Soul growled, finally taking those burning red eyes off of her.
Maka breathed a little easier as he fixed his eyes on the horizon.
He stared ahead of them, not saying a word as they rolled on.
Maka desperately hoped that everyone else on Forsaken was easier to talk to than this temperamental cowboy.
The silence was now heavy and thick, like the rolling fog on the ocean had been.
She badly wanted to break it, but the sour look on her companions face made her think twice.
This was turning into a rocky start, and it was all his fault.
Fixing her eyes on the skyline ahead of them she promptly ignored him, instead turning her thoughts towards her uncle and their fast approaching first encounter.
What kind of man was he?
Did he have here papa's red hair?
She desperately hoped that he wasn't as overbearing as her papa had been though.
She vaguely wondered why her uncle hadn't been able to pick her up himself, instead sending one of his grumpy employees to do it.
None the less she was dying to meet her uncle.
She watched with great anticipation, straining her eyes for any sign of the ranch.
There was nothing to see though, in any dirrection.
Nothing but tall rippling grass and the occasional bunny scampering away from the wagon.
The land was vast and empty.
Maka could almost feel the loneliness tugging at her heart.
It felt as if the sea of grass and loneliness would never end as they rolled on, but then, they topped a rather large hill and she saw it at last.
She sucked in her breath as she looked down, seeing the view that spread out.
It wasn't what she had expected, but it was very much a picture book scene.
A small two story ranch house sat in a grassy meadow, bordered by a white board fence, a bright red barn and large corral.
Several out buildings were scattered in the distant fields and grazing cows with their little calves dotted the landscape.
It was beautiful.
Peaceful.
Everything she had hoped for.
"Well what do you think?" Soul asked quietly next to her. "Still disappointed?"
"No, it's beautiful." Maka half breathed, then coughed loudly to cover up the rather girly remark.
Soul didn't seem to notice the slip up though, he mearly nodded in agreement.
"I reckon it's purdy enough."
Soul flicked the reins and they started their downward descent towards Forsaken.
A quiet truse seemed to settle between the two of them.
As they drew closer everything came into clearer focus.
Maka realized that the house wasn't as "little" as she had first thought.
The house was a two story, made of sturdy stone and timber.
A white washed porch wrapped around the structure, adorned with two worn rocking chairs and a quaint little porch swing.
On either side of the front steps roses bloomed heavy with pink, yellow and peach colored blooms.
The smell of horses, wood smoke, and flowers hung lightly on the breeze.
Maka couldn't help feeling a little choked up as she gazed at this new and strange place.
This is my new life.
My home.