It seemed that the winter wanted to show off right in the beginning of its season. It was only shortly after noon, when Jin and Kame found themselves in the middle of pure whiteness. Even Kazuya himself had no idea how accurate his prediction about the weather was, when he warned Captain Walker about the storm...
The sky was covered with the impenetrable blanket, which made the day look like the evening. The snowing was far away from being as nice as in the morning. The falling of snowflakes was so heavy that if it had been the rain instead, they would have probably got drowned in it. Not to mention the strong wind, against which they had to fight for almost each step forward. They were walking on their own feet, leaving the line of footprints behind and letting their horses without any additional burden, as the headway was hard enough for them, too.
Kame was still in lead, clothed in warm coat with a high collar, and with a furry hood on his head. Jin was amazed that the young man was able to follow the right path despite the awful weather conditions. Seeing only some blurry lines around, the older one was totally lost. Everything was covered with white color, and the annoying snowflakes kept falling right into his eyes. He didn´t even know toward which quarter they were heading. Even though they were proceeding slowly, Kazuya seemed to know the way and he trusted him.
So, Jin just followed Kame´s lead without any doubts and he hoped firmly, that they would get to the place soon. Especially after the short pause they had made, hidden in the lee of one huge rock. That was when Kame told him the storm could get even stronger and the temperature might drop a lot. They needed to find some kind of shelter as soon as possible, before they would get stuck in the middle of nowhere and were endangered by freezing to death during the night.
Unfortunately, there was one additional obstacle for Jin to overcome. Sudden and continuous exertion made all his muscles ache and it was getting worse with each passed minute. His body reminded him that it was simply too soon for wandering in the mountains. But he didn´t complain and kept following Kazuya´s mare stubbornly, determined to handle it.
The raging snowstorm held them up a lot. They were supposed to reach the cave, which Kame was talking about, sometimes in the early afternoon. They almost couldn´t see, except that blinding grey whiteness, when Kame finally stopped for a moment, turned to Jin and pointed somewhere a little above them. After one strong gust of the wind, Jin finally noticed their destination over there, which was pitch black in comparison with the fading surroundings.
Both giving their last piece of energy to a few meters long ascent above the path, they finally reached the entrance of the dark cave.
Jin was not very thrilled about the idea of entering that unknown place without the possibility to see at all, but still it was a better option than staying outside in that forsaken storm, where his feet and face already felt completely frozen. Kame went in first, leading obviously exhausted Ukushi behind and Jin followed them, feeling his legs numb and moving them only from the necessity of the moment.
The darkness swallowed them as if it was a mouth of some monster. Even though there was no more snow in his eyes, Jin didn´t see even the tip of own nose. The air inside the cave was very cold and dry. It was quite a relief, when they escaped the futile match against the wind.
"Just follow me," Kame´s quiet voice echoed all around. "Go straight ahead."
Jin felt the urge for a cynical laugh.
How can I go straight ahead, when I cannot even tell what that means in this darkness?
"Very funny…" Jin murmured in a tired voice, shifting his feet forward very carefully. "Any detailed description?"
There was a short moment of silence, before Kame´s voice was heard again, but this time normally, without any echo, as he probably turned directly to Jin.
"Just wait here for a moment, all right?"
Jin stopped a little hesitantly, feeling insecure surrounded by the dark, but agreed: "Okay…"
Then he could hear the quiet steps and hooves on the rocky ground getting further, while the echo got stronger. Jin tightened his grip around Kuro´s bridle and turned his head back. There was a light round place where the exit of the cave was, and it seemed quite small from his current position. He could still hear howling of the gale outside, but the cave was incredibly silent on the contrary of that. Kuro snorted nervously and Jin patted him across the neck. The black stallion didn´t like being so blinded; just like his master.
Then Jin caught the sounds, which indicated that Kazuya was coming back and the darkness was somehow chased away by the gentle hands on his arm.
"Come with me, I´ll lead you," Kazuya´s warm breath tickled Jin on his frozen cheek.
Jin let the younger one to pull on his elbow and followed him to the back of probably quite spacious cave.
"Don´t tell me that you´re able to see anything here," Jin said, already calm, without any fear he would bump to the wall, but still he was surprised.
"No… I´m referring to my memory," Kame replied and stopped. "Hold on, I will light something up."
Jin was waiting patiently, listening to the sounds made by Kazuya searching through their supplies. Finally, the younger one managed to find the travel kerosene lamp and the dark golden light appeared out of nothing. At first, Jin couldn´t see properly, and he had to blink a few times to recognize his close surroundings.
Kame put the lamp at the small rock. The light made his face mysterious, as it created shadows on the places, which Jin didn´t ever expect to see. Both Ukushi and Kuro were now standing in the cave´s corner; there was even some old straw on the ground. The corner happened to be the most distant part of the cave, which Jin couldn´t observe thoroughly, because the kerosene light was able to reveal only two or three meters around them.
Jin focused on Kame again, who just turned to him too. The clothes on both of them was covered by the thick white layer, which obviously didn´t intend to melt any time soon. They both looked like two snowmen with the darkened, exhausted faces from the difficult journey.
But seeing Kazuya like this, with a few wet hair strands on his forehead, while the kerosene light reflected in his eyes, was adorable and it made Jin smile.
"We were lucky to get here before the nightfall," the younger one stated relieved. "I don´t think I´d have been able to find this place then…"
"I´m quite impressed you were able to find it even now," Jin reacted, taking the heavy hat off of his head. By shaking it, he created a small white pile on the ground. Kame took the cape off too.
"As I said, we were lucky..." Kame breathed out. "Oh, yes, my dear, sorry," the younger´s tone changed, when he spoke to Ukushi, as the mare pushed him a little, snorting unsatisfied. "Come on, we should take care of them first..."
*
When unsaddled Kuro and Ukushi were already munching some oat happily, only then Jin and Kame allowed themselves to rest. Fortunately, there was some dry wood supply, which Kame gathered together with Liwan many months ago and it was more than useful just for the situations like in which they were with Jin now.
They lit a fire close to the cave´s exit, but behind the corner to avoid the freezing air from outside as much as possible. Kame prepared two meals for them, which included the slices of dried meat and a few potatoes roasted on the hot coal. They both ate hastily, because the warmth was leaking away from it very fast. Despite that fine fire they had; it couldn´t beat the storm. Their coats and shoes were drying up on the opposite side of it, spread out on some stones.
After the dinner, Kame went to the back of the cave to get more dry sticks and he also checked on their beloved animals once again. When he returned to the calming light of the fire, he realized that Jin sitting there was suspiciously quiet. He added the wood to their warm salvation, left the rest on the side and focused on the older one.
"Are you all right, Jin?" he asked him quietly. "Are you in any pain? It was a long way up here..."
The dark eyes repaid his careful look.
"I´m fine... Just tired," Jin murmured. "You don´t have to worry about me so much."
But Kame was not persuaded by that: "You know that I have to worry," he reacted softly. "What is it?"
Jin looked away and a small wrinkle appeared between his eyebrows, when he responded: "It´s just that... I´m sorry, I didn´t help you much. Back then, in front of that General. Instead of supporting you I´ve almost caused more troubles."
Jin´s hesitant statement confused Kame a lot. The longer he knew this gunslinger, the more surprising facts he found out about him. He didn´t expect the older one to consider himself as useless at all...
"Jin... You did help me back there," he stated seriously. "You were standing right behind me, weren´t you?"
Jin raised his head surprised, looking into Kazuya´s eyes. Kame couldn´t help and smiled at him encouragingly.
"What were you thinking?" Kame shook his head, when a pleased smile finally appeared on Jin´s lips.
Kame´s reaction warmed Jin up better than the blanket wrapped around his shoulders. So, Kazuya considered his presence there supportive in the end. Looking at those soft features and that gentle smile made Jin relax. Maybe, he was just too worried about being a burden to the other one, as well as Kame was about his health.
"Glad to know I was thinking too much," Jin said, feeling the weird tickling somewhere in his stomach and he was quite sure it was not caused by the potatoes.
"All right..." Kame got up and moved toward him. "We should check out your stomach."
That made Jin´s smile disappear from his face immediately: "Oh, no..." he murmured unhappily.
"What now?" the younger one raised his eyebrows teasingly and sat down on the blanket.
"That means I have to get undressed," Jin growled. "It´s too cold here for that!"
The amused shining appeared in Kame´s eyes, as he was preparing the ointment: "Don´t be such a sissy, Jin," he taunted the older one.
"You´re mean again," he huffed out offended.
"It won´t be that bad," Kame tried to convince him. "Just roll up your shirt, I´ll do it quickly."
Jin sighed deeply, but obeyed. He put the blanket down and got himself into the lying position. Kame kept his word and he changed the bandage on the healing injury really fast, but that didn´t mean his touches on Jin´s skin were any less distractive than before. They made Jin ponder various things, as how it was possible that he was affected by Kazuya´s closeness even more than before they... Could it be called ´spending a night together´? No way, they didn´t... sleep with each other; they just slept side by side, so...
The warm fingers soothed his skin as they spread the ointment over it, creating a hot gulp in Jin´s throat.
Damn it, why does this have to be so... strong? he thought almost desperately.
Jin had no idea how to handle his own reactions on Kazuya and focused on simply not moving for the moment. That was the best he could think up. The older one didn´t realize that he was holding his breath, until Kame finished the treatment, pulling the shirt´s cloth down and looked at Jin´s face.
"It looks well," Kazuya informed him, this time already serious and Jin noticed some tension in his features. "Does it hurt you?"
"A little," Jin admitted and rose himself up slowly. "But it´s nothing I cannot bear," he stated and pulled the blanket back up, while Kame was watching him carefully.
"All right, but if you feel any discomfort, let me know," the younger urged him.
"I will," Jin nodded seriously.
Kazuya got up and Jin immediately missed his knee, which was touching his own till that moment. The younger one hid the bandages and the healing herbs, before he returned with another blanket in his hands.
Jin had already settled himself with the back leaning over the wall behind and he didn´t move an inch, when Kame got down to nestle right next to him. Very close to each other, they both stretched the legs towards the cheerful fire and Kazuya covered them with one more blanket, while they both had their own over their shoulders.
After they made themselves comfortable, Kazuya closed his eyes with a short tired sigh. Jin observed his face for a while, while feeling each part of the younger´s body, which was attached to his own, from the shoulders, across the hips, to the thighs. In some way, he could also sense Kazuya´s inner tension and he couldn´t help but think about what would make him calm down a little.
"I think we should keep the fire for the whole night," the younger one said suddenly, tearing Jin off his thoughts.
"So, to keep the watches then?" Jin asked not very enthusiastically.
"Exactly... But we cannot fall asleep, not as the last time," Kame replied.
"But that was nice, I haven´t slept as well as back then for ages," the words escaped Jin´s lips, before he thought about it twice.
The younger one chuckled shortly and his right leg shifted a little, so that his knee was leaning over Jin´s thigh.
"Yeah... But we almost got eaten by a grizzly because of that," Kame stated pulling his blanket closer. "We cannot afford it this time, I´m afraid that the temperature might drop even more..."
Jin couldn´t help cowering a little at the idea and stared into the small flames in front of them.
"Do you think we might get frozen till the morning?" he asked worriedly.
Kame opened his eyes and looked at the profile of the older one.
"No, that´s highly unlikely, Jin," he replied a little amused. "But there´s always a chance for that..."
"I guess we have to deal with it somehow," Jin murmured and shifted a little closer, leaning his head back, next to Kazuya´s.
They both had their eyes stuck on the small fire for a while, before Jin was the one breaking the silence this time.
"You´re worried, right?" he said softly. "And I don´t talk about this cold night."
The younger one lowered himself along the wall with the gloomy expression.
"Yeah," he breathed out, not even trying to deny it, but not saying anything else.
"It won´t be easy to persuade the tribe, I guess," Jin murmured, trying to make Kame talk.
"More like they will not agree with this at all," the younger one reacted pessimistically, still focused on the fire. "And what´s more, there´s not enough time…"
"Not that the weather would help us much," Jin complained, sending the killing stare toward the exit from where howling of the wind could be heard.
"Exactly," Kazuya agreed with Jin´s opinion fully. "Liwan should pick us up here, but in this storm… He will have to wait till it passes by. It´s a total waste of time," the younger one was frowning in discontent. "If only I could negotiate more time…"
"That would be an easy job to do with Captain Walker," Jin assumed. "But with the General… A hard nut to crack."
"I should have tried more," Kame kept being critical to himself.
Jin rolled his eyes secretly. Didn´t Kame realize, what impression he left back in the soldiers´ camp? He turned his head right toward the other one.
"Kazuya..." Jin waited until the brown eyes looked at him. "You were great," he stated firmly then. "Nobody would have been able to negotiate a better result."
But Kame didn´t seem to be persuaded yet.
"Didn´t you see how pissed that General was?" Jin continued. "But you talked some sense into him anyway. Indians should be thanking you for having this chance to get rid of the whole battalion."
Finally, the worried expression melted into a smiling one: "Thank you, Jin…"
"You´re welcome," Jin assured him, keeping his eyes locked with Kazuya´s.
The coldness he felt was slowly retreating, for which Jin was very grateful. It didn´t matter if only the younger´s closeness itself, or the fact that Jin was somehow nervous about it, was the cause or anything else. There was no point to ponder something what felt so... good.
Jin noticed a glimpse of hesitation on Kame´s face, when the younger one moved closer. He wanted to support him in his intention, but something held him back, so he remained motionless, when Kame overcame that short space between them and placed a short kiss on Jin´s lips.
Only when Kame retreated, Jin decided that their connection was too short and his hand went up to keep the younger one from moving away. Slowly and tenderly, he kissed him back. It was an amazing way how to forget that there was any winter outside at all...
When they separated this time, Kazuya´s face was shining with a gentle smile and Jin mirrored his expression, without even realizing it.
"Will you take the first watch?" Kame asked whispering and the tips of his fingers were running across the fading bruise on Jin´s jaw. "I will try to get some sleep..."
"Yeah, don´t worry," Jin reacted through the narrow throat. He was damn sure it would take some time for him to be able to fall asleep.
If we were not so damn tired then... Jin stopped the thought before it could get any further. It was not a good place, not a good time. They didn´t have to rush anywhere.
"Give me two hours," Kame requested.
"Sure," Jin nodded.
Kazuya pulled away gently and Jin let him escape his arms. But not for long. If nothing else, he wanted to have the younger one close.
When Kame lied down on his side, Jin removed the blanket from his own shoulders, so they could fold it under their heads. Then he slipped down beside Kame and hugged him from behind, placing an arm around his waist. Kazuya didn´t protest, but his voice sounded half tense, half amused, when he spoke.
"Don´t fall asleep," he reminded Jin.
Encouraged by the positive reaction, he pulled Kazuya closer, and buried his nose into the soft hair covering the younger´s neck.
"I will try hard," he responded, murmuring against the fabric of Kame´s shirt.
Kame closed his eyes, still smiling. Jin knew it was a risky position to take if he was supposed to keep the watch, because it was simply too comfortable. But also, he was more than well aware that with Kazuya letting himself so openly vulnerable in his arms, not falling asleep would not be as hard as it might have seemed...
***
They took turns twice during the night. When his sleeping time came, Jin thought he wouldn´t be able to fall asleep with Kame by his side. But in the end, he was really too tired to pay much attention to his inner tension and dormant desire. Knowing that Kazuya was close, Jin let himself be drifted off to the dreamland.
There was one moment in the middle of night, when they were both awake. It was when the dull sound of terrifying howling cut through the gusts of gale and got to their ears, pulling out nervous snorting from both Kuro and Ukushi. Kame got up on his feet first; Jin followed him with the revolver in his hand.
For a while, they were standing at the entrance of the cave, shaking in the freezing wind, trying to catch any other sign of the animals wandering in the storm.
The next wolf´s howling seemed to be closer, but it was hard to say thanks to the strong blows, which could carry the sound far away. Though Jin could definitely tell that it was more than one lonely wolf – it was a pack.
"Do you think they will come here?" he asked quietly, frowning in front of those few snowflakes, which managed to get to them.
"No..." Kame replied after a moment. "The winter has just started; they aren´t starving yet. If they feel us, they´ll run away."
The loud pathetic barks somewhere in the darkness sounded, as if they wanted to deny Kame´s words.
"Are you sure?" Jin murmured.
Kazuya´s dark figure moved and in the next moment, Jin felt the firm grip on his wrist.
"Yeah… And if they don´t hold back, I´m sure we can handle that," he said, assuring him. "Come back to the fire."
And Jin let Kazuya to drag him back without any resistance, leaving the scary howls behind.
***
Of course that Kame was right, as the morning came without any intrusion. Jin´s mind left the arms of the pleasant dreams and crawled to the full awakening slowly. One of the first things he realized was that there was nobody to hug, but somehow he knew Kazuya was not far. He opened his eyes and spotted the younger one sitting next to the fire, handling the small metal kettle.
Jin supported his head on the elbow and watched the other for a while without a word, not even realizing there was an absent smile on his lips. Until Kame probably felt or heard something and turned his head to Jin.
"Already awake?" he welcomed the older one in another day. "You can sleep for a little longer, if you want."
Jin shook his head: "It´s fine, I think I slept enough."
Having dreams about you, he added only in his mind.
"So… You feel well?" Kazuya observed him.
Jin grinned: "Of course! I still think you worry too much."
When Kame smiled, it completely lightened up his face: "I will make a cup of coffee, if you like…"
"Oh, man, you and your coffee is something I cannot resist," Jin reacted bluntly and sat up, shifting closer to the fire, while Kame watched him with a little sheepish expression. "How´s the weather?"
Kame nodded toward the exit: "You can check out yourself."
Only then Jin noticed there was an unusual yellow light coming into the cave.
"Don´t tell me it is what I think it is," Jin said in disbelief, already stepping into his shoes.
"If you mean the sun, than yes, it is," Kame confirmed amused.
"Good…" Jin got up and stretched himself carefully, aware of his stomach. "I really need to pee and I don´t want my dick to get frozen," he murmured already on the way out, but Kame heard it anyway. As he observed the older one going away, he was thinking about how nice was to spend some calm time like that together...
*
Jin was returning to the cave persuaded about that he got blind. There was so much of light everywhere, reflecting in the pure white layer. But there was absolutely no sign of that awful wind or snowing, just the cool air remained after the previous winter spree, making everything shine even more.
He noticed Kame standing in the entrance only when he was mere two meters away. He was waiting for the older one with a huge cup of very well smelling liquid in his hand. When Jin reached the dry ground of cave again, Kazuya handed the cup over to him. Jin thanked for it with a nod and sipped on the morning pleasure, enjoying the sweet bitter taste, while Kame focused on the sparkling view in front of their cave again. Jin watched him quietly, wondering about how many more surprises he could expect from the younger one.
Even though they got to know each other only two months ago, it felt like he knew Kame for ages. And still, he didn´t know so many things about him, which he yearned to find out. That led him to the idea, what it would be like to spend the time with him among the Indians, who were something like Kazuya´s second family. He was already used to Liwan, but he was only one member of the tribe, and as far as Jin could tell, quite an understanding one. But that didn´t mean the rest of them would be like that too…
Suddenly, he felt really unsecure because of those thoughts.
"Did you spend a lot of time here?" he asked from the sudden impulse. "With Liwan?"
"Well, yes, one could say," Kazuya nodded slowly. "A few days, from time to time. We were usually hunting, to bring some supplies to the tribe."
"You two are really good friends, right?" Jin continued.
This time Kazuya turned his look to him questioningly: "Yes, I told you so…"
"How much good?" Jin asked again.
Kame frowned a little: "Very… What is your point, Jin?"
"Well… It´s just…" Jin kept his eyes on the coffee´s surface in the mug, not able to look at Kame directly. It was still strange to talk about things like this. "Do you want to… tell him?"
"Tell him what?" Kame asked honestly confused.
"You know… About us…" Jin was finally able to spit it out.
"Aah… That…"
"Yeah…"
There was a long silence. So long that it made Jin look up. Kame was still standing there motionlessly, staring at the mountains in the distance. Jin gulped down heavily, suddenly feeling the coffee unpleasant in his stomach.
"Kazu?" he tried hesitantly.
"Are you ashamed of me, Jin?" the brown eyes pierced him with sudden urgency.
"What? No!" Jin blurted out hastily. "Why would I…?"
"Neither do I," Kame interrupted him. "But you still want to keep… what´s between us a secret, right?" he asked carefully.
Jin repaid his glance, feeling tense, but still firm in his opinion, when he nodded.
"I think it will be better that way… When I consider what we need to solve with them, another White Face is just a fuel to the fire. And also…" he stopped for a moment, not really sure about how to explain his worries.
"You´re afraid of what they might think about us?" Kame completed instead of him, the corners of his lips curved down.
"Well, yeah… And I´m not exactly… uhm, used to this, so… I just want to avoid any unnecessary troubles," Jin tried to explain his attitude.
Kame was looking at him for a while, before he sighed and returned his attention to the outside surroundings.
"I understand, Jin… And basically, I agree with you."
"Really?" Jin wanted to make sure that he didn´t make Kazuya upset.
"Well, even when I do not count the tribe, we cannot behave openly in public anyway," Kame responded in resignation. "I´ve already heard enough about what people usually think about…" he choked a little. "About the similar relationships," he finished slowly then.
"Aah, you´re right…" Jin breathed out. He didn´t think about that at all… He had a lot to do with himself anyway.
"Don´t tell me you were really so worried only about the tribe?" Kame asked him in astonishment.
Jin buried his nose into the mug instead of reply, taking some time for thinking over the response.
"Frankly speaking, I don´t think they would be particularly happy about that…"
"Jin, you underestimate yourself too much," Kame stated smiling a little and shaking his head.
"Well... I´m afraid it would end up with me running away from the village with the arrows in my ass," Jin pouted seeing Kame´s amusement. The short laugh from the other one was a clear sign of that this conversation turned out better than he had thought.
"Don´t worry, I won´t let them… Anyway, it will be our secret, all right?"
Jin repaid him the smile: "All right…"
"Let´s have some breakfast, what do you say?" Kame suggested, already on the way inside.
"This is your second best idea of the morning, Turtle."
Kazuya stopped in the middle of his step.
"Hey! Who told you about that nickname?!" he asked so loudly, that the echo reflected back to them at least three times.
"Who do you think?" Jin winked over his shoulder.
*
Jin was truly relieved that he agreed with Kazuya and was not so bothered about the ´visit´ at the Blackfeet Tribe anymore. But he thought that they would spend some time in the cave together, before the time for their departure would come. So, he was very unpleasantly surprised, when fast crunching steps interrupted the white silence, as the feet of a certain high Indian buried slightly under the surface of frozen snow.
While Liwan and Kame were greeting each other heartily with obvious relief, Jin was wondering how came that the Indian was already there, when they expected to meet him on the next day. He couldn´t help but think that the Indian rushed too much…
*
Liwan rushed toward the well-known hideout in the steady pace, which he could maintain thanks to the long wooden snowshoes. The young red man was full of various worries, which made him hurry. Not only he was afraid of how the negotiation with soldiers turned out and if he even finds Kame and Akanishi on the agreed spot. There was also a very tense situation in the village, which he had to leave behind his back and he was quite nervous about it.
Arriving to the cave´s entrance, one part of those heavy troubles left him, as soon as he spotted Kazuya alive and healthy. The young man went out to welcome him, but seemed quite surprised.
"Liwan…" Kame grabbed the Indian´s arms by both hands and helped him to come down from the small pile of snow, so that he could stand on the rocky surface next to him.
As soon as the Indian found his balance, he pulled the younger man closer and hugged him shortly.
"I am relieved to see you alright," Liwan breathed out heavily, realizing only then, that he might have rushed too much and pushed his possibilities to the edge.
"How comes you´re here so soon?" Kame asked, letting his best friend lean on his shoulder for support, so that Liwan could untie the straps of his snowshoes. "I thought you´ll be late because of that storm."
"I was already half way here, when it came," Liwan explained. "There is a small shelter nearby; I waited there until it passed over. We cannot lose any more time."
Kame frowned, immediately worried by his words: "Troubles?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Liwan nodded seriously.
Side by side, they headed further into the cave, where Liwan spotted Akanishi sitting as close to the small fireplace as it was possible, covered with blankets. The black-haired youngster greeted him, nodding his head a little. Both his beautiful stallion and Kame´s Ukushi were resting in the back, welcoming the incomer with the soft neigh.
"Good to see you again, Akanishi," Liwan greeted, as he settled down at another blanket. "How do you feel?"
"I´m more than fine, thanks for asking," Jin replied a little stiffly.
"What about the wound?" the Indian raised the next question right away.
"It´s healing well," Kame responded, and he sat down next to his friend, too. "But I would be calmer if you could check it later."
"Of course," Liwan agreed. "Let´s do it right away. I want to get back quickly."
"You mean to head to the village today? Don´t you want to get some rest first?" Kame asked, observing his friend´s face carefully. "We have a good reason to rush too, but still…"
"No need to rest for me," Liwan shook his head decisively. "Just pack your stuff, and we can go. I will explain everything on the way. I have snowshoes for you too, but the horses will hold us back. It will take two days at least. We have to go."
Liwan´s voice was really urgent; so much that Kame got even more worried than he already was and without any more questions, he got up to prepare their things for the next trip.
*
Liwan noticed that Akanishi was in the bad mood, but he decided not to let the other one know about it. While Kame had already started to pack the stuff into their bags and load them on the horses, the Indian asked the older one to lie down and checked Akanishi´s stomach very carefully. The man seemed tense and somehow aloof. But he obeyed his request and tolerated the examination without saying a single word.
"Good," Liwan said and put the new bandage over the ugly wound. "It looks much better. You will be all right soon."
He looked at the silent man. Akanishi was focusing at something on the cave´s ceiling and his jaw was stiff.
"Does it hurt?" Liwan asked him, keeping his voice calm.
Akanishi lowered his look at him and it seemed he relaxed a little finally, affected by Liwan´s friendly attitude.
"Well, when I ride a horse for long, than yes. But otherwise it´s fine…" he stated slowly.
"No burning, no twitching?" the young shaman wanted to be sure.
"No, only some itching," the other one confirmed.
"That´s good," Liwan nodded in a relief, finishing the bandage. Everything what they had done for the young gunman would go in vain, if the infection appeared again. "Keep being careful about it."
"I will... Thanks," Akanishi added after a short pause.
Liwan managed to suppress the amused smile in the last second. He couldn´t be sure about the reasons for this kind of behavior, but Jin Akanishi was definitely a very interesting character.
***
Despite that not many hours of daylight were left from that day; they abandoned their dark shelter and set off to the mountains, as soon as their belongings were packed and the fire smothered.
The layer of snow on the path was not deep, but became heavy and damp under the beams of sunlight. The snowshoes, which Liwan brought for them, turned out to be very useful, as their feet didn´t bury even half as deep as they would without them. Though, Jin could appreciate it only after a few miles, when he finally got used to the unusual boots and didn´t trip over them at each second step. The progress forward was much easier for them like that, unlike for their dear horses, which had to struggle against the pressure of the snow. But leaving them behind was out of question and they were handling the quick wandering better than Jin himself.
During their walk, Kame informed his Indian friend about their meeting with General. Liwan listened to the brief narration without any comments. Naturally, the Indian was not very happy from the final result, but he didn´t reproach Kame anything. Which was Liwan´s luck, because if he did have some complaints, Jin would have solved it with him personally.
When they settled down for the night, in the small shelter, which was created by the playful nature from many small trees and two huge fallen ones, it was Liwan´s turn to tell them about what happened in the village meanwhile.
All three of them sat down around the small fire, when the dusk already consumed each remaining piece of daylight. Jin was happy he could get rid of those annoying snowshoes finally and let his legs rest, huddling on the thick beaver´s fur. Kazuya was practical as usually, and he prepared the kettle of tea to chase away the evening cold, while Liwan was sitting opposite to Jin with a glum expression and his eyes focused on the flickering flames.
Kame handed over the first cup of hot liquid to the depressed Indian and the second to Jin, who thanked him with a wordless, but more meaningful smile. Kazuya put the lid back onto the kettle and for Jin´s delight he sat down right next to him, sharing the same fur.
"It didn´t go well, right?" Kazuya started the conversation, when Liwan didn´t seem to talk from own initiative.
"Not exactly," the red man replied unwillingly.
"Manipi denied it," Jin assumed. "He said that Kame lied about it."
Liwan raised his eyes to them with a deep sigh.
"Opposite," he said, surprising both of them. "When I talked with Chief and Elders, they summoned him and he admitted it right away."
Kame was frowning in surprised concern, while Jin stared at the Indian in utter disbelief.
"Manipi is proud about this, he cooperates with Sioux rebels willingly," Liwan explained. "And he is also arrogant enough to convince others about his truth."
"What do you mean by that, Liwan?" Kame asked.
"He wants to fight…" Jin stated without thinking too much about it.
Liwan nodded seriously.
"There was…" he hesitated, searching for the right word. "Discussion. Between him and Elders. Also Chief. They argued a lot and Manipi rebelled. He already started to drag others on his side, especially young warriors."
Kame lowered his head, half covering his face with the open palm, looking awfully tired. Jin didn´t like seeing him like that and Liwan focused the concerned look on the younger one, too.
"Not even his father could stop him?" Jin didn´t understand just how one quick-tempered Indian could cause so many problems.
"Manipi is our Chief´s only son," Liwan reacted slowly, thinking over his words carefully. "Normally, it would end up with the rebel being expelled from tribe. He would be exiled, banned from coming back. But in this case… You have to understand that Flying Feather is in the difficult position."
"Oh, sure, I understand that," Jin replied sardonically. "But I´m not sure if he understands what the behavior of his son means for the whole tribe."
"Jin…" Kazuya looked at him. "You shouldn´t…"
"Don´t, Kame... He is right," Liwan admitted heavily. "The situation was very tense, when I left to meet you. Manipi´s actions will bring only troubles to us. There were enough of bloody wars already. I also think Flying Feather should put the good of our tribe in front of Manipi."
"Especially when he´s such an asshole," Jin murmured.
This time, Liwan pierced the him with the strict glance and Jin grinned.
"You don´t have to agree with that too," he informed the Indian teasingly.
"You are so…" Liwan started saying, shaking his head indignantly.
"Interesting? Handsome? Intelligent?" Jin proposed the ending of his sentence.
The Indian huffed over Akanishi´s cheeky behavior: "So annoying!" he finished instead.
"That hurts…" Jin assumed frowning.
Liwan stared at the gunslinger with a stiff expression, but he couldn´t cover the cheerful eyes. And Kame seemed to have a good fun from the exchange of their opinions, too. The tense atmosphere got a lot better.
"Anyway…" Liwan sipped on his tea. "Do not expect any warm welcome. It will be difficult to handle…"
"I can imagine," Kame sighed, but seemed more optimistic than before. "But we have to. There´s no other option. We have to hand the Sioux leader over or the whole tribe will pay for this."
Jin was slowly sipping on his tea too, not joining the conversation this time.
"You can rely on me. I will help you," Liwan stated firmly.
"I´m really glad to hear that," Kame smiled at his friend.
The young shaman just nodded his head, finished the cup and got up to break some more sticks for the fire. There was a long night in front of them.
Returning back, Liwan saw something. It was when Jin handed the warm mug with the rest of tea over to Kame, who took it from him automatically. A simple exchange without any words and even though it wasn´t anything special, there was something... Something what Liwan couldn´t get a hold of. Of course he noticed that awful nervous tension between them was gone, but there was something else instead. Something what he didn´t want to think about much...