The sun was peeping from behind the curtain of soft clouds, making the day bright, but it had no power to melt the thick layer of snow, which was covering the surroundings of an old house as a cold blanket. Even though there wasn´t any heavy snowfall for days, everything around was still purely white. With the exception of a certain place behind the house, where the brown ground was exposed partially, thanks to the warmness of a steady fire and because of the footprints of many feet in moccasins.
Suddenly, a high sound cut through the chilly morning air, which disturbed Kame from observing the main driveway toward the property of his deceased family. The young man raised his head and looked up to the bare tree branch above his head, finding a small sparrow there. The tiny bird repaid Kame´s stare with his black eyes and repeated the loud greeting.
It could be considered as a miracle that such a small animal survived under the conditions of so far quite harsh winter season. That little creature was very cute, ruffling its feathers in an attempt to keep warm, but it couldn´t cheer Kame up from his gloominess.
They agreed to meet within a week, so that they would have enough time to arrange everything necessary. But it was already the ninth day since Kame had separated from Jin in the stalls behind Harada´s Saloon, and there was no sign of the older one yet, which made him more and more worried with each passed hour.
What if something bad happened to him? He could have been attacked or injured, or even...
Kame shuddered from head to toes and forced the pessimistic thoughts to leave his head, though it was difficult. He should have never let Jin go alone…
Thirteen Indians, who were settled behind his house along with their horses, did not seem to be disturbed by Kame´s anxious waiting. All of them kept their faces serious and calm, while they were carving the wood for new arrows and sharpening their daggers and tomahawks.
The sparrow shouted at Kame once again, before he flew off somewhere into the woods. Kame followed the bird with his eyes on its fast flight away, when something else caught his attention. It was a figure on the dark horse, which appeared between the trees.
For the first few moments, Kame didn´t dare to believe it, but then he recognized the probably new red scarf around the rider´s neck and also Kuro´s proud manner of movement and a smile full of relief brightened up his face.
"So, he is back finally, huh?" Liwan´s voice startled Kame a little.
"Yeah, finally..." he nodded. "I will go and heat up some water. I bet he travelled during the night and he´s frozen to the bones."
"All right... I will welcome him instead of you," Liwan reacted a little sarcastically. "I am sure he will be so happy about it."
Kame decided not to comment the Indian´s remark; he was too glad that his friend was in a better mood than during the past week. He tore his eyes off the approaching rider and entered the house, which they had already managed to fill up with all needed supplies.
The fire in the stove was kept all the time, since the moment they had arrived to his former home four days ago. It was necessary, as the house hadn´t been repaired for years and there were many holes, which let the winter´s cold inside. The temperature in the building was far from being warm, but the difference in comparison with the outside was significant anyway.
Kame started to prepare the big pot of tea in almost cheerful mood, which was so different from how he had felt only a few moments ago. Those past days were cold, long and difficult. Kame didn´t perceive it much at first, as he kept his mind busy as much as possible, with so many things to deal with, but he quickly realized he was missing Jin dearly.
Back in the city, he had to inform Captain Walker about what had happened. That was after the soldiers´ leader had returned to Bozeman from an unsuccessful hunt after the fugitive. He and his remaining subordinates were quite upset and down about how they failed in bringing up the justice upon Math Grenet. Walker even went to Karnaka´s farm, searching for the runaway prisoner, and he was accepted for an audience with the mansion´s lord. Of course that without evidences, there was nothing the captain could have done about Karnaka´s statement that he hadn´t spotted even a hair of his former employee.
Walker told about all of that to him, while in return Kame trusted the honest soldier enough to confide him with everything what had happened in the Indian village. He revealed to Walker what they had witnessed and assumed, except their plan for revenge. The captain was shocked about the horrible news and for Kame´s pleasant surprise; he was persuaded about Karnaka having his fingers in that slaughter as well. Walker obviously didn´t like the old rancher more than Kame himself. Unfortunately, Raynold Karnaka was too powerful and too well covered. There was nothing they could do with their conviction.
Walker proposed he would go with his men to search for the evidences against Karnaka´s gunmen, which would allow them to prosecute the rancher for the attack. Kame didn´t oppose the captain in his idea, but he didn´t believe there was anything what would connect the attack with Karnaka directly. The only option was that one of his men would speak, and that was highly unlikely.
Speaking about Karnaka´s gunmen, almost all of them were back in Bozeman, drinking and smoking at Harada´s place, as if nothing unusual had happened. Even Brad was with them and he felt the man´s mocking stare on himself, every time they crossed their ways, as when Kame appeared in the saloon to apologize to its owner for leaving so suddenly again.
Neither Brad nor anybody else made a single step toward Kame. None of them said anything. They were just watching him with smirks on their faces and whispering inaudibly; when they thought he didn´t see them.
It cost him almost all his remaining composure, but Kame ignored them. He kept his focus on the plan, which he, Liwan and Jin had agreed on; it helped him to remain calm, persuading himself, that all of them would get what they deserved once.
Kame also pretended that nothing happened. He talked only with Captain Walker about the massacre of Blackfeet Indians and nobody else. And even though he felt bad about it, he lied to the captain, too. Kame told Walker that he and Jin would help the remaining Indians to move into the reservation in the north and they would stay with them, away from the city, as they were just too sick about everything what happened recently.
The captain was very surprised by that kind of attitude and Kame got a feeling that the man didn´t believe him fully. Walker had doubted him rightfully; it was strange to him that Kame would just let the horrible action against the tribe go like that. But it was important to have at least some cover; he had to persuade Walker that they would stay far away from Karnaka´s farm. In case he would be open in their real intentions, it would have definitely backfired at them later.
The only other people, Kame talked with during his stay in the city, were Brice´s. He had hesitated, whether to tell them the truth or not. Nevertheless, he was sure that the news about the tragedy would spread out eventually, so he did tell them about it in the end. But as well as in Walker´s case, he insisted he would leave the city for good, unmoved by Lena´s pleading to stay. Then he had to make some shopping for the proper supplies, he also gathered their belongings remaining in the saloon after he and Jin left in a rush, and then he headed to his former home, in the opposite direction than he had told everybody.
Kame didn´t have to wait long for Liwan to appear and his Indian friend didn´t come back alone. Liwan´s task was to ask the befriended tribe for help. Eleven young and capable Indians of the Babb Tribe, which was also a part of Blackfeet clan, were willing to help their brothers with revenge on the most powerful man far and wide.
Kame was worried at first that the Babb´s members would bring the problems upon themselves too, but Liwan assured him that the new Blackfeet Reservation far in the north was not in the interest of White Faces and nobody knew that the group of young warriors left. They just needed to be very careful and not to let themselves be spotted outside the Rocky Mountains.
Despite the goodwill of his red brothers, Liwan´s mood was very bad for a couple of cold days. He was acting tough, but Kame knew his friend well and he recognized that Liwan kept blaming himself for what had happened in the pueblo. That he was hopeless and he couldn´t help the others against the attack. Kame did as much as he could to support Liwan, while dealing with his own pain, and managed to persuade the young Indian that he was not to be blamed for all those dead. Liwan didn´t want to listen to him first, but Kame was able to come across the wall the mourning Indian built up. Not to mention that focusing on their revenge planning helped pretty much, too.
They didn´t waste time while they were waiting for Jin´s return. All Indians were preparing the weapons and torches and other things, which they needed to use later. Actually, the time went fast during those preparations, but Kame still felt awfully lonely and anxious, when Jin was not around for whole days. He couldn´t help but think about him all the time, not being able to sleep properly, imagining the worst scenarios of what might have happened to the older one.
Now, when Kame had finally spotted Jin coming, he felt light and relieved so much that he forgot about his own grief over the Blackfeet Tribe´s tragedy for a short moment.
The water for tea had just started to boil, when he heard Liwan´s voice from the outside, muted by the closed door, followed by Kuro´s neigh and Jin´s hoarse and audibly tired response.
Kame´s heart jumped, when the creak of the door´s hinges told him somebody opened the main entrance. He poured the hot water over the herbs, filling up the kitchen with the pleasant fragrance. The slow heavy steps came inside the room. With a pounding heart and indescribable expectation, Kame turned away from the stove to greet the gunslinger in the dark coat...
*
For Jin, everything went surprisingly well, almost just as planned. He managed to find one old acquaintance in Billings, who was so happy to see him again, that Jin was offered with beer, lunch and then also dinner, before he could even speak about his request, which was luckily met with a positive response. Even though Jin was sure that the man was just missing his income from the previous business with him and Yamapi, it was nice of him to meet up with Jin´s requirements so quickly. The old man heard him out, thought over it only shortly and then he confirmed that he could gather everything Jin needed within one day.
The whole trip to the city and back again took much longer than Jin had expected, and he was held up by hard search for a spare horse. Otherwise, his journey was without any issues, except the weather was damn cold on the way. Of course, there were closer sources of what they needed, but they decided to use the ones in Billings not only because Jin had his contact there, but there was no way they could require everything in Bozeman without raising suspicion and the same went for Livingstone, which was too close to Karnaka´s farm.
Jin´s mission was all right, until the travel back. Suddenly, it felt like the miles were going backwards in front of his horse and he couldn´t wait to reach the borders of Bozeman. Despite being tired, he didn´t even rest the last day and rode during the night. Something was pushing him forward, not allowing him to rest or cheer up. He felt cold, and moody and damn lonely…
It was somewhere in the middle of his trip back, when Jin realized that he was eager for the presence of the young bartender. He missed Kazuya´s voice and his warmth. There were many times he complained about the road or weather and looked around surprised that nobody reacted, realizing only then that nobody even listened to him. It was confusing that his mind reacted on being alone in this way, which he had never minded before.
The picture of Kame was flickering on the edge of Jin´s mind, torturing him with the knowledge that he was far away from the younger one and there was nobody Jin could hug during the nights. He wondered about it a lot, but he still didn´t understand, what had happened to him that it changed him so much. Travelling alone was never an issue to him; it was good to be completely out of civilization and people´s eyes from time to time, not to care about anyone else. Now, he didn´t care for food or sleep, he just wanted to see Kazuya again...
*
Jin almost overheard what Liwan said to welcome him. He didn´t even give a proper attention to the surprisingly big group of strange Indians on the back yard; so much he was focused on the door, behind which he saw to disappear the certain young man, when he popped out of the woods finally.
"I will take care of it, go inside," Liwan said helpfully and took Kuro´s reins from Jin´s hand, already holding the other horse still. "You have to get some rest, so that we can set off soon."
Jin nodded gratefully, not noticing the strange shine in the Indian´s eyes; he crossed the veranda and opened the main entrance of the house.
Taking off his new hat purchased in Billings, Jin came inside the kitchen, which was filled with awesome scent and mainly with more than welcomed warmth. The slim figure, which he had desired to see so much, turned to him with bright eyes.
Only at that moment, sinking into the warm brown color, Jin felt calm again, forgetting his tiredness and gloominess right away.
"Welcome back," Kazuya greeted him softly, mixing something in the huge ceramic mug with a spoon.
"Hey…" Jin repaid the greeting with a deep exhale full of relief. "You cannot imagine how glad I´m to be here finally."
"Actually, I think I can," Kame opposed, locking their eye connection for a while, before he approached the table and placed the hot liquid on it. "Here, sit down, it will warm you up."
"Thanks," Jin made himself comfortable on one of the chairs. From the aroma reaching his nose, he recognized some unfamiliar tea with honey.
"Are you hungry?" Kame asked, while Jin was sipping on the content carefully.
"Yeah, a little..." Jin admitted, while his stomach accused him from quite an understatement. "But you don´t have to bother with me, Kame."
"It´s the least I can do," the younger one reacted, as he had already started to slice a bread. "Don´t worry, I brought a lot of supplies here. And our new friends were not lazy either."
"Fine then, I appreciate it," Jin let himself be persuaded quickly, as he was really looking forward to anything he could get inside his mouth. Especially, when it was prepared by Kazuya. "I see you had cleaned up around here."
"Unfortunately, it needs much more than that," Kame stated.
"It´s definitely much nicer than the last time," Jin insisted on his compliment.
Kame raised his eyebrows, when he put the plate with bread, beans and dried meat in front of Jin: "Well… Thanks, I did what I could. And enjoy your meal."
"You´re the best, Kame," Jin reacted with his eyes shining over the feast.
Kame just smiled over how eagerly Jin started to gulp his late breakfast down. Now, when the older one was sitting there at the table, Kame realized almost painfully, that he missed him even more than he had thought...
He took the empty mug from the table and returned to the stove to prepare the second one and the whole pot of the hot liquid for the others.
"It´s really good, thank you," Jin behind him murmured with his mouth full.
"You´re welcome," Kame replied calmly, adding more wood into the stove.
Jin was finished eating in no time, and he took his coat off, finally warmed up enough, when Kame brought the full teapot onto the table. He poured the alluring liquid into two mugs this time and sat down too. They were silent for a while, listening to the excited Indian´s comments on the supplies, which Jin brought with him.
"Did it go well?" Kame asked then. "You were gone for long…"
"I know," the older one sighed. "I´m sorry, the road was horrible. But I´ve got everything we need."
"That´s great…"
"How did it go here?" Jin asked curiously. "Any news? I mean except our new friends outside?"
"No, nothing new," the younger one shook his head. "Grenet scrammed, there´s absolutely no sign of him. His gunmen are quiet, Karnaka as well. I´ve told Walker about what happened. He´s trying to find some evidence against him."
"That´s useless effort," Jin huffed out pessimistically.
"It´s great that he´s trying at least," Kame said with a shrug. "Otherwise, it went well. Babb Tribe will help us, we can make our plan work just fine, I guess."
"When are we going to do it?" the older one asked quietly, keeping both hands on the hot mug.
"The Babb Indians left their reservation in the north. The longer they stay here, the bigger is the probability they will be found and our plans exposed. We should move on tonight," the younger one assumed a little hesitantly.
"All right," Jin nodded seriously. "I definitely agree. There was enough of waiting already…"
"But only if you feel well enough for that," Kame observed him worriedly. "You don´t seem that you slept much recently."
"I didn´t," Jin admitted. "But I´ll take a little nap and it will be just fine. I don´t want to wait for anything anymore," the other´s expression turned very dark at that moment. "Each minute that man keeps breathing is the offense for our families, for my friend and for the whole Blackfeet Tribe."
Kame repaid Jin´s look firmly, before he nodded: "I´ll talk with the others then; they´re pretty much ready. We will go tonight," he decided.
"Wait a second," Jin grabbed Kame for his wrist, when the younger wanted to get up. "Is it really a wise idea? I mean… What about Liwan? Is he all right? I can imagine it had to be difficult for him to wait up..."
"He is… better now," Kame reacted slowly; feeling shivers under that touch. "But he won´t rest until Karnaka pays for his sins."
"I understand that, I feel the same way..." Jin said quietly, but still with worries in his features. "And what about you, Kazuya?"
Kame wanted to avoid the sharp look, but Jin didn´t let him, squeezing his hand tighter. The older one could see that Kame was trying to be brave and calm on the surface, but under it, deep in those brown eyes, there was pain and that guilt again, which didn´t belong there.
"I cannot imagine what it is like," Jin continued slowly. "To lose almost all of them like this…"
The pain appeared in the features of the younger´s face, making Jin´s stomach shrink. Kame kept being silent, not replying, but he didn´t try to slip from Jin´s grip either.
"But... At least, isn´t there anything... Is there any way that I can help you?" the older one asked carefully.
The dark eyes were sinking into Kazuya´s, making him realize that Jin was anxious, and eager to relieve him from his pain somehow. He felt something swirling inside him, almost making him cry, but he managed to suppress it, gulping down the heavy stuff in his throat.
Then he placed his free hand on Jin´s.
"You´re already helping me, Jin," Kame replied, squeezing his arm for a while, before he stood up, slipping from Jin´s hold. "Go to the bedroom and have some rest. I´ll wake you up soon enough."
"All right..." Jin nodded and watched the younger one leaving the kitchen, catching himself at the wish for Kame to go to the mentioned room with him. He wanted to lock him in his arms and breathe in the scent of the younger´s hair so much…
There was only one thing, which could beat his desire after the younger one at that moment – the knowledge that the day had finally come, when he would fulfil his vow given over Pi´s grave. Karnaka would pay for everything he had done. He would be stopped finally, stopped from bringing up more evil.
Jin was chasing that vow, that dream for very long already and now it would finally come true. He didn´t know if it would bring peace for him. But if their revenge brought it to Yamapi, his and Kame´s parents and to Liwan and the rest of the tribe, it would be good enough.
There was one more thing, which bothered him. Somehow, Jin was not sure about how it would affect Kazuya. The younger one was through so much already. There was definitely some border to what he could bear and what he could not. Jin felt awful being hopeless in helping Kazuya to deal with everything, despite what the younger one said a moment ago.
Pondering those depressing conclusions, Jin headed to the bedroom, which was clean as much as it was possible under the conditions. He kicked off his shoes and nestled on the bed, covering his body with the thick blanket, falling rather unconscious than asleep.
*
It felt like the gentle hand shook with him only minutes after the blackness came. However, it had to be hours, as the light in the room turned into mysterious grey. Jin opened his eyes to focus them on the young man sitting on the edge of the bed, with the hand on his shoulder.
"Jin, are you awake?" the voice was quiet, but easily recognizable for Jin.
"Yeah..." he murmured not very enthusiastically.
"We should set off within an hour," Kazuya informed him.
"Thanks..."
"Will you manage?" the other one asked worriedly, noticing the tiredness in Jin´s response.
The doubt in his voice forced Jin to gather all the senses fully. Kazuya´s face was half-hiding in the shadows; the only real light in the bedroom was coming from the kitchen.
"Of course," he assured the younger one.
"Fine..." Kame reacted, but didn´t move away and let his hand rest on Jin´s chest.
"Kame, what is it?" Jin asked softly.
"Nothing, just..." Kame sighed. "I missed you a lot."
Jin stared at the blurry features of the other´s face for a while, before he raised his hand and grabbed Kame´s shirt, making him lean down a little, so that he could see his face more clearly.
"I missed you too, Kazu," he stated seriously.
Kazuya smiled a little, before he moved closer on own accord and found Jin´s lips with his. Their kiss was tender, warm and short, before Kame pulled away.
"I thought you would laugh at me," he said then.
Jin frowned confused: "Why the hell would you think that?"
"Well, because it´s..." Kazuya hesitated, fondling Jin´s chest with his fingers slowly. "Hmm, I don´t know... Because it´s cheesy?"
Instead of response, Jin raised himself up a little and captured Kame´s lips in a much more passionate kiss. He couldn´t get enough of that warm feeling, which flooded his whole being, when Kame was so close to him. The younger repaid Jin´s action, and as they brushed against each other´s mouth, being caressing and eager at the same time, it exposed more of what they felt than any words.
Still holding on the cloth of Kazuya´s shirt, Jin dragged him down on himself and then ran with his hand up into the younger´s hair. Their kiss had a kind of desperate feeling, which brought chills on Kame´s back, and the more he didn´t want to end it. But there were too many things, which were impatiently waiting for their attention.
Their lips separated only very unwillingly. Kazuya´s eyes opened so close to Jin´s, that the older one could see their light even in the dark room.
"Then I´m cheesy too," Jin stated firmly.