Sign of the Times (Arthur Morgan x Reader)

Chapter Thirty one

  **I keep staring at my screen in disbelief. 

"Last post: March 20th 2020 9:52 PM"

I've really been gone for that long? **

I lifted my hand to block the early morning sun from my eyes as I lifted my head away from the burlap sack that I called a bed. Everyone still looked to be asleep, apart from a few men who were lazing about, doing small chores here and there.

Things were quiet... for now. It may be a good opportunity to restock on a few herbs that I needed. I sat myself up before standing and stretching my achy muscles. This had been a long few days, and as I turned my head towards the overhang where we kept the ill and injured, my eyes landed on Arthur's friend, Javier. He seemed to be sleeping soundly, no groaning or uncomfortable movements, thank goodness. 

After grabbing my satchel and rifling through to see what I needed, I began the excursion into the jungle. It was difficult to determine what plants were what. I was not familiar at all with the local flora, so I decide to stay with the basics; yarrow, marjoram, and lemon verbena. I quickly settled on a nice patch of yarrow and began picking and inspecting them meticulously before placing them carefully in my satchel so they could be dried later on.

"I see I'm not the only one who's an early riser." A voice spoke up, and I lifted my eyes to see Dutch slowly making his way towards me with his usual charming smile on his face. I nodded towards him before returning to what I was doing, and he hesitated before settling himself in a the spot beside me, and beginning to pick at the herbs himself.

"Ah... how lovely." Dutch said, reaching to pick a familiar pink flower. He plucked it gently before twirling it in front of his face, and admiring the nice smell.

"That's Oleander." I said, continuing to do what I was doing whilst ignoring him. He turned to me in question.

"Is... that Italian for flower...?" He asked, and I rolled my eyes at his ignorance.

"That's 'Fiore'. 'Oleander' is an extremely poisonous plant." I said, snapping a few dead ends off of the stems of some of the yarrow I had picked.

"Can you... die from touching it?" He asked, suddenly sounding a bit worried.

"The oil secreted from the stems can cause some irritation, but as long as you don't eat it, you'll be fine." I said, placing the last batch of yarrow into my satchel before dusting myself off, and moving along to another patch. 

Unfortunately, Dutch followed me.

"Even after all this time, you continue to astound and fascinate me." He said, and I took a deep breath.

"Yes, well... all it takes is a little know-how." I said, purposely moving away from him as he attempted to get closer to me.

"I just meant..." I suddenly found myself backed against a large tree, and in very close proximity to Dutch.

"Well... in a lot of ways, you're very similar to Oleander." He said, and I felt my brow crease, but said nothing.

"Virulent, and yet..." He slowly lifted his hand to my chin as I angled my head down to put some distance between us, and he moved my face back towards his to where he could look directly into my eyes.

"Dangerously beautiful..." He said, his voice low now as he moved even closer to me. I moved my head away again, and I felt him grab my arm as his lips lightly pressed against the skin just beneath my right ear. His beard and mustache scratched across my neck, causing a sickening cold chill to run up my spine.

"Dutch... stop..." I said, my voice small.

What was wrong with me? I was frozen in place, and yet my brain was screaming at me to run, fight, scream, or anything else. So why couldn't I? His lips began to slowly kiss down the side of my neck, and across my collarbone, and my body began to shake, with what I wasn't sure. Rage? Fear? Disgust? Those were all appropriate words, but still, I couldn't manage to force him away from me.

"Stop it... please stop." I whimpered, and Dutch was suddenly seized by the shoulder and tossed away from me forcefully.

He staggered a bit before coming to a stop and looking wide-eyed at his aggressor. Relief flooded my body, and tears began to flow freely as I began to gasp for air that I hadn't realized I'd lost.

"She told you to stop." Hercule said, his eyes, and a long-arm rifle narrowed in directly on Dutch. He lifted his hands slowly in both surrender and surprise that he'd been caught in the act.

"Hercule... don't." I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. He hesitated for the longest time before lowering his gun, but keeping his eyes glued on Dutch.

"Get back to the camp, now." Hercule demanded, and Dutch dropped his hands before glancing at me, and heading straight back towards camp.

"Are you okay?" Hercule asked, and I nodded wordlessly, still choking back tears, and rubbing at the place he had grabbed me.

"I'm fine... I just... need a minute. Please." I sighed. He nodded understandingly before following Dutch back up the hill towards camp. I took a few more shaky breaths as I turned to walk further into the jungle. Twigs and grass snapped and crunched beneath my feet as I ventured further in. My body was still shaking, and I felt sick at my stomach like I could vomit at any moment. 

This feeling... it's both disgusting and yet all too familiar.

I clenched my fist tightly before grabbing my bow, and snatching an arrow from quiver. I notched it, pulled back, and loosed the arrow quickly, and it met it's mark as intended.

A  boar, only twenty yards or so out, and it quickly dropped to the ground, dead.

I suppose if I can't bring back a ton of medicine, I can at least bring back some meat for camp. I began trudging forward towards my kill, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed something swinging freely. After turning my head, my blood ran cold, and I took a step back.

"Oh shit... that's not good." I mumbled, my eyes scanning over the lifeless bodies of a few men who were hanging by the neck from the high reaching limbs of the massive, towering trees.

"AH!" I shrieked, feeling a sudden stabbing sensation in my neck. I grabbed the needle-like barb, and examined it for a moment before tossing it down, and stepping forward a bit. Immediately, my body began to feel heavy, and my head began to spin.

I'd know that smell anywhere. That was Curare resin. Not deadly, but it did have paralytic properties. I began breathing heavily as I tripped over my feet and began to crawl towards the edge of a hill. Before I could move any further, my eyes slid closed, and my body wouldn't move. After that, darkness and silence.

**I know I've been away for a long time, but I'm going to start back up with regular updates now that I had access to another computer. Hopefully, this was worth waiting for! 

Your comments give me the serotonin that I require to make it through my day, and for that, I thank you!

I'm back! As always, thanks for reading, and I love you all!**