Charles Smith x Reader

Twenty-Seven

The woman eyed him for a long time. There was no intention visible in this dark brown of her eyes, only calm and a very subtle hint of satisfaction.

"You ride.", her tongue was heavy, English clearly wasn't a language she held dear to her heart but she had learned it so it could serve her.

A slight flinch crossed Charles' face as he moved in the saddle in an attempt to get off. He knew how it felt like to be approached by strangers in a world that meant no good for him.

It would have been more sincere to meet her eye to eye. But he simply couldn't. His body bowed to its injuries and he barely managed to raise his leg far enough to get himself to sit on the horse sideways.

"Stay.", Aponi said with a raised hand and slid off the rock to greet him halfway.

The man next to her grabbed her by the wrist. A few muttered words crossed his lips. Eyes wandered over Charles, full of scepticism.

As if he were one of the uninvited.

Eyes watched while Charles waited patiently for them to finish their discussion. Then Aponi kissed the man's cheek and slid away to finally meet him halfway.

A calm expression was on her face, though she did not seem happy that he was here in the first place.

"How are you feeling?", she asked with a look up at him. "I've seen you. The spirits called for your name."

Charles understood what she meant and even though he knew she was right it frightened him to hear just how close he had escaped death this time.

"My wounds still bleed from time to time.", his hand wandered down to caress his shoulder. "But I am taken care of."

"Yes. (Y/N) is one of the kind ones."

"I... realised that too. That's why I'm here."

"You were send?"

"Yes. And I hope it won't insult you."

For a brief moment she eyed him, friendly as if he were one of her own, but at the same time with this shimmer of doubt.

She wanted to welcome half of him. But just like a lot of people she feared the consequences of welcoming the other half. The half that wanted to see her land burn.

Charles knew her struggles. He himself wasn't entirely sure most days what he wanted to be. Who he wanted to be with.

But this was different. He didn't need to think about what side to pick.

"You look troubled...", Aponi's voice cut through the thick fog that clouded his thoughts.

"I came here to warn you.", Charles let out a deep breath to push back the pain that threatened to dig into his left lung. "There's a new sheriff in town."

"We do not fear the settlers hounds. If we must fight for our land, we will."

"They don't intent to fight. They want to send you to reform school."

Aponi frowned. Her eyes wandered over her shoulder to meet the ones of the man who was still eyeing Charles with much more than just hostility.

He didn't believe that stranger a single word he said. Or the way he spoke to Aponi. To him, he was a settler. And he did not with to see him on his land any moment longer.

"Reform school...", she muttered to herself and threw a glance back once more to have a silent conversation with the man.

With his eyebrows knitted together and a deep dark shadow on his face he lowered his head and rushed away into the opposite direction from which Charles had come from. A pinch of worry appeared in his eyes. Charles looks at Aponi.

She shook her head.

"Don't worry. He's on his way to warn our people.", she said and fished for something in her pocket. "Here. Get this to (Y/N). As a token of our successful friendship."

Charles opened his hand and she let a small bracelet made of wooden and stone polished pearls fall into it. It was a simple piece of jewellery, but Charles had seen some similar before. The tribe he had grown up in had used these to find their kind when they got lost.

To find their way back home.

With a nod of thanks he safely stored the gift in his pockets and then looked at her again.

"And what will you do?", he asked.

"Our people know how to take care of ourselves. We go where the bison go and they travel up the hills. We will go with them.", she placed a hand on his arm, a thin smile on her lips. "Neither you nor (Y/N) are part of who we are. But my people like peaceful companions. If you feel like coming with his, we will not be enemies."

Charles couldn't help but feel his heart jump at the offer. He had been on the run for too long, had been trying to be friends with people who didn't even see him as a man. And now here it was, an offer to return to the life he had been born into.

For some reason this felt like everything he had been looking for. And yet there was this weight that pushed down on his shoulders.

It wasn't that he wanted to decline. But at the same time there was this little voice of doubt that whispered in the back of his mind. He wouldn't be part of this tribe but a visitor. Those weren't his people and judging by Aponi's words they also had no desire for him to become one of their own.

He'd just be a friendly neighbour who followed them wherever. Somewhat like them but not enough to be part of what they had.

It made his heart bleed and ache. Nothing would have made him happier yet he couldn't imagine a greater pain.

Besides, there was someone else he kind of worried about as well.

"What about (Y/N).", he asked, eyes flickering as your name crossed his lips.

Aponi shook her head.

"A friend of my people, but even less native than you are.", she said. "Do you wish to decline my offer?"

"No, I don't wish so. But I have to."

"Why?", it seemed she didn't understand.

"Because... it's the right thing to do. For someone who deserves to be a part of something. Wholly. Not just a guest."

"I understand. In that case... thank you for the message. May you be protected by the spirits."

"Thank you. And good luck."