Black Water

Chapter 12

Stepping out into the gray morning light Ren felt more than ready to finally get moving. He scanned the men who had joined the posse who were dismounting, removing their tact from their spent horses and placing them on the fresh horses Lory was providing. He knew most of then from town, all good men.

Kijima, the Sheriff despite his age was a good man, though well known as a playboy. Ren had been in a few dealings with this man before and they were on good terms.

Beside him was an older man Ren knew as Taishou, one of those men of few words and no-nonsense. He owns and runs a successful restaurant in Sulpher Springs. Surprisingly three men he hadn't seen since last years horse auction had joined the posse. All somewhere in their thirties and all very influential in their own ways. Ushio Kurosaki has dark brown hair and a well groomed goatee. A chain smoker by habit and a damned good gunsmith by trade. Ren's own Sharps Henry Repeater had been modified by him. Seiji Shingai was a man who paid great attention to detail and always found the prize horse of the auction. His attention to detail reflecting his trade as a first class tailor. Matsushima, Ren knew close to nothing about except he was a friend of Lory's.

The last guy Ren didn't know, he was tall and good looking, younger than Ren but looked like he could hold his own. He however wasn't changing horses like the others. Instead he was headed toward Lory who had just joined Ren on the porch.

"Are you Lory Takarada? I'm looking for Kyoko, tell her Sho's here." He says looking at Lory expectantly.

SNAP!!

Ren's boiling anger from before rises back in an instant and boils over. Ren rears back and puts all his weight into his fist, which connects with Sho's face with a solid whomp sound. The punch sending him flying off the porch into the dirt below, rising a cloud of dust.

Before Ren can jump down and pound Sho into the earths crust, Lory grabs hold of Ren's arms and holds him back.

Sho holds his jaw and raises himself up onto his elbows, glaring at the man who just sucker punched him. Ren struggles against Lory's grasp and spoke with venom dripping from his words.

"How dare you come now, after throwing her away. I ought to finish you here." Lory's grip tightens and he says his name in warning.

"Ren, he's not worth it, and you two fighting does nothing but waste precious time. Kyoko needs you to be rational."

Ren's jaw sets in a hard line, he shakes Lory's hold and storms off to the corral.

"What the hell is that guys problem?" Sho says watching Ren storm off. Lory looms over Sho and he raises his hand to be helped up, instead Lory ignores his gesture and gives him a seething dark look.

"He is right about coming here now. But since we are in a hurry I suggest if you want to help you better move your ass. Otherwise leave." The mans tone sends a chill up Sho's spine and he sits there for another second the gets up and dusts off. He walks over to his tired horse and takes off his tact, switching over to a fresh one.

'Like hell, I'm gonna take a punch like that and leave with my tail between my legs.' His cheek pounds in response but he ignores it.

Lory returns to the porch and waits as the preparations are complete. Ren returns with his horse ready to go, his hair dripping with water. However, he stands as far away from Sho as he can.

Lory clears his throat and addresses everyone.

"We're facing a mercenary group who calls themselves Vie Ghoul, the group consists of six men. We think they're heading toward the Sioux camp just over the northern mountains because the Chief's son Thunder Bear has a debt with her after she fought him off when he tried to raid the carriage she was on."

Sho feels a pang of guilt but pushes it aside feeling something nagging at the back of his brain.

'Why does that mercenary group sound familiar?'

Lory and Kijima lead to pack. Saying goodbye to everyone staying behind. Jelly, the children, Hikaru, Shin'inchi and Yukihito. Before the first peak of morning colors even breeches the horizon Kyoko's rescuing party moves fast following the trail of hoof prints left behind.

Vie Ghouls Camp

The rope snaps and sounds like thunder to Kyoko's hyper sensitive hearing. She feints sleep waiting for someone to jump up and catch her. After counting ten slow breaths she chances a peak, seeing no movement from anyone asleep and the lookout still facing the other way. The moon had long since been lost from view so there was no telling how long she had been trying to cut the rope binding her with a jagged rock she found. She could have been done in no time had she used her knife White Cloud had given her but she was too afraid of being caught and losing her only weapon. She rubbed her wrists to try and recirculate the blood flow into her hands. While she had been sawing away at the rope she came up with a plan. The plan was simple:

1. Get Free

2. Find a rock or piece of wood to throw, distracting the lookout and hopefully leave his post

3. Sneak past the sleeping men

4.Grab her horse and ride off back in the direction they had come earlier.

Simple and little room for error. She looks around her and spots a small log that had been deemed unworthy of the fire. Still cautious she uses her good leg and shuffles it closer. Kyoko stands slowly and puts all her might into throwing the log as far away as she can, away from the horses and any chance of him seeing her.

The log lands crashing through tree limbs and bouncing off rocks. The lookout jumps up, he glances at her who looks tied up and slumped in sleep then he walks off his gun drawn in the direction of the noise. Kyoko slowly counts to three when he leaves her sight and stands crouched, she begins moving toward the rope line holding the horses. As quickly and quietly as she can she passes by the sleeping me, stopping in fear every time one of them moves or makes a sound. Finally at the horses she soothes her horse to remain quiet. Glad the men kept the horses saddled she walks her horse a ways from the camp ignoring the pain in her leg. When she felt far enough away she got on settling herself in the sidesaddle and for a time walked the horse afraid to make too much noise if she did more. She cleared the mountains and jumped into full speed no longer afraid of the walls echoing her escape. Knowing the dangers of riding at night especially with the tiny moon that was lowering under the horizon she kept a safe speed making sure the ground was solid. After maybe fifteen minutes Kyoko noticed a small fire peaking through the trees just ahead.

'A camp, I'm saved!'

Thirty Minutes Earlier Vie Ghoul Camp

Kiyora returns to the light of the camp having found nothing in the vicinity of that noise and feeling better after relieving himself. He checks on the girl again never one to be too careful.

'No one...' In the spot the girl had been slumped in was nothing but discarded ropes.

"Shit!" He checks the horses and confirms the one with the sidesaddle is missing.

"SHIT!" He runs over to the others and hurriedly wakes them up, everyone but Reino. When they all grasp the situation the others get to work tracking and packing up, leaving waking Reino to Kiyora who had been on watch when she went missing. The others watch from a safe distance as the demon from hell appears when he is woken. Then unleashed in a punch that sends Kiyora sprawled on the ground out cold when he tells Reino of Kyoko's escape. Five minutes later they are on her trail with Kiyora slung across the back of his horse still unconscious.