Cuthbert Allgood (kaswhippingboy) wrote in chaosunraveled, @ 2010-01-25 15:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | alessa, cuthbert, setting: deadwood, setting: emptiness, yako |
Who: Bert, Yako, Open
When: Childhood Day!
Where: The Deadwood
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Deciding it's the best and most logical course of action, Bert and Yako attempt to find some adults. By setting things on fire.
This was, Bert knew, a job for a real Gunslinger. Not a scared kid who was probably very far from home and almost completely alone. His parents weren't here, his friends and classmates weren't here, his teacher wasn't here....
But he was there, and he wasn't going to just curl up and cry for his mum. Much as he wanted to. He was going to grow up to be a Gunslinger someday, and this was just...practice. But there was a girl who needed help, and protecting damsels and fair maidens was all part of being a knight. Besides, he'd made her a promise. And Gunslingers never broke their promises. Ever.
Which was why he was able to justify taking his father's guns. He didn't put them on himself, though he was tempted. But he wrapped them carefully and placed them in a gunna he'd found in the room he'd woken up in. He also took the small turtle totem sitting on the windowsill. Just in case. And the good luck beads that were on the bedside table.
Yako had made a good point. There could be bears. Or boars or muties or even worse things out there. Which was why Bert had to get a horse and get to her quick.
His heart was beating like crazy as he slipped into the stable, watchful and alert. While he hadn't yet had any proper weapons training, he had been schooled in scouting and what his da called Paying Attention. Bert was good at Paying Attention. Right now, all his senses told him that there wasn't an adult in the townhouse. He knew there other kids - weird kids from weird places - but they didn't matter. They were inside, and it was clear that they weren't in any immediate danger.
But still...taking his father's guns, stealing a horse, riding into the unknown to rescue (or whatever) some girl he hadn't even ever met? That was more than enough to eat the boy up with confusion and guilt and fear. He could taste it in his mouth. It felt a lot like it did when they watched the testing. Would the student be able to win? Or would he be sent West?
But Bert, even at so young an age, had a Gunslinger's pride. So he scrambled up onto the shortest, most docile horse he could find, not bothering with tack. Gunna on his back, dressed in clothing that looked more suited to a young Regency lord than the slang-slinging cowboy he would grow into, Bert made an odd sight. Especially considering that with his long dark hair and petite face and form, he looked like a ten year old girl.
But he rode the stretch of street that seemed to be the only street outside the townhouse, following the sun to try and find the woods Yako had told him about. And keeping a very watchful eye out for bears. Or something worse. He was biting his cheek and gripping the horse's mane so tightly by the time he drew close to the woods that both cheek and hands hurt. But he was terrified, determined not to show it, and determined to Do the Right Thing.
He just hoped that Yako was okay. She did seem nice, even if she was a dumb girl.
And then he realized he had no idea what she looked like. Yanking on his mount's mane to stop it, Bert cupped his hands around his mouth and called out (with an accent more reminiscent of upper class England than the Hambry dialect he'd adopt as a teenager): "Allo! Yako-chan! Are you okay?"