On the Arrows of Chivalry

[BeautifullyxMad]

Reserved for OhGodOfWriting

Charles Stone;;

"Charlie! Come on, man!" a chuckling man beckoned from the front of the group. Bright blue eyes rolled and 23 year old Charles Stone nodded up ahead to the unofficial leader of his group. James Jones. He was a character, but some of the things he did made Charles nerves set on end. Like how he used to hassle his baby sister just before she married and went north with her husband. He had received some rather distressing letters from her lately, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He was just hoping nothing bad happened to her. His head had been clouded with those thoughts for a long time, but today was meant for nothing more than guy talk and figuring out what they would do next. Things had been odd lately it seemed, but his group didn't seem to mind that at all. Cowboys. Every last one of them. They went from ranch to ranch, from farm to farm, offering help, but since the Indians had been using the land not far away, people had been skeptical of their skills.

Finally, tying his horse's reigns around a nearby tree, Charles caught up to the other three people in his group and kicked off his boots, putting his feet into the cool water of the creek beneath his feet. It felt wonderful and Charles smiled, taking off his hat to reveal a mess of raven colored hair that had been flattened down by his hat. He didn't much mind that, it kept him from going blind in the bright sun, and it blocked some of the heat too. He never minded the heat though, he had always rather enjoyed it. "So, James, what are we doin'?" Charles asked and James chuckled.

"Well, Old Man Gibson's needin' some help 'round his farm. And Mrs. Perch asked if we'd repair her fence too. You know, little things." James answered and James' brother, Thomas, got up and rolled up his pants before placing his feet in the creek.

"Should we bring it up, James?" Thomas asked, and Charles and their last man, Mark, looked over to the brothers.

"What up?" Mark asked and Charles nodded.

"You two hidin' somethin' from us?" Charles asked, and James and Thomas looked between each other.

"We've thought of a better way to make a livin'." Thomas said, "James did actually. A few guys came through with really nice guns and horses and they told us what to do."

James looked to Thomas. "I doubt Charlie will go for it." he said, and Charles shot him a knowing look. "We should rob a bank."

Charles and Mark looked between each other and both laughed audibly. "You're funny!" Mark exclaimed and soon James broke out into laughter as well.

"Good, good." Thomas said, "But the real thing was robbin' the local tribes. They always have good horses and food. Not to mention the stuff they make is super durable."

"You're jokin'!" Charles said, quickly getting to his feet, and James sighed. "No! There is no chance in hell that we will do that, pardon my French."

James got up and placed a hand on Charles' shoulder. "Look, Charlie, it was just an idea, we don't have to-"

"There's someone over there!" Thomas shouted, pointing over to the other side of the creek, but before James or Charles could say anything, Mark and Thomas were off to see who it was.

Charles knew that if they had been there long enough, they had heard what little ploys the Jones' had come up with. Something was just wrong about the ideas and the entire situation and there was no need to keep bringing people into this. However, he knew Thomas and Mark. They had itchy trigger fingers, and Charles slipped back into his boots and he and James were after him. That's when he saw her. She had beautiful hair and skin, but she also didn't appear to be like them which made everything all the worse, and Thomas was already trying to be indecent.

"Tom, I'll shoot you if you don't leave the little lady be." Charles warned and James sighed, looking to Thomas and then to Charles.

"What now?" James asked.

[OhGodOfWriting]

OOC: Liluye (ref: http://catherinenodet.deviantart.com...stle-197428906)


BIC:

She may have heard the men coming sooner had she not been underwater, laying on the bottom of the wide, slow-flowing creek. By the time she heard voices, distorted and ballooned in their strange and foreign tongue, garbled even further by the undulating water, it was too late to hide. She slunk back toward the vegetation on the far side, fingers grappling against the smooth river stones. The petite native american came up for air in the shade of a bush, leaves draping her head that had been on the surface of the water a moment before. She had long, silky black hair and skin a strange shade both deeply tanned and fair. She was definitely a native, but certainly not full-blooded. Her soft deerskin dress lay up further on the bank, warming in the sun.

Trying to creep out quietly, unseen, her bare backside was spotted as she attempted to crawl beneath the bush. The shouts that she had been sighted (the tone alerting her rather than the words) she took off running. She was petite and young, and not fast enough to escape the young men that came splashing through the creek after her. Mark caught up to her quickly after she had paused to snatch up her dress, and she went down with a scream. He pulled her upright and held her for Thomas to see, and she tried to simultaneously cower away from both of them at once. When Thomas got too close again, she began screaming once more, in a stream of language they did not understand.

"Kumuha ang layo mula sa akin, maputla mukha! Huwag mong pindutin sa akin - hindi ko nagawa ang anumang sa iyo! Aking ama balat mo buhay at gamitin ang iyong mga Itinatago para sa aming mga! Ama!" It might have been a pretty voice, but it was difficult to tell when it was so strangled by fear. Mark clamped his hand down on her mouth, and she bit it, causing him to release and then backhand her. She fell pathetically in the dirt between the feet of the two men, her dark hair curtaining around her.

Too much of her skin showed, glowing like a dusky pearl, with freckles over her shoulders and down her arms. She shook and cried, and then once again sat back and attempted to arrange her dress over her front, clasping it stubbornly. She was afraid and brave at the same time. She spat blood onto the dirt in front of Thomas' boots, insulting him, and then looked up to glare at James and Charles, not realizing that they intended to help her. Freckles powdered her impish, sad face, and light shone on her high cheekbones. Her face was red - flushed from her anger, and her wise, dull blue eyes were startling in her obviously indian face. Her lips were pronouncedly shaped like cupid's bow, an image only further intensified by the trickle of blood which trailed from the left side of her mouth. Neither Thomas nor Mark had attempted to touch her again yet, as they stared from the girl to Charles and James. It might depend who James sided with, what they did.

"Come on Charlie, lighten up," Thomas cajoled him. "It's a naked injun girl - whaddya' want us to do?"

"She heard what we was talkin' about - 'bout the robbery!" Mark added, his fingers twitching above her head, as though he wanted to grab her hair.

"Yeah, can't just let her run off back to her tribe of barbarians and tell them what we were saying. She'd have 'em on us like a pack o' coyotes on an injured deer!" Thomas agreed, eagerly, falsely believing that this line of reasoning would get him what he wanted. They could keep her, sell her, or kill her, it did not really matter all that much, but they could not let her go.

Mark, sensing that James was the tipping point, grabbed for the girl's wrist and tried to pull her upright. "Lookie, James. How can ya' pass this up? We'll share," he whined.

The indian girl tried to rip her little wrist out of his hand, but could not. While trying to keep her front covered with one arm and a dress, she kept snarling her native tongue at him, and whatever she was saying, it obviously was not nice. Thomas chuckled at it while he leered at her.

"Huwag maglakas-loob hinawakan mo sa akin! Iyong hindi maganda kaysa sa isang buwitre, kuprum! Babae Walang ay kailanman gusto mo; hindi bababa ng lahat ng anak na babae ng!" She was writhing backwards and practically sitting on the ground despite Mark's rough yanking on her limb.

[BeautifullyxMad]

Charles Stone;;

Charles' blood was boiling with how they were throwing around the poor young woman who he had tried not to see entirely naked. Charles had standards and morals, and all of them were being tossed in right now. Perhaps he was so passionate about leaving this woman alone because he was the only one of them to have a sister. "I said no!" Charles snapped, but still Mark and Thomas tried to get James on board. "For Christ's sake, man. No! Do this and I'll shoot all of ya'll." he growled, and James looked to him. Though James could see that Charles was riled up, he couldn't help but want to side with the others it was in his nature. "I can keep her housed up at my house. She can't tell her tribe if she's there." he said and James offered Charles a look before he watched Mark snatch away the girl's dress.

Charles walked over and pushed him down into the river. "I said enough, Mark." her growled and he took back the dress and walked over and knelt down before the young woman, handing her the dress. He was trying to be gentle, but Thomas went to shove him out of the way and soon Charles' gun was out and he pushed Thomas up against the tree with the gun at his throat.

"Charlie, take it easy. Fine! We won't do anything!" James interjected. "I don't see why you care so much."

"What if this was Celia? Huh? How d'ya think I'd feel if I found out someone tried to do somethin' like this to her!" he shouted, apparently they had struck a foul nerve within their friend and James nodded, but Charles didn't move right away, and when he did he moved his gun away from Thomas and walked over to the girl. He had heard what she was spewing, but for the life of him could not understand it. He knelt down before her and offered his hand out to her, trying to make some form of eye contact.

"What're you doin' now, killer?" Thomas spat in Charles' direction, but Charles didn't listen at all. He was too worked up. How could they think like that at all? How could they call themselves men when they were trying to force a woman into doing something so intimate... So special? Call him a sap, but he believed that things of that nature were meant to be shared in love. It was how his mother and father brought he and his sister up, and his sister had found "love" a while ago. Perhaps it was the letters that made him feel so strongly about this, why he wanted to just shoot his friends and be done with their ways.

Finally he took in a deep breath and tried to communicate. "I mean you no harm." he spoke, slower than usual, and he looked around for something to show peace, and he quickly plucked up a flower from a nearby patch of grass and brought it towards her.

"Charlie, this is useless." James said. "Just throw her over your shoulder and we'll head on home for the day, talk more a little later."

James just wanted to diffuse the situation, but Charlie shot him a glare. "You know how he is, James." Mark said, rubbing his butt from the landing he had made when Charles pushed him. "When he brings up Celia there is no changing his ways. But what are you doing?"

"She looks scared, and she prob'ly don't speak any English." Charles pointed out. "She might understand though."

Thomas rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I'm heading off, before killer blows my brains out." he grumbled, heading up the stream and Mark followed after him, but James stayed behind.

"You didn't have to pull the gun, Charlie." James pointed out, and Charlie glared at him, and stood up. He took his attention away from the girl for a moment, holding up one finger to her, hoping she would understand to wait just a moment. Hoping, he had no idea if she would or not, but he had to say something. "It's been a while since you've brought up Celia, Charlie. Something wrong with her? Is that why you're so on edge lately?"

"Yeah, well. That good-for-nothin' man she married ain't treatin' her right. She's thinkin' 'bout leavin' him to find someone better, but she's been sayin' things are lookin' up. Just bothers me that I can't protect her, and if Celia were this girl here, I would want someone to help her out. She's someone's daughter, sister maybe, an no one deserves that." Charles explained and James sighed.

"I'll calm Tom down, just get her to your place. We'll discuss more on her later there." he said before he turned on his heels and headed off, and Charles watched for a moment before he turned back to the young woman.

"I'm sorry." he spoke, slowly again, offering her his hand. "You have to come with me now." he said that part a bit more quietly, but unlike his friends he didn't want to hurt or scare her. However, he knew that from what she might have possibly heard, she could tell her people and that wouldn't be good. He didn't like the idea of thieving and rape, but that didn't mean others were like him at all.

[OhGodOfWriting]

The girl had yelped when her dress was snatched away, although it sounded more like the "t'chhing" noise that a very angry cat makes as it's being backed up to a wall. It was the kind of noise that was accompanied by flailing claws, and indeed she was lashing out, swiping for it, but unable to reclaim it. She was somewhat aware of Charles approaching and pushing Mark away from her. He splashed loudly and dramatically into the creek, but Liluye did not realize that she was being saved. To her it just seemed like men fighting over her, like wolves over who got the first bites of a kill.

She was confused when the dress was held out to her once more. She had been scooting back quickly as he approached her, although she stopped when he offered her the piece of clothing. Hesitating a moment, thinking that this was a trick, her hand flashed out and she snatched it from him with far more force than was necessary. She held it over herself once again, glaring at him and trembling, still shining from her swim in the creek that had caused all of this ruckus.

There was more pushing and shoving, a firearm was taken out, and the native used the distraction to pull her dress back over her head, but she did not dare try to run from them. She had seen what guns could do, and the terror of it kept her locked into place, even though, logically, death would be a better and faster end.

Soon Charles was back, and she cringed away from his hand, first flinching in fear, and then curling her lip in a snarl. This was the one with the gun. He had given her dress back, but she was far from trusting him. If she understood anything he, or any of them said, it did not show. Most indians knew some English, with how long their lands had been being settled up by the white man, but this Indian was young (although she looked younger than she was). It was more likely that terror paralyzed her tongue and fogged her ability to understand. Whatever the case, she did not know much English, if any. Keeping her was in all likelihood unnecessary, but Charles was outnumbered and not the only one with a gun. He could not go against all three of them and let her walk free.

None of this made sense to the girl, of course, as she had not even heard what the young men had been talking about before, having been underwater. They didn't know that, and they were naturally mistrustful of any indian - even if she had some white in her. From the way she spoke and acted, she identified completely with the natives, and had not had much interaction with whites.

At the offered flower, she bared her teeth. Did this boy think she could be coddled to like a child? A pretty flower that she could just as well have picked herself, and she would go merrily along with whatever he wanted? She assumed this man to be the one in charge, like the chief, or at the very least, the one who had won her in the fight. In her mind, he did not want to protect her, he simply wanted to take her back to his tent, and he would prefer that she be docile. While in her mind, brutality was the way of the white man, taking captive women as wives was not something unknown to her own culture. Natives fought brutally among the various tribes at times, and while women and children were never hurt, they were taken back to the victor's camp and integrated. It was different than how white men did it though. Women were taken in as wives and cared for, and their children became their own. White men raped and killed. Neither was welcome, but to the natives, the white man's way was senseless.

When Charles finally gave up, the girl did stay put, but only because he still had that gun. She looked at it with darting blue eyes, wondering if she could take it from him. Probably not, and even if she did, she did not know how to shoot it. Maybe they would not know that, but she could not outrun them. She had no options. She could keep screaming for her people to hear her, but she was too far away from home.

Again he reached his hand out to her, and she looked up at him fearfully, knees knocking together in her horror. She could see no choice, but how could she do as he asked? This man looked young to be any kind of leader. Would she be passed on to someone else next? She was too young to be a wife, that was what her father had told the village boys who had asked for her hand. Not that a white man would keep her as his honorable wife. He would kill her, or at best, discard her when he was through. This was only barely worse than the thought of being kept in a strange house with strange customs and a strange man. She could kill herself - but not yet.

The boy had such vivid eyes. She was the only one of her people who did not have brown eyes (not counting the elders whose eyes were milky with old age) but she had never seen eyes like this man's. His skin was fair with an undertone of pink, and touches of red sunburn on his cheeks and the end of his nose. Her skin had an undertone of olive, and she would not burn, only get browner, if she spent more time than she already did in the sun. She shook her head once, strongly. No, she would not go with him. She wrapped her arms snugly around the knees pulled into her chest beneath the fringed skirt of her soft leather dress. She knew she would be forced, and if he touched her, she would start to fight, struggle, and scream, but she was not going to waste her energy until he did.

[BeautifullyxMad]

Charles Stone;;

Charles couldn't say he was surprised at any of this girl's... woman's... person's reactions to any of them. Mark and Thomas had literally taken no regard to her as a human being and just treated her as if she were a play thing. A rag doll. It was those kinds of behavior that Charles liked the least in a person and generally Thomas and Mark weren't that bad. Not like they had been today. They respected his morals, they understood where he came from, but it was like since Celia left to be with her husband things slowly changed. He knew he had. Charles felt lost without her sometimes. Her whole life he protected her and he felt odd without having something to protect anymore, especially since their mother and father died last summer in a forest fire. It had been the last time he had seen her and he missed her dearly. Charles couldn't think about that though and seeing how stubborn this Indian was being he sighed and sat down before her, moving his hand towards her again, hoping that she would eventually take it.

He could never bring himself to be rough with a woman. He couldn't raise his voice to them, he wouldn't touch them if he knew they didn't want it, he respected them because that was how his father had taught him. Hell, he could hear him now.

"That's good Charlie, be gentle with her. Women are fragile. They need to be protected, ya'hear? Don't matter where they're from or who they are, they need it." his father always told him, especially once he hit puberty. His father was a respected man in their community and it was half the reason he and his friends got the work they did. Charles had inherited the house and the small amount of land that came with it and he grew some crop. He sat there for a few moments with his hand extended before he found it to be pointless. However, he knew that if he didn't bring this girl back to his house then things wouldn't go well for the group. He set his hand on the ground beside him and clutched his head in his hands.

"Please." he spoke to the Indian sat before him, practically pleading. "Just for a little while. Once the tension dies out, I'll bring you back here."

Was he really trying to negotiate with her? Really, Charles, really?

"Charlie! Man! What's the hold up?" James beckoned out to him. He was riding his horse and had hold of Charles' horse's reigns. He sighed when he saw him still there and got off his horse. "For Christ's Sake, Charlie." he said, and he helped him up and looked to the Indian woman. "So, is she going to come with you willingly or do I have to throw her over my shoulder and make sure you doing set her loose before you get to your house?"

"Don't start in on it, man. They went too far, and I've said my piece, but I'm outnumbered, like I always am." Charles snarled and James groaned and forced the girl up and Charles shot him a look. "Not a good idea, man. Really not."

James shot him another look and Charles sighed. "It's either my way or Thomas' way. Your choice."

"Why can't it go my way?" Charles asked.

"I could always watch over her." James pointed out, eyeing up the young girl.

"No. No. Fine. Damn it all to hell." he grumbled and Charles looked to the Indian with a sorrowful look. He was truly sorry for her, but he knew if his dad were still around he would have no trouble with bringing her back here after a few days. Stupid group. Stupid guys. Stupid numbers.

[OhGodOfWriting]

Liluye had continued to ignore Charles' patient attempts to get her to co-operate in every way. Her round eyes glanced to his hand mistrustfully, as though it were a snake about to bite her, but then she looked pointedly away from it. From the corner of her eye, she kept watching it in her peripheral vision, still waiting for him to eventually strike out with it. The white men were vipers, poisoning and devouring things whole. A tremor rocked her again, but she did her best to control it, no wanting to show any more vulnerability than was already painfully obvious.

The tiniest flicker of her eyelashes showed her move her gaze to him as he pulled his hand back and then clutched at his head in desperation. This was strange behavior, even for a pale face, she thought, but what she was most concerned with right now was not puzzling out the behavior of these aliens. They drank strong drink that made them do stranger things than the opium the elders sometimes took did. Maybe this man was in the grips of these spirits? It did not really matter, it made him no more or less volatile and dangerous in her eyes.

When James came up and dismounted, she clenched herself into an even tighter ball and looked up at the men, trembling but defiant. It would have been comical, the way she stubbornly kept her butt glued to the ground, had it not been so sad and grave a cause that kept her fearful.

The moment that James reached for her, she began to recoil and cry and blubber. This time, instead of shouting in anger, she was clearly begging, pleading to be left alone. "Walang walang walang mangyaring ipaalam sa akin umuwi. Mangyaring huwag ninyo akong hawakan. Huwag saktan sa akin, pakiusap. Hindi ko sabihin kung ano ang iyong sinubukang gawin kung mailabas mo sa akin..." she whimpered to James, who was nearest. He lifted her easily onto the horse, and she automatically slung her legs to straddle the awkward western saddle.

After James got Charles to consent, James looked up at the still-muttering girl and said, "I don't speak Womapoke or whatever the hell it is you're speaking, lady." He let his eyes linger on the brown thigh exposed at his face height as she sat astride in a dress; most unladylike. That was why he missed the heel to his face.

"Ah, Jesus - shit!" he yelled, reeling back and letting go of the reins by putting his hand to his bloodied nose. By that time, the girl was already off like a shot. Her bare feet could not reach the stirrups, but she had leaned down over the saddle handle and wound her fingers into the mare's mane, and whispered to it while kicking it fiercely. The horse practically flew, half-terrified and half-obedient. The girl was not riding it correctly considering its tack, and the flapping stirrups and swaying reins frightened it, but it ran nevertheless. It was a smart horse, though, and would eventually circle back towards its home, or slow if James or Charles caught up to it. The native would not be able to guide it, as the horse was not trained for subtle leading, and Liluye had no relationship with the beast, though she was a skilled young horsewoman among her own people.

[BeautifullyxMad]

Charles Stone;;

Watching the scene before him, Charles couldn't fight the small chuckle when the young woman kicked James in the face, but he quickly mounted his own horse and took off after her. Charles shook his head with a smile. This little woman had a lot of fire and she wasn't about to give up without a fight. He urged his horse to move faster when he finally got to a proximity in which he could possibly grab the reigns of the runaway horse. It was exceedingly hard for a number of reasons. One, he didn't want to spook the horse and send the woman flying off of it. Two, he didn't want to start reaching and then have his own horse throw him off. Three, if the horse with the little Indian woman didn't slow down, it would be a thing for all parties. Four... Well, Charles could list of everything in his head a million times over, but he didn't want any harm to come to her.

Still, the sight of James with a bloodied face in his mind's eye gave Charles a bit of joy, and he urged his horse to move a little faster, but he knew that it was going to be hard to keep up with this pace. He quickly maneuvered around a few large rocks and large roots, and finally he reached the side of the horse and he managed to grab the reigns and pulled back a bit, pulling back on his own. "Phew." he let out a long breath and carefully turned the two horses in unison, looking to the young woman. "Nice kick." he couldn't help but to compliment her on it. He kept telling his group that one day they'd get what they deserved and today James did. In the form of a bloodied face.

Charles managed to keep a good trot between the two horses, holding the reigns of James'. He was afraid that if he went too slow that she'd try to run off again and if he went too fast that they'd both get hurt. It wouldn't be good either way, but he saw Thomas coming up with James on the back of his horse and Charles brought both horses to a halt and James quickly snapped away his reigns from Charles who was still smirking a bit. "Let's get you and this little bitch back."

"Watch your mouth, James." Charles quipped and James glared at his friend before taking off. "Just sayin' she might kick you again." he warned and Thomas shook his head a bit and took off as well. Charles didn't care that they were mad at him and he took off with his friends, heading back to his home just a little bit away from the creek they had been at.

About ten minutes later, the small cabin appeared just through a thicket of trees with another cabin off in the distance near it. That was the one that his parents had built for Celia when she and her husband were going to move back to this place, but they never did. The log cabin itself was dark and looked almost worn, but the cabin had been in the Stone family for ages, and Charles would be glad to continue to pass it on to future generations.

James seemed pretty pleased when they came up on the property and he looked back to the little Indian, still rather angry. Charles was glad that it would be him watching over her and not one of the others, especially since she had bloodied up James' face, and when they stopped and dismounted he looked to the girl. Thomas was still piping mad at him, but Charles didn't care. He still stood his ground with what he had done back there and James looked to him.

"Head on home, Thomas. I'll be there after a while." he said, and when Thomas, reluctantly, headed back, James made sure to yank the girl off the horse before she could take off again. This time she wouldn't get the best of him.

"James, that is no way-" Charles began but James shot him a look before cutting him off.

"This little Indian bitch practically stole my horse and bloodied my face up, Charlie. I'm not happy with her, and you should be lucky I didn't just decide to shoot her right then and there, but we don' need that as I'm sure you're about to say. I agree with that, but I'm stickin' 'round here until you've got her settled in." he said to Charles who sighed and looked to the Indian girl before leading James and her inside. "Where she gonna stay?"

"Celia's old room. It's the only one close enough to mine without a window." he answered, "And I can find a way to lock the door from the outside."

[Sorry for lack of quality.]

[OhGodOfWriting]

Barely holding on, the bulky saddle a cumbersome barrier between her and the horse's back, Lily managed a few glances over her shoulder. She saw one of the cowboys chasing her on his horse. Feeling her throat choked with fear, she tried to kick the mare, but had to hold on as best she could with her legs. Still, she did not give up until he had caught the flapping reigns, and the horse began to slow and calm down. The beast was glad to be back in familiar hands who knew how to use its tack properly.

Lily peered over at Charles, recognizing him as the one who had kept the others from touching her, and offered her a flower. She just stared at him in response to his compliment, not that she knew what he meant. He was not angry, though, and that surprised her. More than not being angry, he seemed happy. She did not understand that at all. She did however finally understand that she had lost, and her chances were better for now if she remained docile. That way, they would not expect it when she attempted her next escape.

She sat up on her horse with good posture and form, and even patted the horse's neck, though it had failed to bear her to freedom. Her unpolished agate eyes watched James and Thomas mistrustfully. Little to nothing these men said made any sense to her. James had made a comment, Charles had snapped at him. They were no different than a den of foxes, yowling and biting, establishing their ever-tenuous pecking order. She was merely a new piece of meat that had wandered into their den.

This animalistic behavior was far from over, but Lily found momentary distraction in watching the cabin coming into view, her eyes round, unable to help but be curious. Of course she had seen the houses of white men. In fact, there had even been an abandoned one which she had explored once. Still, these places held a sense of fascination for her. Her gaze flickered back to the bickering boys once they stopped, considering making another break for it once they dismounted. She decided against it, as Thomas was still mounted and nearby. Besides, she did not think that the angry one would be stopped from beating her if she gave him further provocation right now.

When that same angry one came to snatch her from the horse, she struggled and babbled in her beautiful, nonsensical language. Once her small feet hit the ground, she tried to pull away from James and tug down the skirt of her short dress, which had ridden up in the struggle. James let her have a bit of distance just so that he wouldn't have to keep fighting with her when his nose was already pounding so painfully. He had a firm grip on her upper arm, which made her skin first white around his fingers, and then red.

"Fine," James retorted to Charles, and led the girl toward the house, struggling against his merciless grasp. As James went first, she couldn't see Charles, and it made her feel more uneasy. After all, she did not know that this was Charles' house, or that he would be the one to keep her prisoner. Nor did she hold onto him as hope enough to look back at him for help.

James continued to practically drag her into the shady, cool house, his boots clicking over the dusty wooden floors. Her struggling knocked something from the wall, but whether it was a picture or a shelf, she did not know. "Quit yer fightin', wench!" James growled angrily, finally tossing her in Celia's room. She sprawled onto the floor, and then looked up at him as he remained for a moment in the doorway. "Damn bitch," he muttered, wiping his nose on his hand, still leaving a smear of red.

Glad for even a few feet of space, she glanced quickly around the room at all its foreign furnishings, seeing no escape beyond the one James blocked. She looked again, more slowly, desperate for a weapon. The arm James had been holding was violently red there, and would doubtlessly bruise into the shape of the man's fingers. She was trembling, more from trying to catch her breath than from fear, her exposed teeth clenched while she and James glared at each other.

[BeautifullyxMad]

It was oddly quiet around the house, Charles noted, even when James threw the little Indian girl into Celia's old room. He almost expected more of a fight, out of both of them, as he searched for something to lock the door with from the outside. He wasn't a jailer by any means, but he wasn't about to let his friends take over keeping an eye on this girl. His hope was that once things settled down he could let her go and just tell the guys that she found a way out. Some of the older folk around the area had spoken highly of the Indians, despite the language and standards barrier, and though he wasn't sure what to believe... Charles wanted to think for the best. He sighed and came out of his room with a long rope that he had used when helping wrangle cattle with his father when he was alive and he looked to James when he exited the room.

"All I can find is some rope. Maybe if we tie it to the knob and something sturdy it will hold the door closed." he suggested, but James still seemed a little bit too pissed off to care as he continued to wipe the red substance leaking from his nose. Charles, despite the overall seriousness of what they were doing, still found that funny. He didn't want to chuckle at it though, and he pulled his handkerchief from his back pocket and handed it to him. James snatched the cloth from Charles' hand a bit too aggressively and Charles shot him a look. "Oh calm down, none of this would have even been a problem if not for your stupid idea." he quipped and James just shot him a glare.

"Yeah, yeah." he waved his free hand a bit as he brought the cloth up to his nose and shook his head. "You sure you can handle her alone?"

"I'm not you." Charles retorted which earned him another nasty glare. Charles could tell by the look on James' face he didn't appreciate the comment. "Sorry, man." he said and James let out a long sigh.

"What've I told you? Never be sorry. Shows weakness Charlie." James informed him and Charles rolled his eyes a bit before glancing at the girl. He hadn't been in Celia's room in years, not since his mom and he rearranged it for guests. They weren't often, but guests had come around. Celia mainly. He shook his head.

"I can handle her. I don't use scare tactics like you guys, but I can handle her." Charles assured him, and James gave a nod.

"Then I'm staying here tonight to see how it goes." James decided, but Charles gave him a look. Did he not hear him? Charles sighed and watched the Indian girl a moment. Her arm would have a pretty bruise it looked like, and James' face was already bruised.

"Fine, do what you will, I better get to making dinner." he rolled his eyes and brought his thumb and index finger to massage the bridge of his nose. Too much trouble over something they weren't ever going to do. Too much, and too much trouble to their friendship. It was just... Too... Much.

[Sorry this took so long, and that it sucks. I could have sworn I replied to this earlier than today, but I guess I didn't. =/]

[OhGodOfWriting]

She could not decide if she was marginally glad to see Charles reappear, or simply more afraid. The rope in his hands definitely pushed her in favor of terror. She scrambled back across the floor, plainly expressing her aversion to the notion of being bound up. This brought a satisfied smirk to James' lips. If it were up to him, he would have tied her up just to pay her back for his nose. The girl was not clever enough to hide her preferences. It was lucky that Charles was her jailer, and not James.

James took the rope from Charles as the more gentlemanly of the two went to go fix dinner. Once Charles was gone, James gave Lilly an intimidating leer, his hands shifting over the rope until he had made a lasso with it. He twitched it, enjoying the fear on her wild face. In a moment, she was going to scream. Perhaps Charles would come back, and maybe help her. Maybe he wouldn't, maybe he would help his friend. Both options were not good, fighting the cruel one by herself, or else taking her chances calling on the one with the scorching blue eyes.

After a second of playing upon her fears from across the room, James stepped back, and closed her door. He hooked the lasso around the doorknob and tightened until it would not budge from the handle. He went quickly to go fetch a chair, and wedged it under the handle. Finally, he tethered the rope to it on a short leash. It would be practically impossible to escape, but fairly easy to get in - all they had to do was loosen the lasso, and then slip it from the handle. He practiced this a couple of times, and then sat in the chair, his back to the door. No sound came from inside.

Once supper was finished, James ate hungrily while a plate was brought in to Lilly. She would not touch the food even when they ate it in front of her, she only glared at them hatefully. "No utensils," James commanded. She could turn anything into a weapon, and he was not wrong. Once they closed the door behind them, Lilly wasted no time devouring the food. She was not all that hungry yet, but she did not know when her next meal would be. James took off his boots and loosened his kerchief in preparation for bed. He said he didn't mind sleeping stretched out on the hard floor, or in the chair outside her door. "I don't trust that injun, and and I'm gonna' make sure she don't slaughter us in our sleep."

Late that night, James was woken from a doze by the doorhandle wiggling. She was trying to jimmy it from the inside, to no avail. He watched for awhile, but she did not give up, despite the futility. He thought about yelling at her to shut up so that he could get some sleep, but instead he slid the lasso from the handle and let himself into the dark room, closing the door behind himself. It was too dark for him to see anything, especially at first, but he could hear her clambering away from him. Her breathing was quick and frightened, she did not think to stifle it, nor cry out. She was trying to edge around him to get to the door, but he was counting on that, waiting until she came within reach, and he lashed out, tackling her to the floor. They landed with a heavy thud on the ground, and she began to struggle and scratch, to no avail. James found her face and kissed her mouth roughly, but Lilly bit his lip savagely.

"Ugh - bitch!" James snarled as he pulled back, and then reached up to push her face sideways against the floor, with the heel of his hand. Him breaking the silence was the best thing he could have done for her. She remembered the power of sound, and a grunting scream broke out of her. It did not occur to her that Charles might come to her rescue. She screamed the scream of an overpowered animal in the jaws of its enemy. It was going to happen, the sound changed nothing. It only expressed her horror, and she could not hold it back. James hit her, and then leaned down to press his forearm against her mouth, and she was too terrified to think to try to bite him again. Her screams were muffled now, tears running down her temples into her hair as James tried to violate everything that was good and right between a man and a woman.