Archive of Our Own

You winced, wishing you could have shoved the words back into his guts.

Javier had in fact been busy. He’d spent all morning chasing leads with you, and that was following a full night on guard duty. His determination was inspiring, though his motivations were questionable. All but denial kept him from recognizing Dutch’s serious decline. Your boss’s mind decayed ever further as the days clawed slowly by, and he was unable to see the damage he was doing. Folk, good folk, loyal folk, kept dying, and it wasn’t no coincidence.

Still you’d stick by Javier’s side on any mission, with the same blind loyalty he showed Dutch. He was your best friend after all.

“That’s what I like to see.” Dutch pantomimed with a dramatic hand motion towards Javier, “Finally, some goddamn faith! Bring us back a decent score, will you?” And with a dismissive wave he turned on his heel to march darkly back to his tent, Micah following closely after, simpering like a love-struck school girl.

You exchanged a look with Javier then rose to your feet, bones protesting loudly.

“Let’s do this,” you groaned as you stretched. Thankfully, you were relatively well rested and had sussed out a promising lead. One that was far and away from camp, enough that you could finally breathe.

~~~

The lead took you north. Far north. A journey neither of you were quite as prepared for as you should have been.

A sudden cold snap made the mountain air bite hard. It was reminiscent of your time in Colter, though an unfamiliar humidity hung thickly all around you. It bypassed your coats, even your skins, simply drilling the frost straight to your bones. Without a scarf, the relentless rhythm of your breath gliding over your frozen lips kept them chapped and aching and any nerves still alive in your face sang out with their discomfort.

Hunched and uncomfortable, the pair of you, the only riders on the road, would have appeared very out of place against the motionless, grey haze of chill, though there was nary a soul to witness you. The air held a quiet eeriness, but being no coward, you simply shrugged it away to the cold.

No, you weren't afraid... but a small part of you did consider turning back. From the unexpected snap of winter, to the clouds that hugged the earth and marred your visibility the higher you climbed, it seemed a fools errand to press on, but ultimately the potential score was too big to pass up.

You had a good source, tipping you off to a pitifully guarded wagon riding through Cotorra Springs in the morning. They would try to look inconspicuous, but if your intel was trustworthy, the wagon would be carrying military payroll. The robbery would be a breeze in contrast to the efforts of your travel, making it all worth the struggle.

Though the unusual silence of the earth around you played on your nerves all the same. The fog dampened the hoofbeats of your mounts, no wind shook the trees. Not even the call of a bird pierced the sky. All laid unsettlingly still. It was so unusual in fact that the two times Javier broke the silence stood out sharply in your mind.

Once, his voice pierced the air when he took note of a carcass, decaying in an unusual position. To you, just another blip of nature’s vicious cycle on the tiring ride, but his shoulders were tense.

“I don’t like that…” he muttered stiffly, lips as frozen as yours.

And again some time later, when spotted through the sparse trees hung a handmade effigy.

“That’s a bad omen.” It was barely a whisper, but with all other noises suppressed by the growing fog, his voice carried plainly to your ears.

Beyond those occurrences, neither of you spoke again, faces too stiff from the cold to bother with small talk.

In your frostbitten mind, Javier’s worries were nothing more than simple comments on the scenery. Having hunted in those parts often, you'd learned that animals, startled by the rare commotion of a wagon, would dart out from the thick underbrush, only to be struck by the very thing that frightened them. Their carcasses were often left strewn aside in a mangled heap to rot and be forgotten. The eeriness of their presence lended to human apathy more than the work of evil spirits.

And you hadn't considered the strange handmade charms an omen at all, but instead, another sign of humanity stretching its fingers through every fiber of earth’s being. They simply dangled prettily from the boughs in which they were hung, leaving your luck unchanged on the occasions you camped near by them.

But Javier was unfamiliar with those trails and plainly on edge, whether due to his exhaustion or a deep knowledge of the world around you, you did not know. Still, they were facts you would have taken into account if you weren’t so distracted by the ache of a sudden winter.

Regardless of your individual reasons, one thing was clear: the sooner you set up camp, the better.

~~~

As you rounded a bend, the flat, rocky terrain of the springs came into view. Normally, Cotorra Springs was a uniquely beautiful expanse of land, but veiled by the ever thickening fog, the crystal clear ponds, usually striking in their turquoise radiance, were muted and dull, making their positions known only by their steady bubbling.

You cautiously picked your way along as night thickly blanketed what little earth you could still see. The scalding hot water of the springs threatened your demise, hidden as they were. One wrong step and you’d be boiled alive.

Javier pulled his coat just a little higher around his ears. His dark eyes scanned the perimeter cautiously. “I’ve heard there’s wolves this way,” he said, voice rigid from the cold.

You slung your rifle off your back in reply, and flexed your frozen fingers. He was right, and the last thing you needed was an ambush while your muscles were too cold to react. You hopped down from your mount and padded your way softly around the potential predator’s territory, checking for fresh pawprints, bones or other tell-tale signs of their activities. To your growing relief, there appeared to be no recent evidence of their presence. They were likely holed up somewhere to wisely protect themselves from the weather.

“It seems safe, but let’s get a fire going before any show up,” you encouraged him through dreadfully frozen lips. Javier nodded hesitantly.

As you moved to mount up once more, sudden as a cannon, the blast of a geyser sprayed hot mist into the air, causing the horses to spook.

“Whoa easy now!” you reached up to pat your mount’s neck, gripping the reins with frost-weakened fingers and calmed it with a gentle hum.

Boaz, Javier’s mount, settled quickly, brave little horse that he was. His rider on the other hand was visibly tense. “I don’t like this…” he hissed, flashing you a look, voice low.

“We’ll be outta here in no time.” You assured him as you climbed back into the saddle and got your horse moving again. “The wagon comes through in the morning. The job’ll be a breeze.” You managed, stiffly.

“I wasn’t built for this cold,” he grumbled to himself. A glance back confirmed his lamentations. His nose and cheekbones were still cherry red despite the minor relief the hot spring-warmed air provided.

You chuckled, glad he was well enough to complain. “We’ll get through it.”

He offered you a flat look, not at all soothed by your shallow platitude.

You shook your head. Trying to keep the mood light, you added, “besides… Dutch would only trust his best on this mission.”

Javier narrowed his eyes, but grinned softly, “then why’d he send you?” he joked. You let his jab settle in the air, just glad to see him loosening up a little, when another blast of a geyser had your horses dancing nervously in place. Javier’s jaw clenched.

You exchanged a look as you settled your horses again, silently agreeing you'd need to find a quieter place to camp for the night. You angled your horse to the small clearing slightly south of the springs and motioned Javier to follow closely before he lost you in the fog.

~~~

Your cheeks stung as the modest campfire fought to thaw them. Javier scooched closer to the flame, holding his gloved hands as close as he could manage without them igniting.

The blasts of the geysers still rang out periodically, but at a distance, they didn’t bother you much.

Javier on the other hand was visibly tense. Normally, a man so cool and level headed, he’d make you look like a frightened jackrabbit. Now his eyes darted to meet any slight sound in the darkness, making you feel nervous just looking at him. It was so unusual.

He glanced up to meet your eyes and shifted uncomfortably in place, as if he knew what you were thinking. His voice, strained from chill and... perhaps fear, pierced the air to offer some small explanation. “You know… Back in Mexico, when I was a child, my mother spoke of nights like these…. The nights that are dark and quiet and hazy like this… She would tell me there are evil spirits hiding in the fog, looking to steal the souls of those who wandered in...” He chuckled bitterly, possibly an effort to disguise his growing apprehension, though it had little effect. After a slight pause he added, “I know she was only trying to keep me safe, to keep me from wandering off and getting lost but… tonight? Tonight I might believe her.”

You laughed softly in reply, trying to keep the mood light for both your sakes. “Ah, the only evil spirits out here are you and me, man.” You flashed him a grin. He forced a breath through his nose, shaking his head.

A particularly close blast from a geyser caused him to flinch.

“Aye…” he growled as he tried to mask the reaction by sitting up to stoke the fire. You examined him curiously as he prodded the coals with a long stick.

“You want me to take first watch?” you offered. His dark eyes flicked up to meet yours. “I mean... you have been awake for almost 2 days.”

“I know, but…” He stoked the flames as he chewed a chapped lip pensively. “I don’t think I’m ready for sleep yet.”

“If you’re sure…” you said slowly. “But seriously, if you need some time to get your head right-”

“What are you trying to say?” he snapped defensively, the leather of his gloves squeaking as his grip on the stick tightened.

“Whoa, brother, I ain’t sayin’ nothin’! Just giving you the option,” you explained, hands held up in mock surrender.

He scoffed, his posture relaxing slightly. “My head is right,” he stated as his eyes flashed up coldly. “There’s just been some... some bad signs, amigo…”

You cast your vision down to the coals pulsing at the base of the flames, somehow cooler in comparison to the heat of his gaze.

Javier had always struck you as the superstitious sort, though you’d never given it any real thought before. You didn't exactly believe what he was talking about, but you'd had your moments with the unexplainable too and felt isolated when no one believed you. With a steady breath in and out, you decided for the sake of your friend’s feelings, you’d try to take him seriously.

“Should I stay up too?”

Javier swallowed and sat back before huffing a small laugh, seeming to be grappling between logic and paranoia. “Nah… we should try and be fresh tomorrow morning.” he finally said, coolly. Though when he pulled a small pouch of tobacco from the waist of his pants to roll a cigarette, you noticed his fire-warmed hands were shaking.

“Listen, just… Wake me if anything seems off, okay?” you told him, making sure your expression read sincerity.

Javier closed his eyes as he took a long drag off his smoke. “I’m sure it’ll be fine…” Apprehension tugged at the edge of his voice, but he gave you a nod and you relented to his desire to tough it out on the first watch.

As you cozied up into the warm, wool bedroll that awaited you within the tent, the blast of a geyser pulled a curse from Javier’s lips. You felt a little bad finding sleep while he struggled but knew it was for the best.

~~~

A shockwave of sensation tore through you, waking you with a start. Disoriented and confused, sleep still blackening your vision, you struggled to wrench an arm free from the bedroll to grasp for your gun. You pried your eyes open as you stirred, the walls of the tent were merely a blur. You couldn’t reckon where you’d even fallen asleep.

“Did you hear that?” The voice was distant, as if spoken from behind a wall. “Estupido! Wake up!”

Another sharp sensation jolted your body, registering to you after a further second of near-unconsciousness that it was a kick to the bottom of your foot. You took a sharp inhale, as Javier finally roused your mind back into the cold world of the living. “Wake up! Did you hear that?” he whispered urgently.

With a final great effort you untangled yourself from the fabric, snatched up your revolver from its holster and quickly bolted out of the tent, adrenaline, rocking your heartbeat and heightening your breath.

“What, what is it?” you whispered urgently back, eyes stinging in the light of the flames as you scanned the impenetrable dark haze that encircled you. Javier had his gun ready too, his sunken eyes were wide, the fire glinted off of them intensely.

“There’s something out there. It’s- aye, you have to hear it.” His chest rose and fell quickly, his exaggerated breaths only increased your own anxiety.

“Do you think it was a wolf?” you ventured, glancing back to where your rifle rested.

“No,” he answered darkly, “no I- mierda, you’ll never believe me.” Whatever he’d heard had the man genuinely scared. Anything with the power to rattle Javier’s nerves was inherently upsetting, but in your sleep disturbed delirium you were finding it a lot harder to keep your nerves at bay.

“I can try,” you assured him, though the quiver in your voice surprised you.

His nostrils flared and his mouth parted to speak when the blast of a geyser had you both jump.

“Shit,” you tried to laugh, but the humor of the situation left you quickly as you scanned helplessly for threats.

Javier’s grip tightened around his revolver with a squeak of his cold leather glove.

“What did you hear-”

Cutting you off was a horrifying inhuman cry.

The creature, or whatever it was, securely veiled by the damnible darkness, bellowed impossibly loud into the night. The sound seemed to come from all sides, the tones deep and guttural, finishing on a high pitched squeal similar to a pained human screech.

You locked eyes with Javier, face pulled into an expression of abject horror.

“That!” he hissed low, as he held his gun a little closer to his chest, scanning the mist desperately.

Blood rushed through your ears in deafening swells. Deep in your mind, you knew what that sound was, you’d heard it before. Numerous times in fact! But as you grappled with your fear, the fog that clouded both your vision and your mind stopped any sense of logic or reasoning to connect with the forefront of your consciousness.

You both assumed a crouched posture, unwilling to rise to your full heights despite the visibility being so low.

“What do we do?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Glancing around into the dark, you both recognized your inherent helplessness in the situation.

“I don’t know,” you offered back uselessly.

Another blast of the geyser sounded off.

“Should we ride out?” he questioned seriously, trying to shrug off the tension, though his muscles visibly coiled.

“Wait! Listen,” you huffed woodenly, your gaze falling to the fire as you processed his question. “The… the sound just now. I don’t think it’s dangerous... I can’t place it but… I think we should stay put.”

His eyes narrowed darkly as his chest heaved. “That- that sound… isn’t dangerous? You did hear it, right? Now isn't the time to be messing with me.”

“I promise you… I- I can’t place it but, Javier, trust me. I think we’re safer if we stay put,” you assured him as you held a hand up in pleading.

His gaze met with a thought, far beyond your field of view. The muscles in his cheeks flexed and he sniffed as his frozen nose ran. “We are sorta trapped, aren’t we?”

You sighed feeling just as helpless as your friend for a moment. “We are. Let’s just… Let’s just sit here okay? But we’ll stay armed,” you whispered as you collected your rifle and took your place by the fire again.

Javier’s eyes shifted back and forth before his posture relaxed, just slightly, with a resigned huff. “If I get slaughtered by some- some creature tonight-”

“We’ll be okay,” you comforted, half for him and half for yourself, trying desperately to believe your own words.

He drew a cross over his chest and mumbled something quietly before kneeling by the fire once again. Attempting to roll another cigarette, he spilled tobacco to the ground with his unsteady hand.

~~~

Hours passed and yet the only change was the temperature dropping yet again. Time seemed to crawl by. The only sound to pierce the night, besides the crackling fire, were the periodic blasts of the geysers, which slowly affected the pair of you less and less. Ultimately, you took comfort in the horses, who occasionally huffed and snorted, though otherwise appeared content.

At some stage, you’d convinced Javier to shroud his shoulders in the bedroll while neither of you used it. He’d been shivering so hard. With the small, human comfort of a blanket enveloping him, he finally seemed to be relaxing.

“Listen,” he started darkly, sleep playing at the edges of his exhausted voice, “I don’t want you thinking I’m some… coward, okay?”

You scoffed. “Javier, if you sense danger, I’m right there with you, man. I trust you.” You assured him and his tired, half grin acknowledged your words. “You really should get some rest though, if you can.”

He tugged the bedroll more securely around his shoulders and watched the small flickering flame before nodding. “Yeah... I’ll sleep here though.”

You gave him an approving look and threw some more frozen branches onto the fire. The twigs hissed and snapped before the flames engulfed the offering. You only felt small jealousy seeing how warm Javier appeared now, but resigned yourself to the cold, aware it would aid in your wakefulness as you kept watch.

His head lolled and nodded until he’d drifted off to sleep, though he stayed upright. Only a second seemed to pass when behind you, loud and sudden as a gunshot, the haunting cry sounded out once again, guttural and haunting, ending on a sharp, wailing pitch.

Adrenaline dumped into your veins as you took up the rifle. The sound was still so familiar, though the way it bounced off the fog-dampened air twisted it beyond recognition. Javier woke with a sharp inhale of breath, eyes wild as he cursed and fumbled about, momentarily helpless as he was pulled back from the edge of much needed sleep.

Finally, he scrambled his gun into his hand and looked into the fog, a delirious edge to his expression. “That- that sounded close,” Javier whisper-shouted, already halfway to his feet.

“Relax!” you called back, “The- the horses, Javier look!” They stood stoically, just on the edge of the fog. Boaz lifted his proud head to examine Javier as he stared back, the two locking eyes for a moment. “They’re calm.” Though your heart pounded behind your ribs, grip tense on the rifle, you tried to take comfort in the animals demeanor.

He snapped his gaze to you, his chest rose and fell rapidly. “That- didn’t bother them…?” he questioned incredulously. “That sound, just now.”

“I guess not,” you cautiously mused as you too stood slightly, keeping your arm out to stop him from stumbling into the fire.

His hand shook as he swiped it over his eyes. “Can they even hear it?”

“They’re sensitive... if they ain’t worried, I reckon we shouldn’t be either...” Again there was a small quiver in your voice as you tried to convince yourself of the fact too, but your words seemed to be getting through to Javier and that was your driving concern. “Just- just sit. Stumbling around won’t solve anything.”

Javier nodded and moved to comply when far off, as far away as the sound could possibly reach your ears, another call sounded out.

It finally clicked in your mind.

An elk.

Nerves prickled your belly as you fought back the urge to smile or laugh. You’d been a pair of fools, letting the lack of sleep twist reality into something all wrong. “We’ve been hearing an elk!” You huffed a laugh, not at your friend’s expense, but at the absurdity of the situation. The tension was finally lifting from your shoulders.

“An elk?” Javier breathed incredulously, eyes narrow with doubt. No realization dawned on his face and for a moment you wanted to doubt yourself, but the sound was crystal clear in your mind.

“Ain’t you never heard an elk before?” you asked, sitting back down. The corners of your mouth twitched. You sucked your lips into your mouth, combating the grin from taking over as you waited for his a-ha moment to come, but when no such thing happened you couldn’t help but chuckle nervously.

His expression blackened as he examined your face, hostility taking the place of apprehension, “are you mocking me?”

With that question, a flash of real fear flared in your gut. Not for the creatures, or any presence in the fog, but for the man there in front of you, crouched low, firelight cascading dramatically over the harsh lines of his face. For just a moment, looking into his eyes, you understood why his enemies sometimes chose to run.

“Never.”

“Then why are you laughing?”

You had no good answer. At the end of the day, the humor was at his expense, and truly, to laugh was to mock his genuine concern.

Your heart raced, you assumed a non-threatening posture. The man before you was sleep deprived and on edge. Gun in hand. “It’s just nervous laughter, I’m- I’m sorry.”

His chest heaved and he finally sat back down, pulling the bedroll around his shoulders once more. After a pause, eyes buried in the flames, he spoke softly. “You’re sure that was an elk?”

You nodded. “Javier. I’m positive. You know I hunt in these parts. I’m just sorry it took me so long to figure it out.”

His face was pulled into a grimace. “It’s fine.” Though doubt still tinged dark circles of his eyes as he stared blankly at the coals.

Silence wrapped around the campsite once more, a distant geyser sounded off, and to your small relief Javier finally remained unshaken. You smiled softly as you held your hands out to the flames.

“I’ll watch out for you while you sleep, no creatures are going to-”

Before you could finish your sentence, as if planned by the hands of fate to see him tormented further, there was a violent crashing sound beyond the scope of your vision. Loud and sudden, as if a train was barreling directly toward you through the forest, knocking all brush down around it.

You and Javier scrambled clumsily to your feet as you dove out of the way of a charging bull elk, stumbling ungracefully through the weak circle of light the campfire provided, missing your tent by mere inches. It squealed and bellowed as it appeared just as surprised as you were, kicking rocks and mud around as its massive hooves scrambled the earth before bolting in the opposite direction, antlers the last thing to disappear back into the dense haze.

Shocked, breathing heavily, you and Javier looked at each other, wide-eyed.

Your heavy breaths grew sharper and sharper on the exhale until you were laughing, soon uncontrollably, the tension of the night breaking all at once as the demon that haunted your friend so readily presented itself.

You collapsed back to the ground, unable to use the muscles in your legs as your whole body shook.

Your sides ached. Giddy from exhaustion you were unable to stop yourself, though you felt bad for it as you made Javier’s scowling face out through your tears.

“That was an elk I take it?” Javier spoke flatly, doing nothing for the laughter that gripped your guts.

“That was an elk,” you confirmed, voice tight and high.

“If you’re done making fun of me now…” Javier breathed resentfully as he sat with a thud, back in his spot.

“I’m- I’m sorry-” you wheezed as you pressed a fist to your mouth, in a useless bid to quell the torrent of laughter. Your breath came out in stuttered puffs, chest jumping as the muscles flexed, but with great effort you pressed the fit down. Tingling waves tickled the bottom of your stomach and the muscles around your face twitched but with a few measured breaths you managed to speak smoothly enough. “I’m sorry, I really am, I’m not making fun of you, that was just so-”

“It’s like nature wanted to make fun of me too,” he lamented, but the corners of his mouth flexed as he relaxed.

“I didn’t know you hadn’t heard an elk- shit-” you suppressed another fit of giggles with a cough, “I didn’t know you ain’t heard an elk before.”

Javier’s expression was unchanged though the redness in his cheeks seemed deeper than they previously had been in the chill. “Animals shouldn’t sound like that," he grumbled as he tugged the bedroll up around his ears.

Laughter threatened to well up again but for the sake of your friend’s feelings you forced the urge down, coughing again instead. You cleared your throat, torn up from the cold, and offered, “you’re right. They do sound creepy as hell. It had me going too!”

There was a pause before Javier mumbled under his breath. “That was ridiculous…” Then he laughed a little too, finally letting the absurdity of the situation settle in his mind. You smiled and his face grew serious once again, “if you tell anyone about tonight, any of it… I’ll flay you with my knife.”

Without looking into his eyes, you could have convinced yourself he was only kidding, but a threatening heat behind the dark circles told you he was indeed serious. You pantomimed locking your mouth and grinned, to which he responded in kind and you finally shared a laugh together.

Sounds of the breeze rattling the proud evergreen boughs and the heady crackle of the modest flame over took the camp once more before you spoke sincerely, “I’ll keep watch till morning. See if you can get some rest.”

Javier’s smile was soft, but it reached his eyes and he nodded. “Thanks. And uh,” he swallowed as he paused half way in the tent, “thanks for… for taking me seriously. I’m glad I can count on you.”

“Always,” you smiled as your friend finally found some rest.

~~~

The next morning the wagon trundled passed as expected. For all the trouble you’d gone through together, the stack of cash you carried back in your pockets helped to cushion any raw emotions. You exchanged a look and smiled.

Javier motioned to his knife. “I’m serious you know,” then laughed with you.

You were both thankful for the cold receding as you picked your way back down the mountain. You’d never admit it to him, but the whole experience had practically aged you a decade, still, you were glad to be by his side, no matter what.