Chapter Text
The sun shone high, bearing down mercilessly on the plains. Littering the landscape were scrub plants and patches of short, bristly grass. A whistling wind blew across it a breeze that would have been the only savior from the seemingly never-ending heat, but it felt dry and harsh. A rabbit darted here and there, a hungry coyote eyeing them for its next meal. It felt like a wild wasteland, fading away in the heat.
Idol Valley was a harsh place to live, near impossible with only a few water sources dotting the land. It seemed to push at travelers, desperate to stay out of the way of the encroaching settlement of the west. But still, as they always did despite the conditions, towns had been raised, populated, and somehow managed to flourish. Dusty streets lined with wooden buildings, people going about their jobs and duties. Horses tied to posts, men relaxing in the cool shade of the bar with something to drink.
Ranches, farms, they were everywhere. What would have been a death sentence to a man on his own became an oasis that was sought out by many. The most prominent of all in the valley, of course, was Yumenosaki Ridge. It was large, prospering and friendly, arms always open to travelers and to any who had a wish to work and further the town. It truly was a town for those to go and find a place for themselves, if they could brave the stretch of plains between the town and the mountains.
It was named for its precarious placement, situated between two outcrops of land on either side, raised high above and looming over the town. It sheltered the valley from the heat and let the wind pass through, an ideal town to live in a place like this.
Even with its generous nature and the gentle heart that lay at the center of the town, it was still wracked with trouble and plights. The West had been and always would be a dangerous place to live, desperadoes, cattle and horse thieves, robbery. There would always be those who brought trouble in every time, but none so daring and dastardly as the cowboys who broke the code and ran wild.
To steal a horse was to lose your life, but they took them anyway. Ungrateful to the bone and mean enough to fight a rattler and give him the first bite. They were the venom, immodest and liars.
They were feared, no matter how safe the town felt. No matter how welcoming the town was. But what the town was known for most was not its durability in the conditions it stood up to, not its growing prosperity or its welcoming arms. It was not the hospitality which was spoke of across the plains, carried by travelers only passing through. It was not even the dangerous criminals that circled the haven.
It was the Sheriff. He was the bravest the West had ever seen, and he would never be forgotten, even as years, decades, generations and generations went by. His stories would remain eternal, as the man who brought peace in dangerous times. He was the only one who truly could be counted on.
It was the man who never missed, the Sheriff with the beautiful face, a true cowboy through and through who followed the code as one would follow the trail.
Sheriff Kaoru was the man who would never die, as long as stories were still told.