[Winter - Parso]

“Hey there listener- what do you hear? It’s that loud-singin’-fella’ who infectin’ your ear!”

Swinging horse hips and half-side steps kept an unamused Jennings atop as the rider, but only by holding tight and swaying along. He secretly found the singing entertaining, but at this moment, Wolf and the duo were getting along excellently. It was much more tranquil to just approach the conversation mildly.

“So Wolf, this ‘Clear Mind’ fellow seemed to take a liking to us. You trust the words he dribbled?”

Jennings implored, then proceeded to raise a rolled cigarette to his lips. The wind instantly took offense, a burst of breeze stunted the action before it came to fruition. Tobacco chunks and leaflets combined with the air to shatter over the nearby foliage.

Wolf answered, sticking to the topic in a straightforward manner.

“I trust him more than most in Sloan. We should return swiftly, to avoid failure and learn this knowledge he wants to teach. ReAgi seems useful, to speak my mind.”

“ReAgi huh?”

Jennings had recollected the demonstration. Agi itself was barely comprehensible at times, and he still felt he found a way to master it. He had always attributed it to a natural inclination, or some sort of divine intervention, but he hadn’t really cared in retrospect. He just knew it was a tool that needed to be sharpened to survive.

“I can’t argue with ya’ there Wolf. I never like to put a wall between me and learnin’ something that keeps my heart pumping.”

“Good.”

After only a few more paces, Wolf spoke again: “It’s very quiet. No life is announcing itself.”

“I feel what you mean buddy.”

The outlaw appreciated the heads up. It was nice to have someone apt to the rough conditions along this leg of the journey. He stood in his saddle, trying to gain any vantage point the approaching night would grant him, which was none.

Out of pure precaution, Jennings began to leak small amounts of black mist, pluming gently upward from his fists around Poni's reins and melding into the breeze.

With a light draft through the falling night, the smoke-like Agi drifted alongside to form a trail. If they were being tailed, they were going to strike soon, before they were completely obscured by the Agist's mist. J.J. was forcing their hand.

Wolf was preparing to take notice of the ploy, yet before he was able to finish his reasoning, a glint permeated through a tall brush's branches and into Jennings' attention.

"Duck!"

Wolf bailed successfully at the last second, avoiding injury with just scrapes and bruises. Rogue arrows shot from an unseen bow in the dark. The dry wind raged heavier, it must’ve interfered with their pursuers plans. It was as if it could feel the direness of the situation and elongated its touch. The downed Native took the chill as a sign to hurry his stance.

Silent yet unhesitating, Jennings raised his aura-drenched fists into a defensive stance, attempting to finish obscuring the scene from their attackers. An arrow jutted from the limited surrounding treeline, straight into the right side crest of Wolf's horse. The impalement sent the tandem tumbling to the rough desert.

Jennings wasted no effort. As the manifested fog loomed, he extended a forearm and in a brisk fluid motion, drug Wolf in a diagonal line to the nearest cover. It wasn’t much, but they happened by dense brush. Both men knew their position was only temporary.

Lifted lanterns perfused light from within the darkness. Too many to count, Jennings now concluded what he had feared, they had stumbled into an ambush. How could The Immortal possibly have connections reaching to the Native community or its outskirts? However, Jennings and Wolf shortly received their answer.

Leaves crunched, and lanterns swayed behind, as a gun-strapped individual emerged in front and proclaimed his intention.

“Ain’t no use running now! We finally gonna take ya’ with us Jennings!”

The voice rang a familiar tone with the outlaw, instantly recognizing it as more pressing than The Immortal. Instead, it was the local law enforcement, none other than Gravelrot’s own tenured sheriff, Henry Haggard.

The ill-shaven man could be identified as unkempt, even among the dim lit night. Burly with pale complexion, he may have glowed in the dark if he had been any whiter. Eyes sat sunken in and puffed, as if he’d just finished a binge at the local tap. Instead of approaching with subtlety, he bellowed from his hefty gut, itching at his still-holstered pistols within reach and ready to shoot first then finish talking later.

“We called for some hounds, Better hope you ain’t as smelly as you looked earlier J.J.!”

Mocking, the man grew more confident as his men poured from cover with their rifles drawn. Perhaps they were even more eager to use them than him. Henry had a reputation of shady dealings and broken promises, Jennings knew their time to react effectively was shrinking.

Actively restricting Jennings' courses of action, he knew he couldn’t utilize his ice Agi much, as the reflective nature of the compound would tip the enemies off in this intense dark, just like the arrow earlier. He either had to be direct and prepare to slaughter- or they’d have to run. Peering down to his crouched ally, Wolf was holding an ankle that seemed sprained but not enough to hinder his big frame.

In a hushed tone, he attempted to reassure Jennings, “Nothing I cannot outrun, settler. Please, let us think of a solution.”

Before a proper attack came to mind, the murderous sheriff yelled again.

“Fire- fire!”

Poni locked eyes with Jennings, then ran away.

The instruction was followed by a hidden line of bowed officers, launching a horizontal flurry in the duo’s direction. A moment later, Jennings processed the wave of arrows and had to react for their sake. Instinctually, his hands fenced in front of himself, pulsating ice Agi. Glacier-blue veins coursed and illuminated his innermost forearms, like an inverted outline. It brought a brief visual summarization of the amount of Agi strength in play as Jennings had formed a barrier of frozen water to deflect the arrows. The web-like Agi construction crawled in many directions, meters into the air.

By now Wolf had wrapped a makeshift bandage around his ankle with random pieces of greenery that lay beside them. Knotting the finish with a rough pull, he arose to a stance and prepared for a sprint. Jennings launched in his direction, giving him a lifesaving shove toward their planned escape route, before the second attack was launched. This time the riflemen stood parallel, shooting the ice wall that appeared in front of them and their targets. They knew they had to show J.J. that Agi protection wouldn’t work here, but they also knew to remain cautious.

The sound of heedless gunshots and breaking Agi debris overhead reminded the fleeing duo to flinch and crouch lower, almost at a crawl. The freshly molded Agi was destroyed and pieces soaked them both, adding another dangerous element to the equation if they decided to hide too long.

Rushing, stumbling to the side and finally out of direct range, the Department of Misconduct employee had lost visual contact. They were back in guessing mode, prompting their leader to bark once more. Jennings thought he may have seen a distinct path out of scenery, but hesitated when he heard a threat of personal interest.

“We got your girl Jennings!”

Penny? Anette? Was it their standard lying shenanigans that led him to live his life the way he did. He froze, regretting the action, soaked and out of options for the two of them. Haggard continued.

“Shit- she already halfway gone on that train to Moonton. Heh- fire again boys, aim lower and at anything that moves!”

Shots rang out, the bright flash from the firearms illuminated the surroundings as they flickered. Soundwaves carried and rippled far and away, covering the initial sprint of Jennings and Wolf past the treeline. The pursuers swept their neck from side-to-side, their backside unknowingly compromised, they fell further steps away from their targets by the dark second.

Jennings and Wolf reached a new clearing. They could hear another round of gunfire that cracked into nature from a distance behind.

Wolf did have a nagging fear of catching an arrow in the back while they proceeded to sprint without cover, yet that didn’t hamper his pace. Jennings filled Wolf in on his train of thought.

“We gotta catch that locomotive, find out if they’re safe.”

“Agreed.” The Native knew what was at stake. “But with no horse?”

From the obscured shadows that reigned, Poni emerged. Jennings was delighted.

Silencing Wolf, Jennings gestured toward his ally to hop on. Poni was awaiting with a long face of determination, bulbous eyes reflecting the cold cunning of J.J. strategic prowess, and the trust he undeniably imbues between his colleagues. They were an impressive pair, the Native thought.

Off they sprinted.