Bad Beginnings (A RDR2 Fanfic)

Travels

(A/N: 800 reads! I hope we'll get to 1K by next week <3).

That next morning was even cooler than the day before. The three men shivered as they are a breakfast of canned pineapple and strawberries.

They packed up their tents and stowed them on their horses and stamped out the last of their fire.

Hosea was very anxious to leave, so as soon as they finished, they saddled up and fed the horses, shrugged on their coats, and left.

Aurora Ridge was was a little North and a little East to Strawberry. The previous days, Dutch and Hosea decided to splurge and get a hotel there for their half way point.

They didn't ride quickly, in order to conserve their horse's energy if they ever needed to escape from anything.

Arthur sat and drew a lot while they were riding. Riding at their speed didn't require his hands so much, so he just drew anything he saw. He drew Beatrice, Dutch and Hosea, the growing trees around them.

Dutch and Hosea conversed a lot about what they were going to do when they got to Armadillo. Arthur was pretty quiet, just riding behind the two of them.

"Doing okay, Arthur?" Hosea eventually called back to him.

"Yessir," Arthur replied, running his fingers through Beatrice's mane with a yawn.

Arthur didn't want to complain, but going on long trips like this are boring. Without thinking, Arthur reached into his bag and snacked on some of the candies he bought yesterday.

Dutch yelled back to Arthur, "Pass me a couple pieces of those, son."

Arthur rode up quickly to get close enough to Dutch to pass him a couple of pieces of the candy.

"Thank you," Dutch said, crunching on the sugary, fruity snack.

They continued riding, this time Arthur riding up with the other two. He pulled his fingers through Beatrice's hair, trying to get out some of the knots. He then fed her some carrot pieces, making her blink slowly at him, whatever that meant.

"Are you getting bored, Mr. Morgan?" Hosea asked.

Arthur thought about his response. Did he want to seem spoiled or did he want to lie? "Nope. I'm doing great, Mr. Matthews." Lying it was.

Dutch laughed. "Hasn't anyone told you that you're a terrible liar, Arthur?"

"I can't say I have, sir," Arthur replied, trying to salvage his dignity.

"We'll be to Aurora Ridge soon," Hosea said. "I'm surprised we haven't crossed paths with a bear, yet. They're usually out and about a lot this time of year."

Arthur couldn't say he was surprised when, right on cue, they heard gunshots and a man screaming out in the woods.

Dutch and Hosea both got off their horses without hesitation. Arthur went to follow, but Dutch simply said, "Stay here, Mr. Morgan." and Arthur couldn't disobey.

The gunshots went silent. Then he heard what sounded like a Dutch scream. Without thinking, Arthur grabbed the rifle from Dutch's horse and ran into the woods.

Dutch was pinned by a massive grizzly bear. Hosea seemed to be searching his pockets for more bullets, and the man they heard from earlier was dead in the pine needles. He didn't even look like a person anymore.

Without thinking, Arthur cocked the rifle, and was grateful he had practiced because he was comfortable with the gun. Time felt to slow down like it did when he was shooting the wolf. The bear turned its furry head Arthur's direction. A pang of fear went though the boy, as he aimed and fired.

The bullet went into the bear's scull, then with one last growl, its body slumped down dead on top of Dutch.

Dutch sighed, then said, "I feel more and more like a fool every time you have to come and save me, Artie."

Arthur laughed at Dutch a little bit, before helping him roll the bear off. "It ain't a problem, Mr. Van der Linde."

Hosea finally walked over, and helped Arthur lift Dutch onto his feet. Then, they examined the dead man nearby. Well, what was left of a dead man. His face had been scratched into a bloody pulp and his clothes were tattered.

Arthur couldn't say he was surprised when Dutch looted the body, taking the dead man's money, his pocket watch, belt buckle, and dirty silver wedding band. After all, he wouldn't need it anymore.

The three men then climbed onto their horses, and headed the last couple of miles to Aurora Ridge as the sun was setting.

Arthur drew this too, because he really did find the rays going through the trees quite beautiful.