Break The Chain
Chapter 2: Tension
The sun bubbled at the horizon and blue light began to flow and pool on the uneven floor of the valley like an unwatched pot on a great stove. Birds shook the sleep from their feathers and turned their beaks to the sun. Small rodents skittered over the ground sniffing and surveying; the fluffy ends of their tails kicked up trails of the fresh purple dyed sand. The light continued along its path until it reached the baseboards of the ranch house.
The four of them sat shoulder to shoulder in the mouth of the porch, covered in the dust of the desert clay that lay just beneath the shifting sands. The tools they held were siminilary arenose. Donatello sat to the left, his chin resting on the tarnished handle of a shovel; Raphael sat next to him with their thighs touching. To the right Mike sat slumped against the column that marked the start of the railing; his eyes were affixed to the horizon. In the center sat the eldest, with his knuckles pressed to his mouth; he stared ad the space between his boots. The pickaxe he was studying was unordinary; a brown wood handle, tarnished silver point, and a blunt hammer on the back. With the unassuming instrument now seared into his mind he rose and hiked up his pants.
“I’m going back .” He gestured to Rapheal with his naked shoulder. “ You coming?”
“No.” Raph stood up and looked at him with wide eyes.” No. Im not going anywhere; Im staying here, where I’m needed Leo.”
“Okay.”
In last nights commotion they hadn’t tied the horses but they were gathered about the barn anyway, perhaps out of habit. He found his and rode off , dust trailing in his wake.
The day was still young when he reached the courthouse; the one window barely let in enough light to see. He opened the door loudly ans strode in. A callous voice had emerged from the dark corner where the desk sat. “ No good morning?”
“Buenos días.” He started up the stairs.
“Aren’t you a ray of sunshine today”. He awaited Leo’s response but there was none.You can’t just leave your post, you better spin me quite the yarn kiddo.”
“Our Pa died.”
There was a long pause.“Natural causes?”
“No.”
“ You boys gonna do something about that?”
“ I don’t know.”
“ You better figure it out .” Leo stood motionless in the stairwell. “ When you put on that badge you signed up for making big choices. You’re lucky you get to think on this one.”
He continued up the stairs, pulled on his shirt at sat on his cot in the loft. He stared at the wall in front of him till the sun from the window crept far enough to reach his toes. His eyes shifted to the peg on the wall where his gun belt lay. He grabbed it.
…
Leo burst through the door. His brothers and April sat at the table with coffee, except for Raph who stood at the wash basin.
“Don!” He looked up at Leo, “ Saddle one up for Raph, we’re leaving.”
Don stood and left without speaking. Leo moved forward and placed two small objects on the table.
“ I look the liberty of grabbing us some provisions some the cantina.” He looked at Raph from the corner of his eye, “ And your Derringers.”
Raphael, still drying his hands, turned a walked toward the table; he dropped the towel and picked up the guns. He faced Leo as he gently placed them in the pockets of his vest,“ Longer coming?”
“No.”
Mike stood up quickly; despite their differences in age him and Leo were practically the same height.
“ Leo thats crazy! You’re not a real sheriff! You don’t have the authority to just up and..”
Leo pointed his chin upwards, taking advantage of what little extra height he had,“ Sheriff Longer gave his blessing. Even if he didn’t , legally there isn’t anything to stop us.”
Michelangelo sat down slowly, and looked down at his coffee. April leaned forward and spoke, "Where would you go? There’s no point in riding out if you don’t know who you’re looking for.”
She was interrupted as Don sped into the room; his stride didn’t break, even as he spoke,
“ Pa goes to San Antonio on his gambling trips,” he continued, now yelling, from the room adjacent to the kitchen, “ We can ask all the way over, and if we haven’t found any leads..” He re-entered and began to rifle through the drawers, “ We can ask at the card houses. They probably keep a pretty good eye out for anything unusual. Ack… anybody got a pencil?”
Raph handed him a short pencil from his shirt garter; went across the room and looked out the window. “ Anybody know the way? What about the cows?”
Mike looked up from his cup with crossed arms,” I know the way.”
Don pressed a brown ledger book onto the wall and scribbled on its pages, “ The next drive isn’t for months, Tia can handle things till I- hey where’d she go?”
While they were talking April had snuck away unnoticed. They found her in the living room; she removed an old tarnished rifle from the wall and stood, feeling its weight in her hands. She turned to face them. Donatello stepped forward and swapped the pencil and ledger for the gun. She looked down into his eyes, "Be safe.”
He dropped the butt of the rifle, reached up, pulled her face close and gently kissed her cheek, "We'll come back to you.”
The rest of them lined up, single file, and followed suit.
Outside the sun balanced at its highest point in the sky; the desert grew silent in the afternoons, nothing but the jumping of grasshoppers and the drone of the heat upon the playa. The brothers mounted and turned to face the horizon. Leo turned to Michelangelo, “All right little brother. Lead the way.”
Mike spurred his horse, and they were off.
…
They rode for several days without speaking, rested the horses a few times but never broke camp. They came across a shallow well; a mere depression in the sand where water gathered underneath. Donatello dug at it a while before there was enough water for the horses. Mike stood beside his horse as it drank; he spat grit from his mouth, and finally broke the silence,“ You name him yet?”
Leo straighted his posture once he realized he was being addressed; he walked over to the horse and patted its flank with a proud smile,“ Im thinking, Ol’ Faithful.”
Don, who was sat on a rock rolling a cigarette, scoffed, "You can't name him that.”
“Why not?” said Leo.
“ First of all, hes a young horse. Second, you haven’t had him long enough to know if he’s faithful or not.”
“Oh.” Leo put his hand to his chin in thought and then put a finger in the air, “ Hey, what about Stud?”
Mike grimaced, “ You cant name a geilding Stud, its cruel. The other ponies will tease him”
“What about Bobo?”, said Raph as he turned to Don,” I caught him trying to eat a fence post the other day.”
Don leaned in, “No. Then we’d get the two confused.”
He grinned with the cigarette in his teeth; Raph gave him a soft slap on his back. Mike stiffled a laugh and Leo chewed his lip at the embarrassment. He pointed at them,” You two better knock it off or I’ll leave you here! Let the bobcats eat you. Now come on, we’ve got places to be!”
They saddled up and rode off; they went for about an hour, then the sun began to set.
“Well,” said Mikey with a sigh, "This is the farthest I’ve ever been from home. In this direction at least. How about you guys?”
They all looked about; the answer seemed to be unanimous. Leo leaned back in his saddle to look at Donatello, “ Speaking of the ol’ place… what are you and Mike gonna do now?”
Don raised his brow, “What do you mean?”
“You know, now that you’re not tied to it anymore.”
“Tied?” Don’s voice soured. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh come on Donno.” Leo looked forward with his face to the sun,” Now that… I mean, considering the circumstances, we can finally move on.”
Don cut his horse forward to be next to Leo’s, “ We? Move on? Move on from what? Our home?”
“Yes.”
Don looked flabbergasted, if he was standing he might have lost his balance. The other two shared a knowing glance and pulled their horses back a ways.
“You’re going to sell Pa’s ranch? You can’t do that!”
Leo didn't answer. Don lunged his mount forward and turned her perpendicular to Leo’s. The buckskin that Leo rode was frightened by the advance and reared violently; he yanked the reins to the side and turned the horse in the opposite direction, so the riders were face to face.
“You cannot sell Pa’s ranch Leo!” Don’s horse stepped nervously. Despite the excitement, Leo’s face was relaxed; he looked down at his younger brother with lidded eyes and spoke calmly,“ Pa is dead. It’s my ranch now; I’m selling it.”
“What are we supposed to do? Prance around the town and play lawman like you? Is that what you want? You want to screw us over just so you can feel in charge?”
"I'm selling. Thats final.”
Don didn’t speak any further, but he didn’t need to. He looked up at Leo with a rage neither of them expected. His eyes were wild and glazed over; his flared nostrils sucked air so hard the cherry of his cigarette flickered. He leaned in as close as possible; inches away from Leo’s chin, huffing like a bull. Leo sat high upon his saddle; only a small furrow in his brow. Michelangelo galloped forward and pulled in beside them; he put his hand on Don’s saddlehorn,
“Don. There was some brush awhile back; let's go take the ponies to graze.”
“That’s a good idea Mikey,” said Raph, as he dismounted clumsily,” Leo and I will set up camp for the night.”
Their gaze didn't break.
“C’mon Donnie… lets go.”
Donatello snorted at Leo and yanked his on his pony; he rode over to Raph’s horse and threw a rope about her neck. He waited silently. Leo hopped down and took his things from his saddle, Mikey gently tied the horse to his, then joined Donatello.
…
They set up camp quickly; Leo gathered some brush for a fire and Rpah set to work on a meal. When the fire was healthy and the pot was boiling they sat back and stretched their legs on the ground.
“You know,” Raph stretched his arms,” If he were me, he would have punched you.”
Leo prodded the fire with a wispy sage branch,” Oh great. You’re on his side, lovely!”
“Leo, you can’t sell his ranch.”
“Its not his ranch!” He pointed to himself, as if Rapheal was somehow confused, "It's my ranch. Mine. Its my birthright; my name is on the deed! Im selling it and thats final!”
“Leo. You gave up your right to that ranch when you left; I did to.” He looked Leo dead in the face, “ He’s put more work into keeping that place running that we’ve put into anything.”
“Yeah; cause he dosent do anything else! Maybe if we get him out of there he’ll find somthing to do with himself!” Leo swung his arms like he was conducting an angry symphony.
Raph scowled, “ We left him that place when he was what? Fourteen- fifthteen? When we were that age we were still arguing over who could piss farther.” He jumped onto his knees and leaned in toward Leo,” He has nothing else because we never gave him the chance! We left and he had to pick up the slack! You can’t sell his ranch; it isn’t right.”
“And letting him work himself into an early grave is? Is that what you want me to do? Let him kill himself out there?Thats way too much work for one guy alone; we can’t help and we all now Mike won’t stay around long enough.”
The sun had almost fallen and the fire cast an orange light over them. Raph settled back into a seated position and sighed, "I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” He looked over at Leo,” I don’t want him there either, but you can’t just sell his life out from under him.”
They were quiet for a long while; the only sound was the crackle of the fire and the whooping of owls. Leo stoked the fire, “ We’ve got time to think on it.”
…
The horses grazed without issue; sand gently fell from their mouths as they pulled up clumps of grass. Little lizards skittered about the rocks looking for a place to bed down for the night. Don sat squatting in the sand; his arms were straight forward on his knees. He puffed at his cigarette mindlessly. Mike walked up slowly and sat cross legged in the sand at his side.
“ Be paitent with him Donnie.”Don didn’t react,” He didn’t mean it; he's upset right now. He needs time.”
Don’s eyes moved as fast as bullets; his stare was so icy the devil would have shivered.
“You’re upset too; I know that. We’re all upset,but you gotta remeber, we’ve lost one Pa. Leo’s lost two now.”
Don took a long drag, be blew it from his nose as fast as a steam engine.
“ I’m sorry I don’t help you enough. Its not right, but maybe this could be a good thing.” Don’s eyes landed on him again, then rolled back to the horses.
“We’d figure something out!” He gestured toward his horse,” Me and Bullet will run off somewhere, maybe we’ll go south with Tia! You could move to a big city. You’re a smart guy, you could probably get a job at a bank or something! Wear a fancy shirt and flirt with all the rich big city girls!”
Mike smiled but Don didn't break, “Or not. I dont know.” His eyes lowered and his face fell, “ To be honest with you… I’m not sure if I want to go back to that place.”
They sat there for a long while and watched the sun fall. The horses slowed their grazing and wandered about. As it got dark the tiny flicker of firelight in the distance split the horizon. Don stood and put his hand out toward his brother, “Come on. If the food burns before we get there Raph will get all huffy.”
Mike took his hand and got up; they gathered the horses and went back to camp.
…
Leonardo sat in the sand; he scraped at the bottom of his clay plate with an old spoon, “A little undercooked tonight.”
Raphel scoffed and threw up his hands,” See! This is why I don’t cook for you; you’re so critical!”
“ Ah you see, that’s why you need me. I’m you’re most loyal costomer and your biggest critic.” He gestured to himself, “ I’m you’re most valuble asset.”
“Asset is not the word I would use.”
Leo got up and walked toward the pot on the fire; he took the bandana from around his neck and opened the lid with it. The other two brothers rode in and tied the horses. Donatello looked for a place to sit. Leo thrust a plate of beans toward him and sat down, “ Chew carefully; every fifth bean puts up a good fight.”
Don took the plate and sat down next to him; he took a bite, crunching loudly on the elusive fifth bean.“ He did a pretty good job considering.“ He gestured to Raph with his spoon and kept eating, "Usually he soaks them all day.”
“Thank you! Finally some recegnision!” Raph threw up his hands in exasperation.
Mike giggled with a full mouth.
4 notes
·
View notes
"Wisteria...?" Noir called out to the mismagius seeing the face as he gulped "You are wisteria correct ?" he asked almost carefully the feeler reaching out to the ghost type giving soft caress on cheek "What happened...?" he was stunned to see the emotionless pokemon before shaking his head pulling Ivy in a gentle hug "Sorry, I didnt mean to ask so bluntly... I feel like you need this..." he chuckled softly "Im here for you, you know ?"
Ivy seemed to calm down at the Sylveon's reassuring words, she just nervously looked away and muttered a faint "I'm sorry."
She cringed as his ribbon touched her cheek, for some odd reason, the ghost was expecting something worse.
Though she wasn't sure why. From what she could recall about him, Noir wasn't a cruel or mean Pokemon. Though she couldn't be sure, her memories of them were a bit hazy.
Ivy instantly backed away at the question, she looked like she was about to say something but quickly went silent. Her gaze fell to the floor as she refused to answer. Noir didn't seem to push the matter either much to her relief.
However, She didn't have time to react before Noir pulled her into a loving but firm hug.
She quietly sniffled as tears began streaming down her face, it'd been so long since she cried. Years even, now that she was she couldn't seem to stop herself.
As all the memories began to flood back Ivy cuddled into Noir's hug, despite the sudden emotional pain she was hit with, she was glad someone she knew from the past was here to at least soothe it.
→ Ivy will now respond "normally" to those who know her as Wisteria.
→ Noir has been added to her [Family] on the Relationships Page.
→ Ivy is unavailable for asks until further notice.
- Mod note below -
For those who do not know who Noir is, Noir is one of the Pokemon who adopted Wisteria (Now Ivy) on @ask-north. She considers them to be one of her parents. Wisteria cared a lot for Noir, her one wish was for him to not forget her.
If you would like to see their interactions here is a list:
Original Noir and Wisteria Interaction
Original + Noir's Reply
Reply 2
Noirs Reply 2
If you enjoyed this post even slightly you have Sleepy to thank for that! They're the one that originally came up with the interaction. They were even kind enough to doodle it out then send me this ask, I just adapted it into my own style and added my own flare to it.
This post has been in the works since January of this year, I had to redraw this twice due to being unhappy with my style and the flow. I'm very pleased to finally feel confident enough to post it.
=======
I'm also happy to say this will be the last Ivy-related ask I will be answering (for now). For those sick of Ivy, I'm sure you're very glad to hear that. I love her a lot, and I'm very annoying about it. I understand. I know you've all stuck with me this long and I'm very thankful for that, especially with my ups and downs of returning only to disappear into the void again.
I did have a majority of the "Pretender" arc drawn and sketched and ready to go but I scrapped it due to a random sudden hate for how my art style looked. I unfortunately still have a lot of confidence issues with my art that I'm trying to work through.
I just want y'all to know all of your love for my art and story really helped me gain it back. Knowing people like my content brings me so much joy, I hope I can continue to share the world and story I've built with everyone here.
And also, I assure you there are only Klaus-centered posts from here on. Well... until after a certain event happens that will bring the Pretender act to a close. Then I have to drag Ivy back in, Sorry not sorry! She doesn't sit in the Main character's box for nothing. /lh
You'll get to meet her granddaughter very soon along with a little gremlin cat. 🤭
21 notes
·
View notes