Snake Skin | John Marston

Outlaws From The West

Riding back to Valentine, John and Y/N took turns talking, chatting up a bit about everything. John informed her shortly about Micah Bell and what kind of person he thought the man was.

"One thing you two have in common, I know for sure," he stated.

"Oh yeah? And that is what exactly?" she asked him, as they slowly made their way into Valentine.

"You two sure are racist!" he cracked up slightly.

"Am not!" the girl bit back, defensively,"...you just found me at a bad time, a bad day, if I say so. Just 'cause I called him red one time, doesn't mean I'm immoral,"

"Alright. I'll take your word for it. I was wondering, how does Arthur know your real name, Alexandra Woods?" he asked, mockingly.

"Either I told him in the saloon or he found out at sheriff's office,"

John nodded and got off his horse, tying it to a hitching post next to the gunsmith store. Y/N followed in his steps.

"What are we doing, John?" she asked as she followed him, he stopped at the door of the gunsmith store and leaned against the wall.

"You, uh, head in and pick up a sniper rifle-"

"John," she interrupted him, "I have one on my horse,"

John just looked at her in dismay, "Why do you have a sniper rifle?"

"Well...sometimes I like to hit my target without gettin' too close. I'm sure you understand," she explained, talking at a fast pace. He nodded in agreement and started walking back to the horses.

"You good?" she asked him as they both mounted up.

"Sure. Let's go," he said and signaled with his hand to follow him. Y/N did just that.

John quickly picked up some speed and the girl followed, "Why couldn't you have done that?"

"Done what?" he asked as he glanced back at her.

"Picked up that gun," she clarified, catching up with his speed.

"I...I had a run-in with that fella earlier. We ain't on the best of terms," he explained.

Y/N snorted, "You had a run-in? I've had run-ins with that town for seven years now,"

While galloping up some hill, Y/N sighed and questioned, "John, can you tell me what exactly we're doing here?"

"There's a herd of sheep coming down to auction from Emerald Ranch, as I mentioned earlier. Folk in the paper were saying the owner's tryna stamp out every farm from here to Annesburg,"

"Oh. I know that place..."

"Let's head to the ridge up there, get a proper view!" he declared as he took a sharp turn, right up the canyon. Y/N nodded and followed along, increasing the gallop.

As they made their way up, John spoke confidently, "So, what I'm thinkin'. The herd will make it to the auction alright, but a couple of new ranch hands will be collecting on this sale. The town won't care to notice too much,"

"Why do we need the rifle you couldn't buy yourself?" she asked him, as they made their halt at the top.

"Well, Y/N, I reckon we shouldn't get too close. 'least not 'til we know what we're dealing with. Let's see what we can see from up here,"