Western Love

Western Love: Chapter Eleven

~second month~

"Ty, you're going hunting with Ethan." Ty's head snapped up as he caught the pistol Sky threw at him.

"W-What!?" He cried out.

"I'm sorry Ty, but you're the best hunter we have." Sky sighed. "And you have permission from me to blow his head off if he touches you." He says in a more angry voice, furrowing his eyebrows. Ty smiled weakly, but he was obviously nervous. Nervous, and scared as the Nether.

~TIMESKIP IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE TARDIS~

Ethan and Ty trotted across the snowy ground on their horses, weaving through trees and dying bushes. Suddenly they both stopped, listening closely. Ty pointed to something, Ethan looking and nodding. A herd of elk was trotting across the ground toward a lake that was beginning to ice over, the lead male in the front as he stood tall and proud. Ty smiled as he watched a calf prance around its mother, obviously only born a few days ago. Ty got out his pistol as Ethan got his rifle, the two getting off their horses as they hid behind two trees.

"Do you have a silencer on yours?" Ty whispers to Ethan, who shakes his head. "Fire at the same time, then?" Ethan nodded before they take aim. Ty aimed at one of the males, looking young and meaty, as Ethan aimed at the male leader. "One, two, three....fire!" Ty whispered before they pulled their trigger at the same time. Ty's bullet went right into his target's eye, while Ethan's went into his target's windpipe. Ty's target lurched forward, breaking its neck as it hit the ground hard. Ethan fired again, getting his target in the neck again before getting it in the heart. It finally crumbled to the ground, dying as the rest of the hard scattered.

"Nice shot." Ty jumped, looking over at Ethan with surprise. He spoke! And such a deep voice, too!

"T-Thanks....My pa taught me how to shoot when I was only seven. Had me huntin' and shootin' rabbits and squirrels all over the land he and my ma owned." He said, smiling slightly as they stood and entered the small clearing toward their two fresh kills.

"Where did you live?" Ethan asks in his deep voice.

"Somewhere deep south. My...My pa was killed in town when I was ten, and I was with him. I didn't know my way back, I'm sure I would have died if I hadn't meet Sky...." Ty said softly.

"How did you and Sky meet?" Ethan asks as they kneel next to their kills.

"It was in the middle of the day, my pa had been killed about five hours ago and this group of kids was chasing me 'cause of my eye color...."

Sky was walking toward the local market to get some food for dinner, and to maybe pickpocket somebody, when a small shape suddenly collided into him. "Hey-!" Is all he's able to get out as he sees a wide red eye looking up at him, but before he could see anything else the shape zipped behind him. The small, a kid he guessed, shape grabbed the back of his shirt, burying his head into the back of the eighteen-year-old's shirt as he trembled and cried softly. Sky looks up, furrowing as he sees a group of mean looking kids running up.

"Hey, have you seen a red-eye freak anywhere?" The leader sneered. Sky narrowed his eyes, but before he could say anything one of the other kids said, "There he is!"

"Get 'em boys!" The leader sneered, the kid whimpering as he trembled harder.

"Hey!" The boys froze, looking up at the angry looking Sky. "Get out of here before I tell your parents!" Their eyes widen in horror before they turn and fled, the leader the first to do so. Sky growled something under his breath before turning and kneeling in front of the crying and trembling red-eye kid.

"Hey, no need to cry now, you're safe." Sky whispered gently, putting his hands on Ty's cheeks and gently wiping away the tears with his thumbs.

"T-Thank you..." The kid whispered shakily.

"No problem. Now, what was all that about?" Sky whispers gently, and the kid begins to cry again. He looked to be thirteen, a year younger then Mitch.

"B-Because of my dumb eye-color! I-I don't even live here!" The thirteen-year-old cried. "M-my pa and me came here t-to get items for d-dinner, but we got attacked a-and he got killed hours ago! I-I don't know the way h-home, and I'm s-scared!" Sky was silent for a few seconds.

"Hey, I live in an alley with this other kid called Mitch. He's fourteen, but I think you both would get along great. We pickpocket to survive, but we don't so much that we make someone broke like us. If you want, you can come with me and leave with us. I can protect you and take care of you." Sky said softly, continuing to wipe away the kid's tears.

"R-Really?" The kid whispered shakily, and Sky nodded.

"What's your name kid?" he asked.

"T-Tyler Dead Lox, b-but you can call me Ty." The boy, Ty, said softly. Sky smiled slightly.

"So, what do you say?" He asks.

"Y-Yes, please! I-I would really l-like that..." Ty said softly, smiling.

"Come on then, I need to get things for dinner, but then I'll take you to the alley." Sky smiled. Ty nodded, shyly taking Sky's hand as the older man stood. Sky smiled, letting him hold his hand as they walked to the local market. Later, when they had gotten some beef stew, Sky took Ty to the alley.

"Mitch, you awake?" Sky called softly, and smiled when he hears running footsteps. Mitch grinned as he saw Sky, and seemed to grin even larger when he saw Ty.

"Mitch, this is Tyler Dead Lox, his father was killed and he doesn't know his way home. So, he's decided to stay with us." Sky smiled.

"Yay! Now I won't be so lonely! I'm sorry to hear about your father though." Mitch said, Ty nodding as he smiled faintly.

"I'm going to get to making dinner, why don't you show Ty around town, Mitch?" Sky said as he walked to a small fire that had built in the corner of the alley. A pot hung over it, a wooden spoon poking out of it as Sky pulled out his lighter.

"Sure!" Mitch grinned before taking Ty's hand and almost dragging him out of the alley and into the bustling town.

Sky smiled, opening the can before pouring the contents into the pot. Then he lit the fire, the smile on his face the entire time he was cooking.

"Wow." Ethan blinked in surprise. By the time Ty was done they had tied their kills across their horses' backside, and were riding toward their camp. Ty nodded, smiling slightly.

"For five years I've stayed with him." He said softly, the small smile starting to widen. "He's like a father to me. I guess you could say that he is my father." Ty said.

"He sounds like a great man. If only he would show that side to all of us." Ethan sighed, making Ty giggle.

"He'll warm up to you soon. Hopefully anyway." Ty smiled sadly before they rode into camp.

"Hey, Mitch, help me with this deer!" Ty called, hopping off his horse as Ethan did the same.

"Coming!" Mitch said before running out of his tent, down toward Ty as he smiled slightly.

"How was the hunt?" Ethan hears Mitch ask as Jerome ran over to help him.

"Pretty good, me and Ethan ran into a herd of deer." Ty said as he cut the ropes off with his daggers. He turned and cut Ethan's ropes, who smiled at him in thanks. Ty grinned back, before turning and seeing Mitch's surprised expression.

"Did Mr. Stoneface just smile at you!?"