multifandom imagines

Cold | Arthur Morgan

• this chapter makes no sense whatsoever but it's fine

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The freezing wind of the mountainside hit your face the second you stepped outside the small house in the little village of Colter. The gang had been driven up to the mountains after the Blackwater job gone wrong, running from the Pinkertons ever since and trying to evade them. Dutch had done a good job of protecting everybody so far, though the whole story behind the Blackwater job had been a little foggy ever since Dutch ran into camp saying everyone had to pack up and leave yet again. It was like Dutch to just run into camp right after a job, say something was going down and that everyone had to leave, but something about Blackwater was different from all the other times.

Being driven up into the mountains was terrible. It was cold no matter where you went, there was hardly and food or anything to drink, and the gang had just lost Jenny and Davey. (A/N: I think that is their names, I'm not entirely sure) Mac was missing, and it seemed as if everyone was just stuck in a rut. It was like no one believed that everyone would get off the mountain and back west, have a little ranch somewhere and take care of the animals and have everyone in the gang as ranch hands. Arthur, you had thought, would be the man to take care of the horses and stables, since he loved the majestic creatures so much. You and him had talked about it at length, joking around that he basically already looked like a ranch hand with his suspenders and cowboy hat.

Crunching of snow under your footfalls and the whipping of the wind brought you back to your task at hand, rubbing your hands together to get some sort of feeling to them again. You pulled your coat tighter around your body to try to keep out the cold wind rushing around you. The opening of the door caught your attention and you turned to see Arthur waltzing out of one of the cabins, probably just having talked to Dutch about something. "Hey, Y/N." He called, repeating your action from a moment ago and pulling his blue coat around his toned body. "Yeah?" You asked, your body aching to just go back inside and get by the fire and get warm. "Wanna go hunting? Pearson said he needs some meat or else we'll all starve." Arthur was already heading over to his horse tethered to the post outside the small cabin, greeting the animal with a small pat and a few whispered words of affection. "Sure." You agreed, walking over to your horse tethered up opposite Arthur's and greeted her the same way, slipping her a carrot with a smile. "Alright. Charles said there was some deer grazing a little further south, but not too far." Arthur called, pulling the reins and heading out of camp. You followed suit, urging your horse into a gallop to gain some speed and ride up alongside him. You both followed the snow lodden path out of Colter and into the wilderness, the fir trees covered with fresh fallen snow to the tips of their leaves.

The air around you was silent, the only noise was the crunching of the snow under the horses hooves as they plodded along in the freezing weather. It wasn't long before Arthur led you off the main path and into a small patch of pure white trees, the snow had stopped a few days ago but it was still freezing. "Alright, let's set up camp here." Arthur instructed before dismounting his horse and leading over to a nearby tree, throwing the reins around the stub of wood sticking out from the tree. You followed suit, dismounting and throwing the reins around a stump on the other side of the tree. Before long Arthur had set up the small tent with enough room for the both of you, and you had started a small fire right outside the opening. You were about to sit down by the fire and try to get warm, but Arthur clapped a strong hand on your shoulder before you could even start to bend down to sit. "We're gonna need food. Meat. That's why we're out here in the first place." He cheekily smiled, scoffing playfully when you threw him a look of pure annoyance. All you wanted to do was rest for just a moment, get warm and then maybe send Arthur out to hunt. "Ugh, alright. I'll get my bow." You grumbled and plodded over to your horse waiting patiently, reaching to grab your bow off the side of the tall beast. Arthur stood behind you with his bow grasped lazily in one hand, patiently waiting for you. "Okay, let's go catch us some game." You smiled, Arthur repeating the action before leading you a few feet out of camp.