Van Der Linde Savior (Red Dead Redemption 2)

The Winding Road

* Chapter rated M for smut *

Arthur scratched at the stubble of a beard he had as they all sat around the campfire they had made up for the night. There wasn't much to celebrate with considering the situation they were in but they were going to celebrate to the best of their ability. They had all of their missing Blackwater money back and thanks to Trelawny and Celina, they weren't missing a penny of it.

Javier had pulled out his guitar, having managed to snatch it before they had so hastily been forced to leave their last home. He sat on the stump of a fallen tree, picking at the chords of the instrument with the hands of a true musician. His soft but pleasant voice sang along as he played off and on.

Celina sat next to Dutch on the log they had pulled up to sit near the fire. Her right hand rested over his left where he kept it on her thigh. The woman licked her lips slowly, enjoying the sensation of his thumb rubbing circles on her leg as they listened to Hosea's story.

The grey-haired man looked around at the gang which he hand Dutch had built from the ground up with a smile. They were a ragtag bunch, that was for sure. There was some he could do without... namely Bill, but they were family for all family was worth. The old man made himself comfortable where he sat, "Has anyone heard of the time Dutch was scared out of his mind in the dark?"

Dutch's eyes twinkled in amusement as he looked at his oldest friend. He shook his head with a good-natured smile, "Hosea, you old man, why ever have you decided to tell stories at my expense?"

Hosea laughed and looked around at the rest of the gang again who all looked eager to hear exactly what that story held. Bill's voice stood out from the others, "Well, it's about time a story be told at someone's expense other than mine."

"Oh shut up, Bill," Arthur replied, "They tell stories about me all the time."

John chimed in, "And me."

The group laughed but eventually grew quiet so that the oldest member of the gang could continue with his story, "So Dutch was scared of the dark one night." He smiled, "This was... oh, this had to be what, Dutch? Twenty years ago?" He continued when Dutch nodded in confirmation, "To this day I remember it like yesterday. It was before Arthur had come into the gang, right before Arthur and it was in the middle of the night. We had spent all day out fishing in the swamps. There were alligators such out moving around all day, not too unnerving though as we had been able to see them before."

Hosea glanced at Dutch, laughing with the man who was now red-faced from laughter. Dutch knew what was coming and didn't figure that any of the gang had any idea of his fear prior to the night at hand. The oldest of the gang continued, "Anyway, night set in after me refusing to leave the area despite Dutch looking at the sky every ten minutes since the first sign of sunset and asking to leave."

Dutch chucked and shook his head at the memory, "What can I say? It would make any one of you uneasy and I wasn't about to leave the old man out there alone."

Hosea laughed harder, shaking his head back at Dutch, "With all the protection you were once the night came you may as well have." He cleared his throat, his eyes twinkling humorously, "So... it got dark and by the time it got dark Dutch was practically beside himself asking how the hell are we going to defend ourselves against those beasts." He raised a brow, "We didn't have our shotguns on us so that was a fairly good question."

"It was a great question!" Dutch interrupted once again.

"So," the older man took up the story again, "We pull out the lanterns, light them and behold, there's a baby croc a mere few feet away from us. It about made Dutch jump out of his skin!" Hosea laughed, wiping at his eyes to rid himself of the tears of amusement, "The thing was still so small, it was cute."