//------------------------------// // Valentine // Story: Thorax The Outlaw // by blaszczu2500 //------------------------------// Two weeks has passed since the Van der Linde gang has arrived at Horseshoe Overlook and these weeks has been a very busy ones from Thorax. He was trying to prove himself for being worthy to the gang, and was doing as much chores as he was able to, which the people of the gang really appreciated, even Hosea bought him a holster and a revolver while he was visiting Valentine, when he heard that Arthur was teaching Thorax how to shot. He and Kieran became really good friends. They both spent a lot of time, talking with each other and learning about each other's past. Some of the gang members found this suspicious that Thorax has been becoming friends with their enemy but Dutch just decided to leave them be and see how it will go. Perharps Kieran would tell Thorax about Colm O'Driscoll location, which would end up with Colm's death. At this moment, Thorax who changed his shift into a human and was standing in front of a crate that had a few bottles on it. Arthur was standing next to him. "Now!" Arthur shouted as Thorax drew his revolver and fired the whole magazine at the bottle on the crate, hitting half of them, causing them to burst into pieces, "You're getting better. In both of your shifts." "Thank you, Arthur." Thorax said as he changed into his changeling shift. Arthur has been teaching him how to use a gun in both human and changelings shifts, in case if he needed to use them, "I'm really doing my best to improve." Arthur looked back for a second, before looking down at Thorax, "Now, let's get us something to drink." Thorax nodded his head, before the two of them mae their way to the barrel with water. Arthur picked up a cup and filled with water, while Thorax engulfed the cup in his green magic, before he filled with water as well. They shared a quick drink together, before Arthur spotted Uncle. The old lazy man was leaning against the wagon as he was sleeping. Arthur sighed and put his cup away. He walked up to Uncle, followed by Thorax and kicked him in the leg, waking up the old man from his slumber. "Careful not to work yourself to death, Uncle." He said to Uncle who stood up from the ground. "I was thinking." The old man said. "Does it pay well?" Arthur asked. "Eventually." Uncle said as Arthur patted him on his shoulder. "So, while the rest of us are busy, stealing, killing, lying." Arthur began as he looked down at Thorax, "Or learning some useful things, so he could help us in doing these things. You get to think all day." "It's a strange world we live in, Arthur Morgan." Uncle stated. "Do you wanna, head into town see if we can find anything out?" Arthur asked. "Sure, I got some errands to run." Uncle replied, before pointing at Thorax, "Besides, we still have to buy our changeling friend here a tent." "There's no need for that, Uncle. I'm okay with sleeping the way how I do." Thorax assured Uncle. "Oh, believe me. You've been with us for almost three weeks. You deserve to have something over your head." Uncle stated. "If you say, so, Uncle." Thorax said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Great. That makes us three." Arthur said, before gesturing towards horses, "Go check the horses are ready." Uncle groaned as he went towards horses, in order to check if they were ready before Arthur and Thorax were approached by Karen, Tilly and Mary-Beth. "If you two are going to take the old man into town could you take us too?" Karen asked. ''Why what you got planned?" Arthur asked, pulling a cigarrete out of the pack. He offered it to Thorax who shook his head. "Thank you, Arthur but I already told you that I don't smoke." Thorax reminded Arthur who shrugged his shoulders and lit the cigarette up, before putting it between his teeth. "We have nothing planned, we'll find something for y'all to do. We always do." Karen stated. "We're bored out of our minds, been couped up here for two weeks, now!" Mary-Beth exclaimed, her hands on her hips, "Karen's about ready to murder Grimshaw!" "Well, can Miss Grimshaw spare you?" Arthur asked, amused. He seemed to be a little annoyed, looking at Uncle and Thorax, then back at Karen. Karen huffed, "Can Grimshaw spare you? What's happened to you Arthur? Three young heathly women want you to take'em robbing you're worried about house chores? Let's go!" Arthur sighed, "Fair enough. You got me. Come on then!" Karen, Tilly and Mary-Beth cheered as Arthur, Thorax and Uncle made their way to the front of the carriage. "Hey, Thorax." Arthur said, stopping Thorax from hopping onto the wagon. "Yes?" Thorax asked. "Perharps you should change your shift just like you did with Charles or during our trainings. You would drag too much attention in your normal shift." Arthur pointed out. "You're right." Thorax agreed with Arthur, before changing his shift into a human, "Better?" "Better." Arthur said with a nod, before the two of them hopped onto the front of the wagon, as the girls got themselves into the wagon. "I can't believe we're going to see civilization! Feels like weeks since we did!" Tilly exclaimed as the wagon started leaving the camp, towards Valentine. ''Valentine. The very embodiment of civilization." Uncle said, looking at the three women in the back, as he sat beside Thorax, "You ladies are gonna love it... and ladies sing us a song." Karen laughed, as she started the song. "I got a girl in Berryvile! Can't be screwed cause she's too damn ill! So, I don't go down there no more! There's a blue horse lays outside her door! I got a girl in Valentine! Likes to drink that fancy wine! Plumes in her hat was two feet tall. The crack are paid for it all! I got girl in Berryvile! Can't get it in her cause she won't stay still! She kicks and squeals and farts and hollers! Won't take less than seven dollars! Then, before they could finish their song, a stagecoach just near them starts breaking off. And the next thing, they knew, one carriage horse was loose from his harnesses and started bolting in different direction, leaving the owner frustated. "Is one of you gonna get that feller's horse?" Tilly asked. "Oh, I got Lumbago. It's very serious." Uncle said as Arthur and Thorax hopped off the wagon. "We'll see what we can do." The disgused changeling said. "Lumbago, really..." Arthur said to himself as they approached the owner that stood by his carriage, "You alright there, friend?" "Oh hey, you two couldn't help me get me my other horse back from over there, could you?" The owner said, pointing at his horse that was standing by the hill, eating grass. "Sure." Arthur said, before he and Thorax made their way towards the horse. He pulled his rope out of his bag as Thorax stood close to him. "Go on, guys." They heard Tilly say from the wagon as Arthur and Thorax approached the horse and began to calm it down. Thorax had admit that it wasn't an easy thing to do, but eventually, he and Arthur managed to calm the horse down, then Arthur and he began leading the horse back to it's owner. "There! You got it!" The women in the wagon cheered at them, as they made their back to the owner, returning his horse to him. "You sirs are a gentlemen! A gentlemen!" The owner smiled at them. Thorax smiled back at the owner as Arthur said, "No. Not really. We just wanted to trying to impress the women." The owner chuckled as Arthur and Thorax made they way back onto the wagon, "Well, anyway, thank you." "C'mon! Let's go!" Uncle said as they started riding again. "To Valentine!" Karen cheered, glancing over at Valentine that was not too far from them. ''Thorax might have got a good influence on you while you were teaching him how to shot, Arthur. You're turning into a regular fairly godmother." Uncle told Arthur. "What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur wanted to know. "He's trying to tell you that you have a heart." Thorax grinned. "It may be a small one, perharps hidden deep inside, but a real one." Mary-Beth added, before turning her attention to Uncle, "And you haven't you repulsive old lizard." ''Lizards have hearts!" Uncle argued as they rode into Valentine. "Well, Arthur. I'm proud of you." Tilly spoke up. "To be honest, if you hadn't been here, or Thorax didn't went there with me. I probably would have robbed him." Arthur explained, earning chuckles from everyone. "Well you didn't!' Mary-Beth pointed out. ''Smell those sheep." Karen said, as they rode past sheep farm, "Or is that Uncle?" ''Very funny." Uncle said, rolling his eyes at the unfunny joke. ''This looks like a decent town." Thorax stated, looking around the town. ''I agree. Other people, finally." Tilly agreed with Thorax. ''Look at the snow in the mountains." Mary-Beth said, gesturing towards the mountains in the distance, "Sure don't want to be back up there." "You know, when I was young changeling. I always wanted to see the snow since it doesn't snow in the Hive. Now I think I'm done with it for the rest of my life." Thorax said, earning chuckles from everyone. "You think we should have asked Molly to come with us?" Tilly asked. "Oh, no. Miss O'Shea is far too high and mighty now for the likes like us." Karen stated, "Or to do any real work. She's a society lady now." "Go left here. Down the main street" Uncle said as Arthur turned to the left, before he pointed at the Sheriff's office that was nearby, "Sheriff's office on the right. Sure you can pick up some bounties there, Arthur." "Heaven forbid you put your head in the line." Arthur stated, earning a fake laugh from Uncle. "That's a young man's game." Uncle stated. ''Oh, yes. We can get up to some mischief here, alright." Karen grinned, looking around the surroudings. ''Just remember, keep a low profile." Arthur reminded Karen, Tilly and Mary-Beth. ''Will you remember that, though, Arthur?" Karen asked. ''Probably not." Arthur replied as he stopped the carriage next to the stables. "Alright! Here we are, just like I said!" Uncle began, as everyone began getting off the carriage, "The cultural center of civilization! Man at his finest!" "Uncle. What are we going?" Thorax asked. ''Well, we're going to get you a tent, but before that we're gonna do what any self-respecting maniac does. Put women to work." Uncle said, as he hopped off the carriage, joining the rest. ''With pleasure. We'll start with the saloon." Karen said back. "Okay. Just stay out of the trouble and don't get yourself noticed." Arthur reminded them. ''We'll see each other later." Thorax added. ''Come on, ladies. Imagine we're in Paris." Karen said to Mary-Beth and Tilly, before the three of them started walking towards salloon. ''So, we headed to the general store?" Thorax asked. "Yup." Uncle answered, as they began to walk towards the General store. Arthur looked at Uncle and asked, "So that's how you see yourself, is it. A maniac?" "Well, in my youth, I used to be known as the "one-shot kid"." Uncle answered. "Okay... I'm not gonna ask why." Arthur stated. "I think, I'm going to stay silent about it as well." Thorax added. "You're a sad men, both of you. But I know you love me." Uncle said to them, walking up the small set of stairs. "Desperately. You're my favourite parasite." Arthur stated, as Uncle stopped in front of the entrance to the store, "No, wait, ringworm's my favourite parasite, you're my second favourite parasite." "Very funny." Uncle said, rolling his eyes. "I lied... ringworm, then rats with plague, then you." Arthur corrected himself. "Shut up." Uncle shushed him, "This is the place, now, come on." "Go without me, I went with you because I wanted to keep your company." Thoraxsaid as Uncle and Arthur nodded their heads, before walking into the General store. Once Uncle and Arthur were done with buying their things, they went outside, and sat on the benches next to Thorax who was waiting for them there. About an hour later, they were still waiting for women to come back. They didn't had nothing to do while waiting for them, so it didn't took them that long before all of them fell asleep. Arthur and Thorax suddenly felt someone poking their bodies, which made them wake up from their slumber. They looked up and saw Mary-Beth, "Gentlemen." "Mary-Beth. Did you find anything interesting?" Arthur asked them. Mary-Bethlooked around to see to make sure that no one was going to hear what were they going to say,"I think we got something. We snuck into this fancy house. Acting like a servants girl, it usually works." "And?" Arthur asked them. "Someone was saying her sister was taking a trip from New York or someplace. Train full of rich tourists heading to Saint Denis, and then cruising off to Brazil." Mary-Beth explained. "Okay." Arthur said. "A train ladden with baggage and passing through a bit of deserted country at night as to get to the docks in time for the tides is some place called Scarlett Meadows." Mary-Beth finished explaining. "Yeah, I know it. Yeah, yeah. It's right out in New Hanover. Right, it's real quiet out there." Uncle said. "Sounds good." Arthur stated, as he looked around himself, "Where's Karen and Tilly?" "I think at the hotel, they were picking up some drunken fellers, that they were going to rob." Mary-Beth explained. "Why?" Arthur asked. "Seemed easy." Mary-Beth's answer was short and quick, "But I'll have to admit. It's been a while since we saw them." Arthur, Thorax and Uncle shared a quick look with each other, and nodded, before Arthur spoke up, "I guess, we'll go see if there's any trouble." "I'll go too." Thorax offered to help. "Are you sure?" Arthur asked him. "Yes. As I said, I want to earn my keep." Thorax answered. "Then, you'll go after Tilly, I'll go after Karen." Arthur said to Thorax who nodded his head in understanding, before the two of them stood up from the bench. "Look, there's Tilly over there." Mary-Beth spotted Tilly on the other side of the street, as Thorax and Arthur looked over there and saw her dragged over to the corner by some stranger. "It doesn't seem so good." Mary-Beth stated. "Excuse us." Arthur said as they made their way to the other side of the street, "Take care of it, Thorax." Thorax and Arthur went to the other side to street, before they parted ways. Thorax went to take care of Tilly, as Arthur went to find Karen. When he approached them, he called out, "Hey! You leave her alone!" "Who are you?" The stranger asked, as he turned his attention towards Thorax. "A friend of mine." Tilly answered. "Oh, what is he going to do?" The stranger asked. Thorax opened his mouth and was about to say something, but suddenly he did something he hadn't done since he joined Dutch's gang. He hissed, confusing Tilly and the stranger. "No! Not now!" He thought to himself, trying to resist as best he could, but he failed. He hissed again, causing his shift to change back into the changeling. "What in the bloody hell is that?" The man asked, confused by what just happened. Tilly used the opportunity and punched him as hard she could in the face, knocking him down. "Thorax? What happened?" She asked, approaching him as Thorax changed his shift back into them human, before anyone could see him in his normal form. "Remember when I told that I fed off love instead of normal food?" Thorax asked as Tilly nodded in confirmation, "My hunger can almost never be satisfied. It makes me hiss. It didn't happen since I joined your group..." "It's okay. I understand." Tilly said, understanding what Thorax just said. "If I can ask, who was this guy?" Thorax asked. "Anthony Foreman. We used to hang out, but... let's just say we had some differences and we're not on good terms now." Tilly explained, "Oh, and thank you by the way." "Well, don't mention it. I want to start earning my keep. I want you stay with you guys." Thorax said, as the two of them made back to Uncle and Mary-Beth and waited for Arthur and Karen to come back. It didn't take that long, after a moment, Arthur came out of the hotel with Karen behind him, as Tilly asked Karen, "You okay?" "Sure." Karen answered, as they approached the rest, "He only punched me but Arthur punched him harder." "Uh, guys. Is that guy staring at us?" Mary-Beth asked, as she pointed at the man behind them. They all looked behind and saw a man on his horse. "Weren't you in Blackwater a few weeks back?" He asked them. "Us? I ain't from there." Arthur answered. "Oh you were. I definitely saw you with a bunch of fellers." The man stated. "Listen, buddy. Come here for a minute." Arthur said to the man. "I saw you." The man repeated himself, as he turned back and began to ride away from on his horse. "Come here!" Arthur repeated himself, this time sounding more demanding. "I don't like this." Uncle stated. "Me too." Arthur agreed with him, as he looked at Uncle and Thorax, "You two go and get girls home. I'm gonna have a word with our friend." "Be safe, Arthur." Thorax said, as Arthur nodded his head as he ran over to the closest horse and hopped on it, before riding after the man, "Okay, shall we?" Then, they started loading the supplies on the wagon. It didn't take them that long before the whole wagon was loaded, when they were ready to go back to the camp, Uncle spoke up, "Let's go." "Go without me. I'll stay here for a bit longer." Thorax told them. "Are you sure?" Mary-Beth asked him. "Yeah." Thorax replied with a nod of his head, "I'll wait here for Arthur." "Alright then. If you're going to stay here, head to the saloon. Javier, Charles and Bill are probably going to be there." Karen said. "I'll visit them with Arthur, once he comes back." Thorax said. "Oh, and Thorax. I almost forgot. I and Arthur bought it to you in the shop." Uncle said, handing something to Thorax. "A hat?" Thorax asked, eyeing the hat which was very similiar to Arthur's. The only difference between them was that Thorax's was a little lighter, "Thank you." Uncle smiled in response as Thorax put his new hat on this head. They said their goodbyes to each other, as the carriage began to take off. He gave them one last wave, before they disappeared from his view. A few minutes later, Arthur appeared in his view. His fellow gang member walked over to him and asked, "You didn't left with them?" "I wanted to wait for you, and Karen told me that we should check out what Javier, Charles and Bill are doing in the saloon." Thorax explained. "Let's go then." Arthur said as he and Thorax began walking towards the saloon, "And I see that Uncle gave you that hat." "Yes. Thank you for buying that for me, Arthur." Thorax thanked Arthur. A moment later, when he made his way to the saloon, they heard familiar voice say, "We got a wild one here!" "Javier." Thorax instantly recognized the voice, as he walked into the saloon, spotting that Javier and Charles were standing by the bar, with two women, "Hey guys." "Oh, Arthur, Thorax, come here." Javier said, walking over to Arthur and Thorax, only to lead them to the women, "Come over, I need you to meet our friends." "Nice to meet you." Thorax said. "Likewise." One of the women said, before turning towards Arthur, "And well, ain't you just the tough as teak mountain, now?" "Oh, you be quiet, Anastasia, anyone can tell that this one is a pussy cat." The other woman stated. "Exactly, yes, he's a pussy... cat." Javier said, "Ain't that so, Arthur?" "How much do you take, anyway?" Arthur asked them, being straight to the point. "Well, ain't that a nice way to talk to a lady?" Anastasia asked. "Oh, I didn't know I was talking to a lady." Arthur answered, with a smirk growing on his face. "Excuse me." Anastasia, clearly offended by what Arthur just said, walked away with her friend, leaving Arthur, Javier, Charles and Thorax alone. "Well, I must say. You got a fine way with the women, amigo." Javier stated. Arthur just shrugged his shoulders to that. He didn't have good experiences with women. Thorax looked around himself, trying to spot Bill, but he was nowhere to be seen, "Where's Bill?" "Oh, man. I dread to think about it." Javier said, as Bill came into the saloon through the main entrance, bumping into a man, spilling his drink on him, "Oh there he is." "Hey! Watch where you're going!" Bill shouted at the man he just bumped into. "Take it easy, pal." The man said back. "Is he going to kiss this guy or punch him?" Arthur asked, as Bill punched the man in the face. "You just got your answer." Javier said, as the people in the saloon began to rise from their seats. Arthur, Javier and Charles knew that Bill just started a fight. Javier broke his glass on the nearest man's head, Charles ran over to the chair and threw it somewhere, Arthur slowly walked over to the man by the entrance, and Thorax decided to stay behind. He didn't want to fight with anyone, unless he'd have to. "Come here, you." The man that Arthur just approached said, as he swung his fist at Arthur, who quickly blocked his attack. Then he used this ocassion and grabbed the man's hand and twisted it to the other side, while his other fist made a contact with the man's face, two times, before the man blocked the attack, and broke free from Arthur's grasp. He then punched Arthur two times, one in the torso, and the other one in the head, before Arthur grabbed him by neck, and threw him to the place where Thorax was, where the changeling quickly took care of the man. "Thanks, Thorax!" Arthur thanked Thorax for the help. "You're welcome, Arthur!" Thorax said, still staying in the corner, trying to avoid the fight as much as he could. He knocked that man down, because he wanted to help Arthur. Arthur looked around the saloon, and saw that Bill was pinned to the wall by three men and was about to walk over to help him, but was almost immediately stopped when a large man blocked his way, "Oh great..." Just a moment after Arthur said it, the large man threw him and he landed by window, "You want some too?" Arthur was about to get himself back on his feet, as the large man grabbed him again, and threw him through the window. Arthur fell into the muddy road, as the man walked out of the saloon, ready to fight with Arthur, "Come on, pretty boy." "Pretty boy?" Arthur asked, getting himself back on his feet. "Go on Tommy!" One of the people of Valentine shouted, as a huge crowd gathered around them to see the fight, Javier, Charles, Bill and Thorax were among them. Arthu rdidn't even had a chance to ready himself for the fight as Tommy grabbed him by his neck and threw him to the other side of the road. Tommy swung his fist at him, but fortunely for Arthur, this time he was faster than Tommy and managed to hit him in the face, but it seemed to do barely any damage to the large man. He was about to punch him again, but Tommy blocked his attack with left him, before using the other to punch him. "Come on, Arthur!" He heard Javier shout to him from the crowd, as Arthur sent a series of punches at Tommy's body, after blocking his attack. Tommy then grabbed him by his chin, and used his free hand to hit him in the face, causing Arthur to fall on his fours. Tommy lifed him by his neck, as began to choke him as Arthur tried to break free by punching him a few times in the torso with his elbow. It worked out eventually and he broke free from Tommy's grasp. He saw this as an ocassion to strike back, so he began to punch to Tommy, as fast as it was possible, repeatedly, until the large man finally fell on his back. Arthur grabbed him by his neck, punched him in the face, and again, and again, and again, before someone from the crowd intervened, "Stop! Please! I beg you! Sir, you won the fight already, surely that's enough." "What business, is it of yours?" Arthur asked the who coughed a few times, before replying. "No business." He shook his head, followed by another cough, "No business, sir, but please, I beg you." Arthurrolled his eyes with a sigh, before letting go off Tommy's neck. He walked through the crowd of people to the barrel with water and began to clean his face from the mud. "Making new friends again I see, Arthur ." The familiar voice to Arthur sounded in his ears, as he looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Josiah Trelawny, an old friend of his who was accompanied by Dutch. "Look who we found sniffing about." Dutch said, pointing at Trelawny. "Josiah Trelawny." Arthur stated, as Trelawny made a quick bow, "I was certain you'd to New York." "And miss all this glamour? You must be joking." Trelawny said. "How are you?" Arthur asked him. "Well, quite well, indeed. I went to Blackwater looking for you gentlemen. You're not very popular there as it seems." Trelawny stated, as he glanced over at the left side of his and saw Charles, Javier, Thorax and Bill, "Ah, Javier, Charles and ! I've missed you! And Bill looking as well as can be. Gentlemen, always a pleasure! And... who's the fourth one? I've never seen him before." "That's Thorax. He joined us after Blackwater." Dutch explained. "Thorax, a strange name." Trelawny chuckled, before extending his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you." "Likewise." Thorax said, shaking his head. "You're right. We ain't too popular in Blackwater." Dutch agreed. "We left a lot of money in there." Arthur said. "And young Sean as it seems." Trelawny said. "Sean? You've found him?" Dutch asked. ''Yes, I have. He's being held by some bounty hunters, trying to see how much money the government will pay them. I know he's in Blackwater, but there's talk of them moving." Trelawny answered. "Well, if we step foot in Blackwater we're dead men for sure." Arthur stated. "There'll be Pinkertons all over the place, but if he's alive we gotta try." Dutch said. "Yeah, of course." Arthur said, nodding his head. "It's you they want, Dutch." Trelawny said, glancing over at Dutch. "Always is." Dutch said, as he looked over at Charles, "Charles, go find what you can, carefully." Then turned his look at Trelawny, "Josiah, take Javier." and then at Arthur, "Arthur, go and get yourself cleaned up." "Can I go too?" Thorax offered to go with them. "Thorax, you don't have to." Dutch said. He was certain that, Charles, Arthur, Javier and Trelawny were enough to get Sean back. "I know, but I want to repay you for accepting me into your family, and I think that I may repay that by helping you save one of us." Thorax said. Dutch chuckled, "That's a good changeling we found in those mountains. You can go, instead of Arthur if you want to.'' "If he wants to go, then he should go." Arthur asked, shrugging his shoulders, "Besides, he wasn't in Blackwater with us, so they won't be suspicious of him." "Then you will go with Javier and Trelawny, Thorax." Dutch said, as Thorax nodded his head in understanding. "A what now?" Trelawny asked, confused by what Dutch just said. What changeling? "We'll explain to you on the way." Javier said, as he, Thorax and Trelawny began heading out Arthur watched them leave for a moment, before he walked over to the same barrel and proceeded to clean himself of the mud. Bill then came over to Dutch and asked, "Well, what about me?" "Well exactly, what about you?" Dutch asked him. "Wh-what does that mean?" Bill asked him. Dutch groaned, "Ah, Bill..."