No more pain

Not only breaking the bones and cutting off the fingers were missing on Jin´s imaginary list of tortures. He forgot to include the whipping and Grenet made sure to remind him about that.

It was sometimes after the fifth burning hit, which sent the blinding light into his head, when Jin had realized that fucker didn´t do it because of any questions-answers game anymore; Grenet just enjoyed causing him the pain.

Jin´s body jerked each time it was hit with the short whip divided into three straps, which were like three snakes biting into his skin. And with each hit of another tool of torture, which had only one end, but it was longer, more of his blood was spilled over the floor.

Jin didn´t have either strength or will left to act as a hero. He screamed, he moaned and tried to scream again, but his throat was too dry for it. He just desired to do one last thing, before Grenet would have enough of him and kill him. He just wished he could prevent the deputy from doing the same or worse to Kame. He would have given anything for it; Jin would have died peacefully, if he knew that Kame was safe. But he just couldn´t, he was absolutely powerless.

That knowledge kept Jin conscious and desperate. Despite all his suffering, all that pain and blood and humiliation, there was still something more important.

Kazuya...

If his lips were not so dry and broken, Jin would have said that beautiful name aloud without even knowing it...

***

Kame shivered from cold, which he didn´t feel only on his skin, but also in his heart.

The night was partly clear, partly cloudy. The moon was showing itself almost exactly in its half and sometimes it sent its pale light at the fields around Karnaka´s residence.

Kame was observing the progress of the dark shadows carefully. According to the moon´s position, it was almost midnight and there was no sign of any fuss behind the wall. He was hiding under the huge water barrel, which was standing on the short pillars at the edge of field, which was the closest possible to the back gate. He was waiting there more and more impatiently. He was still hoping for Ella to have some pride and courage left. If she did as he had asked her for, it would help a lot.

There were many guards behind the wall, more than he could avoid safely, if he wanted to go over it. But Kame knew he would try anyway. Despite his plan was deadly dangerous, there was that painful urge, which didn´t let him to act more patiently.

Jin... Hold on... Please, hold on just for a moment yet...

*

After half an hour, which was very long for Kame, he decided it was enough of waiting. According to the calls, which were heard somewhere behind the wall, it seemed that they were just making the regular change of guards. If he didn´t use this opportunity, it would be the same as if he did nothing at all.

Kame´s slim figure completely dressed in dark clothes slipped out from the safe shadow. With fast and very easy steps, which wouldn´t have been recognizable even if an enemy stood right in front of the barrel, he reached the wall. He remained motionless for a few seconds, listening to any sounds or voices, which would tell him some guard was behind the wall, under the place he chose for overcoming it. It was far enough from the back gate and at the same time the closest possible side of the guarded property to reach the barn behind it.

Some half-choked laughter was heard from the direction of the gate. Then Kame´s ears caught a very distant voice somewhere closer the house. He considered his surroundings safe enough. He took a few slow breaths to calm his pulse down and released the grip on the rope with the wide loop in the end to make it loose. He made two small steps back, his eyes focused at the top of the wall from the long stakes.

Considering the shape of the wall, Kame was lucky, that Karnaka was so careful about his property. Half-sharp, half-blunt spikes should have served for the easier and better defense of the farm from the inside, but for him it was easier to get in now.

Kame checked the dark peaks on the background of the night sky once again and altered the knot on the rope a little. He wanted to be sure, since he hadn´t ´practiced´ like this for a long time. Then, in one swift move, he threw the rope up. The loop landed at one of the spikes and Kame pulled for it fast, to tighten the rope around it.

He hang on it with all his weight first, to make sure it was caught there securely enough, then he bounced from the ground easily and started to climb up inaudibly, mostly relying on the strength in his shoulders and arms, as his feet were slipping a little on the surface of smooth stakes. He reminded himself to thank Liwan again, for supporting him in all those Indian trainings he went through...

Kame froze approximately in the middle of the wall, when he overheard the loud alarm calls behind. But the voices were getting further from him, not closer. He overcame the last meter quickly and supporting himself on the spikes, he looked over the top cautiously. Then he could see the reason of the awakening fuss. There was a dangerously orange color of flames in two from all those windows of the main residence.

Ella... Kame figured out right away. She set up a fire...

There was nothing to wait for anymore. The guards from both gates were running toward the fire, yelling for water. There would be no better option for him to get in and hopefully also out with Jin.

With half of his body already over the wall, Kame pulled the rope up and threw it over to the other side. That was the most difficult part to overcome and his arms were already protesting against something so difficult. He didn´t climb onto anything for quite long, and handing out beers couldn´t be considered as an exercise for hands at all.

With a heavy exhale, Kame climbed over the wall completely and he let himself go down the rope so fast his palms hurt. He landed in the soft grass, cowered and looked around. It seemed that everybody awake at this hour was running around the house, trying to extinguish the fire.

He forced himself not to rush toward the barn right away, but to head to the unguarded back gate first. It was close to impossible that Jin would be able to get over the wall just as he did, so they had only one option left, as the front gate was too far.

Very quietly, Kame removed two tollgates, but let the gate closed, hoping that nobody would notice a difference in the dark. After that, he focused at the dark outline of the barn behind a few fruit trees and with no hesitation, he ran across the open space, relying on the dark to cover his movement.

He stopped on the corner of the building as he heard some excited talk from the front. He peeped behind the wall and spotted two men with rifles. They argued about something for a second, before one of them left the spot, running toward the house too.

Good, I can get rid of just one more easily...

Kame waited for the guard to be focused in the opposite direction and then he moved, overcoming the space between them swiftly. He grabbed the gunman around the neck and with his thumb, he hit a certain spot under his jaw, about which he knew would make him immobilized.

He caught the man surprised, but despite that, he fought against the attack for a while, before his body got loose, the eyes closed, and the rifle fell into the grass.

Kame made the unconscious guard sit leaning over the wall, so that from the distance it looked like he was just tired or fell asleep. When he let him go, Kame noticed that his hands were shaking slightly.

He had never used this move on any living person. It was something what he was taught by the old shaman, just in case for his own protection and it was very dangerous; he could even kill that man. But Karnaka´s subordinate on the ground was still breathing, and Kame knew he would wake up in a few minutes, so there was no space for him to ponder his actions.

He looked up to the barn´s door and only then, he spotted the lock on it.

For a second, Kame got terrified, that he would not be able to get inside. With a desperate hope, he returned his eyes to the sleeping man and checked his belt. He breathed out in huge relief, when he found the key hanging on it. He grabbed it and jumped to the door. Very carefully, not to create any unnecessary noise, he unlocked them, slipped inside and closed the door again.

The huge dark space was filled with the smell of manure and horses' spore and lit by two old lanterns. In all those shadows it took some time before Kame´s eyes accustomed to them and he noticed the tied young man in the back side of the barn, with his head falling down to the chest. The strong rope was holding his arms up in the unnatural position, the dark hair glued in the moist strands falling to the face and his skin... Kame blinked, as he couldn´t recognize what he saw at first. The skin was almost nowhere to be seen, so much it was covered by bruises and blood.

Kame stopped breathing for a while, not able to move, not able to tear his eyes off the impoverished gunslinger. He didn´t see Jin for just two days, but during that short time, the lively and handsome man turned into this beaten up ruin...

"Jin..." the name escaped from his lips in a horrified whisper.

In the next second Kame was in front of the captive, his heart beating heavily. He raised one hand and very gently, he touched Jin´s jaw, lifting his head up. His eyes were closed, as much as he could say through all those... All those... Kame was flooded with horror and regret seeing Jin´s face in the poor bloody mess. And somewhere inside, deep in his chest, he felt the burning anger and hate towards those who did this to him.

He kept holding Jin´s head up and reached into the small bag at his side, pulling out the small flask, which he hoped he would not have to use. It was a special potion from the shaman, which he gave him before Kame and his mother left the tribe, and which should be able to suppress the pain for the moment, but it had side effects...

"Jin... Jin, do you hear me?"

Kame waited nervously for any reaction from the other one. Everything would have gone in vain, if he was in such a bad condition, that he couldn´t even move...

A shaky and short breath came out the badly hurt lips and then the red eyelids moved. Only a little, but it was enough for Kame to see the dark eyes, lost in the mist, trying to focus.

"Jin, it´s me... I will get you out of here," Kame spoke again, trying hard not to let his voice shake.

"Ka...zu..."

That sound coming from the broken mouth didn´t match the moody man he knew at all and it shook Kame from head to toes.

"So... I am...dead...?" there could be heard a strange relief in that weak creaky voice.

"No, stupid one," Kame said softly, suppressing the tears in his eyes, and lifted the flask. "Drink this."

Jin opened his mouth obediently and let Kame get the liquid into it. He coughed on it a little, but gulped it down.

"Good..." Kame praised him gently and hid the empty thing back. "It will be a bit uncomfortable now."

Instead of the flask, he took the sharp dagger into his hand, and then he raised himself, cutting the rope holding Jin up. The older one collapsed on him absolutely powerless, that he almost made them both fall down. Kame helped him to sit, supporting his back and he cut off the rest of the rope, which was strangling Jin´s wrists together. Kame gulped down heavily, almost choking on pity, discovering the bloody wounds instead of his nails.

"Jin, can you walk?" his voice did shake this time, he just couldn´t prevent it.

Jin´s head was leant over Kame´s shoulder so helplessly, that he didn´t seem being able to move at all. There was a strange sound from his mouth, half as a desperate crying and half as laughter.

"I can...try..."

Being careful as much as it was possible, Kame grabbed the other one under his shoulders and helped him up to his feet. Jin was leaning on him heavily, but somehow he had some weight on his feet too.

Kame put one of his arms around himself, catching Jin for the hand in the front and hugged him around the waist with the other, trying to ignore the fact, that it definitely hurt Jin, when he touched the open wounds on his body, the wounds from obviously furious whipping...

"Let´s go. We don´t have much time," Kame simply refused to admit that their escape with Jin in this condition would be almost impossible...

After the first difficult step forward, Kame thought that this was just not going to work. Jin was only half-awake, totally beaten up and exhausted. He was relying on Kame´s support more than on his own legs, which were staggering heavily under him. Kame knew he was strong enough to literally drag him out the barn and then to the gate, but it would have taken a lot of time and they didn´t have it.

"Wait..." a hoarse whisper came out together with the heavy exhale and Kame stopped, eying Jin worriedly.

Under the mask of bruises and blood, it was clearly visible just how much Jin was fighting the resistance of his poor body. But he also seemed to be more at his senses, which was definitely the credit of the medicine Kame gave him. It worked very fast.

"Can we?" Kame asked him after a few seconds, when he felt that tenseness of Jin´s body eased up a little.

Jin´s hand squeezed around him with his own strength, before he raised his head a little: "Yeah..."

*

Those one hundred and fifty meters to the gate, with the shouting, running and splashing of water over the hungry flames behind their backs, was the longest track of Kame´s life. Seeing Jin in that condition horrified him and persuaded him that they wouldn´t survive this, if they get caught. He hardly realized that he was not so afraid for his own life as for Jin´s. He just would not let him suffer anymore...

Jin was moving forward together with Kame, but it was painfully clear that if there was no help for him soon, he might not get through this. Kame´s heart was jumping up his throat, the pulse vibrating in his veins and he was trying to keep at least his breathing on some calm pace.

There were only five steps left, four, three... Jin staggered over something and almost pulled them both to the ground. Then Kame pushed into the gate´s wing roughly to make it open. That they got there unnoticed, Kame considered a miracle. He was incredibly grateful to the slave, who was able to distract the attention from the prisoner so well, but he didn´t think about her anymore. There was somebody more important...

"Hey! Stop right there!"

Kame turned his head so fast that his neck hurt. The shouting didn´t belong to them though. There was a slim figure of the young woman running away from the mansion, and behind her, two or maybe three chasers shouting their threats. It was Ella. She must have been too scared and she was hiding, until it was too late for her to escape unseen. And Kame promised she could go with them...

The young bartender was torn apart by his promise and by the weight on his shoulders. He was responsible for both of them…

"Jin, hold on to me," he asked the older one, while he was turning back to face the gardens again and let his hand go, but kept holding him around the waist. With the other hand, he took out the gun from the sheath on his belt and pointed with it at the approaching persons, but he couldn´t aim at the men, because Ella was in the field of fire...

Come on, come on... Move a little... Kame was sending the hopeless mind signals.

It was almost there, one man was ahead, Kame aimed finally and then... There was a shot suddenly and it wasn´t from Kame´s revolver. The woman´s painful scream cut through the air, the running legs stopped in the half of movement and the slim body collapsed to the grass only twenty meters from them like a puppet without the strings.

Flooded with guilt, Kame stared at the motionless body for one second, during which the time crawled slowly like captured in the mud.

"I´ve told you to stop, you bitch!" he heard the voice of the man who had fired.

"Hey! Who´s there?!" the other one yelled.

Time to put the regret aside... The gunmen spotted their shadows at the gate.

Kame tore his eyes off the poor woman and not so gently, he dragged Jin through the opened gate out. They were close to his previous hideout and it was the only possible solution, which Kame could figure out now.

"Kazu...ya… I can´t..."

"I know..."

Jin´s body was already over the edge of its possibilities, and he was not fast enough.

Without any thinking, Kame changed their position a little, took both of Jin´s arms and pulled him up from the ground on his back. He started to run along the wall as fast as he was only able to. Jin was at least ten kilos heavier than him, but that didn´t matter at that moment. It was the most important to reach the shadow of the place, where the guards would expect them the least of all.

It felt like the bullets would start flying after them in each second, but Kame reached the water barrel with Jin on his back and the excited voices were still behind the wall. All in sweat and out of breath he went down on his knees, letting Jin go slowly.

"Jin, you must help me a little here..."

Hearing his voice, Jin´s hands and knees moved forward jerkily. Kame supported him as much as he could to crawl under the pillars into the deepest shadow and followed him pressing himself to his side. He almost couldn´t see the other one now, the moon was hidden behind the clouds, but he could hear his irregular breathing and he felt his shaking body next to his. Jin wasn´t saying anything, but for that moment his breathing was enough.

"Lay still," Kame whispered and crawled closer to the edge of their shelter, again with the revolver in his hand. He was completely willing to kill without the second thought anyone, who would come to Jin with the intention to hurt him again.

Those two guards, who were chasing the poor slave before, just ran out the gate looking around confused. Kame could only see their shadows in the reflections coming through the open gate. And then, a voice started yelling, so loudly that Kame jerked a little. The following loud dialogue reached his ears more than clearly.

"What the hell are you two doing out there?! If you hadn´t noticed, we have a fucking fire in the house!"

"Somebody just ran out, boss!" one of the gunmen outside the walls responded.

"What?! What the hell do you mean? That little bitch is lying right here!"

"It was somebody else, boss! Two of them!"

A short silence followed.

"Crap! Ned!! Check out the barn! Move your ass, or I´ll kick you there!"

Kame was breathing regularly, trying to calm himself down and waited for the response, which he had expected.

"He´s gone!" the surprised call came. "Boss, the prisoner is gone!"

"This is a fucking joke!!" Grenet was obviously very angry. "On the horses! Now! Don´t stare at me and fucking move! They can´t be far!"

"But, boss, the fire...!"

"Screw the fire, I want that shithead! Right now! Alive!"

Two men disappeared back inside, out of Kame´s view. It was clear that they would set off immediately. They had to wait and hope that nobody would care about the water barrel...

He moved away from the edge, deeper into the shadows, but remained in the position, from which he could see the back entrance. Half lying, he took off his coat and after a few careful groping he found motionless Jin. He put the cloth over his back, trying to recognize him in the dark, but it was useless. There was too much of black color in their shelter.

"Kazu..."

Kame still couldn´t bear that voice. He raised his hand again and with the careful fumbling, he found Jin´s face in the darkness, touching him so gently that it was more as if he was doing it with a feather.

"Yes... I´m here, Jin. We must be quiet now," he whispered, just to remind him, the other one´s voice was more like the rustle of dry leaves than a sound anyway.

He heard how Jin took a deep breath, before speaking again.

"Why... You came...for me?"

Kame stared at the dark shape of lying body for a while. The moon came out from behind the clouds again and let his faint light improve the view under the barrel.

"You did not think I´d have let you there, did you?" he reacted quietly.

A strange and very sad smile appeared on the older one´s lips, Kame could see Jin´s features move in the dim light.

"You shouldn´t... You shouldn´t..."

Kame watched that face, hardly recognizable, biting into his lip. His fingers, which were still touching Jin´s face, were shaking lightly.

"I shouldn´t have come so late," he finished the sentence instead of him. "I´m so sorry, Jin."

"No..." Jin rejected it right away. "I´m... sorry... Kazuya... Sorry for... everything..." his breath squeezed in the lungs.

Kame felt incredibly sad, hearing Jin like this, fighting with pain.

"Damn... It hurts... Kazu... I..."

Kame had to clear his throat first, before he was able to speak: "I´ll help you, I promise. You will be all right again."

"It... I just..."

"Don´t speak. Save your strength," Kame didn´t let Jin continue his desperate attempts. "I promise that soon there will be no more pain. All right?"

Only shaking breathing followed for a minute, and Kame didn´t really expected the response, when it finally came.

"Fine..."

*

Only two minutes later the clatter of many hooves disappeared in the darkness, as well as the light of a few lanterns. The back gate was closed and heavily guarded. Grenet´s men had the order to search through the whole property again, if there was no other intruder hiding. It seemed that they managed to handle the fire already.

Furious Grenet himself was the leader of the first search group, which scattered alongside the woods in the north; the second one was occupied with the opposite direction. They expected them to flee into the safety of the forest, but Kame was prepared for this and their precious horses were hidden in the gorge closer to the road leading to Bozeman. None of the woken up and quite annoyed men seemed to care for the barrel, which was hiding them.

As soon as there was no sign of any movement outside the walls, they couldn´t wait any longer. It was highly possible, that Grenet would realize they could have hidden themselves somewhere closer to the farm and they had to be in the gorge by that time.

"Jin, we must move," Kame touched Jin on the shoulder.

There was only some quiet mumbling as a response. It couldn´t be said that the half-conscious gunslinger was very happy about it, but they had no other choice.

"You must hold on for a little while yet... Only a little..."

*

It was a long and difficult way to the place, where Kame hid both Kuro and Ukushi. It was not so far and under the normal circumstances he would have reached it in less than five minutes, but with Jin being gradually unable to move on his own and his weight relying completely onto Kame, it took them almost half an hour. Kame was tense all the way, listening to each sound in the darkness, which could mean that they were exposed.

Jin wasn´t hissing in pain anymore, he didn´t even say anything, he just let Kame lead him forward with his eyes closed. Kame didn´t let himself worry about all of those wounds, which he saw in the barn. First, he had to get them both as far away from there as possible, and then he could treat Jin properly.

Kuro welcomed their staggering figures with nervous neighing and stomping on the ground. He obviously didn´t like that Kame left him there, doing nothing. The animal kept shaking its head until Kame, who was already completely out of breath, feeling his stressed muscles clutching in cramps, led the beaten-up friend directly to it.

"Hush, already! Do you want them to find us?" he tried to put some sense in the snorting horse.

"Kuro..." a weak whisper made Kame look at Jin again. "Don´t...worry..." the older one´s voice was so quiet that Kame almost couldn´t recognize the words, but it made the stallion calm down finally. "I will... I will...be..."

Jin collapsed before he could finish the sentence. If not for Kame holding him, the older one would have fallen down to the ground completely out of senses. His body just couldn´t bear it anymore and he fainted.

Already very tired Kame had to put him down completely for a minute, letting his head rest in the grass. He needed to figure out how to attach Jin to the saddle to prevent him from falling down and...

He stiffened like a stone, still leaning over the shallowly breathing guy. He felt somebody behind him; he felt somebody´s stare at his back. But not even Ukushi warned him about the incomer, so who the hell was that? Only Kuro seemed a little nervous, grubbing in the ground by one of his strong hooves.

Kame took a deep breath and he turned jumping to his feet, the revolver in his hand ready to...

"Whoa! Kame! Do not shoot my head off!"

His fingers remained still like a fossil on the weapon, but he breathed out in a huge relief recognizing the voice and also the familiar figure coming out from behind the dry bush, so that a little of moonlight fell on his face.

"Liwan..."

"Put that gun down, friend, you make me nervous..." Indian was looking at the dangerous thing aiming at his chest.

Only then, Kame noticed how much his hand was shaking; the revolver´s mouth was moving from one side to another like on its own will. His nerves were already on the edge.

"I´m sorry..." he hid the gun quickly to its place, and faced his Indian friend again. "What are you doing here? How did you find us?"

"I came to check up on you to Bozeman," Liwan stated in the calming voice, noticing the disconcerted Kame´s state. "I was worried after what happened last time... Your mother told me what insanity you went to do, so I rushed here. My horse felt Ukushi then..."

Kame calmed down during his words, when he made sure there was really nobody else but his friend.

"I suppose that is Akanishi," Liwan looked at the lying body, trying to see through the darkness.

"Yes..." Kame´s voice was still a little shaky when he responded, so he rather didn´t add anything else. Not much from Jin was visible now, but he knew that the wounds were there and they could not be forgotten.

"So you did it... Incredible," Liwan snorted a little in disbelief. "Your mother was shaking with fear for you, and you go right into the nest of snake to save this man! Do you realize how bad this could end? You could be killed!"

"But I was not!" Kame snapped at the Indian. He felt Liwan´s eyes observing him worriedly, so he pressed his lips together to keep other angry comments for himself. There was really no space for any arguments now. "You can judge me later, Liwan," he said much more quietly. "He needs help."

Indian´s expression changed after hearing Kame being so worried.

"I figured that out," he stated. "How bad is he?"

"Very... Will you help me to get him to safety, please?"

"Why do you think I came here?" Indian replied sardonically.

"To stop me from going there for him," Kame reacted immediately.

Liwan raised both his hands in the air defeated: "All right, you win. No arguments for now..."

"Thank you..."

"Where do you want to hide him? They search for him, right?"

"Yes, they do..." Kame confirmed gloomily and went down to his knees, reaching his hands towards motionless Jin again, so that he could close the coat on him properly. "We´ll take him to my former home..."