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tamingthemuse2016-02-07 01:09 am
alakewood.livejournal.com) wrote in tamingthemuse2016-02-07 01:09 am
Entry tags:
498 - gefilte fish - frontier [3/?] - alakewood - teen wolf
Title: frontier [3/?]
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Prompt: 498 - gefilte fish
Warnings: Some kind of bastardized western/ABO hybrid AU. (Vaguely inspired by the time period of Hell on Wheels.) Will be Derek/Stiles.
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~1100
Summary: Derek and Stiles wait out the rain and continue their journey.
Disclaimer: It’s all lies and I own nothing.
-- = --
Derek had readied his horse and was mounted and waiting on the far side of the barn. The horse shuffled in the mud as Derek peered around the corner up towards the house. When Stiles finally came into view, he was slipping and sliding down the hill between the pines that were placed as a windbreak and completely hid his escape. Derek couldn’t even see the house anymore when he rode over, reaching down to pull Stiles up behind him.
Stiles carried little more than a small pack slung over his shoulder and across his chest hidden on his back beneath a heavy woolen cloak. He clung to Derek as the horse carefully walked along the ruined road. “Is there anywhere nearby we can wait out the rest of this storm? I don’t want to risk laming the horse,” Derek said loudly over his shoulder, leaning back towards Stiles.
“At the bottom of this hill and a few miles down,” Stiles said, clutching tightly to Derek’s jacket at his hips, “there’s an old barn. The house burned years ago, but the barn is still standing.”
Once they were stopped, the horse loosely tethered to the sturdiest of poles in the barn, Derek settled beside Stiles on a patch of dry dirt in the corner of the barn where the roof was free of holes or leaks. “How long before Miss Kate realizes you’re gone?”
“Supper, maybe,” Stiles said, picking at a loose thread in his cloak’s hem. “I’m expected to stay with the animals during the storm to keep them from getting spooked. If the storm stops before supper and you don’t show, she’ll likely send someone to fetch you. We’ll be found out for sure then.”
Derek listened to the rain—it had been petering off since they left, but it was still steadily falling—and figured they might be able to leave within an hour or so. “Where’s the nearest town?”
“I think there’s a trading outpost north. I’m not sure how far. It’s been year’s since I’ve been outside Casper.”
Derek nodded. He’d need to find another blanket for Stiles, perhaps purchase a few additional supplies. Hopefully the weather would clear soon. He couldn’t imagine encountering another storm like this once they were up into the mountains. They would be facing enough danger on the journey between the wild animals and the road and anyone that Miss Kate might send after them once she’d discovered Stiles had run away—they didn’t need the rain on top of it all. “We might be able to make do with what we have, but I’d like to stock up on a few things if possible.”
Stiles sat quietly for a long time, eyes focused in his lap. “How long will it take?” he asked, glancing up at Derek, fingers tangled together on his knees. “The trip,” he added for clarification. “I’ve only heard stories.”
“Months,” Derek told him. “When we came out… It took six months by wagon to get to Kansas. I imagine if the weather is fair, it won’t take us nearly as long, with just the horse. Four months or so to California.”
“So we should be there by July.”
“If all goes well.”
Silence fell again and stretched out as the sound of the rain grew even fainter. “What’s it like in California?”
“I haven’t seen much of the state, but my home is in the foothills of the Cascades. Our farmland stretches for miles and the fields are very green—everything is green and drenched in sunlight,” Derek remembered, closing his eyes. “And there are trees that grow taller than anything you’ve ever seen, some hundreds of feet high. It’s warm more often then not, but sometimes it does snow. And sometimes, when the wind is blowing just right, you can smell the ocean.”
Stiles was staring at his lap again when Derek opened his eyes. “It sounds lovely.”
“It is. You’ll like it.”
“I hope so.”
Derek had to fight the urge to lay a comforting hand on him. He was unsure where Stiles’ sadness was coming from; he was unsure where his own need to take that sadness away came from. “In four months you’ll find out for yourself.”
Stiles attempted a smile at that, it was faint but not false. “I suppose I will.”
It was probably near early afternoon before Derek declared the weather decent enough to take back to the road. They weren't far from Casper, the smoke from drying fires letting Derek know where the town was, where he was best to avoid for fear of Stiles being seen. They bypassed the town by picking their way along narrow roads and trails, meeting with the main road a few miles past the north edge of it.
The mud made travel very slow, but they eventually came across the outpost Stiles spoke of. Derek purchased the thickest blanket he could find for Stiles as well as an additional sack of flour and a pound of lard. They really should be taking a wagon, Derek knew, but he didn’t have enough money to purchase all the supplies they’d really need much less a wagon and a pair of oxen. Derek could hunt and they could trade if necessary. They’d be fine.
Stiles watched him tuck the sacks away in saddlebags that were already near to packed-full. “Please tell me there’s no fish in there,” he said as Derek mounted the horse. “I’ll eat just about anything, but it’s about all Miss Kate lets me eat. Well, I mean, she makes me hunt or catch it. Fish are easier to catch and I feel less guilty about killing them because, well, they’re not furry or cute.”
“She doesn’t feed you? You keep the animals, but she doesn’t feed you?” Derek asked, once Stiles was seated behind him again.
Stiles shook his head. “I’m allowed water from the well, but… No. Because of what I am. I should be able to provide for myself, she said.”
Derek didn’t even try to contain his growl. That any child would be forced to provide for hisself was ridiculous. Not that Stiles was a child. A boy, perhaps, but nearly a man. But still, an omega. An omega should be cared for, should be provided for. But Miss Kate was no wolf; worse, she was a Hunter. There was no way she could understand the pride one would take in caring for an omega.
And, even if Stiles wasn’t his, Derek would take care of him and deliver him safely to California and his father.
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Prompt: 498 - gefilte fish
Warnings: Some kind of bastardized western/ABO hybrid AU. (Vaguely inspired by the time period of Hell on Wheels.) Will be Derek/Stiles.
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~1100
Summary: Derek and Stiles wait out the rain and continue their journey.
Disclaimer: It’s all lies and I own nothing.
Derek had readied his horse and was mounted and waiting on the far side of the barn. The horse shuffled in the mud as Derek peered around the corner up towards the house. When Stiles finally came into view, he was slipping and sliding down the hill between the pines that were placed as a windbreak and completely hid his escape. Derek couldn’t even see the house anymore when he rode over, reaching down to pull Stiles up behind him.
Stiles carried little more than a small pack slung over his shoulder and across his chest hidden on his back beneath a heavy woolen cloak. He clung to Derek as the horse carefully walked along the ruined road. “Is there anywhere nearby we can wait out the rest of this storm? I don’t want to risk laming the horse,” Derek said loudly over his shoulder, leaning back towards Stiles.
“At the bottom of this hill and a few miles down,” Stiles said, clutching tightly to Derek’s jacket at his hips, “there’s an old barn. The house burned years ago, but the barn is still standing.”
Once they were stopped, the horse loosely tethered to the sturdiest of poles in the barn, Derek settled beside Stiles on a patch of dry dirt in the corner of the barn where the roof was free of holes or leaks. “How long before Miss Kate realizes you’re gone?”
“Supper, maybe,” Stiles said, picking at a loose thread in his cloak’s hem. “I’m expected to stay with the animals during the storm to keep them from getting spooked. If the storm stops before supper and you don’t show, she’ll likely send someone to fetch you. We’ll be found out for sure then.”
Derek listened to the rain—it had been petering off since they left, but it was still steadily falling—and figured they might be able to leave within an hour or so. “Where’s the nearest town?”
“I think there’s a trading outpost north. I’m not sure how far. It’s been year’s since I’ve been outside Casper.”
Derek nodded. He’d need to find another blanket for Stiles, perhaps purchase a few additional supplies. Hopefully the weather would clear soon. He couldn’t imagine encountering another storm like this once they were up into the mountains. They would be facing enough danger on the journey between the wild animals and the road and anyone that Miss Kate might send after them once she’d discovered Stiles had run away—they didn’t need the rain on top of it all. “We might be able to make do with what we have, but I’d like to stock up on a few things if possible.”
Stiles sat quietly for a long time, eyes focused in his lap. “How long will it take?” he asked, glancing up at Derek, fingers tangled together on his knees. “The trip,” he added for clarification. “I’ve only heard stories.”
“Months,” Derek told him. “When we came out… It took six months by wagon to get to Kansas. I imagine if the weather is fair, it won’t take us nearly as long, with just the horse. Four months or so to California.”
“So we should be there by July.”
“If all goes well.”
Silence fell again and stretched out as the sound of the rain grew even fainter. “What’s it like in California?”
“I haven’t seen much of the state, but my home is in the foothills of the Cascades. Our farmland stretches for miles and the fields are very green—everything is green and drenched in sunlight,” Derek remembered, closing his eyes. “And there are trees that grow taller than anything you’ve ever seen, some hundreds of feet high. It’s warm more often then not, but sometimes it does snow. And sometimes, when the wind is blowing just right, you can smell the ocean.”
Stiles was staring at his lap again when Derek opened his eyes. “It sounds lovely.”
“It is. You’ll like it.”
“I hope so.”
Derek had to fight the urge to lay a comforting hand on him. He was unsure where Stiles’ sadness was coming from; he was unsure where his own need to take that sadness away came from. “In four months you’ll find out for yourself.”
Stiles attempted a smile at that, it was faint but not false. “I suppose I will.”
It was probably near early afternoon before Derek declared the weather decent enough to take back to the road. They weren't far from Casper, the smoke from drying fires letting Derek know where the town was, where he was best to avoid for fear of Stiles being seen. They bypassed the town by picking their way along narrow roads and trails, meeting with the main road a few miles past the north edge of it.
The mud made travel very slow, but they eventually came across the outpost Stiles spoke of. Derek purchased the thickest blanket he could find for Stiles as well as an additional sack of flour and a pound of lard. They really should be taking a wagon, Derek knew, but he didn’t have enough money to purchase all the supplies they’d really need much less a wagon and a pair of oxen. Derek could hunt and they could trade if necessary. They’d be fine.
Stiles watched him tuck the sacks away in saddlebags that were already near to packed-full. “Please tell me there’s no fish in there,” he said as Derek mounted the horse. “I’ll eat just about anything, but it’s about all Miss Kate lets me eat. Well, I mean, she makes me hunt or catch it. Fish are easier to catch and I feel less guilty about killing them because, well, they’re not furry or cute.”
“She doesn’t feed you? You keep the animals, but she doesn’t feed you?” Derek asked, once Stiles was seated behind him again.
Stiles shook his head. “I’m allowed water from the well, but… No. Because of what I am. I should be able to provide for myself, she said.”
Derek didn’t even try to contain his growl. That any child would be forced to provide for hisself was ridiculous. Not that Stiles was a child. A boy, perhaps, but nearly a man. But still, an omega. An omega should be cared for, should be provided for. But Miss Kate was no wolf; worse, she was a Hunter. There was no way she could understand the pride one would take in caring for an omega.
And, even if Stiles wasn’t his, Derek would take care of him and deliver him safely to California and his father.