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They blew into town on a hot, dusty day right on the heels of the werecoyote. Wooyoung had seen her stumble and shrink back into her human body. Her jaws still held whatever clothing that wasn't either shredded or lost. Wooyoung tried to offer her her poncho but that still feral part of her snarled before recoiling in fear and running straight into town. It didn't matter who took her in. Wooyoung would see her again regardless. Desert towns like these were only so big.
"I still don't think we should be here." San grumbled, voice low as she tied up their horses.
"That's quitters talk." Wooyoung leaned against the post, gazing out at the various buildings that lined the street. An apothecary sat right across from the inn they were in front of, with the saloon and a few houses on either side. Nobody was outside.
"I don't think your charm is gonna work on her too easy." San squinted at her through the rays of morning sunlight. "And I see people glarin' at us through the window."
True to her word, in one of the houses was a set of eyes staring dead on at Wooyoung. She offered them a smile that was cocky, if not friendly but was met with a jump and the closing of curtains.
"These folks seem more skittish than she is."
"Must've caught wind of the werecoyote in the area. That or they've already realized you're Trouble." San said.
Wooyoung rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide her amused grin. "Save the dirty talk for the bedroom." She said, patting San's cheek.
San stuck out her tongue but followed her into the inn anyway.
It was a swanky lil thing, with walls plastered in red wallpaper that had to have been imported. The lobby had a small smattering of couches in various shapes and sizes, some velvet some not. All with accompanying tables. The whole thing was set up to look expensive, ritzy, European. But the heat on both the inside and out did very little to help sell the illusion.
Wooyoung approached the check in counter with an undeserved swagger. She leaned on the lovingly varnished wood with a grin.
The clerk gave her an unimpressed once over. "What's you and your lady friend in for?" He asked San, whose back was turned to take in the decor.
"I'm right here." Wooyoung stepped in the way of the clerk's view. "How much would a month cost?"
"Not now, sweetheart. Let the gentlemen handle business." He waved her away dismissively. Wooyoung groaned and made the mistake of making eye contact with San. She simply responded with a gesture to remind her to take a deep breath.
"Y'ain't gettin' much outta him, sir. He's mute."
The clerk pressed a hand to his chest. "Oh bless his heart. Such a sweet looking boy too."
"He ain't that sweet." Wooyoung gritted her teeth. "How much is a month's long stay worth?"
"Let's see… For a pretty lady like you and the rugged gent… Honeymooning I presume?" The clerk waggled his eyebrows in a way that made Wooyoung's lip curl. San just gave him a curt nod to spare Wooyoung the embarrassment of having to say anything.
"Let's say it'll run you a hundred even." Wooyoung slapped the money on the counter without sparing the clerk another glance. "That does remind me. Word on the streets is there's a werecoyote afoot. A pretty little thing much like yourself. You haven't felt… hairier lately, have you?"
"Werecoyotes don't feel hairier the day after a full moon. They'd be human by now." Wooyoung grumbled.
"Huh. Suppose it would." The clerk eyed her suspiciously, never letting his gaze leave her even as he reached behind himself to pluck a room key from the rack. "Your suite's upstairs to the left. I hope you don't start getting no meat cravings."
San took the key and tugged Wooyoung away before she could say anything. She hated what that yahoo was suggesting even more than she hated all the cloying pet names. She knew she should've worn her badge. It would've netted her far more respect if she didn't get laughed at first.
The room itself wasn't as fancy as the lobby was. Or at least it was a different kind of fancy. It being the honeymoon suite was made to look - what Wooyoung assumed was - Parisian. Everything gave off the facsimile of romance, down to the dried rose petals kept in a jar. To Wooyoung, it was horrifically corny. But San beamed at the aesthetic of it all, so she kept most of her complaints to herself.
"I'm glad we ain't on a real honeymoon." Wooyoung sniffed a candle. It smelled overwhelmingly of beeswax and was more decorative than it was functional, judging by the shitty carvings on it. "Otherwise I'd have thrown up when we stepped in here."
"Can't you ever appreciate the finer things in life?" San pushed open double doors in the corner of the room. "We even have a tub this time!"
"I can appreciate nice soaps. But this decor is ugly." Wooyoung stuck her tongue out at the bedsheets. She didn't even want to know what garish pattern was hand stitched onto the quilt. She made better when she was 5.
"If you don't like it then why don't you go and buy us some supplies? Maybe try and spot your cute lil werecoyote while you're at it." San nodded towards the door with a smirk.
"She ain't my nothin'!" Wooyoung protested. She was happy to see herself out anyway.
"No? She's got a nice ass." San bit her lip before biting out a laugh at Wooyoung's pointed disgust.
"Now you even sound like a man." She yanked the door open. "Talk about her like that again and I'll shoot you." She didn't give San the time to retort before slamming the door, but she heard the assertion that she'd miss anyway. Like hell she would!
The sun didn't get any less hostile. Even just going between buildings had Wooyoung squirming in the dry heat. It wouldn't be too much to ask for just a single cloud to pass by. It didn't matter if it blotted out the sun, just the vague notion of moisture would be enough to keep Wooyoung sane. But now that the sun had fully risen, the town was bustling with those crazy enough to pretend not to be bothered by the heat.
Wooyoung had spent a touch too much money. Again. Her first stop was at the apothecary. They were running out of bandages, no thanks to Wooyoung's impulsive fighting habits. The smell in the building was so overwhelmingly that of lavender and alcohol, that it almost masked the faint stench of sick that lingered in the floorboards. It didn't help that the railway was a day's travel away. Everything was sold at an upcharge that could've been considered inhumane.
The general store only fared better in terms of smells. Wooyoung tried to make absolutely sure to only pick up the essentials this time, barring the treat for San that she picked up. There was really only so much she could fit in their saddle bags before either of their horses started to complain.
Satisfied with her purchases, Wooyoung braved the sunlight once more. She was in its direct path this time. The general store was around the corner in the 'L' shaped town. As Wooyoung strolled back to the inn she caught sight of brown hair that shined a rusty almost orange in the sunlight.
It had to have been her. The Coyote. She was speaking to someone, an older wealthy man by the looks of it. This time, she looked like a properly fashionable young lady. She was dressed like a bandit just last night. Her hair was cut short, making her soft features look boyish. The peculiar hairstyle drew a few stares. Maybe they assumed she'd simply gotten lost or kidnapped to end up all the way out in the desert by her lonesome, forced to shed her locks. But Wooyoung saw how deep the bags under her eyes were. They'd gotten worse with each encounter they had.
"Excuse me," Wooyoung moseyed up to her before she could really think about it. The Coyote whipped around, doe eyed gaze turning calculating as she sized Wooyoung up before returning to its innocence. "Could I have a word?"
"And who are you, exactly?" The gentleman cut in before The Coyote could say anything.
"I'm a Sheriff, sir." Wooyoung was wise to grab her badge from Wooyoneigh's saddle bag before her shopping trip. She held it up to the man, with the grocery bag on her hip.
"A sheriff… From what town?"
"From any town that needs me."
The man snorted. How undignified. "You look an awful lot like that Trouble fellow. Heard he was a sheriff too. "
"Maybe she is just misunderstood."
The gentleman just stared at her as the gears in his head turned. "What do you want with the little lady, Trouble?"
"A simple conversation. Womanly gossip if you will. You'll afford the Lady that, won't you kind sir?" Wooyoung batted her eyelashes. She hated looking delicate, but if that's what it took to get this guy off her back…
"I suppose a little socializing couldn't hurt." He hummed. "Just be careful. I heard there was a werecoyote afoot."
Wooyoung didn't miss the way his eyes narrowed in suspicion at her. She shot him an equally dirty look right back. "She'll be in good hands."
A simple nod in the direction of a crevice between buildings was all it took to get The Coyote to follow her. It was well shaded so they'd be both out of the sun and away from any prying eyes. The Coyote's features were much prettier up close. A sharp nose sat right above two plump lips, sandwiched between cheeks made rosy by the heat. And her eyes, always so hostile and calculating drew Wooyoung right in.
"Well?" Her eyebrow twitched but her expression remained measured.
"They're onto you." Wooyoung blurted.
"I know. Actually, they're onto you, really." She half shrugged. "I heard Mr. Vinsot talk to a few of the other townsfolk this morning. Said they were gonna hang whoever they discovered was the werecoyote before the next full moon."
"And the idiots think it's me?" Wooyoung scoffed. The Coyote just nodded with a 'Mhm'.
"I don't intend on handing myself over." The Coyote didn't quite grin. If anything it just looked like she was baring her teeth.
"Figures. They'll kill you too."
"I know." She let her eyes leave Wooyoung's in favor of staring at the dirt. There was a resignation written across her face.
"Why don't you leave with me, then? Three's company and all."
"So you can drag me out to the desert and shoot me there? I'd rather take my chances here." Her nose wrinkled in the approximation of a snarl, back pressed against the wall of the building.
"It'd be easier for you. Me and Sannie can take care of you." Wooyoung wasn't one to plead, that was usually San's job.
"Absolutely not. Not by you of all people. You've chased me all through the desert for months and you expect me to forget all that and ride off into the sunset with you?"
"Maybe?" Wooyoung mentally kicked herself for how pathetic she sounded and probably looked too. The Coyote just stood up straight and schooled her expression.
"I believe our conversation is over, Sheriff." She said with a coldness that Wooyoung had come to expect. She was leaving again, just as she had all those other times Wooyoung had gotten a touch too close.
"Can't you at least tell me your name? I'm not leaving this town without you, so I've gotta call you something." Wooyoung wanted to reach out to her, to pull her back to keep her close for just a little while longer. But she hesitated just for a second too long and The Coyote stepped out of reach.
The Coyote spared her a glance over the shoulder, expression unreadable. "To you, I'm Nobody." She said before walking back to the gentleman with that doe eyed expression on her face.
Wooyoung wasted no time on hurrying back to her room at the inn. She practically kicked the door down with a wild grin on her face. San yelped at her from the tub and nearly threw the fancy soap at her. But she either decided not to kill Wooyoung's excitement or that the soap was too nice to waste on her.
"I saw her!" Wooyoung beamed, chucking the shopping bag on the bed. "Sannie, she's perfect."
"Was gawkin' at her all you did or did you do something useful too?" San leaned back on the rim of the metal tub.
"Well we spoke. Somethin' about the townsfolk lookin' for the werecoyote." Wooyoung was quick to kick off her boots and shed her clothes as she made her way over to the tub. "Point is, she's cornered."
"Got any schemes to win her over yet?" San drew her knees up to her chest, just to make a bit of room for Wooyoung.
"Smile real pretty and hope she agrees to come with us?" She said as she sank into the sudsy lukewarm water.
"Good luck with that one." San chuckled. "Last time you tried that, she nearly took out your eye."
Wooyoung ran her fingers over the scars on her cheek. She was lucky to have found a half decent medic that night. "She was scared, she couldn't help it."
"Well, now she's scared and can help it. Nothing's stoppin' her from framing you."
"She wouldn't." Wooyoung hoped. San just raised an eyebrow at her.
"Just don't do anything too stupid. I'd rather not have to fish you out of trouble so soon." She said, stepping out of the tub. Wooyoung didn't bother to respond. She already knew that San would have something else to say that would probably be right which would only make her scowl deepen.
It was a good thing that Wooyoung only did something moderately stupid that week. Should she have told all those tall tales to drunkards in the Saloon? Probably not. But they were an absolute hoot of a crowd. At some point, they goaded her into proving her sharpshooting abilities because there was simply no way a "little lady like her" could've taken down the leader of a famed bandit gang from the top of a moving train. Unluckily for them, that part of her story wasn't embellished.
The drunkards set up a fake shooting range outside within minutes of Wooyoung's bragging. Each beer bottle that had been tossed into the air was shattered quicker than they could blink. It was child's play, even amidst Wooyoung's drunkenness.
The only thing that caused her to miss was spotting Nobody slipping into the Saloon out of the corner of her eye. She drank down the rest of her beer, tossed and shot it without looking as a final boast before slinging her gun over her shoulders and following Nobody in. She found a dimly lit corner for herself far away from the rest of the crowd. She was already nursing a drink. Wooyoung tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear before speaking to her.
"You alone tonight, gorgeous?" She leaned on the table with one hand, grinning.
"Evidently." Nobody glared at her, but didn't tell her to fuck off. Wooyoung sank into the seat adjacent to her.
"That guy too prissy to step into Saloons?" She let her lanky limbs spread, taking up far more space than was really necessary. Nobody nodded. "And you ain't?"
"Considering what I am, no. Not anymore." She almost smiled to herself, sharp gaze turning a touch wistful.
"Shit, you look proper to me. You clean up nice enough."
"That's hardly a compliment." She took a sip of her drink and let her gaze travel over Wooyoung. "I suppose you're used to these places too. You aren't proper at all."
"No, why should I be?" Wooyoung never concerned herself with what she didn't need to be. Dresses, a pretty as they were, were too inconvenient to lug around all the time anyway.
Nobody shrugged. "What do you want, Sheriff?"
"Woah! Only my enemies call me that."
"I thought your enemies called you Trouble."
"Same difference." Wooyoung smirked.
"What should I call you then? Sharpshooter?"
Wooyoung shook her head and beckoned Nobody closer with two fingers. She leaned in.
"Wooyoung." She whispered. Nobody mouthed the name silently, the weight of it apparent on her tongue.
"It's beautiful." She murmured, warmth flickering in her eyes.
"Don't go around tellin' anyone. It's our secret, okay pretty?"
Nobody nodded. There was a smile tugging at her lips. "Okay."
Wooyoung's heart fluttered. "And don't frame me for nothin' neither."
"Now why would I do that?" Nobody smiled.
Wooyoung wished the sentiment stuck for longer than the confines of the conversation. The very next day, the butcher reported missing sausages to her. He claimed there was a small break in last night, and implied that she was the culprit. It didn't matter to him that Wooyoung was really at the Saloon all night and had spent the whole morning sleeping off her hangover. Her reputation preceded her after all.
She kept the only other possible suspect close to her chest. Nobody had walked off in the direction of the butcher's shop after they both left the Saloon. She said she was hungry, but refused to let Wooyoung buy her dinner.
Wooyoung pulled Nobody away from that Vinsot fellow again as soon as she could. She didn't care what insult was being hurtled towards her. It was too posh for her to pretend it stung anyway.
"Technically, I didn't frame you." Nobody picked at her cuticle.
"Description matches me though." Wooyoung said. "And you didn't even need to steal."
"It was a different kind of hunger." Nobody said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Which means?"
"It needed to be handled differently. I couldn't just waltz on in and ask for raw meat."
"Couldn't or wouldn't?" Wooyoung was the one baring her teeth now.
Nobody glared. "You couldn't understand."
"Then explain it to me!" Wooyoung snapped. Then she ran her hands down her face with San's voice clear in her mind to take a deep breath. "Why couldn't you just ask?"
"It's unsightly for a lady to handle such things." Nobody said.
Wooyoung took another breath. "Sweetheart, I don't think anyone cares. Plenty of women go to the butcher just fine."
"But they're from here. I'm proper. I can't do everything they can."
"You didn't seem to have a problem when you ran with them bandits the other day."
"I was hungry then too. Besides, they didn't see me as a lady. I was one of them. It was different." Nobody's voice got close to a mumble, hands running through her copper toned hair. She seemed almost wistful about the whole thing, as if that adventure granted her something she didn't even know she was missing. Wooyoung's bleeding heart ached for her. She sighed and set her frustration aside.
"Can't you at least tell Vinsot that it wasn't me?"
Nobody nodded. "I tried to earlier, but I'll tell him again."
She almost left again, but this time Wooyoung acted quickly enough to grab onto her wrist to stop her.
"If you ever get lonely hangin' out with him all the time, you know you can find me right? I'm staying at that fancy inn." She nodded in its direction.
Nobody opened her mouth to say something and then closed it. She pulled her wrist out of Wooyoung's grasp.
"You confuse me, Sheriff."
Another few days rolled by after that, each with a different cut of meat being stolen. The butcher was furious, in part because it took ages and cost a fortune to get those cuts in, but also because it never seemed to be about the actual quality of the meat. It was all about the portion size.
"Sausage links I can part with," He said to Wooyoung when she stopped by to properly investigate. "Veal or T-bone are understandable, its the high quality stuff y'know? But really its all my ground chuck or chicken legs or what have you. Stuff that's either big or that I have a lot of."
"It sounds like our thief might be hungry." Wooyoung said innocuously.
"Perhaps…" The butcher scratched his chin. "Your hair seems to have grown out. And you spent all day sleeping yesterday too."
Wooyoung blinked at him. "You can't be serious."
"I'm just saying. I knew a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy's cousin that said those were all signs of a werecoyote. You even howl all the time too."
"That's just how I laugh?" Wooyoung scowled at him through her confusion, eyebrows pulled down to resemble u's. She was starting to think that nobody in this town had actually dealt with a werecoyote before.
That fact became all the more obvious the next few times she ran into Nobody. She saw it in her eyes first, the slight glint as she stepped out of a shaded area into a well lit one. It reminded her of the cows on her family's ranch. She saw the way her face started narrowing despite her increased appetite. Her hair started changing color too, losing its almost rust coloring in favor of a few hidden strands of grayish brown.
Above all else, Nobody looked tired. She was far more standoffish now, in a hostile way rather than the feigned demureness she'd taken up. Even Vinsot could hardly stand to be near her these days. Her shifting demeanor was sure to stain his reputation. More often than not, instead of following him around, she actually sought Wooyoung out.
"Showin' off again, Sheriff?" Nobody purred, perched up on a fence at a makeshift shooting range Wooyoung had set up just outside town.
"Stressed." Wooyoung mumbled, shooting down an empty can of beans. "And I thought I told you not to call me 'Sheriff'?"
"Actually, you said only your enemies called you that." Nobody kicked her legs, smug.
"I meant the same thing." Wooyoung met her eyes and shot down an empty bottle of the worst beer she's ever tasted.
There was a glint in Nobody's eyes, partially from the amber hue that was starting to spread from her iris. But there was something else there and it caused her to bite her lip as her eyes narrowed. "So then, Wooyoung," She seemed to be tasting her name on her sharp tongue. "What's troubling you."
"What else? These idiots round here seem to think I'm you." Wooyoung shot down another can. "And you're about as obvious as a summer's day."
"Obvious?" She flustered for some reason.
"Your teeth have literally gotten sharper, and they never notice no matter how often you smile all pretty for them."
"Oh…" She ran a thumb over her canines. "Maybe it's too dazzling for them to notice."
"Maybe there ain't half a thought between 'em." Wooyoung snorted. Wine bottle this time.
"I did try and persuade them otherwise. But they're never interested in what I actually have to say."
Wooyoung rolled her eyes and mumbled a commiseration. "I'd get Sannie to tell them off, but I made the mistake of passing her off as mute."
"Her…?" Nobody breathed, mostly to herself. She ran her hands through her hair, eyebrows knitting as she paused to think. Then she nodded to herself and met Wooyoung’s eyes again with an understanding.
"Anyway," Wooyoung didn't know if it was something she could acknowledge or not. "Her voice ain't that deep, so they probably wouldn't listen to her then either."
"It's good then, that they haven't heard it. Though if I were her, I'd hate not being able to speak."
"Yeah? Ain't goin' around like that close enough?" Wooyoung nodded with her chin at her outfit. It was pretty, with the way the baby blue skirt billowed in the hot gusts of wind that blew past. But Nobody held herself differently with it on than she would've had she been dressed as a bandit. Wooyoung couldn't tell if Nobody liked it or not.
"Here, they at least pretend to listen. It was worse back home."
"Worse how?"
Nobody shook her head with her eyes squeezed shut. Her hair tossed around with her movements. It didn't matter when, how, or if she said anything. Wooyoung would find out regardless.
"All this talk, and you still haven't missed a shot." Nobody said opening one eye, and then the other. "You're quite the sharpshooter, aren't you?"
"Mhmmm…" Wooyoung drawled. She dared not to take another this time.
"Then how come every time you've had me staring down the barrel of your gun, you've missed?"
Wooyoung smiled at that, cocky and self assured. She didn't think she'd ever catch on. "Hasn't it occurred to you that I had a choice in all that?"
Nobody came to her again the next day, toothy grin sharpening. She had a look in her eye, like she'd just hunted down a deer and was bringing Wooyoung the spoils. But instead, she'd solved a riddle where there wasn't really one. She almost had Wooyoung pinned to the couch in that fancy hotel lobby, trapped by her gaze rather than her hands.
"You care about me." She stated. "That's why you never take the shot." She had a slight lisp, as if she had to get used to speaking around her growing canines.
"You just noticed?" Wooyoung chuckled.
"No." Nobody looked away, frowning. "It's obvious."
"Not to you, apparently."
Nobody huffed and threw herself on the couch besides Wooyoung. She kept her leg tucked under herself. Their knees were touching.
"I never really had the chance to ask before. You're annoyingly good at hunting." Her voice dropped to a murmur, as if the thoughts she spoke weren't really meant to be shared.
"I'm only good at hunting you." Wooyoung let her volume match Nobody’s. "I lose interest too quick for anything else."
Nobody's eyes flickered between her hands and Wooyoung's. It was cute, even bashful. "Is that how you get into trouble all the time? I always hear about your daring escapades after we don’t cross paths for a while.”
"I think daring is the wrong word here, but they don't call me Trouble for nothin'."
“I suppose not, no.” Nobody looked away for a second, lips forming a thin line as she sucked at her teeth for a moment. “Can I ask,” She smiled at Wooyoung, coy. “What incident earned you that nickname in the first place?”
“Who says it was just one?” Wooyoung teased. “I think I first heard it two years or so before I started hunting you. Me and Sannie were left in charge of guiding a cow herd for a few days. Small stuff, y’know? But one thing lead to another and the cows stampeded through a mining town. Really, it was the cattle raiders' fault that it happened. But the nickname stuck ever since."
The next day, Wooyoung saw San off before she rode out to the nearby ranch. The farmer there had come into town looking for someone strong enough to do some work for him. His back had been making it hard to get anything done, and the sun only made things worse. Wooyoung volunteered San for the job as soon as she spotted him. They needed more cash before they set out (no thanks to Wooyoung's spending habits). It was a good thing that San had a reputation for being handy with a gun. Not as handy as Wooyoung, but just enough to qualify to be a makeshift guard. Just until the werecoyote was killed.
Wooyoung was left with a warning not to spend any more money, and to "Stay out of trouble for fuck’s sake." San couldn't promise to bail her out this time. Nobody appeared by her side as soon as San had disappeared over the horizon, footsteps unnaturally quiet. There were more questions burning in her eyes.
“So… you’ve been on the road for a while?” Nobody asked.
“Since I was around sixteen, yeah.”
“And your parents… let you go?” She looked apprehensive.
“Only because Sannie went with me!” Wooyoung laughed. She remembered how their families packed everything they’d need for their endless journey. And how she and her mother’s arguments sounded like the thunder that shook the house during storms. Even though she knew Wooyoung’s restless energy had to be exercised somehow, she couldn’t let her baby girl go. Not when neither of them knew when she’d be back.
"Do you miss it? Your home? Your… parents?” Her voice was quiet.
“Of course I do.” Wooyoung met her eyes for a moment before deciding the emotion in them was too much to bear. “But I had to see things for myself. I had to see the canyons and bison and sleep under the open sky. I had to get myself into trouble too, but that might just be my nature.”
“But out here, you have nothing to go back to every night. I never hear about you going to the same place twice.”
“I’m alright with that.” Wooyoung shrugged.
A night later, Wooyoung sat outside the butcher, tasked with guarding it after news about a slaughtered cow from the nearby ranch spread to the town. Its carcass had almost been picked clean by the time the farmer found it. The clawmarks around the cow's neck were clean, precise in a way that couldn't just be animal. But if the crime were committed by a human, then surely a gunshot would've been heard.
When Nobody sought her out again, her usual confidence was strained. Her walk was off. Pained, like keeping her back straight was more than she could bear. She'd slouch every few steps, letting relief cross her face for the briefest moment before pulling herself back together. Sleeplessness made its home in her eyes. The dark circles were even more apparent due to the way the fat seemed to be slowly melting off her face.
Nobody gave the air a thorough sniff before her eyes landed on Wooyoung. It sent a shiver down her spine, how she seemed to stare straight through her yet saw her in her entirety. It was the kind of attention that would drive her to either run or shoot. But she didn't reach for her gun. She just stayed perfectly still. Though part of her hoped that what was staring at her would pass, she knew The Coyote wouldn't hurt her.
“I… I think we’re the same. Kind of.” Nobody's voice sounded hoarse, as if she were out of practice in using it. She folded her bloodstained hands in front of her. The air of propriety fizzled out days ago. “But I didn’t have a choice like you. I had to run, once my family discovered my… affliction.” In that moment, Wooyoung could see the years that were stolen from her. The dress she wore always seemed to hang off her body despite the undergarments that would’ve added a bit of padding. “I believe the doctor said that I couldn’t or rather, shouldn’t bear children. The only solution in that case was for me to either be cloistered or…” Nobody swallowed. Whatever she was going to say died on her tongue.
“They didn’t want my disease to be spread. So I ran.”
Wooyoung, for once, didn’t have anything to say. She took Nobody’s hands, grasp loose enough for her to pull away. Wooyoung noticed how long and sharp her nails had gotten and she grew tense, but didn’t shy away from Wooyoung’s warmth.
“I don’t want you to run away from me. Never again.”
Her grasp was returned. Nobody bit her lip as the thin sheen of tears misted over her eyes. She didn’t let them spill. Her gaze was more than enough to communicate how she felt anyway. She just let Wooyoung hold her hands, neither of them daring to move any closer.
A few nights later, Nobody dragged Wooyoung through Vinsot’s fancy home and up onto the roof. The moon was getting fuller. She almost didn’t expect her to have found a way up, let alone to be willing to make the climb in her state. The railing on the roof of the thin building was just for show to mimic some of the houses in the cities out East. But it was where she went to think these days, and the cool night’s breeze reminded her of the summers back home. Wooyoung was more than happy to keep her company. Especially if it meant she got to admire the way she seemed to glow under the moonlight. For once, she looked like she was at peace.
“I used to do this all the time back home,” She said. “Me and my brother would sit on the roof or the window or somewhere high up and talk.”
“No wonder. You’re better at climbing than I thought you’d be.”
“It's helpful when you accidentally fall down a ravine.”
“Did you die!?" Wooyoung barked out a shocked laugh.
“Don't be silly!" Nobody swatted her shoulder and giggled. "Actually, it only happened because I got chased out of a railroad town. I didn’t see where I was running, so I took a little tumble. They thought I died and didn't pursue me further. But it wasn’t too deep, and some water broke my fall. I’m still very lucky that I survived.”
“That sounds more like strength than luck." Wooyoung squeezed her bicep.
“No, it must have been luck. It's how I ended up making a friend.” Nobody said, fondness in her voice. “She’s the only one I ever told my name to out here.”
She felt a twinge of jealousy in her gut. “She must’ve been somethin’ special.”
“I see her in the stars at night. But I haven’t been able to make it back to her yet. I said that I would, so she knew I was okay but…” Nobody looked at her. Of course Wooyoung was in the way. She was her pursuer, always right on her trail if not a step or two ahead. But she didn’t feel guilty. Not when she all she really wanted was to have the werecoyote by her side.
“I can help with that. If you want. I don’t wanna keep you from her.” Wooyoung almost felt as if she were letting her go before she even had her. But if that’s what Nobody would want…
“Thank you. I think…” Nobody cast her gaze out over the open desert before her. “You want my name, right? So you know what to call me?”
Wooyoung nodded. “Please?”
Nobody beckoned Wooyoung closer, just like she did that night in the tavern. Wooyoung held her breath as she moved into her space so she could whisper in her ear. “My name is Hongjoong.”
“Hongjoong?” Her name tasted light, aromatic. “It’s beautiful.”
Hongjoong just smiled at her.
Wooyoung held her name close to her chest. She found herself physically clutching her poncho, right where her heart was. She lamented San's absence. Being unable to talk about what was shared with her had her bursting at the seams. But she wouldn't give her Hongjoong's name even if she were here. Not when she was so close to getting Hongjoong to leave with her. And definitely not when time was slipping from between her fingers.
As the townsfolk grew more restless, so did Hongjoong. There was always at least one person watching over the Butcher's shop at night. Wooyoung wasn't allowed near it anymore. The last time there was a break in, it was on her watch. But she couldn't deny Hongjoong's request to turn a blind eye to her crime and the ensuing feast. Wooyoung didn't regret the trouble it caused her. Every half baked lie and suspicious glance was worth the way Hongjoong grinned at her, earnest with juices from the meat dripping down her chin.
Vinsot was more than soured on Wooyoung as Hongjoong started hiding behind her. Not just instead of him, but from him. The longer he droned on about Wooyoung soiling the young lady's propriety, the clearer his superficiality became.
"He knows them, my parents. He said they're on the way. Wooyoung, please be careful around him." Hongjoong's plea was sincere.
"I'm not gonna let that yahoo scare me." Wooyoung snorted. What would a guy like him do anyway? Slap her with a glove he'd hate to dirty?
The next day, more cattle went missing. This time there were no claw marked carcasses. It was more likely a simple case of banditry in the night. Thanks to Vinsot, Wooyoung received the blame. After all, it would've been like Trouble to betray her honest, hardworking deputy. But Hongjoong was nowhere to be seen. That of all things should've landed her in the hot seat too. Instead, Vinsot announced that it was just the monthly womanly sickness keeping her out of public eye. But Wooyoung knew with the way the moon looked that night, that Hongjoong was more than just ill.
Wooyoung just needed to find a way to get Hongjoong out of Vinsot's home in time for San to come back. The man was smart, that much she could begrudgingly admit. He'd be able to hear the crack of bone and the faint squish of muscles rearranging themselves and put two and two together. There was truly no telling just how much he knew at this point. Wooyoung had to act fast. And she would've, had the townsfolk not dragged her out of her hotel room.
"Aw, such a huge crowd for lil ol' me." Wooyoung tried to grin, but she couldn't keep the tension out of her body. The whole town was here. The Butcher had her arms twisted behind her back. Vinsot was just to the side of her, dressed in what seemed to be his finest suit.
"It'd do you good to keep quiet now." Vinsot sneered.
"From the looks of things, I'm fucked either way." Wooyoung hardly spared him a glance. "Tell me what my crime is, so I can decide how loudly to laugh at you."
"The cows, the meat, your general impudence."
"Y'ain't got proof any of that was me. Except for the last one."
"Don't I?" Vinsot pulled a dark tuft of fur out of his pocket then plucked a matching strand off Wooyoung's shirt. "This is your fur." He announced.
"Like hell!" Wooyoung shouted. Of course Hongjoong shed on her. That girl rubbed herself on her a day or so ago and then told her not to worry about it. Jokes on her, this is plenty cause to worry.
"Then whose is it?" Vinsot stared her down. Wooyoung spat right on his suit.
"I see." Vinsot took out and handkerchief and dabbed up the glob. He was far too calm. He nodded to the innkeeper and he approached, coarse rope in hand. Wooyoung kicked and thrashed to keep him away, break free, anything. But a swift punch to her gut caused her to double over long enough for her arms to be bound tightly behind her back.
"Be gentle with her." Vinsot chided. He had his head turned towards the crowd.
"Don't want an ugly corpse?" Wooyoung snarled.
"Even creatures like you deserve dignity."
Wooyoung didn't stop fighting the whole time she was being dragged over to the scrawny tree where they held the executions. She kicked and snarled at whoever else got too close. Vinsot made sure not to look at whatever retaliation occurred in the name of self defense. It was all a flimsy pretense. Even if she managed to fight her way out, there was no way she'd escape without a number of bruises littered all over her body.
But how truly kind of them to already have the noose set up. Wooyoung was horribly impatient. And it would've been horrifically improper to keep a lady waiting, even one like her. Though the closer she got, the more she yearned for a hesitation, someone to have to drag the stool over, anything. The grip on her never relinquished. They weren't gentle in grabbing her hair to shove her forward. They had no reason to be.
"MY WORDS!" Wooyoung shouted. A pause before she was forced onto the stool. "WHAT ABOUT MY LAST WORDS?"
"Pardon?" Vinsot blinked, shaken out of the motions.
"My last words! Before I die. I have rights you know. It's dignity, right?" Wooyoung looked to Vinsot, unable to hide the plea in her expression.
Vinsot didn't look happy about the notion. But she knew that if he were that the slightest bit of the respectable gentleman he positioned himself as, he'd at least hear her out. "Go on then. Give us your last hoorah."
"I've been on a lot of adventures in my day, seeing the sights, smelling the smells. Each one has taught me very important lessons about friendship and community. Like, if your friend is about to die, then it'd be a good idea to help him. But nevertheless, I've come to see you all as my friends. And as my friends, y'all are all some sorry sacks of shit! Y'all would believe anything as long as whoever is talking sparkles bright enough, and y'all don't know nothing about nothing! And-"
The crowd's uproar drowned her out. But Wooyoung, even if she couldn't go down swinging wanted to at least bruise a few egos on the way out. She basked in their fury, probably because she figured they knew she was right on some level. A wicked grin spread on her face, wild enough to implicate her even if her skin never shifted. The back of her head was grabbed tight enough to pull out her hair. She closed her eyes to ready herself for her last suffocating moments. The sound of a window breaking forced her eyes back open. Both her and the person holding her (double check this later) looked towards the source of the sound.
A coyote, larger than it had any right to be, jumped down from a rooftop and bit one of the men holding Wooyoung. The other screamed and released her. A few townsfolk readied their guns, but the crowd was too thick. Wooyoung watched them all fumble every shot at the snarling mass of dusty copper fur. It was too fast. Bullets could only graze it, and none had an aim as true as Wooyoung's. The coyote leapt up and yanked him down by the neck. It dragged him in front of Wooyoung. The guns were lowered.
Wooyoung was left agape. Hongjoong was beautiful even now, with blood dripping down her jaws and teeth poised over a man's jugular. She held her head high, possibly even higher now in this form. She really did glow in the moonlight. Wooyoung truly fell in love with her right then and there.
"You have glass in your fur." Wooyoung said dumbly. Not that she could do anything about it. Hongjoong snorted, which probably would've been a laugh had she been human.
"Mercy!" Vinsot pleaded. "Please, Little Lady! I'll release Trouble, I'll grant clemency, anything!" Hongjoong growled, jaw clamping even tighter. Vinsot stopped begging.
Murmurs started spreading amongst the crowd. Wooyoung could just barely make out their shocked questions as they turned to outraged assertions. Vinsot had betrayed them. A few raised their guns again, no longer concerned about whether or not Vinsot was in the line of fire.
Before any of them could fire, a gunshot came from just behind Wooyoung. The bullet nailed someone in their shoulder, causing them to scream and drop their gun. A few more bullets followed, each one aimed for someone’s shooting arm. Wooyoung only knew one person that could fire that quickly and precisely. She tore her eyes away from the fleeing crowd to find San reaching for her to pull her onto the horse as she rode past. Wooyoung didn't need to call out to Hongjoong to get her to follow them. She dropped Vinsot and ran to catch up to them, San shooting anyone that aimed at her.
They rode a few hours out until they were sure the townsfolk wouldn't chase them. Wooyoung had already wasted enough time grabbing the rest of their shit from that gaudy hotel room. But she'd be damned if she left her favorite hat behind. And her gun was important too. When they finally found a good enough outcropping to hide under, she left San to the task of properly sorting their stuff while she took care of something far more important.
"Didn't I tell you not to get into trouble while I was gone?" San chided over the clink of the fancy soap bottles Wooyoung swiped too. "And seriously, we don't need all this extra shit."
"Not right now." Couldn't she see that she was kind of busy? Hongjoong still hasn't fully transformed back. Trapped in an awkward in between as the sun slowly made itself known, her form shifted under Wooyoung's careful hold. Wooyoung couldn't tell if she was conscious or not, the only thing to betray her being the occasional twitch or pained whimper. To an untrained eye, it would've looked as if her coyote form was simply melting away as the layers of her fur shed. But Wooyoung could see the process for what it truly was. Something true was being shoved back into a human shape, leaving her vulnerable and half starved. It was almost as grotesque as it was fascinating.
Hongjoong sat up as soon as the pained grimace faded from her face. The sun had almost risen fully by now. The last thing to change back were her eyes, darkening into brown from yellow as the golden rays of light crossed them. She smiled at Wooyoung, though it still looked like she was simply baring her teeth. Wooyoung still had yet to let go of her, though the realization that she was touching her bare skin nearly sent her to an early grave.
"Wooyoung," Hongjoong's voice was gravely, unused. "I'm hungry."
"We'll find you something. Anything."
Hongjoong's smile softened into something a little more human. She leaned into Wooyoung, cheek rubbing against cheek and then her neck. Wooyoung pulled her poncho from around her shoulders and wrapped Hongjoong up in it.
"You'll help me see my friend again, right?" Hongjoong murmured into her skin.
"If that's what you want." Wooyoung wished she didn't hesitate at the affirmation. She was the one who offered in the first place. But Hongjoong was still leaning on her, and something about the question sounded uncertain.
"And… you'll get me new clothes too?" Hongjoong pulled herself away from Wooyoung.
"I think you look just fine as is." Wooyoung smirked, eyes raking up and down.
"Please be serious, Wooyoung. I'd like to not have my back turned all the time." San interjected. Such a gentleman, she was.
"I'm not much of a lady these days," Hongjoong said with a grin. "You can look too."
San shook her head. "I'm not impolite. Besides, we should probably get her some real clothes from somewhere."
"We should get another horse too." Wooyoung said. Wooyoneigh, as reliable as she was, would have a fit over the extra weight.
"I can walk." Hongjoong said.
"Absolutely not! Sannie will walk."
San groaned. "Wooyoung, if I knew you'd be this unbearable, I would've left you in that town."
"She's too pretty to get blisters! And she's barefoot, have some compassion."
"You think I'm pretty?" Hongjoong ran her fingers through her hair, tucking it behind her ears.
"Uh…" Wooyoung blushed.
"Just get on the fuckin' horse." San rolled her eyes.
The day they left that town was hot and dusty much like when they'd arrived. But now there was no chase to be had, only a search guided by memory and starlight. Traveling the hot, dusty plains made easier in tandem. And of course, getting another horse helped too.