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Arthur gave a nod. Dutch waved them off, returning to his maps and mumblings, and the two men mounted up their horse, heading toward Valentine. As they entered into Valentine's, a few townsfolk milling near the general store spotted Caleb and tipped their hats. "Mornin', Mr. Thorne!" one called.
Caleb returned the greeting with a nod. Arthur muttered under his breath, "Looks like you are more than a local hero, Caleb."
"I just done some bounty hunting and capture criminals that all," Caleb said, smiling wryly. "Didn't expect that it would be this way, but who am I to pretest? At least I got some discounts here and there."
Arthur snorted but said nothing as they reached the front of the saloon. He adjusted his hat, casting a glance northward toward north where Chadwick Farm was located. "Alright. I'll be headin' to Chadwick Farm, I'll be back by noon at the latest. If I ain't…"
"I'll come lookin'," Caleb finished, dismounting and tying Morgan to the hitching post in front of the saloon. "Good luck, Arthur."
Arthur nodded his head, his jaw set. "Don't need luck. Just patience." Then he was gone heading north, hooves kicking up dust as he rode turned left after passing through the Sheriff's office.
Caleb watched him go for a moment, then turned and stepped into the saloon.
Inside, the saloon was alive with the usual activity, drunken laughter, poker games, boots stomping on wood, and the piano clinking out a half hearted tune in the corner. Caleb made his way to the counter, nodded at Mr. Douglas, and ordered a bottle of beer, paying 25 cents in the process.
He wasn't here to get drunk. Just to stay sharp.
He sipped his drink slowly. His mind was focused on Arthur, imagining how that reunion with Mary might be going a bit differently unlike in the game.
He hoped that Arthur still helped Mary, since it was also a bit of redemption for himself and an important arc for Arthur, learning to truly let go and be at peace with himself from losing what he could possibly have with Mary.
There's a much better girl that fits Arthur, like Mrs. Sadie Adler for example. Their dynamic at the game truly felt like a sibling but at the same time like an old married couple as well. But that's just his shipping self talking, he wasn't that blind as well to Mary's love for Arthur.
She truly loves Arthur and wants to be with him but the condition is that Arthur let go of the outlaw's life and change. Because Mary had asked Arthur to run away together with her but Arthur can't as he can't leave the gang behind, and also he sees the writing of his life on the wall due to his Tuberculosis when he receives that goodbye letter.
So he actually was in a dilemma as well, should Arthur be with Mary or Sadie? Because both women were perfect for Arthur in their own ways, but the one who truly loved Arthur at the end was Mary and as for Sadie, well, he didn't think she had some romantic feelings for Arthur.
Even if she did have one, she doesn't show it due to not wanting to betray her dead husband, or she just doesn't want to feel the pain of losing her loved one again.
Thinking about all of this was truly giving him a headache. Caleb leaned forward onto the counter a little more, letting the weight of his thoughts settle in the pit of his stomach like a lead bullet. He'd been wrestling with it all morning as he rode to Valentine, how to change Arthur Morgan's path.
The game had made it so clear, that his redemption only began when he realized he was dying. That grim, looming knowledge carved a path in his soul, forcing him to take a hard look at the man he'd become.
But in this world, Arthur didn't have tuberculosis due to Clabe changing the direction. He wasn't coughing blood into his palm. He still had strength in his limbs and vigor in his ride. This meant… that a moment of clarity hadn't come yet, and might never come unless something else forced it.
And without it, Arthur might never shift from the loyal enforcer of the Van der Linde gang to the compassionate man who helped John, Abigail, and Jack escape, who tried to make things right before the end came for him.
Caleb let out a slow breath and took a swing of his beer. The bitter drink went down smooth and cold, washing his dry throat and dulling the edge of his pounding head. All this thinking, about Arthur, about Mary, about Sadie, it was like trying to untangle a thorn bush with bare hands. No easy path. No clear answers.
Both women represented paths Arthur couldn't or wouldn't take. The saloon's noise faded into a dull roar as he chewed on the idea. Without the specter of tuberculosis looming, what would crack Arthur's stubbornness?
The man needed a reckoning, something to force him to see the gang's decay and his own worth beyond it. If Arthur was ever going to find peace, someone had to help him see it wasn't too late.
Caleb sighed. Maybe Caleb could be that someone. Maybe he could be the one to nudge Arthur toward the good man inside him, and make Arthur win the wrestle he had for the first time with a giant that was inside of him.
Time then passed, and Caleb stood there, lost in thought, letting the beer slowly take the edge off. He didn't notice how long he'd been mulling it all over until a firm hand clapped him on the left shoulder, and jolted him back to reality.
"Caleb," a familiar voice said.
He blinked and turned around.
It was Arthur.
The man should've still been out at Chadwick Farm, maybe riding back from Mary's place or cooling off somewhere on the trail. But here he was, dusty from the road, his face unreadable. Caleb hadn't expected him back so soon.
Arthur gave him a strange look, the kind he usually reserved for when someone was acting out of character. "You alright?" he asked. "I called your name a couple of times. Thought maybe you passed out with your eyes open."
Caleb blinked and straightened. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just thinkin' about some stuff," he replied, brushing the moment off. He started to say more, but before he could continue, Mr. Douglas from behind the bar piped up.
"Mr. Kilgore! What'll it be today?"
Arthur glanced toward him and lifted two fingers. *Two bottles of beer."
"Both for you?" Douglas asked with a chuckle.
Arthur didn't answer, just tossed two quarters onto the counter. Douglas nodded and slid two cold bottles over, then made his way down the counter toward other patrons who needed his attention.
Arthur took a long pull from one of the bottles before finally leaning against the counter beside Caleb.
"So," Caleb said, picking up his own drink, "how was your encounter with Mary? Did she tell you why she wanted to see you?"
Arthur was quiet for a moment, staring at the counter. Then he took another long drink, the glass clinking slightly as he set it down.
"Yeah, she did," he finally said. "We talked a bit about the past. Turns out the man she married died. Cause of pneumonia, she said."
Caleb blinked. "Damn. That's rough business."
Arthur nodded slowly, his gaze distant, humorless chuckle escaped him. "You know what's funny? First thing that came to my mind was… 'So she's a widow now, and now she's lookin' for me?' I asked her that too. She denied it, of course, she did. But I saw it. That look in her eyes."
He turned to Caleb, and for the first time, there was a flicker of something different in Arthur's eyes, not just weariness, but awareness.
"She looked at me the same way she did all those years ago. Like nothin' changed."
Caleb raised his brows. He was genuinely surprised. The Arthur in the game hadn't caught that. He was too caught up in guilt, in loyalty, in the weight of his choices. But this Arthur, he was sharper. More observant. Maybe Caleb's influence had already begun to shift something inside him.
Arthur took another few chugs from his second bottle. "Well, then we talked about some other things in our past, before she told me that she needs my help. To save her brother, Jamie, as he ran off to join this religious cult called the Chelonians, and she was afraid that he would kill himself. Saying that Jamie only listens to me to see reason."
Caleb nodded his head, already well aware of everything Arthur just told him, but he needed to keep up the act, and play it casual. "The Chelonians, huh?" he said, feigning curiosity. "They're crazy bastards, if you ask me. Real dangerous. I hate to say it, but I think Mary's right, Jamie's in real trouble with those folks. If you don't find him soon, he might just get himself killed."
Arthur gave a somber nod, his expression hard to read but his jaw clenched tight. He took another swig of beer, finishing off the second bottle in a few measured gulps.
Caleb didn't miss the way the man's shoulders tensed at the implication of Jamie being in danger. Whatever Arthur said about not caring, about moving on from Mary, that protective instinct still burned in him like a smoldering coal.
"So," Caleb said, setting down his now nearly empty bottle, "did you promise Mary you'd help her find Jamie?"
Arthur let out a quiet sigh, not quite a groan, but close. "Yeah," he said, after a beat. "I promised her. Said I'd find him and talk some sense into his thick skull. She told me some rancher up near Carmody Dell saw Jamie wanderin' around the Cumberland Forest. Said he looked out of place, muttering to himself and wearin' white like some damn preacher."
Caleb tilted his head thoughtfully. "Carmody Dell, huh? That's north of the oil refinery, right? Where we to steal that oil wagon?"
Arthur glanced sideways at him, a little surprised. "Yeah, that's the one. You know the area?"
He nodded. "Heard of it. Haven't had the chance to scout it out proper. Been meaning to, though. Kinda kicking myself for not riding around sooner. Could've had know the exact location for you if I had done that by now."
Inwardly, Caleb cursed himself. He should've made more time to expand his visibility over the terrain. His map function was helpful, but it didn't auto fill the world. He had to physically explore each inch.
Arthur grunted in agreement. "I passed through it with Hosea a while back. We were hunting this giant grizzly bear Hosea saw and decided to bring me along."
A faint smirk tugged at his lips. "Old man nearly pissed himself when it charged us." Caleb chuckled at that, a spark of genuine amusement lighting his face, remembering the banter from the game.
Arthur cracked a half-smile at the memory as well with a tinge of fondness. Then his face sobered. "Anyway… if we're gonna find Jamie, we need to go now. Mary said they were supposed to catch a train this afternoon. If we miss him…"
Caleb drained the rest of his beer and slapped the bottle back down on the bar. "Alright then," he said, rising to his feet. "Let's get to work."
Arthur stood beside him. Without another word, the two made their way out of the saloon. The sun had risen higher in the sky, throwing golden light through the narrow streets of Valentine.
The morning bustle had thickened with wagon wheels creaking across the dirt, townsfolk moved in and out of shops, and the clang of a blacksmith's hammer rang from the stables.
They mounted their horses after ensuring the starts of their saddle, and they trotted north out of town, following the road that headed north. The terrain changed gradually as they moved away from civilization, trees grew thicker, and the air a touch cooler. They entered through the dense woodland of Cumberland Forest was was a green ocean of pine and oak trees.
________________________________
Name: Caleb Thorne
Age: 23
Body Attributes:
- Strength: 7/10
- Agility: 6/10
- Perception: 8/10
- Stamina: 7/10
- Charm: 5/10
- Luck: 6/10
Skills:
- Handgun (Lvl 2)
- Rifle (Lvl 2)
- Firearms Knowledge (Lvl 2)
- Past Life Memory (Lvl MAX)
- Knife (Lvl 1)
- Blunt Weapon (Lvl 1)
- Sneaking (Lvl 2)
- Horse Mastery (Lvl 2)
- Poker (Lvl 2)
- Hand to Hand Combat (Lvl 1)
- Eagle Eye (Lvl 1)
- Dead Eye (Lvl 1)
- Bow (Lvl 2)
- Pain Nullifier (Lvl 1)
- Physical Regeneration (Lvl 0)
- Crafting (Lv1)
- Persuasion (Lvl 2)
- Mental Fortitude (Lvl MAX)
Money: 964 dollars and 93 cents
Bank: 320 dollars, 4 gold bars, a large bag of jewelry, and 3 gold nuggets