The Vulture| Arthur Morgan x reader
summary: you were a quiet young girl who was destined for something greater.
warning: mentions of rape, tough topics, blood, violence, outlaws, sweet Arthur, soft Dutch, mentions of murder, anything to do with outlaws, do not interact if you do experience something uncomfortable with these. this is the first part and I will be continuing this series.
The vulture. The name spilled off the tongue. That’s what you were. Waiting in the dark for the bad men, once you had them, your teeth sank in their throats and it was over for them. You weren’t a bad person, no you were much worse than that. You were your own little devil.
You weren’t always like this. Dutch had found you, outside your farm house covered in blood. Your parents had been slaughtered by an O’Driscoll. You had bite his throat our right after. You sat there on your knees staring at the body infront of you.
“What do we have here?” Dutch spoke as he looked down at you. They had planned on just looting the farm house but something stung in his cold heart looking at you. You couldn’t be older than 12. Your big sad eyes looking up at him. “You did this, sweetheart?” He had asked you. The only thing you did was nod your head. “Get on, I’m taking you home”.
You didn’t even argue. You got on the back of his horse holding on to him tight. Normally you wouldn’t even bother to talk to strangers but he felt more than just a stranger. He felt familiar. Like a sense of hope. Something you couldn’t let go off. You rode back in silence. He didn’t bother to ask you questions he knew you would not get an answer from.
When he had dropped you back at the camp you were greeted with boys around your age. You had got off from the help of Dutch. He had sat you down on the ground and ruffled your hair. “You ours now, and we protect family. My little bird”. You hadn’t spoke. You were covered in blood and looked up at him like he hung the moon. Because in your eyes he just did that.
“Dutch! Who’s that?” A boy around your age said as he looked at you. “Why is she covered in blood? Is she a vampire?” The boy asked as he pointed at you. He took a step back hiding behind Dutch’s leg. Dutch had chuckle and put his hand on your back pushing you forward.
“No, son. This right here John, this is our new member. You treat her like she is family. And what do you to with family?” Dutch asked as he looked at John and the other boy. You felt a little more comfortable almost. Even though looking like you were a strange creature.
“Protect family” The other boy spoke up as he looked right at you. With something else, almost like amazement. Something strong. Something you never felt before. Almost compelling you in a sort of way. Something you later learned to find out was love.
“That’s right, Arthur! Now take her to see Miss Grimshaw to go get cleaned up” Dutch said as he stepped away, you almost wanted to run after him. You held out your hands to grab at him but stopped. He turned back around at you and sighed. “You’re okay, sweetheart. No one’s gonna hurt you” It wasn’t like he was just saying that. He was telling you that. Because that was the truth.
“Come on!” John said as he went to grab your hand and you backed away almost in fear. He sat there and looked at you. You shook your head no. You didn’t want to go farther. Because you were afraid of what was gonna happen. “It’s okay, we’re not gonna hurt you” John said. You nodded your head and slowly went along.
Over the years, you had grown up with the gang. Dutch made sure he treated you like one of the others. You turned out to be a pretty good shot. But you didn’t rely on guns. You relied on your teeth. Even to the point where that was your signature move. All Dutch had to tell you was; “Go get him, little bird”. And you had done just that. No questions asked.
Years have passed and there was unspoken trust and bond built between you and Arthur. You didn’t talk, and he valued that. After Mary had left for the first time he had been heartbroken. And you were there to pick up every piece of his broken heart. You loved him for him, not some version of him that wasn’t true. You wanted him pure, every unspoken thought, every sin, his past and his future.
The night she had left, you sat on his cot while he cried. Arthur wasn’t the one to cry, he didn’t want people to see his weakness. But he let you sit there. You rubbed his back and you didn’t say anything. And Arthur appreciated that. He didn’t want words, he wanted comfort in the silence you provided for him.
Over time you guys had grown closer. You were able to open up, in your own way. Arthur and you were inseparable. You went on bounties together, rode together, ate, and slept near eachother. You had sat outside on the top of the mountain watching the sun set together. Just together was enough.
Slowly you had built a bound. You started to talk more. To others around and even to Arthur. Mostly Arthur. He brought out a side of you that was like nothing before. And once you got to talking you didn’t stop. Arthur loved it. When you guys would ride together all you did was talk.
“One time, I saw a deer and it looked like me like I was its mother” You said as you were riding with Arthur. You guys didn’t really have a destination. All you knew was that Dutch said to go and check the area.
“Yeah, sweetheart?” Arthur asked as he rode slightly infront of you. This was his favorite. Usually you rode alone but now he had a sidekick to talk his ear off and he didn’t hate it.
“Yeah. It let me touch it. Then it ran off when John came along. I was so angry. I kept putting pieces of dirt in his soup for weeks” You said with a small giggle as you thought back to the memory. You remember John talking to Pearson about the soup being off.
“That was you. I thought that was Micah being Micah” Arthur grunted as he let out a tiny chuckle. You smiled as you looked at him. He rode a little faster to catch up with him. You loved nights like this. You felt more like yourself when it was like this.
You two had grown to be married. You didn’t need to have a wedding because you had eachother. One day, Lenny just said you guys acted like a married couple and since then you guys just were. And everyone treated you like that.
Until one day, you had ridden off on your own to go and look out. Search the area like normal. But then things were different. You heard someone behind you. You had turned around and you saw someone with a mask. You didn’t get time to even process what was happening before you heard a gunshot and your horse had run off.
You fell to the ground on your back. You groaned and rolled over. The sun was rolling down on your eyes and you felt the wind knocked out of you. You coughed as you tried to bring yourself up but you felt someone’s boot hit your stomach.
“Well who lets this pretty little thing out here all alone?” The man asked as he kept his gun trained on you. You wanted to cry. You didn’t know how you were going to get out of this. You were deeply afraid and scared what was going to happen next.
Hours later you felt violated and used. You couldn’t bring the tears to stop. You had slowly gotten up from hours of just laying there doing nothing. You had whistled for your horse to come back. You wanted to fight back but you couldn’t. You were frozen. And you hated yourself for that.
Right there you had made your decision. You couldn’t go back to the gang. After what happened you were weak and you didn’t deserve to go back. You couldn’t even look Arthur in the eye. You wanted to be gone. And that’s what you did. That night you were gone. Without a goodbye or anything.
Over the years you grown up to be one of the most feared outlaws in the land. They called you The Vulture. You lured bad men into the moods and bite their neck off. In pay back for what was done for you. Do bring yourself back. Woman would come and pay you, beg for you to take care of everything. Their hurt.
You had missed your life before but you were too far gone. You had changed and that was it. You traveled from town to town. Not staying too long but long enough to clean up the mess. You left when people started to point things out. Most people thought you were a myth because no one made it out alive to tell your story.
You had made it to a small town. Valentine. Something different. You were able to scoop out the saloons and watch. Watch the way the men talked, who they went with. Staying in the same almost. Weighting for your next prey. And once that has happened you didn’t take long to strike.
But something changed. When you went into the bar and saw a familiar face. Javier. The gang. The memories and moments wandered back to you so quick you needed to get out. Do gets that you had ripped over a glass and there was a loud crash on the ground. Everyone was staring, you felt small. To small.
part 2 here: the lost soul
