"MA NO!!!"

"You need to ride, ride as far away as you can! Don't let a damn soul know who you are because of me."

"I can't just leave you here!!"

"It's too late, they've got us cornered. If you make a run for, they ain't gon' catch you-"

"No way in hell am I leaving you!!"

"(Name) please! I'm beggin' you... Y' don't need to worry about ol' me... I've lived a long life of running away... I ain't gon' letcha die like this... Not when you're still a youngin'." 

"Momma..."

"Here, take all this money... And take all my guns... I know you can make it out there because I taught y' everything y' need to know. I love you so much sweetheart... Now get outta here before they get y' too!!" 

"Black Belle! It seems that I've finally found y'... Why don'tcha get that pretty daughter of yours so me and my boys can walk away with a bounty of $10,000."

"Well, y' got me. But my girl is long gone." 

"It ain't gon' end well with y' woman. It'll be a pleasure to watch you hang with my own eyes."

"Then you're gonna have to go through me before y' get to my darlin' daughter, Colm O'Driscoll." 

The voices of a distant memory echoed throughout your mind, causing your eyes to dart open with jagged breaths. Beads of sweat formed on your forehead as they dared to drip down on the pillow your head was placed on to.

Goddamn O'Driscoll's. You thought to yourself, another nightmare of that dreadful memory plagued your mind once again.

A sigh escaped from your chapped lips as you stayed laying down on the bed for another few minutes of recollecting yourself. The springs within the mattress of the bed creaked as you propped yourself onto a sitting position, absentmindedly staring outside of the window. Birds chirped songs of sweet melodies in the rather quiet morning of Valentine. The hooves of horses hauling out wagons of supplies could be heard in the distance as workers began the start of another new day. 

Bringing your feet onto the floor, you finally decided to get up from the bed, dragging yourself sluggishly towards where the sink and mirror were. Cold water came running down as you twisted the handle of the faucet. Cupping your hands together, you placed them underneath the still running cold water and allowed the clear liquid to splash all over your face. You knew that you needed to be awake as cold water really helped to rid of your tiredness. 

After finishing drying your face with the provided cloth, you glanced at the mirror, examining your reflection. For the obvious part, you looked exhausted. No matter how much you have gotten used to your situation, it had tired you out beyond recognition. You were tired from all the running, the hiding, and most of all, concealing your true identity. 

Being Black Belle's daughter, one of the very few legendary female outlaws out there, was never an easy thing. Since she was an outlaw, then naturally, you'd follow onto her footsteps.

Taking another glance at your reflection, you finished with off by tying your long (hair colour) into a loose-ish bun, then placing a worn out dark grey over it. You adjusted your buttoned up red long sleeve shirt, rolling up the sleeves up to your elbows and unbuttoning the first two buttons to allow your neck some air and breathing space. You quickly tucked the material under your pair of black pants, and tightened it up to match with a black leather belt. Lastly, you took your revolver pistol and easily slid it inside your holsters on the right side of your hips. While your rifle hooked onto the strap of your dark brown leather satchel. 

One last glance of yourself as you had to double check on your appearance. Disguising as a man for years took a lot of work. But you'd much rather have it this way instead if being recognized by bounty hunters or worse, other outlaws. Your face was practically everywhere drawn onto bounty posters with a prize of $5000 on your head, just like your mother's. 

You bid a warm farewell to the front desk clerk of the hotel you stayed in Valentine, and headed out to where your horse was waiting. Your champagne-coloured fox trotter stood there, a gentle grunt escaping his lips as you took out an apple from your satchel for his first meal of the day. You watched as your partner in crime chewed onto the fruit. The juices sloshed down as Ace happily chomped on the sweet crunchy apple.

"Good boy, Ace." You cooed, gently stroking the brush on his hair, seeming as it glimmered along with the afternoon sun. "It's my birthday today, boy. I turn 29. It's been ten birthdays without ma..."

Your voice nearly faded into a whisper. It was a touchy subject especially since your mother had been executed on your 19th birthday. You pondered into your thoughts for awhile, thinking about how to celebrate your special day that had made your heart solemn.

Your (eye colour) darted towards the direction of the Valentine saloon. Rummaging through your satchel, you took out a thick stash of cash at hand. Most of the money had been stolen from either easy stagecoach robberies and almost boring pickpocketing. It was the definition of being an outlaw, a gunslinger.

Ace playfully nudged onto your shoulder, almost as if he was trying to tell you that it was okay to splurge on yourself with a few drinks just for today. 

"Won't be too hard for me to rob another rich man's stagecoach. Ain't that right boy?" 

***

The busy peak of the saloon had nearly reached as the early evening came by. You were thankful that most of the customers were workers who had wanted to unwind from a busy day decided to opt to sit on the tables rather than the bar where you were seated at. 

"Happy birthday, friend." You quietly mentioned to yourself, taking another swig from your third beer bottle. 

"Just forget about Micah for now and have a few drinks on me, boy." A rather deep and husky voice boomed from the entrance of the saloon.

"I barely escaped that place alive. They almost lynched me!" A somewhat panicked voice replied, seemingly belonging to that of a younger man.

Without turning your back, you could hear the voices of the two gentlemen getting nearer and nearer towards your direction. The first man, who you assumed was in his mid thirties, was the one who sat right next to you. While the other gentleman, sat beside him.

So much for alone time.

"Just a few drinks, then we'll head out for Micah, Lenny."

"Alright, if you say so, Arthur."

You couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation regarding about their jailed friend, or if you can even call him a friend considering how nonchalant who you assumed that Arthur had sounded like. You knew their type all too well---outlaws, as you are.

Now that they were breathing the same air as you, it's best to be careful. For all you know, these two men might be on the hunt for your bounty, and turning you onto the law in order to free themselves. 

"I seen a lot of crazy crazy stuff. But Micah-"

"I seen a lot of crazy crazy stuff." The gentleman named Lenny was suddenly cut off. 

You spotted a rather drunk man, standing uncomfortably close to the pair seated at the bar beside you. The man named Arthur had attempted to tell him off. Only for his efforts to go in vain as the drunk was persistent in copying every single thing the two of them has to say.

You could clearly see that Arthur's expression had gone from stone-faced to that of someone who you didn't want to provoke any further. His patience was evidently faltering from how his knuckles turned white on his tight grip of the liquor bottle that he held.

"Leave this fool alone." Lenny wisely suggested.

Before Arthur could even do anything, you had already intervened and talked to the drunkard. "Hey friend. It seems that these two gentlemen are talking about a serious matter, and I suggest you kindly leave them alone. No offense, of course."

"I was just trying to be friendly..." The man spoke up, and uttered a few more inaudible words before finally leaving the bar.

"'Preciate it, partner." Arthur thanked. It seemed that your disguise as a man worked and you got to live another day.

"Don't mention it." You weren't really in the mood to see another pointless fist fight at the bar on your birthday. Especially since these two men were sitting right beside you.

A jingle of coins dropped onto the counter, signalling the bartender to the demands of more drinks to be made. 

"Get this feller a drink too, will ya?" Arthur commanded the bartender. In which you noticed he was motioning his head to you. "It's for getting that asshole out of our sights."

"Hmm, thanks." The two men clunked their shot glasses filled with whiskey to yours, the three of you instantly taking a swig from that heavy alcohol. 

"Arthur Morgan."

"Lenny Summers."

"Just call me stranger."

***

Arthur and Lenny had clearly shown no signs of stopping for after a "few drinks." The two had literally wobbling as they walked and laughed to their hearts content over the littlest things. You didn't even know how they got the bartender to do the can-can with everyone else.

After a few more shots, you could feel your head stir up from the dizziness of being tipsy, and knew very well that you were at your limit. It was best not to get hammered, knowing that you were with two outlaws who could easily turn you in for your bounty if they knew who you really were. 

But despite all that, for the first time after ten years, you were genuinely having fun. These two strangers, particularly Arthur, had gotten you smiling at how adorable his actions were when he was absolutely drunk. Even when he took it upon himself to piss in front of the saloon.

"LENNYYYYYY!!!" 

You'd lost count at how many times he'd mentioned that name. Arthur had gotten so drunk to the point that he'd begun calling everyone in the bar Lenny. It was hilarious to watch other people's reactions. Some had brushed him off, and other weren't so pleasant towards the drunk cowboy.

"Lenny my boy!" He approached you, placing his large hand onto your small shoulder. 

He was a little too close in your opinion. But for some reason, it's as if you didn't mind his presence being in that very spot. You had to admit, that Arthur was extremely handsome, especially up this close to your face. The way his cheeks were flushed with a slight bit of rose shade, to how his crooked smile among his stubbles facial hair made him look even more attractive. 

You had to force yourself to look away from him, considering that you were disguised as a man. That would have been an odd sight. 

In that same instant, Arthur had grabbed onto the drunken man from earlier and dunked his head to where the pigs drank water. You unconsciously followed him, fearing that the law might catch him. In which, Lenny had been caught. 

Everything had happened in almost a blur. You had once again found yourself following Arthur. But only this time, the both of you were running away from the law.

"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE!!" Was the last thing you heard.

I have finally decided to write an RDR2 fanfic 3 years after its release! On a side note, I'm fully aware that Black Belle never died in the game, but I just had to make her dead for my story to work. So yes, (y/n) is disguising herself as a man because it makes it easier for her not to be recognized as Black Belle's daughter. With that said, I hope you all enjoy reading my book because I'm literally just going with the flow and planning along as I write. 😂 

Also yes, I am a simp for Arthur Morgan.