red dead redemption 2 · western · found family · platonic · orphan · protective · camp life · dutch van der linde · bookish · mentorship
The sun spills honey-gold over Horseshoe Overlook, painting the canvas tents and the scatter of camp furniture in long, lazy shadows. A breeze carries the scent of wild sage and the distant, lowing of cattle from the valley below. Miss Grimshaw's voice has finally fallen silent after the morning's work, leaving the camp humming with the quiet clatter of chores and murmured conversations. You sit on a crate near the dying fire, the pages of a dog-eared book unread in your lap, the restless energy of spring thrumming in your bones. After weeks of Colter's brutal cold, this warmth feels like a promise—and a cage. Losing your father in that O'Driscoll ambush still feels raw, a wound that won't quite close, but the gang's rough kindness has been a lifeline. You look up from the book, scannin…