Author's Note: I do not have any rights to any of the Sailor Moon characters. They officially belong to Naoko Takeuchi. All other characters are of my own creation. Some famous outlaw names or other famous names may appear, they are only in reference to the old west legends and lore.

I started writing this out of the blue the other day and have no idea where I'm headed with it. The story seems to have a mind of it's own so I do hope you enjoy the ride. I have decided to rate this particular piece M for future situations regarding violence, language and of course the romance that is H&M. Reviews are greatly welcomed. Now settle back and enjoy. ^^

Tick tock

Tick tock

Tick tock

Blong...Blong...Blong...

Two figures stood in the middle of a dust filtering road of a rather crowded town. As the clock tower struck noon, both figures flicker their hands toward the cold handles of their pistols to try and shoot the other. Gun smoke filled the air as one figure managed to pull off a killing shot sending the other to a heap to the ground to bleed out. As the winds picked up, the faster hand closed cold and seemingly soulless green eyes. One less bad man would be terrorizing the small community town now that the gunslinger had struck. The witnesses all seemed to let out a sigh of relief upon seeing who won the gunfight.

The deceased had been a member of a dangerous gang of men lead by a man only known as Jackal. Because of his association to the gang, he had been long marked for death by the blonde. The gunslinger could cross off one name to the list that had slowly been shortening over the last three years since she began her quest. She held no time in her life to stay standing to stare at the corpse for long. After the moment he hit the ground, she had turned away and walked toward the saloon wanting a drink.

"Did you see that? I blinked and missed the shot." commented a young man on the board walk as Haruka moved into the saloon out of sight.

A man with a mustache smirked faintly. "That one in the black duster was quick. I've never seen anyone with a draw that fast."

"Hard to believe he ain't a Marshall."

"Feh, not everyone who can handle a gun is meant for that path."

"Yeah, but someone like that can take out a lot of evil in this world."

As the citizens chatted on about the rather quick gun fight, the main player in the game took a seat in the back of the saloon ignoring everyone and everything except a bottle of whiskey. A firm calloused hand grabbed the dingy bottle only to raise it to chapped lips where it tilted it upward. Hot and scorching pain rippled down from the tip of the tongue all the way down to the pit of the woman's stomach. The whiskey was a bitter and strong tasting liquor to her but it was one she had come to prefer over the years despite her body's protest. It became a habit of hers after a kill to have a few swigs of whiskey to drown out the doubts nagging at the back of her mind. Any human would have doubts after killing someone. The blonde had killed enough to no longer care about the death of someone from her faster bullet but rather, she cared about improving her skills. What if she could get faster? Could she stand against Jackal? Those were the thoughts trying to circle her brain as she sat drinking down the bottle of whiskey.

People chatted all about the man that had been gunned down so quickly and of course the survivor. The small town didn't often observe gun fights as they kept to the law seriously. Unfortunately, that didn't stop a few outlaws from entering their territory every now and again. The last ones to roll through had left the deceased behind after killing the sheriff in town as well as a few do gooders who made the mistake of getting too noisy with Jackal. Since that ordeal, they were very jumpy and skeptical of any figure looking dangerous entering their town. The blonde managed to get in good graces with everyone after her display with a gun that day. They all had stopped staring at her like some plague and were actually bragging on her skills. It was a drastic turn from their behavior when she first rode into the town an hour earlier.

A man near the bar smirked a bit noticing where she was sitting. He was an older male at perhaps fifty with ebony hair and a scruffy beard but he seemed to be pondering over something. His brow furrowed faintly in thought while her drummed his fingertips on the bar top. While other danced about drinking away in celebration of an outlaw slain, the law man was more interested in the gunslinger that had been faster. Pushing himself away from the drunks, the sheriff walked over toward the table where Haruka finally allowed the bottle to have a rest. Cold green eyes met calm and collected gray ones as the two stopped and only seemed to acknowledge each other in the noisy surroundings.

"You were fast with that draw of yours, Gun." murmured the law.

The blonde remained stone faced while watching his body movements. "It's how you survive in these parts."

"Such a serious tone of voice there. You must not often get time to let your hands handle other items."

"What would you care, sheriff? I ain't one of your civilians." growled the woman faintly. She was getting faintly annoyed with idle chatter without substance.

"I have a right to be curious of outsiders to this town of mine, gunslinger. Even if you took out a dangerous outlaw, you are still playing with fire showing your skills like that."

The blonde shrugged grabbing the bottle in hand before taking a long swig of the drink. The sheriff observed her wondering what was going on inside of that head of hers.

"I'm only dangerous to those that provoke me. That man brought that bullet on himself and everyone here saw it was a fair fight. So if you are trying to arrest me for something, find a crime I committed first." the drinker grumbled.

The sheriff reached into his shirt pocket and calmly tossed something onto the table surface in front of the blonde. The gun woman glanced toward the shining piece of silver metal and then back toward the man. The badge glistened in the pale light of the saloon but the blonde didn't make a motion to touch it. Her green eyes lingered over it for a moment as she glanced back to it. A badge no doubt showing the integrity of the law behind it. Anyone who wore it bore their souls on their guns. People of the law had to rely upon sheer skill and instinct to survive when taking in prisoners. The moral code was melded into the fiber of their being in order to pursue the greater good.

The woman grunted soon taking the last fifth of the whiskey bottle on a burning journey.

"Take it. Your skill level is above all others I have seen. You deserve that badge." remarked the sheriff.

Slamming the base of the empty bottle onto the table, the blonde sneered toward him not bothering to hide her displeasure. "It's worthless to me." came the bitter cold response.

The man seemed stunned a bit hearing her words and soon glared a bit toward her. "It isn't worthless. Do you have any idea what the badge signifies?" he growled obviously offended by her choice words.

"It ain't what I am." she responded darkly while rising to her feet. "You best save that for someone who will stick around and do it proper justice. I'm leaving this town and moving on."

"Just where are you going then? You keep going and gunning down people eventually you'll turn into a murderer." he warned. "When that time comes, you best remember my face."

"Save your preaching for someone who gives a damn, sheriff." responded the gunslinger.

The two exchanged firm glares before the woman took her leave brushing past him. He turned and watched the ebony coated figure exit the saloon ignoring the cheers for her from admirers. No one seemed to notice the cold air that filtered into the hot building as she left expect for him. Ice was what it reminded him of as a chill went down his spine. Goosebumps even formed upon his forearms as his eyes remained on the swinging doors which remained rocking on their hinges. The badge remained on the table left alongside the empty bottle no longer glinting. It had long since turned dull.

Haruka was a complicated woman and one many people didn't quite understand. While people in the town took their chances guessing on her background, not matter were even close in uncovering her intentions of appearing out of the blue. She chuckled faintly to herself as she walked to the stable hearing children shout toward her in praise. They were far to innocent to realize the true intentions her guns were loaded for. Never once did she stop to think of all the people in the town that had been terrorized by the man she had killed. Her only thoughts remained on something long since passed from her background which was better off left undisturbed in her memory.

The gun woman soon stopped in her movements only to bend down a moment to the spot where blood was still soaked into the dust where the corpse had fallen.

A feral grin formed upon her lips as she reached out to touch the stained dirt. "One more falls from your ranks." she chuckled.

The laughter grew in volume as the winds picked up causing a bit of a whirlwind to circle around Haruka. She stood once more looking toward the sky while allowing herself to let out the wild laughter which came from the depths of her chest. Those who walked the streets looked toward her in worry hearing the maniacal sound rolling out of her mouth. Even the winds seemed to shiver from it as they whipped about lashing out against her long coat trying to hush the inhuman sound.

"Your time's coming." she whispered out softly.

Her laughter died off in the winds as she made it to the stable where her horse was sitting in wait. A blacksmith had been putting new shoes upon her steed's feet while she handled her business. The man had been eager to start the job as she paid him up front for his work. Not many people offered money right off the bat before the work was even started but the woman had to keep moving on. Haruka wasted no time mounting her horse to ride swiftly out of the small town. There were still fifteen men left on the list in her back pocket. It was an itch that needed to be scratched more and more lately. She had let it fester far too long allowing the infection to spread into the depths of her mind. The disease had a hold and was going to gradually expand over the course of time.