i don't own trigun or its characters but i do own my characters.
The sticky sweat stuck to my body and I groaned as the sweat stung my wounds. The pain suddenly increased and I thrashed against it. Something cool fell on my forehead and it helped slightly. The same cool feeling fell on my back it stung and I screamed. I curled into a ball and the tearing of skin felt sickening. Now sticky liquid, thicker than sweat ran in thin tendrils down my back. A soothing voice sang near my ear. I could not understand the words but against my will my muscles relaxed. The pain was pushed to a dark corner in my mind and the fever slowly seeped away. I blinked a few times and saw people surround me. I squeezed my eyes shut against the image, and willed the darkness to take me away again.
"If you go unconscious the pain will return." The soft voice was the one that brought the relief. I opened my eyes and looked at the woman. Her face held many wrinkles and wise blue eyes shone under her gray hair. She wore rich scarlet and violet robes that dragged on the floor. Her hair was up in a tight bun on her head but shorter hair hung around her eyes. Her smile made the skin around her eyes crinkle. In her presence I felt secure and complete. "You are not a normal child, are you?" she said.
"We found her while we were excavating." The voice was gruff and I felt the fear enter me again. "She was completely encased in crystal, she's not human. We should ship her off to the next city." The other people around me grumbled in agreement.
"You will do no such thing!" the old woman stood shakily. When she reached her full height she slammed her cane on the stone floor. "She is just as human as the rest of us." The people looked ashamed except the man who'd spoken up.
"You old woman, you know nothing. You yourself aren't human!" the man threw his hands in the air. His finger extended and pointed accusingly at the old lady. The sudden action made me duck under the sheets.
"I'll take her in." the soft voice drew me out again. I looked at the lady as she smiled softly at me. "Sleep, I'll handle things." My eyes became heavy and my breathing slowed. I started to panic for a few seconds before the darkness overcame me.
"Wake quickly child." Warm old hands grabbed my shoulders. I shot out of bed, surprised. Clothes were thrown at my head. "We must leave." I watched the old woman scurry from one side of the room to the other. She stopped and looked at me. Hobbling to the bed she ordered me to undress. I stared at her blankly and then lifted my shirt slowly. She inspected my bandage around my back, shaking her head she left. When she came back she was holding a black box. Setting it down she opened it and pulled out a bottle. "Drink this." She held it out to me. I grabbed it and opened the cap. A horrid smell made me sneeze. I held the bottle away from me and looked at the old woman as if she was crazy. She glared at me and I gulped. "Drink it." She ordered. I grimaced and took a large gulp. I gagged as I felt the thick substance slide down my throat. She nodded exasperatedly, "That'll do." She motioned for me to lie on my stomach. As she lifted the bandages I winced. She peeled it slowly and the scab stuck onto it in some places. The skin ripped off with the last of the bandage. I clenched my teeth and fists. Something hot and wet was slapped onto my back. As the woman smothered it onto my back it turned hotter. My muscles relaxed and the pain stopped. I sat up and she bandaged me again, and then dressed me. I sat down on the bed again and watched the woman run around the house gathering things.
"Um," my voice was smooth and fluid and stopped the woman immediately stopped, "what is your name?" I asked softly.
The woman smiled, "you may call me granny." A smile broke out on my face and I nodded. "Now, we'll have to leave soon."
"Why?" I asked.
"That was the requirement. We must leave in order for me to keep you." The guilt made me frown as she said that.
"I'm sorry." I said in a whisper. Tears pricked my eyes and I whipped them away.
"Do not cry child. I was prepared to leave this town anyway." She smiled at me again. "Would you like to help prepare?" she asked. I nodded and slid off the bed. After packing a few needed items I stared out of the dirty window. The darkness was impenetrable and I shivered. "Quickly child, let us be rid of this place." She motioned me to follow as she left through the door. I jogged to the door and a gust of wind caught me by surprise. "I don't like this weather." Granny shook her head with disapproval, "I hope we can be clear of the storm soon." She took my hand in her old wrinkled ones and we began the long journey. The wind seemed to tear through our clothes and we both shivered with cold. Gusts of wind made us stumble and the thunder and lightning made me stop with awe and fear. "We must hurry child!" granny's voice was nearly ripped from my ears by the wind. I ripped the hem of my dress to make a ribbon. I pulled my long knotted hair back into a sloppy ponytail. I nodded at her to continue. Granny stumbled as thunder made the ground under us shake. The wind became worse and I found myself short of breath. Something screeched and groaned. My heart sped up as I realized the large object was heading right for us. I screamed and held onto Granny closely. Squeezing my eyes closed I braced myself for the impact that never came. When I opened them again the sight was amazing. Granny held out her hand and plants sprouted from the dry earth. When the large metal sign was secured by the plants granny collapsed in my arms. Startled we both fell to the ground.
"Granny?!" I yelled. She didn't respond and I began to panic. "Granny!" I screamed over and over. She didn't move. The wind grew and tried to steal granny from my arms. "No, Granny! Please!" with the last of my breath I screamed. A large ripping sound and enormous pain split across my back. The muscles shifted and changed. I turned and vomited from the pain. The muscles flexed and moved. I held granny close as we were lifted from the ground. The muscles pumped and we glided. I kept close to the ground and pushed to go faster. The wind clawed at my back and twisted the muscles in new ways. I screamed with pain and nearly dropped granny. I pushed harder and soon the wind grew weaker. Weary and in pain I dropped to the ground. I looked next to me and a large wing lied in painful ways. I tried to move it but yelped in pain. Tears streamed down my face leaving salty tracks. "Granny?" I asked. No one answered me and my heart sped up. "Someone help Granny!" I screamed at the sky. A shadow fell over my face and I felt a hard object swing into my side. I gasped as something fell on my broken wing. Spots grew in my eyes and I fainted.
"You'll have to wake up some time; you might as well do it now." The voice was deep and I remembered the big man at the old town. I tried to sit up to locate the man who spoke but a large hand pushed me down. "Hey whoa I didn't say you could get up yet." I followed the hand and saw the man was not the same one.
"Who are you?" I asked quietly.
The man chuckled, "I am the great Nicholas D. Wolfwood!" he said striking a pose, I giggled. The man smiled, "Well would you look at that." He said, "What a great smile." He winked at me. I looked around the room; it was small with one bed a table and a few chairs.
"What happened to Granny?" I asked, turning back to the man. He looked at me, confused.
"Granny? I don't know who you mean kid." I tried to sit up and fought against his hand.
"Let me go!" I yelled.
"Hey kid, don't you'll…" my wings snapped in the small space allowed. I screamed as the broken bones were pushed against. Wolfwood stared in amazement as they brushed against the walls. They twisted and moved as I tried to stand up out of the bed. He snapped out of his shock and pushed me back in. "Don't you move. Jeez kid, you probably broke them again." He moved to examine them. He poked at them and they shivered. I stared at them, they were beautiful white wings, the feathers were dirty and I felt like a bath too.
"You didn't see Granny when you found me?" I asked. He shook his head.
"Nope sorry kid." He looked at me and I nodded in understanding. "If you don't mind can you tell me who, or what you are?" Mr. Wolfwood asked.
"I'm sorry I…I can't remember anything." I smiled sadly.
"Sorry. Can't help but ask." He removed the bandages on my wings. "Say kid if you got no where to go I know a good orphanage." I shook my head.
"No it's okay." I ran ideas through my head.
"Well just think about it. In the meantime how about a bath and some food!" he patted his stomach and smiled. I nodded.
After my bath we trotted downstairs into the heart of the inn. There were many men and a few waitresses. The waitresses served the men a similar drink. I looked at the strange color. I wonder what it is, I thought. I followed Mr. Wolfwood to a table. A woman came to the table quickly. When she came back again she brought steaming food. I giggled with delight and quickly grabbed a roll.
"Hey girl slow down, you'll choke!" as he said that I swallowed. The bread stayed in my throat and wouldn't go down. I pounded my chest and Wolfwood jumped up to help. He passed me my glass of water. After finally winning the battle of bread I breathed heavily. Then Wolfwood burst out laughing and I joined in slowly. For the moment we forgot our troubles and just enjoyed the company.