~ Disclaimer ~ I don't own trigun, nor do i own the creators. This is the third story/sequel to the Vampire Tendencies trilogy( I've always wanted to type that! )! I hope you read Bleeding Heart before this because then you'd know what's going on. First is Vampire Tendencies, second is Bleeding Heart and now it's....read the title after the disclaimer! Wahahahhaha..eh..anywho. Mwah.

- Title - Crimson Red Clouds.

- Author - EngelWachterInderHolle.

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- Chapter - Four

- Title - The Vagabond is Vash, Raven's Guardian.

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Raven slid down the walls of two buildings, landing silently like the pitter patter of raindrops which fell to the ground. Shroud in a dark cloak, she made her way around the town. Her yellow eyes glowing against the darkness, her heart pacing faster than her own breath. Her mind racing with unanswered questions. Why, she thought, am I running so far?

"You are the knife, in which I bleed from. In which I deprive what humanity I have left in the souless body scarred by a thousand knives..releasing the hate and growing sorrow within."

Raven stopped running and turned around. "The vagabond!" She exclaimed.

He stood only a few feet away, but it seemed further while Raven's eyes were glowing. "Vagabond? I have no sword which to kill humans with, nor do I have a weapon," he said, his voice sincere and dark at the same time.

Raven swung her hand down. "Why are you always around me!? Who the hell do you think you are?!"

"I'm just a wanderer, like you said to the man in blue. I think I should be thanked for watching over you every step of your teen years outside of that house."

Raven frowned and stormed over to him, glaring at the orange sunglasses which covered the eyes of this mysterious man. His blonde hair was matted down from the rain which began to pour down from above. "You've been watching me?"

"Yes."

Raven sideswiped, but missed his face. He outmaneuvered her and stood to the right. "You damn pervert!" She growled.

"Pervert? How am I a pervert when I haven't seen your bare skin which I long for. Which I wish to taste between my fangs...to know who you are deep within. I have only watched you, and that is all I have been doing. A guardian that is always watching you. Always worrying about your life," he said with a crooked smile.

Raven blushed slightly, but dismissed it. "You're a vampire also!?"

He bared his fangs with a more open smile. "Yes. How do you believe I've been untracked by your inhuman senses? No mere mortal could keep away from you. Nor can a vampire who lusts for power. Which I am not attempting to do."

"How have you found me? Why are you following me?"

"I found you crying in a downpour like this once. Watching you made me wonder who you really were. I then realized what power you held within you by taking in your energis scent. I am following you so I can protect you from anyone who would want to hurt you, Raven."

"You know my name...what's yours?"

The man removed his sunglasses, revealing his glowing aquamarine eyes. "Vash at your disposal," he replied with a bow.

"Vash?"

He looked up and smiled warmly. "You are a beautiful young woman, you are. The guardian always follows the one he finds to be guarded. Even if it means going against death itself. I'll always be here."

Always, Raven thought, he'll always be here?

The sense of the power Raven had sensed early came to her and she turned sharply, catching sight of a dark clad man vanishing from sight. "I see he's picked up on you also," Vash said.

"He? Do you know him?" Raven asked.

"Nicholas D. Wolfwood...the man in the bar who you asked if he knew me. He does know me, hell, we were exactly there together. In Hell to rot with all the other vigilanty vampires who thought they owned the world with an iron fist. I think he sensed your power earlier when you grabbed his shoulder."

"Why were you in Hell?"

Vash shook his head. "Long story. I don't want to power out the very essence of my being to you now, Raven. Will your parents be furious with you when you go home all soaked wet?"

Raven looked down at herself and frowned. Her clothing had soaked and stuck to her body. The cloak was floating in a small puddle near her foot. Raven's hair matted to her head and she held the rest tight, tying a hairtie into it. "Do not utter my name to them," Vash warned.

"Huh? Why?" Raven asked.

"Just don't. I don't want anyone else to know I am here."

Vash vanished into the darkness before Raven could say a word to him. --

"Where is she!?" I cried, holding the sides of my head like it would burst with worry.

"Calm down, Nicole. Raven'll be okay, she's a tough girl," Legato said as he flipped to the next page in his book.

The fire crackled beside me and I frowned. "It's one in the morning!"

"You're still up."

I snorted and collapsed into Legato's lap. He grunted as he yanked his book from under me. "We're vampires...we don't sleep at night, Legato."

"I know. You've been restless since Raven went out earlier. You need to get some sleep, maybe a lot of it just to be safe."

"Do you know how many other vampires are out there, Legato?! She's only sixteen and developed enough that any man would want to take her home and suck her dry of blood!"

Legato's right eyebrow twitched. "Now you're just overreacting, dear."

I flicked his nose gently. "I am not!"

"I'm home," Raven said as she walked into the room and closed the door.

I jumped up and rushed over to her. "You're soaking wet!" I exclaimed.

"Sorry, my cloak kind of slipped off and I didn't notice it."

I nodded and sighed. "What made you not notice?"

Raven shrugged. "I dunno, maybe I just zoned out."

"That zoning out is getting annoying."

Legato stood up. "Glad you're home, Raven. You can go now," he said with a smile.

Raven nodded and my jaw hit about hit the floor as she ran upstairs. "You're letting her off the hook that easy?!"

I made jabbing gestures with my fingers towards the stairs. Legato chuckled. "You're acting like a teenager again, Nicole. It's good to see you have at least a heart to be a teen again, unlike me whom is too -outdated- to do it ever again."

"Who said you were outdated?!"

"You did, Nicole."

I gasped. "I did not!"

Legato nodded and smirked. "Last night you called me outdated! So what if my love methods are old style, I still get you-"

"Shhhh!!!!!!" I exclaimed.

Legato laughed and I jabbed him in the chest with my index finger, making his eyebrows come together in a comical motion. "Be quiet!"

"You started it."

"Did not!"

Legato kissed me and pulled me into a warm embrace. "I ended it," he whispered.

I smiled and kissed him back. --

Raven rubbed her arms and felt another cold chill go up her spine as she leaned against the wall. "This coldness doesn't go away," she mumbled.

She walked into the bathroom and ran the hot water, filling up the tub. Raven stripped off her wet clothes and slid into the tub, sighing as the warmth filled her up. There was still the coldness in her body which would never go away. Her thoughts wandered back to Vash. "He was a sincere sounding man....but something about the way he talked about Wolfwood made me nervous. Hell...he came from hell. Why does he follow someone as obnoxious and rude as me? Am I something special to him?"

She blushed as she remembered. "How am I a pervert when I haven't seen your bare skin which I long for. Which I wish to taste between my fangs...to know who you are deep within," Vash 's voice said in her head.

Raven submerged under the water. Her heart racing.

-- To Be Continued. -- Oooh, is this a crush forming onto Vash by Raven? You get your hopes up! Mwahahahaha. As said before, to be continued.