Those With Loaded Guns
By DrummondType2
Chapter 1:
A train rolled across the dusty plains, headed for Fuuka City. Mai Tokiha sat in her compartment with her brother, Takumi.
"Now, Takumi, the doctor says that these wide-open spaces and the fresh air will be good for your constitution."
"Ah, sis, you worry too much, " Takumi protested.
There was a knock at the door, and she opened it to see fellow passenger Yuuichi Tate, "They're about to serve supper in the dining car."
"Yuuichiiiiii," Whined Ms. Munekata, fanning herself, "You can flirt with the buxom lass later. We want to get good seats, brother!"
Mai, sighed. Ms. Munekata had been a nuisance since the train had set out on its westward path. She hoped that they would part ways permanently once they reached Fuuka City.
Mai remembered the letter she'd received in response to her application for a job at a local restaurant that she'd seen advertised in the newspaper.
"Dear Miss Tokiha,
Your letter, along with your many references, reached us this morning. We believe that you will be a fine addition to our establishment, and look forward to sampling your cuisine. With regards to your brother's medical needs, the doctors are quite correct that the wide open spaces of the west are ideal to recover from the taint and noise of city life. We would be willing to take him on as a desk clerk for our Inn, provided that he proves capable of the work.
We look forward to your arrival. Enclosed you will find train tickets for you and your brother. Do not worry about the cost. If the your skills in the kitchen are half as good as the references suggest, then you will more than make up for the expense with the customers who will join us to sample your wares.
Sincerely,
R. Kanzaki
"C'mon, Takumi," Mai, "They're not going to bring the food to our cabin. Let's go eat."
No sooner had Mai and Takumi made their way to the passageway then they felt the train come to an abrupt stop.
"What's going on?" Mai asked.
"They found a person lying on the tracks. Passed out from the heat, it seems."
"Oh, gracious," Miss Munekata fanned herself, "Is it one of the natives?"
"She doesn't appear to be," the conductor said, "She's in bad shape, so we're going to put her in an empty cabin."
8888888
Atop a hill, a young woman with flowing cobalt hair watched the train stop. She turned to look at her wolf companion.
"Looks like they picked her up before we could, Duran," she said, gritting her teeth, "We can't let her reach Fuuka City. Too many of them have reached there, already."
Duran, for his part, snuffed, then looked at the train with determined eyes.
"Yeah. If I head up that ravine, I can probably snag the train before they get up to speed. You with me, boy?"
Duran nudged her with his nose, confirming his commitment to her.
"Then let's go."
888888
"So, you're actually from Fuuka City?" Mai asked Yuuichi, "Were you visiting family back east, then?"
"No way," Yuuichi said, waving his hand dismissively, "The mayor of our city, Shizuru Fujino, asked me to interview candidates for a new Sheriff. There's been a lot of brouhaha over the ranchers and the homesteaders, and there's talk of both sides trying to hire professional gunfighters. Mayor Fujino doesn't want there to be bloodshed and violence in her city, so she's looking for talented law men."
"And you declined the job?" Mai raised an eyebrow, grinning.
"I had enough of guns and shooting people during the Civil War. Heh. Some name for it. It wasn't all the civil, y'ask me."
"No, I suppose not," Mai looked away. Then a thought occurred to her, "Do you think that girl they found on the tracks was caught up in that? The whole ranchers versus homesteaders thing?"
Yuuichi shrugged, but he looked concerned, "It's possible, though I wouldn't want to think that there would be someone who could leave a young girl just laid out in the desert like that. And did they leave her on the tracks, or did she just collapse there on her own?"
"That's depressing," Mai sighed.
"Yeah."
The conductor came out, "Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the delay. We're on our way again, and should reach Fuuka City by morning."
No one noticed the dark-clad woman and the silvery wolf that slipped onto the train from the rear.
The train was once again barreling forward, full speed ahead, when the door to the passenger cars burst open. A figure, clad in black clothes, with a vivid red bandana covering the lower face, and a black Stetson hat over their head, stepped into the dining car, wielding a pair of Colt Cavalry pistols, their black steel gleaming deadly in the light of the lamps in the dining car. A pair of emerald green eyes glared menacingly out from under the Stetson.
"You picked up the girl from the desert," the voice was husky and gruff, but there was no mistaking that it was definitely a woman's voice, "Where is she?"
No one said anything. There was a blur of motion as a man from behind tried to grip her. No sooner had he moved to seize her than she slipped past his grip, and slammed an elbow into his chin without even looking.
"I'll ask again, where is the girl that was found in the desert?"
"Why do you want to know?" Mai asked, standing up, crossing her arms.
"That girl is dangerous," the armed woman said, no trace of irony in her voice, "You need to leave her with me."
"You're the only dangerous person I see," Mai shot back, "Leaving that girl to waste away in the desert!"
The gunslinging girl fired a shot. Mai felt the bullet whiz past her cheek, and it struck a window, blowing it out.
"The next one won't miss. Where is the girl."
The conductor stood up, "She's in the last cabin at the end of the passenger cars. It was the only one open."
He found a gun leveled at him, "Take me. And if any of you follow…"
She pulled back the hammer of the gun, took aim, and fired at a cask of wine behind a counter. The wine began to pour out onto the floor.
The conductor passed her, and she spun on her heel, a curtain of cobalt hair flowing around her like a cloak of midnight.
Mai ran to pursue, only to find the way barred by a snarling silver-haired wolf.
"She brought a friend," Mai remarked, eyebrow twitching.
The gunwoman followed the conductor to the back of the passenger cars. She produced a length of rope, and bound his hands behind him, then deprived him of his key.
"Duran, come!" she called. The wolf ran down the corridor, joining her at her side. She quietly unlocked the door to the cabin, and burst in as quickly as she could, revolvers at the ready. The room was empty, and the window was open, curtains flailing in the wind.
"Damn it. She's on the roof."
Duran tilted his head.
"Yeah, I know," she sighed, "No turning back now, though. You take care of things inside the train."
She ran to the caboose, knowing it would be safer to try to go up the ladder at the train's rear than to try to follow the other girl out the window.
She rushed out onto the roof of the train.
"There you are," she saw the dark haired girl, her long, thin braids flailing in the wind, "You can't be so naïve. Those people are using you. You have to see that!"
The girl spun around, illuminated by moonlight, her yellow eyes flashing. She gave a bestial snarl, launching herself at the gunslinger.
A well placed spin-kick had the younger girl skidding back on the train roof. She snarled savagely, and drew a huge knife from a hidden sheath behind her back.
The gunslinger drew her pistols, "That's as far as you go!"
She was surprised when the younger girl charged her, and even more surprised when she squeezed off a couple of shots from each pistol, only for the yellow-eyed girl to dodge each and every shot.
Emerald eyes were wide as the girl reached her and was about to run her through with the larges Bowie knife she'd ever seen, when another woman's voice called out.
"STOP!"
The braided girl stopped, turning on a dime. She then charged at the redheaded woman with lavender eyes who had poked her head up from between the cars, knife still at the ready.
"No you don't!" the gunslinger shouted, snagging the girl's feet with her own, causing her to fall face first on the train's roof. She was at her side in an instant, gun pressed to her head, "Enough."
The knife flickered in the moonlight, and the gunslinger just barely dodged as the blade sliced upward, though it severed the bandana masking her face.
Mai Tokiha beheld one of the most beautiful faces she'd ever seen, pale as the moonlight that illuminated it, eyes as green as an emerald, hair dark as midnight, skin as smooth and soft as silk.
The girl with yellow eyes and thin braids bolted, and disappeared into the darkness down the length of the train.
"Hey," the gunslinger called to Mai, who blinked, "Don't go to Fuuka City. If you go there, you will die."
And with that, she ducked back into the train. Before Mai knew what was happening, the passenger cars were decoupled from the rest of the train, coming to a grinding halt. The last thing she saw, as the train headed off to Fuuka City, was the girl with cobalt hair and her silver wolf running off into the desert.
888888
"Ara, but Natsuki looks tired," Shizuru remarked as she saw the young woman.
"Had a rough night," Natsuki Kuga replied, straightening her waistcoat, "I'm fine, Shizuru."
"Are you certain?"
Natsuki managed a smile, "You're always fussing over me, Shizuru."
"Ara, but of course. Natsuki is my friend."
Natsuki blushed slightly, but smiled, "That's…thank you. I like you, too, Shizuru."
She walked off to the Kanzaki Inn to grab a cup of coffee.
A/N: With the positive reviews I got for "The New World", I thought that I might try my hand at another period in American History. And Natsuki just loans herself so well to being the mysterious gunslinger in western. I mean, it's all there. The wolf companion. The pistols. The dead mother and those upon whom she must mete out vengeance. I hope this is a fun little western for you all to enjoy. I'm sure most of you are already aware of the source of the title, but for those who might not know, it's from a quote from The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.