By Soshika
Chapter Two
The sands do strange things to a person's mind. As I walked, the winds whipped about my ankles and tugged at the edges of my coat. I stepped onto the soft sands, my boots making a barely auidable crunch, metal and plastic against shards of unrefined glass. The sun was in my eyes as I walked, but I merely squinted against it. Towards the setting sun, it was the only known place I could begin my search for certain.
Iapral City. The last known place that Vash the Stampede had been sighted. Growling in my throat, I adjusted the neck of my jacket and glared. Sand swept up and became clouds against the setting sun, glowing orange. What do people seek out in this wasteland? This waste of their lives and work? Fools...The only way to make any money was through death.
Death...
I began to walk on the desert, towards the setting sun. Whatever lay ahead would soon meet me, and find itself, like all things and all time, frozen at the barrel of a gun.
The cry of a tomas far off brought me awake in an instant. For a moment I thought it had been one of the dreams...one of those strange ones, the inexplicable ones where you find yourself chasing something with great meaning, only to find at the end that it essentially meant nothing in all seriousness. A vast sea of sleeping nothing.
The tomas cry was no dream. I rolled away from my sleeping bag and towards my coat deftly, making not a sound against the sandy soil. In a second, the silenced pistol was in my hand, snuggled into my grip. The metal was cold from the night desert air, and the grip chill and stiff. It didn't matter. Without a sound, I cocked the hammer and lay on my back in the sand, waiting.
Soon the sound of pattering feet grew closer. In the dark, my eyes adjusted with the help of the double moon and stars. Nearing now, I could see it, was a stocky reptilian tomas heading in from the direction of the town I had left. Had that idiot sheriff followed me out here alone by himself? Or was it perhaps May D?
I waited until the tomas was in range before rolling onto my stomach and firing three shots at the beast. I heard two connect with the chest of the animal, and it stumbled and fell. The third, however, the one meant for the rider..I did not hear. Strange...
Climbing to my feet in the darkness, I refused to take my hand off the trigger. Something here wasn't right. Stepping cautiously away from my camp, I crossed the expanse of sand towards the place where the tomas lay dying. Its thin tongue lay stretched out on the ground as its sides heaved, trying to suck air into lungs which now had two holes in them. The animal was strong, I had to admit...Two sucking chest wounds and it was still alive for a bit. But...
I knelt beside the beat and felt the seat on its back. Warm...Where was the rider? I stood and glared about me in the dark.
Time froze. I hadn't done it. Cold air and a warm feeling nearby..air compressed a snak-snak sound...I dove to the side just as a bullet swirled through the tendrils of hair that swept behind me in the desert air. DAMN! I'd just been shot at. I whirled around and returned fire, but again, time wouldn't freeze. Who was OUT there?
A shadow stepped foreward and laughed slightly, cheerfully. I lowered the pistol for a moment... I was out of ammo. I'd have to rely on brainpower alone now. A few simple dodges and kicks could relieve this person of their weapon too...Even if it was May D.
The shadow held its hands up. I recognized the voice when it spoke. The blonde haired man from before. "Hey, you almost got me back there. I wasn't trying to start anything, honest!" He sounded genuinely sorry.
I snorted and smirked slightly. "You idiot."
"I was just thinking," He sounded increadably sheepish when he spoke, stepping closer. I could see him clearly now, tall and blonde in the red coat. "Now that you've already killed my tomas, maybe we could travel together. You dodged my bullet, you're not half bad."
"You weren't trying to hit me anyway. You knew I would dodge."
He seemed taken aback a moment before his tone changed to something far, far more serious. "You're right. I heard what you did back in that town. I knew you'd been trained well enough to dodge at least that one..."
"I travel alone," I stated, and began to walk back to my campsite.
Three small objects came flying at me in the dark and I sidestepped. The bullets I'd fired rolled to my feet in the sand. I looked back out of the corner of my eye and smirked. The man in red grinned at me.
"At least to the next town. It can't hurt to have someone to talk to on the way," He grinned again and stood.
I glanced down at the bullets and smirked. The breathing of the tomas silenced behind us. A man who could prevent my stopping time... and dodge three bullets. Intruiging.
