Chapter One: Sandstorm
"Will you all please stay in your seats!!"
The bus-driver yelled out angrily. The hullabaloo inside the bus finally ceased.
"Now, I know that the sandstorm outside is disturbing. I know that the engine is acting funny. And I know you're not happy about it, so I'm really very sorry. But screaming, jostling and yelling is not going to help!"
The passengers sat in silence as the bus-driver continued to lecture them.
At the back of the bus, Milly looked like a child being scolded.
Sitting opposite, Wolfwood just looked tired. So did Vash, who was sitting next to Wolfwood.
The last time they had ridden a bus the two had had to deal with a bunch of lost technology robots.
This time they were kept busy by a bunch of bandits. Those bandits had come in a huge group - a bit like the Roadwreck gang, but less known, less civilised... but much more people.
Although the two were unscathed, they still felt tired after the ordeal. Milly and Meryl had helped fend off bandits attempting to sneak up on the two main defenders of the bus-group, and they were both pretty tired, too - not as tired as Wolfwood and Vash, but tired, nonetheless. Meryl was washing up in the bathroom - the last one to visit it from the four and allowing them to fall asleep before she did.
But the bus-driver was incredibly loud as he talked, so although Milly was listening and Vash and Wolfwood were not, they were finding it hard to sleep. Finally, the bus-driver seemed to be losing steam.
"...so I expect you to all be quiet. I know it'll be hard in a middle of an unexpected sandstorm such as this, but we'll get by. We'll have a couple of hours delay, but I promise you, we'll be there in two days. I am awfully sorry, but please, do not panic."
The bus-driver fell silent, and then the bus began to fill with the normal talking noise-level. It was a lot more quieter than usual, actually, because of the sand outside violently lashing against the panes and because the whirring of the engine was non-existant at the moment, making whatever noise they made a lot more louder than usual. It was also dark outside, being it night and sandstorm, making the inside of the bus seem brighter than ever.
It was going to be difficult to sleep.
Wolfwood groaned.
"Geez, Tongari. Nothing good ever follows you."
"Yes, we had those robots last time, and now we had bandits to take care of! Your life is sure exciting, Vash-san."
Milly said brightly.
"I can't help it when bad things happen to me, but if you call it exciting, then I guess that's good."
Wolfwood smiled dryly at Vash's weird laugh after that sentence, then turned to give Milly a much more warmer smile.
"Can I sit next to you again?"
He asked, gesturing towards the empty space.
Milly thought for a few seconds, knowing Meryl would probably get mad at her if she let Wolfwood take her place again. As she opened her mouth to say no, she then thought how much she liked Wolfwood-san...
"Sure."
came out instead, and she obliged, moving over a little for Wolfwood. He leaned against her again, and Milly smiled contentedly as she leaned herself against him.
Vash rolled his eyes and settled his chin into his palm as he set himself to gaze out of the window.
"Some priest."
Vash muttered. After a minute or so, he heard
"Ara?"
from the other side, and raised his head to look over. It was Milly sounding surprised, as Wolfwood had taken her hand into his. Vash saw her face blush uncontrollably as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. He was muttering something to her, but Vash couldn't hear it.
Just then, Vash noticed Meryl behind the seat Wolfwood was sitting in. Her eyes were practically blazing, but she didn't say anything and instead walked over to sit next to Vash. They both looked over to where Wolfwood was now leaning against Milly as before, whose eyes were widening by the second, their hands clasped together as they leant against each other.
"Chi."
Vash's and Meryl's voices sounded in unison. They shared brief eye-contact in surprise, but before either of them could say anything, the bus-driver spoke up.
"I'm now going to turn off the lights. We can't move in this storm, so I'm going to catch some shuteye, too. But in the morning, the lights will attract the attention of desert thieves and bandits - we don't want to let that happen again, so we'll turn it off. Any serious objections?"
Silence.
"Alright then, folks. In the morning."
There was a few seconds silence before the lights went out. The inky darkness plagued them for a few seconds, but soon the extremely dim light from the moons that had managed to filter through the sandstorm adjusted to their senses.
Minutes passed, and soon people were falling asleep.
Sand whipped around his hair and his clothes billowed out. But he didn't seem to mind or care. His lips curled into a smile.
A short distance away was a bus. The bus's lights went out after while, but this didn't seem to affect the man.
He was still smiling his cruel smile as he pressed a thumb to a strange contraption around his neck. A high pitch of static sounded before it began to tune into freqeuncy. Finally, a voice from the device sounded.
"Well?"
The voice was impatient.
"I found him."
"Is he with the others? Are you sure it's them? You didn't mess up? You're absolutely sure?"
The man closed his eyes, gnashing his teeth together in apparent anger.
"Yes, I am, sir. I can sense it."
"Good."
The voice now sounded satisfied.
"You can stay there and keep watch. Do not let them out of your sight. Understood?"
"Yes, sir. Signing out."
And he pressed his thumb against the button again roughly.
