Author's Notes:

B: MAHAHAHA! *lights flash in a dramatic way*

A: May I ask what you are doing?

B: Errr… *stops flicking the light switch* Being evil?

A: And you don't think that part you wrote at the end was evil enough?

B: … Point.

Disclaimer: For those of you who still haven't realized that we DON'T own Trigun, we would like for you to send five dollars and your credit card number-. *A is cut off by B* Err… Enjoy the fic folks.

Chapter 6: Cliffhangers are Evil

It was around noon, and the sun was high in the sky above the desert planet. They were climbing up the path that led out of the city, and it seemed that it kept getting hotter and hotter outside. The wind ceased as they made their way to the top of the path and began the long walk back to the cabin.

"Well…what happened?" Vash tried to break the long miserable silence as they walked back. The two girls trudged on behind him and he came to the conclusion that they, most definitely, were not used to this kind of heat.

There was a long prolonged silence that simply added to the horrid conditions when Iriya spoke up. "I just went for a walk…Stopped in for a sandwich then those bandits from the other day showed up," She paused, and looked over at Lomnen who seemed dazed and had a far away look in her eyes, then continued with her story. "I beat them up," She smirked and went on, "Then that guy, your brother, came up and said I should have killed them… Then Lomnen walked in and well…yeah." She trailed off and fell silent.

"That's all?" Vash turned his head to look back at the two. Iriya looked uncomfortable, and nervous to a point, while Lomnen looked like she was about to pass out from heat stroke. 'Apparently she can't take too much sun… but Iriya seems fine…' Vash thought, and turned back around to contemplate what must have happened, because it seemed that Iriya was avoiding what happened when Lomnen entered, and Lomnen didn't look up to answering any questions.

They walked for quite a while and finally arrived back at the cabin, Iriya looked dead tired, Lomnen looked…dead, and Vash was at his wit's end. Iriya walked inside the cabin to sit down for a while, Lomnen was lagging behind so she still had around a hundred feet to drudge, and Vash stopped right in front of the pond, or where it should have been. He had been too wrapped up in thought to notice but it seemed the clear blue pond had gone as mysteriously as it had come.

"What?" Vash stared down at the sunken spot of sand in front of the cabin where the pond was supposedly there this morning.

"Mr. Vash…" Lomnen pulled on the back of his coat lightly, and spoke in a small pitiful voice. "Is there anything…to drink…?" She looked up at him and her eyes looked nearly glazed over.

"There is some water-" Vash was cut off as Lomnen pushed on him, and they both fell back into the sunken sand area. Vash was about to shake her and stand up when he realized she had fallen asleep on her feet.

Moving gently as not to wake her, he picked her up and carried her inside. Iriya was lying on the bed with her eyes closed when Vash entered. He could see the sweat glistening on the little exposed skin she had. Her eyes opened and rested on him and Lomnen.

"She fell asleep," he explained. Iriya sat up, "put her here," she motioned to the bed. Vash did so and watched as the woman felt her friend's cheeks. "Could you bring some water?" He nodded and took a flask of relatively cool water from a chair on the other side of the room. When he turned around, he wasn't sure whether to look or run away.

Iriya was unfastening clasps all along Lomnen's suit.

"W-what are you d-doing?" Vash stuttered.

"She's way too hot in the full suit, so I'm changing it," Was the reply. Vash walked up to her and put the water on the bed. "Thanks," she said without looking up from her work. He watched Lomnen's sleeping form for a while: until major parts of the suit were being removed. Making a hasty excuse, he went back outside.

Iriya smiled at his antics. It didn't take her long to finish. After folding the extra pieces of uniform, she cradled her friend's head in her lap and uncapped the water flask. Gently she poured some of the water in Lomnen's mouth until she was satisfied it was enough. Taking a short swallow, she proceeded to change her suit as well.

* * * *

Vash sat in the shade of a large rock several yards away from the cabin. He was deep in thought until Iriya came to join him. He was startled by her appearance.

The sleeves of her suit were gone and so was the part covering her midsection. The white top that was left behind revealed plenty on every side of her torso. She'd left her boots and pants on and kept her reddish hair down. "Done," She sad smiling at him.

"Is she all right?"

"Yes. Just tired,"

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, each thinking about something different yet the same. Iriya spoke first, "Vash, can I ask a favor of you?"

He smiled, "Of course. What is it?"

"Could please stay with her for awhile and watch Lomnen. I need to pick up some things. I can go alone but I don't want to leave her by herself in her condition. You've already helped us so much and I hate to impose more but - "

"I'd be glad to," He interrupted. Iriya looked at him with grateful eyes. "But where are you going?"

"Lomnen knows where. When she gets better, she'll come find me,"

"And I'll come too,"

She nodded, "Alright,"

They both stood and headed inside.

* * * *

She'd been walking for a while. The sun was beginning to set and cast a reddish light on the still-hot sand.

Deciding to take a rest, Iriya sat near one of the sand dunes and began to reassemble her suit. It was becoming cooler as evening descended and she was tired of carrying the pieces. She finished quickly and took a drink of water.

She didn't know why but she trusted Vash. It was odd, because she didn't trust people easily. There was, however, something about him that elicited faith. 

Shrugging it off, she was about to stand when she felt something whiz towards her. Instinctively she rolled to the side into a crouching position and searched for the origin of the curved blade.

Dodging another, Iriya briefly saw her assailant. Anger mounting, she deflected yet another blade with a kick. The black clad figure that was her attacker stopped and looked down at her from the top of the sand dune.

A male voice staid, "You're good, to avoid three of my attacks,"

A smirk crept over her features, "Really? I didn't find them too difficult to dodge. Perhaps you should try again?"

He let out a growl and unleashed a flurry of spinning blades. Not one of them came close to injuring her.

The 'fight' was beginning to bore Iriya until she heard the same, rhythmic clapping from before. Not letting her guard down, Iriya kept attention on the person she'd been fighting and searched for the man called Knives.

She found him walking slowly towards her.

"Once again I am impressed. You show more skill every time I see you," he said with a smile that did not reach his eyes.

"That makes me wonder about why you'd be so interested in my skills," Iriya called out with the same fake friendliness.

Knives stopped several yards away, "Isn't it obvious?" her smile faltered. "I am interested to know how a mere human can sport such skill and ability."

There were several moments of silence before Iriya's steady and clear voice sounded in a low tone, "Who said I was human?"

Author's Notes (Part 2):

A: I would like to apologize for the evil cliffhanger, but this was the best place to divide the chapters… no seriously! And to make up for this we would like to present you with two things. B?

B: Thing Number 1, the knowledge that the next chapter will be incredibly long and contain large portions of history and fighting.

     Thing Number 2, this pronunciation chart below! (Via Wish's request!)

Lomnen Falma: Lohme-Nen Fhalma (Lohme: rhymes with Home, Nen: Men, Fhalma: F-all-muh)

Iriya Lavara: Ih-rih-yah Lah-vah-rah (Ih: I as in l-i-ft, rih: rip, yah/Lah/vah/rah: A as in law)

A: And we would also like to request that, at least, two more people try to answer the 'Challenge Question' in Chapter 5!

B: Come on people! Fifty-Fifty chance! …and we'll probably put you in the fic even if you lose…

A: Yes…we did run out of bit-character names…