From the Sky
By, Miroku aka PyroSprite64
Author's note: Konnichiwa minna-san! Well, not much to say, so I'll get right to business. Don't own Trigun or any of it's wonderful bishies. My cat-girl finally has a name! Whee! Kidanna is all of my own make, and I will be thoroughly offended if someone takes her without my permission. Anyway, without further ado, I present the next chapter in my fic!
Chapter 3
There was utter silence in the room. Everyone stared at the girl, sitting solemnly in her small corner.
"Kidanna… Kidanna…"
The girl repeated her name under her breath, trying it out on her tongue. Vash and Meryl looked from the girl, to Knives, then at each other, both shocked and disturbed. Knives was finally conscious, the girl, Kidanna, had amnesia, and they both were feeling slightly ill.
"Meryl, what are we going to do?" Vash asked hoarsely, eyes wide.
He was not ready for his brother to be awake yet. Meryl sighed and pulled him out of the room with her, away from the two invalids and their hearing ranges.
"Look, I don't know about you, but I'd feel really uncomfortable about throwing an alien girl with amnesia out in the streets. As for your brother, well, you'll have to deal with him later, after we take care of the girl's situation. I think…-"
"Hallo! Come out, or we'll burn your house down!" a voice echoed out, cutting Meryl off mid-sentence.
Milly squirmed and moaned in her chair, trying to cover her ears and drown out the noise.
"Sempaaai! Make them stop shouting!"
Meryl frowned at the doorway. An ominous orange glow of firelight shone through the one window. Vash furrowed his brows and walked resignedly to the door. Meryl followed close behind him, ready to give her support if needed. Vash opened the door and stopped dead. Five men holding torches and guns stood in a grim line out in front of the house, scowling at him. An old man stepped forward, brandishing a torch in Vash's direction.
"Give us the youkai, and we'll leave peacefully. If not, well…"
He gestured smugly at the line of young men behind him. Vash stared at the man, frowning unhappily. Meryl looked around his left side at the elderly man, and began to wonder just what side of the sanity pool he might be standing in.
"I beg your pardon, but why do you think a youkai would be here?" Vash called out calmly.
The man glared at him and shook his torch threateningly.
"Don't give me that! I saw you carrying that monster away from the crash site!"
The man turned his back on Vash and stood in front of his gang, waving his short arms emphatically.
"The alien youkai will steal your children at night! He'll suck their blood, then turn them into it's slaves, just out of spite!"
He turned around, a dangerous gleam in his beady little eye. He tapped his nose at Vash and winked.
"But! I saw it's blood in the sand. The monster is wounded! Now, hand it over, and we'll dispose of him once and for all!"
Vash gazed at the man coldly. Meryl looked up at his face, recognizing the deathly-hard stare that Vash had worn under the most extreme conditions. Vash stepped forward out of the house to stand on the porch.
"And just how would you dispose of 'him'?"
The man chuckled gleefully, and pointed at his flaming torch.
"How else? The only way to make absolutely sure a youkai is dead is to burn their body, so there is no place for the soul to return!"
Vash closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Meryl stared with a horrified expression at the man. She tried to storm forward, intent on giving the little man a piece of her mind, but Vash put out an arm to stay her.
"Meryl, go get Milly and your derringers. If any of these men get by me, take Knives and the girl out the back door and make a run for it."
Meryl stared at Vash for a brief moment, wanting to protest, but her experience with Vash's gun slinging abilities told her to do otherwise. She nodded, casting one last glance at Vash's stony face before running back inside. When Vash was sure Meryl was safely out of harm's way, he opened his eyes and stared long and hard at the man. He took a deep breath, drawing the eyes of all present to his face. Suddenly and quite unexpectedly, he burst out laughing, tears water-falling down his face. The men standing in front of the house shared nervous glances and shuffled their feet awkwardly, not quite sure what to think about the gunman who was doubled up with laughter before them. The old man glared daggers at Vash, angry and confused at his odd reaction.
"What is so funny?!" he demanded, stamping his foot like a spoiled little child with wrinkles.
Vash put a hand to his forehead, gritting his teeth in an attempt to stop laughing. He flapped a hand uselessly at the gang.
"Nothing, nothing… It's just, well, come ON! You, grown men, believe this old fool's fairy tales? I mean, come one, a monster from the sky? Please!"
Vash started laughing again as the men looked down at their feet with sheepish faces. The elder's eyes bulged with fury and indignation. He whirled on the men who seemed to be cowering away from the house, looking shame-faced and chastened. He gave them all fierce glares and jerked a finger in Vash's direction.
"He's lying! Trying to put you off! I saw the crash, I saw the pod! I watched him carry the beast all the way to our town, into that house!"
Vash had finally stopped laughing and put a serious face on.
"Oh, come of it Grandpa. Why would an Alien want to come down here, when there are so many other hospitable planets? You must have been tricked by the desert. Now why don't you go home and get a good night's sleep? You'll feel much better tomorrow, I'm sure. Come on, off you go."
Vash came down the steps and gave the protesting elder a little push in the right direction. The man turned and tried to start another argument, but he was closed around on all sides by the other four men.
"Come on Daidoji-san, let's go back to the bar and buy you a few rounds, ok?" one of the men said, patting him on the shoulder.
"But, but, I saw…"
"It must have been a trick of the desert, like Saverem-san said. You know how the heat can play on the yes. Let's go get a round of tequila, it's on me!" another said, and lead the way while the rest cheered him on.
Three men escorted him back to town, making reassurances and bets on drinking all the way. The one who strayed behind turned to Vash and took off his hat apologetically.
"Uh, we're sorry, Saverem-san. We just got carried away by his monster talk. Didn't mean anything by it or nuthin," he said humbly, avoiding eye contact while he spoke.
Vash smiled understandingly and patted the man's shoulder.
"It's alright. Just make sure he stays out of trouble, ok? Get him drunk, if it helps, make him forget those mind tricks."
The man looked up for the first time with a hesitant smile. Vash realized he was fairly young, couldn't have been much older than twenty-five.
"Thank you Saverem-san, we'll be sure to do that. Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Vash waved the young man off, then sighed with relief and went back into the house. The cat-girl was waiting for him. Vash almost took a step back, right out the door again. It was startling to be met with abnormal cat-eyes, even more so when they were actually at his level. She was tall. The girl stared at him from the middle of the living room, one hand holding her side where the bandage covered her wound. She seemed to stare a lot.
"Why didn't you give me up to those men?" the girl asked, eyes shining red from the dying firelight.
It made her intimidating, almost feral, and dangerous. Vash could almost imagine seeing the fur that had been there before. She took a few limping steps forward on unsteady legs, body slightly hunched around her wound protectively. Never did her eyes leave his. Vash turned to closed the door and serve the dual purpose of breaking the gaze that was chilling him to the bone. Vash struggled to keep from showing any visible distress. It felt like she could see everything inside of him, prying into his deepest, darkest thoughts and desires. He had to fight to keep his voice sounding controlled and calm.
"Well, I couldn't very well let them burn you on a stake like they were probably planning, could I?"
She was silent as Vash moved to close the curtains of the front windows. He could feel her eerie eyes on him all the while, searching, prying, and making the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Suddenly he felt the tension cut short, as the girl released her hold on him, and turned to see her limping back in the direction of the room she shared with Knives. She stopped at the doorway, and turned her head to study him over her shoulder.
"I don't know why you didn't do as your brother suggested, and get rid of me when you had the chance, but I'm grateful.. I am in your debt, this will not be forgotten, Vash-sama."
With a small, fanged grin she turned again and vanished into the darkness of the bedroom, leaving a dumbstruck and nervous Humanoid Typhoon in her wake. Meryl and Milly were just coming down the stairs with their weapons when the girl left.
"Are they gone already, Vash-san?" Milly asked, stun-gun resting on her shoulder.
Vash sighed and staggered into his recently vacated chair and slumped down in it. Meryl and Milly exchanged worried glances before going forward to stand on either side of him.
"Vash-san?" Milly questioned carefully.
Vash rubbed his face with a tired hand, before looking up at their anxious faces. For once the goofy grin he usually wore was gone.
"Yes, they left. However, I'm beginning to think we should've just stitched some fake ears to Knives' head and thrown him out for them. It would make things so much more easier."
Meryl sighed and sat n one of the giant chair arms, letting her cape of derringers fall to the floor.
"What happened?"
Vash gave a dry little laugh that sounded strained, even to Milly's ears. She rested her stun-gun against her own favored chair and waited to hear the tale.
"Well, apparently leaving the girl- Kidanna, that's it, I've been trying to remember…- Anyway, leaving Kidanna alone with Knives was not the best idea. He said some things to her I would have preferred he'd kept to himself. I'm not sure exactly what he told her, but I do know it was enough. It's a wonder the poor girl didn't try to escape out the back door."
Vash leaned forward and put his face in his hands, starting to wish he had just left Knives out in the desert to be picked apart by scavengers. Meryl put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it in sympathy. Vash turned his head so he could see her out of the corner of his eye, and smiled gratefully.
"Well, if you want, I can go find them again, I', pretty good with a needle…"
Meryl's devilish smile made Vash laugh. He sat up in his seat and smiled fondly at her. She grinned back, eyebrow raised and head titled suggestively in the direction of Knives' room. Milly glanced at the pair and stood up as quietly as she could, tip-toeing to her room. She smiled as she went up the stairs. Vash-san and Meryl were so cute when they actually acted like a couple.
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Whee! I love writing fluff! I try not to do it too often though, because I know some people actually appreciate a plot, but hey! A little sprinkling never hurts. Anyway, give me your feedback! I live on reviews! Lol, ja ne minna-san! \m/ -_- \m/
By, Miroku aka PyroSprite64
Author's note: Konnichiwa minna-san! Well, not much to say, so I'll get right to business. Don't own Trigun or any of it's wonderful bishies. My cat-girl finally has a name! Whee! Kidanna is all of my own make, and I will be thoroughly offended if someone takes her without my permission. Anyway, without further ado, I present the next chapter in my fic!
Chapter 3
There was utter silence in the room. Everyone stared at the girl, sitting solemnly in her small corner.
"Kidanna… Kidanna…"
The girl repeated her name under her breath, trying it out on her tongue. Vash and Meryl looked from the girl, to Knives, then at each other, both shocked and disturbed. Knives was finally conscious, the girl, Kidanna, had amnesia, and they both were feeling slightly ill.
"Meryl, what are we going to do?" Vash asked hoarsely, eyes wide.
He was not ready for his brother to be awake yet. Meryl sighed and pulled him out of the room with her, away from the two invalids and their hearing ranges.
"Look, I don't know about you, but I'd feel really uncomfortable about throwing an alien girl with amnesia out in the streets. As for your brother, well, you'll have to deal with him later, after we take care of the girl's situation. I think…-"
"Hallo! Come out, or we'll burn your house down!" a voice echoed out, cutting Meryl off mid-sentence.
Milly squirmed and moaned in her chair, trying to cover her ears and drown out the noise.
"Sempaaai! Make them stop shouting!"
Meryl frowned at the doorway. An ominous orange glow of firelight shone through the one window. Vash furrowed his brows and walked resignedly to the door. Meryl followed close behind him, ready to give her support if needed. Vash opened the door and stopped dead. Five men holding torches and guns stood in a grim line out in front of the house, scowling at him. An old man stepped forward, brandishing a torch in Vash's direction.
"Give us the youkai, and we'll leave peacefully. If not, well…"
He gestured smugly at the line of young men behind him. Vash stared at the man, frowning unhappily. Meryl looked around his left side at the elderly man, and began to wonder just what side of the sanity pool he might be standing in.
"I beg your pardon, but why do you think a youkai would be here?" Vash called out calmly.
The man glared at him and shook his torch threateningly.
"Don't give me that! I saw you carrying that monster away from the crash site!"
The man turned his back on Vash and stood in front of his gang, waving his short arms emphatically.
"The alien youkai will steal your children at night! He'll suck their blood, then turn them into it's slaves, just out of spite!"
He turned around, a dangerous gleam in his beady little eye. He tapped his nose at Vash and winked.
"But! I saw it's blood in the sand. The monster is wounded! Now, hand it over, and we'll dispose of him once and for all!"
Vash gazed at the man coldly. Meryl looked up at his face, recognizing the deathly-hard stare that Vash had worn under the most extreme conditions. Vash stepped forward out of the house to stand on the porch.
"And just how would you dispose of 'him'?"
The man chuckled gleefully, and pointed at his flaming torch.
"How else? The only way to make absolutely sure a youkai is dead is to burn their body, so there is no place for the soul to return!"
Vash closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Meryl stared with a horrified expression at the man. She tried to storm forward, intent on giving the little man a piece of her mind, but Vash put out an arm to stay her.
"Meryl, go get Milly and your derringers. If any of these men get by me, take Knives and the girl out the back door and make a run for it."
Meryl stared at Vash for a brief moment, wanting to protest, but her experience with Vash's gun slinging abilities told her to do otherwise. She nodded, casting one last glance at Vash's stony face before running back inside. When Vash was sure Meryl was safely out of harm's way, he opened his eyes and stared long and hard at the man. He took a deep breath, drawing the eyes of all present to his face. Suddenly and quite unexpectedly, he burst out laughing, tears water-falling down his face. The men standing in front of the house shared nervous glances and shuffled their feet awkwardly, not quite sure what to think about the gunman who was doubled up with laughter before them. The old man glared daggers at Vash, angry and confused at his odd reaction.
"What is so funny?!" he demanded, stamping his foot like a spoiled little child with wrinkles.
Vash put a hand to his forehead, gritting his teeth in an attempt to stop laughing. He flapped a hand uselessly at the gang.
"Nothing, nothing… It's just, well, come ON! You, grown men, believe this old fool's fairy tales? I mean, come one, a monster from the sky? Please!"
Vash started laughing again as the men looked down at their feet with sheepish faces. The elder's eyes bulged with fury and indignation. He whirled on the men who seemed to be cowering away from the house, looking shame-faced and chastened. He gave them all fierce glares and jerked a finger in Vash's direction.
"He's lying! Trying to put you off! I saw the crash, I saw the pod! I watched him carry the beast all the way to our town, into that house!"
Vash had finally stopped laughing and put a serious face on.
"Oh, come of it Grandpa. Why would an Alien want to come down here, when there are so many other hospitable planets? You must have been tricked by the desert. Now why don't you go home and get a good night's sleep? You'll feel much better tomorrow, I'm sure. Come on, off you go."
Vash came down the steps and gave the protesting elder a little push in the right direction. The man turned and tried to start another argument, but he was closed around on all sides by the other four men.
"Come on Daidoji-san, let's go back to the bar and buy you a few rounds, ok?" one of the men said, patting him on the shoulder.
"But, but, I saw…"
"It must have been a trick of the desert, like Saverem-san said. You know how the heat can play on the yes. Let's go get a round of tequila, it's on me!" another said, and lead the way while the rest cheered him on.
Three men escorted him back to town, making reassurances and bets on drinking all the way. The one who strayed behind turned to Vash and took off his hat apologetically.
"Uh, we're sorry, Saverem-san. We just got carried away by his monster talk. Didn't mean anything by it or nuthin," he said humbly, avoiding eye contact while he spoke.
Vash smiled understandingly and patted the man's shoulder.
"It's alright. Just make sure he stays out of trouble, ok? Get him drunk, if it helps, make him forget those mind tricks."
The man looked up for the first time with a hesitant smile. Vash realized he was fairly young, couldn't have been much older than twenty-five.
"Thank you Saverem-san, we'll be sure to do that. Well, goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Vash waved the young man off, then sighed with relief and went back into the house. The cat-girl was waiting for him. Vash almost took a step back, right out the door again. It was startling to be met with abnormal cat-eyes, even more so when they were actually at his level. She was tall. The girl stared at him from the middle of the living room, one hand holding her side where the bandage covered her wound. She seemed to stare a lot.
"Why didn't you give me up to those men?" the girl asked, eyes shining red from the dying firelight.
It made her intimidating, almost feral, and dangerous. Vash could almost imagine seeing the fur that had been there before. She took a few limping steps forward on unsteady legs, body slightly hunched around her wound protectively. Never did her eyes leave his. Vash turned to closed the door and serve the dual purpose of breaking the gaze that was chilling him to the bone. Vash struggled to keep from showing any visible distress. It felt like she could see everything inside of him, prying into his deepest, darkest thoughts and desires. He had to fight to keep his voice sounding controlled and calm.
"Well, I couldn't very well let them burn you on a stake like they were probably planning, could I?"
She was silent as Vash moved to close the curtains of the front windows. He could feel her eerie eyes on him all the while, searching, prying, and making the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Suddenly he felt the tension cut short, as the girl released her hold on him, and turned to see her limping back in the direction of the room she shared with Knives. She stopped at the doorway, and turned her head to study him over her shoulder.
"I don't know why you didn't do as your brother suggested, and get rid of me when you had the chance, but I'm grateful.. I am in your debt, this will not be forgotten, Vash-sama."
With a small, fanged grin she turned again and vanished into the darkness of the bedroom, leaving a dumbstruck and nervous Humanoid Typhoon in her wake. Meryl and Milly were just coming down the stairs with their weapons when the girl left.
"Are they gone already, Vash-san?" Milly asked, stun-gun resting on her shoulder.
Vash sighed and staggered into his recently vacated chair and slumped down in it. Meryl and Milly exchanged worried glances before going forward to stand on either side of him.
"Vash-san?" Milly questioned carefully.
Vash rubbed his face with a tired hand, before looking up at their anxious faces. For once the goofy grin he usually wore was gone.
"Yes, they left. However, I'm beginning to think we should've just stitched some fake ears to Knives' head and thrown him out for them. It would make things so much more easier."
Meryl sighed and sat n one of the giant chair arms, letting her cape of derringers fall to the floor.
"What happened?"
Vash gave a dry little laugh that sounded strained, even to Milly's ears. She rested her stun-gun against her own favored chair and waited to hear the tale.
"Well, apparently leaving the girl- Kidanna, that's it, I've been trying to remember…- Anyway, leaving Kidanna alone with Knives was not the best idea. He said some things to her I would have preferred he'd kept to himself. I'm not sure exactly what he told her, but I do know it was enough. It's a wonder the poor girl didn't try to escape out the back door."
Vash leaned forward and put his face in his hands, starting to wish he had just left Knives out in the desert to be picked apart by scavengers. Meryl put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it in sympathy. Vash turned his head so he could see her out of the corner of his eye, and smiled gratefully.
"Well, if you want, I can go find them again, I', pretty good with a needle…"
Meryl's devilish smile made Vash laugh. He sat up in his seat and smiled fondly at her. She grinned back, eyebrow raised and head titled suggestively in the direction of Knives' room. Milly glanced at the pair and stood up as quietly as she could, tip-toeing to her room. She smiled as she went up the stairs. Vash-san and Meryl were so cute when they actually acted like a couple.
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Whee! I love writing fluff! I try not to do it too often though, because I know some people actually appreciate a plot, but hey! A little sprinkling never hurts. Anyway, give me your feedback! I live on reviews! Lol, ja ne minna-san! \m/ -_- \m/