Trigun: Reunion of Friends and Foes 4
Wolfwood traveled in his green jeep with his new friend that just happened to be female in the blazing hot desert. He traveled the rough sandy terrain with scruffy migrant workers that smelled of sweat and car oil on buses or cattle cars but never with a woman!
Her doll-like face had been pleasant to his eyes as well as the musk perfume! The priest had been grown accustomed to women acting feminine by wearing elegant dresses, make-up, raising their noses to the air in disgust, complaining of unpleasantness, and not daring to grasp a weapon. Iris had never did those actions that fell into the category of "feminine"! Her actions of courage and cunning were an intrigue to this man and wanted know what made her a free thinking individual.
His questions of curiosity were asked one hot afternoon as their jeep had been set in motion. Wolfwood's dark gaze shifted to Iris; observing her form being slouched within her seat, the arms crossed, the booted feet resting on the dash board, the head facing the sky with rose colored glasses shielding her eyes from the blazing suns.
"You look relaxed..." he remarked with a grin. "Yeah, just staring off into space." she replied with a sigh. "I see... Do you see anything interesting in the sky?" he asked while turning the jeep to the right to dodge a boulder. "A few dust particles and petals floating about ten feet in the atmosphere but nothing remotely interesting." she answered and turning her head to face Wolfwood. "I think it would be more interesting for me to have heard the details you promised back in May City." he hinted. "Are you sure you would like to hear them? It is a sad story." she asked. "Every detail so spill your guts!" he said firmly. "Okay...but don't blame me when the tears start flow..." she warned..
Iris started her story with a heavy sigh and explained how she became an outlaw.
She told him of her peaceful life as the mayor's daughter in October City.
Her daily activities consisted of learning the arts, sciences, carpentry, mechanics, code of conduct for a lady. She admitted to had been secretly learning combat skills, target shooting, and going to saloons to play poker with shady characters to rebel against her constraining life. The rebellious side of her took its toll when she fell in love with a boy that was the son of a wealthy liquor eutropeneur who had disapproved of their union.
Iris blushed at the confession of sneaking out of the house to meet her forbidden lover and their secret wedding. Unfortunately, her father-in-law had discovered their the wedding and murdered her father and attempted to eliminate Iris in the midst of the ceremony. It had been tragic as her husband shoved her out of the path of the bullets and took the blows in the chest and abdomen, also the priest who had been conducting the ceremony. She fled the chapel and the father-in-law placed a bounty on her head.
He slandered her reputation and told the authorities that she had been responsible for the death of his son. "That is why I do not stay in one place for very long. I did not lie to you about my goal to change the world because I did help people on my travels. Not to mention this open desert is a better confessional booth than the crowded city." she added to the conclusion of her dramatic story. After hearing the desired details of her story, Wolfwood did not know how to react! He felt sorrow for the loss of her loved ones and concern that this murderous man is still in the pursuit to end her life. No wonder she does not talk about herself. It does explain everything. he thought as few tears surfaced within his eye sockets. The jeep halted to a screeching stop. Iris tilted her head in curiosity and Wolfwood hugged her close with tears that trickled down his tanned face. She became stiff and wide-eyed with surprise within his unexpected embrace. "I am so sorry, my child. It must have been so hard for you. Sometimes the Lord can be so cruel!" he said while sobbing. Iris reached into her right pocket and offered him a silky white handkerchief covered in red roses. "Here, please don't cry. I don't want any pity because you're not responsible for what he did." she said softly. The priest took the handkerchief, wiped the tears away and returned it to her hands. "Thank you...Even though I'm a guy...I can still bawl like a baby." he said with sheepish grin. "It's okay. I think it's healthy. Besides it depends on what you are crying about that matters." she said with a grin while patting his back. "You're sweet, Iris..." he said and restarted the engine.
Wolfwood also had been concerned for her posture and asked, "Isn't it bad for your posture in that position?" "Not really. I only do it when I'm not in a crowded place." she replied. "It is good that you pick the right time and place to do it but sitting up straight is still the best thing to do." he objected. "That may be true but I like to relax. If we had lawnchairs in the jeep then I might reconsider my posture." she objected as well.
"You do make a persuasive argument. Could you at least do it just this once?" he asked.
He turned to face her with that innocent puppy dog expression, hoping it would phase her feminine weakness for any form of being adorable. Iris' face seemed to express her contemplation by furrowing her brows. "Weeeeeeell....Maybe under one condition..." she said with a pointed finger. "And what's that?" he asked. "That you reject cigarettes for a full twenty four hours. Let's say you were unsuccessful with the condition and smoked a cigarette...then I can slouch freely at any given time without any complaints. The same vice versa, if I slouch then you can smoke freely at any given time." she explained the procedure with confidence. "Why are you setting that condition for?!" he asked in surprise. "It seems that you have forgotten what we have in common, Wolfwood. We both have bad habits that are considerable to reject." she answered in the same tone. "That does seem fair enough....Damn you and your cunning..." he complained while facing the road. "Can I help it if I have a brain?" Iris asked with a chuckle.
The ground began to rumble from beneath the wheels of their vechile. Again, Wolfwood brought it to a screeching halt by slamming his foot violently upon the brake pedal.
"It had better not be a sand worm..." Iris muttered while standing upon the floor board.
She frowned as a huge tube of brown flesh that had been five feet in diameter bursted forth from the scorching hot sand, releasing a roar of a thousand lions.
"Looks like you spoke to soon." Wolfwood remarked and withdrew the covered cross from the bed of the jeep. In a twinkling of an eye, the cloth had been released from the bound straps and to her amazement the cross had been fashioned into a tremendous firearm. The priest pointed the barrel to were the cross foundation lied at the worm and shot the worm numerous times along its body. He paused to hear her groan out : "Argh!!!.." His eyes shifted to observe Iris hunched with a hand to her back and grimace in pain. ""Iris! Are you all right?!" he shouted in a panic. "Never mind about me! All that worm wants to do is nap and we woke it up! We need to stun it and send it back to its slumber spot!" she shouted, impatiently. "How did you know this?" he asked with a dumbfounded expression. "I just know. Keep him busy and I'll sing him my own lullaby." she said with a wicked grin. She grabbed the jeep's windshield and performed a leap-frog jump over the vechile's hood. Her boots plunged into the ground with a soft crunching into the sand. Wolfwood began to make funny faces into the worm's direction and led the angry creature on a merry chase. Iris took the opportunity generously by running beside the slithering body, jumping on the back and withdrawing a bottle of chloroform from her left leg pocket. "Keep it up, Wolfwood! You're doing great!" she shouted in approval. "Oh I feel much better!" he shouted in a sarcastic manner. The same handkerchief had been removed from her right hip pocket and soaked it with the necessary liquid. "Time to go back to sleep, big guy!" she shouted while running on the back of the worm. With a shout, the drenched handkerchief had been thrown onto the worm's face. Its round head thrashed vigorously to express its anguish.
Wolfwood stopped in his tracks to see the worm's movements begin to move at a slow pace. Iris removed the handkerchief from the worm's face, leaped from its back and landed with another soft thud. He watched the worm sink into the terrain's depths and then looked to see his friend smiling triumphantly. "Thank you! That was some quick thinking!" he commented. "I couldn't have done it without you. If you were not there to keep him busy then I would have been lunch in an instant." she objected. "I wonder if you would have been tasty..." he muttered with a grin. "What?" she asked with a raised brow. "Oh..nothing...I just said I would like to eat something tasty because I'm starving." he said quickly. She gave him a cold stare and said, "Okay you do that. Just avert your eyes while I am changing my clothes."
The priest removed a slender granola bar from his coat pocket and had a difficult period of resisting his masculine nature to gaze upon an unclothed woman. He gritted his teeth nervously as he heard the shirt rustle in the wind during the removal. Try not to look...try not to look...you know she's dangerous...so don't think you can just get away with measley a smack on the face! he mentally warned himself. His hunger for the granola bar had been nothing compared to what he had been resisting. Maybe just a little peek...he thought and turned to look over his left shoulder. He beheld the sight of her bare back, the slender form impressed him but the skin had been devastating! The skin displayed several round bruises and a deep slash scar that had been made at diagonal direction across her spine. "How's the granola bar?" she asked casually while unzipping the bag that resided upon the jeep's bed. His eyes turned away immediately and answered, "It's pretty good. Not as good as chocolate." "That's nice. How about I can share a few of my smores later on?" she asked. "Sure." he agreed. The scar and bruises made him ponder upon more untold details of her past. Maybe another reason behind her non talkative behavior is that she had been abused by someone. It could be another guy who did not take rejection well...he thought then furrowed his brows in deep anger, If I meet this guy I'll beat the living shit out of him!!! "Okay you can look now!" she called cheerfully.. Wolfwood released a sigh of relief and turned to look to Iris wearing a new white collared long sleeved shirt. "You look better. Let's go to the next town." he said with a smile. The two of them hopped into the jeep and sped off to their destination...
After three hours of traveling, the town they had arrived in had been anything but pleasant! There had been townspeople that had started a riot by firing guns with shouts of: "We almost had the bastard!" or "Whose idea was it to use the grenade?! He can't be identified for the reward if he's a pile of pulp, you dumbass!" Both Iris and Wolfwood frowned at this sight. "You need to work on your concealment, Vash..." she muttered softly. "What?" he asked, being puzzled. "Nothing...I'll go find this person and put him or her in a good hiding place at the local bakery. You go keep the townspeople pacified and meet me there until you are successful." she said firmly. He turned to face her with his question of : 'How did you know this?' but could not since she seemed to have disappeared out of thin air....
Iris knew she had to act quickly to find Vash. Her heart began to beat violently against her ribs as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop in a rapid yet stealth fashion. Hang in there, Vash! I'm coming! she repeated mentally. She stopped suddenly upon the thin thread of the clothesline and squinted her eyes to search for Vash's aura. The red glowing lights scattered about the town's landscape belonged to the anxious townspeople searching for their target. A grin surfaced as she noticed a bright glowing frightened yellow aura several feet away entering an alley. "I found you..." she whispered. With a leap, her hands grasped a chicken weathervane, spun around to gain enough momentum and released her grip to allow her body to be flung several meters to the next building.
Iris peeked over the edge to notice Vash entering a wooden crate to conceal himself.
She chuckled at this and performed a somersault, landing upon the ground in a squat position. "Peekabo...I see you..." she said playfully while standing erect.
"Don't hurt me!!!" he shouted in fright. "Why would I do that? It would not be very nice for a friend of yours to do." she said calmly. "Iris?!" he exclaimed with surprise.
He emerged from the crate with a stern expression on his face. "Iris! Don't you ever scare me like that again!" he shouted. "Oh lighten up, dandelion! I came to get you out of this mess. If you stay calm and cooperate then maybe...just maybe...you won't have to spend the night in a jail cell." she said firmly. "But there are people everywhere looking for me! I've never seen so many pissed off people! It's impossible!" he protested.
"It's alright. That part is already been taken care of, Vash. You are such a worry wart." she said with a giggle. "Me? A worry wart? I was calm the whole time!" he said with blushing cheeks. "Suuuuure you were. Now hold onto my hand so you won't turn astray." she said and extended her slender palm. This brings back memories he thought sarcastically and grasped her hand.
Again, Iris fled the area in the same cat-like grace with Vash in tow. It impressed her that he followed her movements perfectly with every foot fall. "You're a good student after all! I'll give this an A plus." she commented in mid jump. "Aaaaaawwww stop flattering me..." he said and blushed once more. After jumping at a thirty foot distance, they treaded along a brick wall of the back loading lot of the bakery. "We're here and try not to attract attention..." she said impatiently. "I will not attract attention. Cross my heart and hope to die." he said with a finger tracing over his chest in an x-pattern and performed a salute. Iris frowned at this and thought I hope that won't happen...
They jumped from the wall in perfect unison and walked quietly to the bakery's back door. "I'll go listen for anyone inside the building." he whispered. Vash tiptoed comically to the door and pressed his ear upon the surface with closed eyes. After what seemed to be two minutes, he said, "It's dead silence in there." "Okay, let's go inside and lay low for awhile. The bakery is a least likely place that they'll find you." she whispered. He opened the door, gestured to the entrance and said, "Ladies first."
"Alright, if you insist." she said and stepped inside.
Vash and Iris and entered the back room of the bakery quietly with their boots scraping the rough floor matt. Both of them groped their way into the darkness into order to navigate in the room. "Ow! That was my head!" Iris exclaimed and rubbed the back of her cranium. "Oops...Sorry, rainbow girl..." he said sheepishly. "You stay put. I'm going to feel along the walls for a switch." she said firmly. "Alright, but don't let the boogie man get you." he teased. "Yes daddy." she remarked. He heard her hands brush against the wall paper. "Found anything yet?" he asked. "Yeah, I found a switch but its not working," she said with a sigh, "But I found an old lantern!" "Good! Bring it here and I'll light it!" he said cheerfully. She presented the lantern to him and held it steady while he withdrew a zippo from one of his pockets and lit the wick. The flame from within its glass prison illuminated the room in a dull golden glow. "At least we can see our hands in front of our faces." she said in condescending manner. "Yeah, and I won't bonk you on the head again." he said and patted her scalp. "It's alright. At least you didn't do it on purpose." she said with a grin. Her eyes shifted to her left and the lips began to twitch in fright. "What's wrong? You're shaking like a leaf." he said with concern.
Iris extended a quivering arm and pointed toward the object of her fear. Vash turned to look in the direction and widened his eyes in horror to see a skeleton clad in an apron and chef's hat sitting at an office desk! "Scaaaaaarrrrriiiieeeee!!!!" he screamed in fright and held on to her. Her hand immediately covered his mouth and whispered in irritation:
"Do you want the whole world to hear you?!" He shook his head to indicate "no",
"Good then let's quietly exit this room shall we?" she asked and removed her hand from his mouth. Both them departed from the room to explore the next one to find it filled with ovens and cooking utensils. "It seems like this place was forgotten. I heard that they sold the best donuts on the planet in here." Vash said in disappointment. "Also fancy birthday and wedding cakes." Iris added with a gloomy sigh. "I think this is the best place to hide. No one would ever think to look in a spooky place like this." he said and shivered slightly. "Are you cold?" she asked with concern. "I just felt a slight chill go by me. It's nothing to worry about." he assured her. "Alright but we better not let our guard down for a second." she said.
Vash sat against the wall with bent legs and said, "In the meantime we need something to do in order to kill time." "Do you have any ideas?" she asked. "Well, we could play truth or dare with dice." he suggested and removed a pair of dice from one of his coat pockets. "Oh yeah! I remember the rules for this game! Whoever roles even number dice gets the truth from the other person. The odd numbers allow the person to challenge the other with a dare." she grinned while sitting across from him with folded legs. "And of course ladies go first." he said and placed the dice into her open palm. "Okay you asked for it!" she said and vigorously shook the dice in a closed fist. The dice fell to hard cement floor with little chinks at their release. One cube displayed a 2 and the other displayed a 6. "Truth: What bad habit do you have that is concealed from the world?" she asked. "You just had to ask that one..." he muttered, "Sometimes when I'm stressed about something I sleep on my stomach with my rear elevated." "That's not really that bad," she said with a chuckle, "I've known nail-biters and nose-pickers." "That's good to hear. At least I'm not alone." he said and lifted the dice from the floor. He simply allowed the dice to fall to the floor and watched them roll to separate directions upon the surface. A grin surfaced to see a 5 on one cube and 3 on the other. "Dare: I dare you to perform the most funniest voice you can do." he said. "You can't be serious..." she complained. "Come on..." he coaxed. "Here goes nothing..." she muttered. The different voice Iris acquired seemed like a cross between a chipmunk and a toddler: "What should I say to this? I'm not a professional entertainer." He laughed hysterically and said, "That was more cute than funny." "Oh gee thanks..." she muttered with blushing cheeks. "You're welcome, rainbow girl." he retorted.
Vash's face went from joyful to panic-stricken and yelled, "GET DOWN!!!!" His body leapt upon her form and shielded her from the ceiling that caved in due to loud massive gunfire. After the roof stopped falling to the floor, he breathed heavily and shouted, "Iris?! Iris, are you okay?!" "I'm fine...What about you?" she asked softly as he sat on his hunches. "Give me awhile and I will be." he replied with a sheepish grin. "You rest up for awhile. I'll go see who did this and report back in less than a minute..." she said firmly and dashed out of the door before Vash could object. "She never ceases to stop and listen to me. First the hotel and now this. I'll have to scold her later." he muttered softly while pulling himself from the rubble.
Moments later; he heard her shout from the entrance as she ran into the room; "Vash! You won't believe who did it! It's a walking arsenal in a golden skull mask with the sanity of a gerbil!" "A skull mask, huh? Sounds familiar..." he said to himself with a hand to his chin. "You know this guy?" she asked. "Yeah, and again my memory is still fuzzy..." he said with a frown, "but before we work together and apprehend this nut ball... I have something important to say." "I'm listening..." she said. "Thank you for everything. For the pancakes, the jokes, and especially that piece of advice that you left behind." "Oh...you're welcome. I guess I spoiled you too much, huh?" she asked with blushing cheeks. "Yes, you did...So what's the game plan for this guy?" he asked.
It seemed like ten seconds of serious thought and Iris raised herself upon her tiptoes and whispered the plan in his ear between cupped hands. She stood normally to see a wicked smile upon Vash's face and he lowered himself to her level and whispered into her ear,
"I love your style, rainbow girl." Both of them giggled mischievously and snuck out of the demolished building....
The "walking arsenal" had been satisfied that the citizens of the town had either fled to their hiding places or laying upon the ground bleeding from the gun shots he projected freely from his massive barrels. Certainly being oblivious to the devious duo that surveyed him closely from their secluded areas with their piercing aqua eyes...observing their prey. He heard an eerie voice that sound feminine sing: "Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha goin' to do...A whatcha goin' to do? A whatch goin' to do when they come for you?" The madman froze within his tracks, attempting to pinpoint the source of the sound but had been distracted by another voice: "Bad boys get punished." an eerie male voice said. "Bad boys get hurt." the female voice chimed. "Bad boys lose their shirt!" the male voice said. What seemed to be only two seconds the man saw a flash of silver being illuminated by the dual moonlight and the next two seconds passed to allow his clothes to fall to the sandy ground in shreds! "COME ON OUT AND FIGHT ME YA BASTARDS!!!" he shouted in fright and anger. The man shouted maniacally while spinning about like a drunken ballet dancer releasing a hot-leaded meteor shower into random buildings. "That should shut you up!" he shouted and laughed heartily. It had only been ten seconds of dead silence and he heard the crunching of several footsteps that came from either directions. He saw a red headed lady in a white shirt, black cargo pants with two Desert Eagle .50 s in each of her hands that had shot searing hot bullets into his each of his shoulders and arms, and the same type of pain being buried into the flesh of his legs and buttocks from behind him! "Now, the conversation is over!" she shouted angrily with her guns pointed at him. The man continued to stare at her in his painful stupor. "It's you...That little girl...You did this to..me..." he said and slowly displayed his burn scar that resembled a red ring that surrounded the hole. within his palm. He can't be the same guy that gave me those nightmares sixteen years ago...Can he? she thought with a bewildered expression on her face. "Iris don't let him out of your sight. Keep him here and don't let him get away." Vash urged her. "I won't...Now that I know who he is, he's not going anywhere!" she said sternly. "You're out of bullets, little girl...And I'm out of patience! I came to exterminate you two for my boss and I'm not going to delay him any further!" he shouted. Iris smirked and giggled with a shake of her head. "What so god damn funny, bitch?!" the madman shouted. "First off you shouldn't call people names and second do you really think you can out-smart us?" she asked calmly and with a twinkling of an eye, a small brown bottle had been tossed into the air. Vash shot the bottle in mid air and allowed the liquid to shower upon the man and put him to sleep instantly. "Good night, sweetheart...." Iris said sarcastically. All in a days work for Iris and Vash this time as a team!