Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, blah, blah, blah… just read the story.
Chapter Nineteen: The Humanoid Typhoon
The pale sand crunched solemnly beneath Rhianne's boots as she walked along, the hot early evening light of the twin suns beating down upon her back. She sighed with exhaustion and shut her downcast eyes against the sand carried by the lazy wind. She pulled her shawl closer around her and rubbed her tear-stained eyes.
She had ceased crying not too long ago, when the wind had picked up and the sand carried in it stuck to her tears and made her pores itch. She had stopped tearing, true, but she knew more tears would come eventually. She wasn't over Knives, not by a long shot.
As her aqua eyes moved back to the horizon of the dusty plains, her heart leapt as she caught sight of the claw-like protrusions of a plant looming over the town like a bird protecting its nestling. Rhianne felt her pace quicken until she was in an all-out dash towards the city limits, her cloak flapping like a sheet in the wind behind her.
"Finally!" she cried joyfully, jumping into the air and throwing her arms skyward, her palms flat against the light of the suns. She landed, continuing to run as the cracked, white plaster of the buildings became visible on the flat horizon. Rhianne's feet, which earlier had complained due to the excess walking mere moments earlier, felt like lead weights had been lifted from as she loped through the desert, as happy as a kid at Christmas. Her mind was racing and her heart felt light at the prospect of a hot bath and a full meal.
She bounded into town, nearly colliding with several people as she danced her way between them, making her way to a building labeled "café" with an awkward grace. She literally rolled through the swinging doors and landed on her feet, catching the attention of everyone in the crowded bar, their quizzical looks causing bubbly laughter to boil over her lips. She was the focus of attention for a few moments, until the people got bored at staring at the strange woman, and then returned to their collective groups, and she was able to make her way to the bar without interruption.
Seating herself on the barstool, Rhianne removed her cloak and stuffed it hastily into her pack before calling the man working the bar over. The barkeep, a middle-aged brunette balding man with a small potbelly sauntered over and inquired as to what she wanted to drink.
"A plate of linguini and a beer." Rhianne stated flatly, pulling her matted hair back into her trademark ponytail. The man stared at her, his mouth hanging slightly ajar in a fashion that annoyed the woman greatly. "Beg pardon miss?" he asked, scratching his thin hair, combed over in a desperate attempt to hide the large bald spot adorning his head.
"I said, a plate of linguini and a beer please." Rhianne shot back without hesitation, finger-combing her windblown hair. "Aren't you sure you don't want something… lighter?" the barkeep asked hesitantly. The girl cocked an eyebrow "I'm positive, why do you ask?"
"Well," the man started slowly, cleaning out a mug with his apron "most women don't order hard liquor." Rhianne allowed herself a quick laugh at the man, more of a bark then anything else "well I'm not 'most women', so my beer and linguini please." The man looked slightly miffed, but set to making the drink nonetheless. Allowing the man to wander out of her peripheral vision, Rhianne set to examining the people in the bar.
It was a rather large café, with six circular tables, with four metal chairs apiece, most of which were taken by groups of young people. Families took most of the tables in the middle, the children all eating burgers and the like; but a few were taken by groups of rowdy teenagers and the odd couple. Absently she paused to wonder if Knives would ever take her out for dinner; most likely not, there would be far too many 'vermin' around for his tastes anyway.
A large, beaten table in the far corner caught her attention, as did the umbrella of cEigarette smoke under which sat several men, each with cards in their hands and guns and their hips. Rhianne's face involuntarily took on a disgusted look as she observed the large, thick gray could above the men; she found smoking to be a habit most disgusting and unsanitary.
"They're bounty hunters." The bartender stated matter-of-factly. Rhianne turned to him "really?" She crinkled her nose. They looked rather dirty and scummy, not like the ones she'd met back home. They were all quite well-dressed and well-groomed, with very few exceptions to that unspoken rule; the geeks of the bounty hunter world, these guys would have been. She frowned in their direction, hoping that her mother had been wrong about dirtiness being contagious.
"Don't take kindly to their kind?" The barkeep asked as he plunked her beer down on the wood of the bar. She turned to him "it's not them, really. I don't like smokers. They smell and taste bad, plus they spend all their money on cigarettes."
"Cigars are much more popular nowadays." The barkeep offered. Rhianne shook her head lightly "nope. Anything related to smoking is bad. It kills you from the inside out, and you do it to yourself. Frankly, I find smokers to be rather pathetic people to have to rely on something that petty for happiness."
The barkeep blinked for a moment, as if trying to understand that an insightful statement like that had just come from the innocent-looking woman sitting before him that looked like she knew more of the bed than of the mind. She looked at him, amused by the look on his face, and it struck him that had he been ten years younger, he would have liked very much to court her. But he cast his thoughts aside as a shout from the kitchen from Leo, the cook. He turned around and grabbed the plate of linguini from the window linking the kitchen to the restaurant.
"Mm, thanks!" the girl stated, and dug into her linguini with gusto. She stuffed for a moment, thinking only of the gaping hole in her stomach, but a small gasp brought her out of her binge with a startled "mm?"
She looked up at the bartender, a large noodle hanging from her saucy lips. He was giving her a quizzical look. Realizing he had been indicating her lack of manners, she slurped the noodle up and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, trying her best to seem dainty. At his doubtful look, she snorted loudly and covered her mouth with a napkin to hide the food that had fallen out.
"So much for manners." He stated laughingly. Rhianne smiled behind her napkin and finished off her plate. Gulping down the beer, she placed the empty mug on the plate and pushed it towards the barkeep "best. Dinner. Ever." She stated "how much'll that be?" she asked, reaching back into her pack and pulling out a small wallet.
"25$$" the barkeep stated, walking over to an old-fashioned cash register. Rhianne followed him and opened up her wallet, exposing a few coins and placing them in his palm.
"There." She stated happily "keep the change." She turned to leave, but the loud, irritated voice of the barkeep stopped her in her tracks. "What change? What the hell kinda money is this, lady?"
Rhianne turned around and walked back to the register and pointed to the money "this is Farren, a currency used on most planets in the solar system." She counted the six coins she had deposited in his hand "six Farren is equal to 28$$, so you can keep the change." She smiled a little and looked up him, hoping silently that he would understand and she could leave and find herself a place to sleep.
"I have no clue what your talking about, lady. But you'll better cut the crap and pay up, or I'm gonna have to take you to the sheriff." Rhianne's jaw dropped slightly at her shock. People here didn't use Farren? She had known that they were behind in the times, but hadn't thought that they were this far behind. She shrugged helplessly.
"Can't I do dishes or something to pay for it?" she asked, trying not to blush at the amount of unwanted attention she was getting because of her slip-up. The barkeep put a finger to his chin thoughtfully and sighed with defeat "I suppose so, but don't go making up any wild stories again, little lady, or you'll get yourself into some real trouble." He smiled lightly and ushered her though a doorway and into the kitchen.
Pots and pans hung from the ceiling by long horizontal poles, while the walls were lined with large, soapy tubs on one side, and several stoves, deep-fryers, and the like cluttering the other wall. The room smelled of grease and sweat, and instantly Rhianne wondered of the quality of her food as the barkeep shouted "Leo!" into the smoky air.
Instantly, a large man lumbered out of the fog-like smoke towards them. He was a tall, well-built man with curly brown hair, pulled back by a hairnet. His hands were large and strong looking, like those of bear. His neck was large and made his head look irregularly small. He was dressed in a dirty white shirt and faded, equally dirty, blue jeans under a long crisp apron, oddly clean against the messiness of the rest of his attire.
"She tried to get out of payin'." The barkeep grunted and pushed Rhianne towards him.
"No problem." Leo scoffed and wheeled her over to a large basin, already full of bubbles and with large piles of dirty dishes next to it.
"Clean these and you're off." He grunted. Rhianne looked at the piles of plates and the like "all this?" she uttered, raising her eyebrows. She turned to find that Leo had left, and sighed heavily; time was wasting.
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Rhianne sighed as another pile of dishes was shoved towards her and immersed her hands in the murky, dirty water with a disheartened sigh. She must have been here for hours, and the dishes seemed to keep on coming. What did they think she was, some sort of slave? Her ears suddenly caught the sound of a fight coming from the restaurant, and she leaned towards the doorway in curiosity. A tall blonde man, wearing a long red coat and big black boots, and sporting the strangest hairstyle Rhianne had ever seen was fighting a loosing battle with the barkeep.
"Wait! I have a friend who works here! They'll pay!" he cried in a ridiculously high voice, obviously trying to sound pathetic. The bartender took none of it "who's that?" he demanded warily. The blonde put a finger to his chin thoughtfully.
"Walt?" he asked hopefully. The barkeep snorted "nope, ain't never been a man working here by that name. In the back buddy, you're gonna scrub the dishes until your bill's paid off, y'hear?" he stated roughly, pushing the blonde into the kitchen. He ushered the man to the sink next to her, indicated to the large pile of dishes next to him, and left. The blonde sighed.
"I hate dishes." He wailed, dropping to the floor in apathetic heap. Rhianne nudge him gently and helped him to his feet "welcome to the club" she stated laughingly before turning back to her dishes.
"Say, what did you do? How come you didn't have enough money to pay?" she asked as she scrubbed a piece of lasagna off a grimy plate. The blonde sighed "I bought a guy a drink and he used up all of my money, and then some." Rhianne gave him a quizzical look "he'd he manage that?" Another sigh.
"I went to the bathroom and he ordered drinks for everyone-on my bill." He said, working the lettuce off a fork with a cloth. "Ah I see." Rhianne smiled.
"What about you?" he asked, "you look like the kind of woman that has money, so what's your story?" Rhianne gave him a steady look, and contemplated the man before her. She knew instantly what he was, and assumed it safe to tell.
"I guess its safe to tell you." She stated, pulling out her wallet and producing a few Farren coins "this is Farren, a type of money used to exchange the different currency of planets. Obviously, Gunsmoke isn't that advanced." She added bitterly.
The man looked at her for a moment, letting her words sink in. He raised his eyebrows and leaned in slightly. "What's your name?" he asked quietly, as if her name were a big secret he'd rather not tell.
"Rhianne De LaTour" she stated simply, and went back to scrubbing a particularly dirty pot full of leftover stew. The blonde blinked at her for a moment and then asked a question the made her heart skip a beat "do you know a man named… Knives?" he asked hesitantly.
Rhianne's eyes widened and her head shot up and her gaze locked on him "who did you say just now?" she demanded, leaning closer. "Millions Knives." The man repeated "do you know him?" Rhianne began to shake, and had to lean on the countertop for fear of falling over.
"Y-yes. I do…why?" she uttered at last. A look of recognition flooded the blonde's features as he smiled at her "ah, so you're the infamous Rhianne."
"What are you talking about? Hey buddy, just who are you anyway?" she demanded, the familiar feeling of confusion sweeping over her, accompanied by the feeling of violation. How did he know about her?
"Well" the blonde man stated, putting his hand to his chin, index finger pointing out in what she assumed he thought to be a suave manner "I chase the elusive mayfly called 'love', search for-ow!" Rhianne had smacked him upside the head.
"Don't be stupid. Who are you." She asked again. He rubbed his head "oww…" he paused and took in the look on Rhianne's face, telling him that if he valued his future children, he'd better answer her question.
"My name is" he leaned in close to her, his breath tickling her ear "Vash." Rhianne pulled away "you mean as in-"
"No! Certainly not the Humanoid Typhoon- not me!" Vash said, throwing his hands up into the air "No you baka, Knives' brother." Rhianne stated, sighing.
"Yes…" Vash stated slowly, as if he didn't relish the affiliation to the other plant. Rhianne turned to him again "so…how do you know about me? Knives doesn't seem very keen on talking to you telepathically or otherwise, so what's the deal?"
"Even though Knives doesn't like to talk to me much, we can both sense each other's emotions, and his feelings for you came in loud and clear. Naturally, I became curious and probed his mind a little. That's where I found out about you." The male plant stated simply, sounding rather embarrassed to have read his brother's thoughts but defensive at the same time.
"I see…" Rhianne allowed her voice to trail off, allowing Vash to speak something that caused her to nearly drop the plate in her hand.
"He loves you, you know." He stated quietly. Rhianne gasped a little and put the plate on the counter; turning to him, she regarded him with wide-eyes amazement "what?"
"He loves you. As much as he tries to dismiss it, he knows how he feels." Vash pointed out again, immersing his hands in the soapy water "I know my brother, and I also know how he feels for you. I wouldn't be surprised if he was looking for you at this very moment."
"I hope so." Rhianne sighed loudly. She heard the sound of raised voices in the restaurant, and heard the door swing open gently. She became aware of eyes on her back, almost feeling the daggers that their gaze contained. Her scrubbing motions froze, the plate fell into the sudsy water as her back stiffened and her nerves cramped. She drew in a deep breath and felt her eyes widen slightly.
"Vash?" she asked after a few minutes of silence, looked up at Vash. He eyes were narrowed, looking glassy and fierce. His hands were clenched tightly at his sides, one hanging near a pocket in his jacket. His steady gaze traveled past her and to the doorway, where the light was obscured by the figure of a man.
"Hello brother." He stated icily.
A/N: Ahaha! Cliffhangers galore! R&R and I'll post sooner…. ^_^
