Disclaimer: *jumps up and down while holding a small box* Yay! I've got Trigun! I've got Trigun! I've got- wait… this isn't the Deeds To Trigun, this is a DVD……. *looks sad* oh well, no Trigun for me today -_-

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Storm

A/N: Hey again! Another advertisement from me for the great Trigun fanfic, Gunpowder and Blood, by Chibi Kenie Loves Her Drum! Thanks for the advert in your latest chappy! Also, sorry it's rather short, time has been elusive lately.

"..And that's when I knew I 'd fallen in love with her." Vash finished. Rhianne stared at him, enraptured, her eyes starry "that's so sweet!" she gushed, throwing her arms around him. Vash blushed a little and hugged back. The girl pulled herself from him and turned to Knives, who was looking skyward, moving one of the strange vulture-like, nameless, birds that inhabited the planet with his mind.

"Isn't that cute Knives?" Rhianne smiled, clasping her hands together and tilting her head to the side a little. Knives looked from the bird to her, an expression of pure boredom smeared across his face "I try not to listen to his drivel" he stated sourly before moving his eyes back to the bird in the sky.

"I find it ridiculous that he can feel any emotion but disgust for a spider like her" he sneered, not removing his eyes from the sky. Vash glared at him, while Rhianne moved to his side, gripping his forearm "but you don't mind having emotions towards me, do you?" she asked coyly. Knives narrowed his eyes for a moment, and large white splatter appeared on the forehead of a man across the street as the bird flew away. Knives smiled and turned to her

"Your case is much different; you are a superior being like myself, therefore making it acceptable for me to feel any emotion towards you." Rhianne nuzzled his shoulder.

"I think I should be flattered" she smiled and leaned back halfway, before cocking her head to one side. She stayed that way for a moment, before jumping from her seat and knocking Knives to the floorboards.

She landed atop him, her hands sprawled over his chest and her torso pressed against his. Her head rose from its place between his head and his neck, looking around frantically. She jumped up and glanced nervously around. Knives glared at her darkly "what was that for?" he demanded, rising to his feet. Rhianne swiveled around and looked behind her, narrowing her eyes at a nearby building. Knives snatched her arm and pulled her violently towards him

"I said, what was that for?" he hissed, obviously trying not to shout. Rhianne's eyes traveled past his eyes, which bored into hers, and she paused for a moment, narrowed her eyes again "well? What is your explanation this time, woman?" he snarled. Without answering, Rhianne extended her hand past his head and clenched her teeth.

"Look at your feet" she hissed through her clenched teeth. Knives' eyes moved to the wooden boards, and saw the small hole, still smoking, that could have only been made by a bullet. Swiveling around, he saw why her hand was extended past his skull: a bullet hovered inches from his head. Rhianne sighed, and the bullet, shiny in the sunlight, fell with a hollow thud to the boards.

From his left, a shot rang out, and he was tackled to the floor again. He glared at Rhianne, who had jumped to her feet, eyes searching frantically for the sniper.

"Would you stop doing that woman?" he snarled, jumping to his feet as well "I can defend myself from the spiders, I've been fending for my brother and myself my whole life!"

The sound of another shot cut through the humid air, reaching his ears just in time for him to duck out of the way of a large bullet. It flew over his head, exploding on the wooden veranda of the restaurant, showering the trio with bits of wood and sand.

"Vash!" Rhianne cried from her place beneath a table. The blonde was kneeling over a few feet away. He turned to face her, worry clouding his aqua orbs, and blood was smeared across his forehead.

"Are you alright?" she shouted, trying to be heard over the rattle of a machinegun, extending her hand to stop the shower of bullets directed at her and Knives, whose hands were clenched firmly around his black colt.

"I'm fine!" Vash shouted back "it's her that needs help!" he moved around to display a small child cradled in his arms. Her short black hair lay, matted with blood, across her blood-smeared face. Her small frame shuddered violently, causing more blood to gush from the wound in her neck to spill onto her sunshine yellow shirt and leak to her sky blue shorts. A little bag was clenched in her shaking hands as she turned and looked at Rhianne, and the plant could already see the spark of life fading in her pupils.

"Bring her here!" she commanded, extending her other hand towards him and thickening the air around him to create a bubble. Vash got up slowly, making sure not to hurt the child, and grabbed a nearby table, pushing it up in front of himself as a shield.

He plopped down before her heavily, as though he shared the child's pain. He placed the child on the ground as a loud shot rang out from behind her. She swirled around and Vash looked up to see the barrel of Knives' gun smoking, a malicious grin smeared across his face.

"Got him right between his spider eyes" he smiled, and in an instant he had set his sights on a man atop the hotel across the street. In a flash, Vash had latched himself to his brother's arm

"Knives, no! You can't kill them!" he shouted over the gunfire and the hollow sounds of the bullets falling to the ground against Rhianne's mental shield. The ice-eyed plant glared darkly at his sibling "then they will kill you Vash" he spat before turning back to his target, nailing him in the shoulder. He whirled on Vash, knocking him in the head with the butt of his gun "you naïve little pacifist! He is an insignificant piece of filth! Think nothing of him and help me!"

Vash glared up at his brother through the crimson liquid leaking into his eyes from the gnash the gun had caused on his forehead, and allowed his shining tears to mix with it before sighing and standing. He wiped the blood out of his eyes with his gun arm, disregarding the fact that the reason he had it was standing next to him, and took aim at the kneecap of another sniper atop the hotel.

He pulled on the trigger reluctantly, wincing as the man cried out and fell out of sight. He turned back to Rhianne and the child, trying to ignore Knives' gleeful laughter each time he pulled the trigger.

"Is she gonna be okay?" he asked hopefully, not wanting to hear the answer. Rhianne turned to him and sighed heavily "see this? It's not good" she pointed to where the blood was coming from: a clean puncture in the little girl's throat. Vash winced. Rhianne sighed.

"Here's the bullet" she stated, wiping away some of the blood, revealing the raw pink tissue beneath, and the glittering black bullet lodged within "if we don't get this out, she'll die." Vash looked anxiously at her "can you do it?" he asked helplessly. Rhianne sighed.

"She might die in the process, Vash." She held the child close, feeling the blood seep through her shirt, warm against her skin. The girl shifted, and looked up at the female plant, chocolate eyes filled with wonder. An indiscernible, sickening gurgle came from within her throat, but her mental voice rung loud and clear in the plant's mind

Are you an angel?

Tears sprung in Rhianne's eyes and she hugged the child closer, burying her face in her bloody hair

No dear child, we don't want you to see those just yet…