A/N Well, I'm back. I CAN'T do this 1st-person anymore! It's driving me insane, so it's gonna stop now! Sorry, Hypes, I know you want it to stay, but it's got to go if this story will ever be finished!
And no, Ginny is not in this chapter. She's about….. WAIT! I can't reveal so much! What am I thinking?!
Debatin' whether or not to introduce one of those 'muse' type characters. If I ever do decide, I'll have auditions.
I moved the CRRS to the bottom, so that it's easier to read the story.
Um… yeah….
I don't own WA3. Never will. I won't make any money from this, either. In fact, it'll probably cost me in the end. Oh well, such is life.
Chapter 4
River Cascade!
He woke up in the cot again, this time his head trauma was complimented by a sore back. Taking a quick look around, Jet realized it was early morning. Pale light streamed in from the windows, giving the stone building a surreal look.
"So you're awake. That's good."
Jet's eyes snapped wide open, and began to dart around, searching for the owner of the voice. He found the origin, a short, stooped old woman, probably in her seventies or eighties, sporting a feathered headdress, a wooden cane, and a very detailed, native dress. Despite her age, her face bore a strong determination, and as such, really didn't look too happy.
"Ugh…where am I?" was what Jet stammered out, his head ringing.
"Baskar Colony. Some passengers from that train wreck brought you and my good-for-nothing grandson here." She thrust her can at the next cot over, jabbing the occupant in the face. "Wake up!"
"Aw, geez, granny! I was having a great dream!"
"Go get some firewood, and get the fire going downstairs." When nothing happened, she closed her eyes and shouted "Now, idiot!"
The other person leapt to their feet, and started heading over to the stairs. On the way past my cot, he stopped and said, "Hey, you finally woke up, punk!"
Great, I'm bunking with Gallows now, Jet thought. "So, who are you supposed to be?"
"Ingrate! Not so much as even a thank you!" Jet recoiled as the old woman turned her rage onto him. "My name is Halle, you little punk. Now, who are you?"
"Jet…" Jet was trying to maintain his cold, nonchalant attitude, but it looked rather comical with his back pressed against the wall, although he had stopped shaking. "Jet Enduro."
"Well, young one, you've got a lot to learn about manners!" As she continued on her tirade, a groggy Gallows stumbled back into the building and dropped a load of wood on the ground, letting it clatter and thump haphazardly. Halle immediately heard this and marched over to the railing, the same one Jet had fallen over before, and returned her attention to Carradine. "Idiot! Don't make such a mess! Haven't I taught you anything about respect?!"
Jet would have taken the time to watch and be amused at the big guy's misfortune, but he was too busy slipping back into unconsciousness…
I can't see anything…
Wait, I think I see something up ahead…
It's small, though. Let me see…
Ah… a flower… rose…
Damn… I pricked myself on one of its thorns…
Great, I'm bleeding now.
I shouldn't be bleeding this much from a prick, though.
What the hell is going on? The rose… it's wilting in my hand…
Ugh… I think I'm losing too much blood...
"Wake up…"
The rose? Is the rose speaking to me?
It has a beautiful voice…
"Wake up…"
Gallows poked him again and yelled "Hey, punk, wake up! Come on!" When he got no response from the boy, he tried pushing him with his boot. "Damn it, kid, wake your ass up!" Nothing. He grabbed the young man by the collar and shook him, which, in response, barely evicted a groan. "Aw, Granny's gonna be fuming if I don't wake him up soon…"
Taking a look around, Gallows ran over to one of the shelves in the room. Grabbing a large, metal saucepot, he crept back over to Jet's bedside. As carefully as he could, he sat Jet up in the bed. Taking the pot in one hand, he slipped it over the boy's head, and in the other hand, he drew his sawed-off Coyote M17F shotgun. He raised his right arm, preparing to swing at the saucepot, when suddenly his stomach became the epicenter of a huge amount of pain. Pulling his fist back, Jet smirked underneath his culinary helmet.
"Next time you try that you're gonna get shot." The attempt at cartoon fallacy had failed, although Jet sounded kinda funny with his head still in the pot.
Gallows glared daggers at him from his perch on the floor, still hunched over his stomach. What pissed him off the most, however, is how he never saw the strike coming. "Urgh…well…now that you're awake…we have to get going. Granny wants to talk to you…ugh…"
At the mention of Halle, fear filled Jet's lavender eyes…
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The first thing Jet noticed upon entering the northern cavern was the look on face of it's occupant. If he had thought she looked angry before, then now she was downright enraged!
"What took you so long, Gallows?"
Gallows nervously rubbed the back of his head and said "Um… well, you see… I tried to wake him up like five times or so, and on the last time…well…I finally got him up, isn't that what's important?"
His rambling only made Halle angrier. "Don't be so insolent! We've got important matters to discuss!" She waved her cane, signaling for the two approach the back wall of the cavern.
"Obviously you two are well aware of the train robbery the other day. However, do either of you know what was so valuable on that train?" She stopped, receiving blank stares from Jet and Gallows. "I didn't think so. That train was carrying a very important Baskar artifact called the Ark Scepter."
"Wait a minute, Granny! You mean the ancient relic that allowed communication with the Spirit of Filgaia?" Gallows was noticeably shocked.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. It has an estimated value of thirty-two million Gella on the black market, which would explain the utter recklessness of the attack."
"Scepter, huh? That's probably what I got knocked out with."
Just then, a oddly-dressed boy stumbled into the cave, out of breath. "Grandmother! We've found the train-robbers!"
Gallows' expression flew through numerous contortions, starting with surprise, shifting to recognition, then to an excited happiness, and then back to surprised, all within the space of a few seconds. "Little bro'! How's it go-" He stopped himself abruptly, and just as suddenly continued "You found them?"
"Ah, it's good to see you up and about, brother," he stated, with a happy look of his own. He turned to Jet and added, "And you too, mister."
Halle angrily launched in with "Get to the point, Shane. There'll be plenty of time for chatter later! Where are the train-robbers?"
Returning his features to seriousness, the young boy responded, "Near the sand river west of here. No more than an hour away on horseback."
No longer willing to sit about, Jet hastily darted towards the entrance to the cavern. Nobody was willing to stop him, either. Gallows watched him run off, and then looked back to the old woman, then to the entrance, then back to Halle, and finally, he too ran out of the cave.
"Don't mess this up, grandson."
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Having borrowed a pair of horses from the colony, one black and one mahogany, it was a rather quick journey. There wasn't any conversation, as the young Hawk seemed determined to fill the robbers full of lead as swiftly as possible, and the Baskar had no intentions of interfering with his train of though.
The two men crossed the plains with great speed, sending any creatures in their path leaping out of the way. A few Balloons barely avoided being trampled, themselves. As the pair approached the end of the plain, reaching the two cliff-faces that formed an opening, they spotted a thin trail of smoke rising into the sky.
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"Dario… pass the beans…"
"Huh? Oh, sure thing, Romero."
The man with the oddly colored blue hair watched his cronies, slightly annoyed. "Beans? Couldn't you idiots make something a bit less stereotypical? Cooks some damn corn or something." Sitting on his rock, he took a swig of his flask.
Rolling his eyes, Romero grumbled, "Buy us something different, and maybe we'd cook it, Janus."
Struggling to keep a vein in his forehead from exploding, Janus leapt to his feet, and shouted triumphantly "Don't worry about that anymore, boys. After today, the Cascade Gang'll never have to cook there own meals again! We're gonna be rich!" With that, he thrust his bayonet into the air, striking a very impressive pose. Dario started clapping and cheering, while Romero just went back to eating his beans.
However, the small man never expected the bowl to be shot out of his hands. Charging over the hill was the two men who had almost botched their escape, both with guns blazing.
While Dario and Romero scrambled to get their weapons, Janus jumped over their heads and began his own charge, bayonet ready. Picking his target, he leveled the blade, dodging gunfire the whole time, and thrust forward with all of his strength. The ebony mare tumbled, its lifeblood spilling, sending Jet careening through the air. Removing his weapon from the dying horse, Janus turned to face his opponent, who had landed on his feet.
"You again, boy? Should you be fighting with that injury?" he mocked, pointing at the boy's arm. This only made Jet angrier, and he resumed firing. Janus darted to the left, rolled the right, and executed more evasive maneuvers until he was within striking range of the Hawk. Using an overhead swing, he attacked. However, the blade was blocked by the young boy's own ARM, creating a power struggle as one man tried to overpower the other.
Dario was easily dispatched with a right hook, leaving only Romero for Gallows to face. The wiry man drew his shuriken and licked his lips. "Looking for another takedown, Hawk?"
Gallows chuckled, and answered "You're just a sneaky little son of a gun. We're in broad daylight here, there's nowhere to sneak around this time!" Aiming the Coyote at Romero's chest, he pulled the trigger.
After losing the pushing match, Janus tumbled to the ground, and was introduced to the butt of the Airget-lamh. Smiling at his handiwork, Jet strode over to the campsite and recovered the Ark Scepter. It was a simple design, merely a gold rod with a claw-like grip at the end. However, it looked as if something should have been in the staff's grip. Walking over to the recovering Dario, he clubbed the back of the grunt's head. "Payback's a bitch, ain't it?"
With a shuriken firmly embedded in his shoulder, Gallows stood triumphant. Beneath him, with numerous gunshot wounds in the leg, lay Romero. However, due to blood loss, Gallows vision blurred a bit. "Feelin' woozy…." With that, the big man toppled. Reluctantly, Jet carried the man to his horse, threw him onto the saddle, and began the long walk back to the colony.
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A/N Oh, the action! What can I say right now…. hm… maybe I made the Cascade gang to easy to topple. Hm… oh well! Yet another chapter to come, hopefully in less than a month, this time…
CRRS:
Teefa85: I can't wait either. That would mean that I've actually been writing instead of procrastinating! I tried to make Romero seem less…um…dumb this time. Dario, however, is hopeless.
Hypes: Holy ego-boosters, Batman! I've been likened to Cowboy Bebop! One of the GREATEST animes ever! Wah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! (Continues ranting…) Thanks! (I'm so full of myself. Please forgive me!!!)
Skylark Starflower: Heh heh, now that we've got that 'typhoon' cleared up (you know what I'm talking about)…. thanks for the review!
aya-yahiko: Thanks for the review, guys! Although, you might be a bit off on the "Jet is actually the justice-abiding one and Virginia is the self-acclaimed bandit" Heh heh! All will be revealed soon enough! Mwa ha ha ha!! (I'm such an idiot…)