A/N:  It's me again.  Um….  hi?

Trina:  No one cares, meteor…

A/N:  Of course they do.  Look, this story's over twenty pages long!!

Trina:  The manual for the game is over forty pages long… and is much more interesting.

A/N:  Oh shut up!  The manual was badly translated and would only fill half of those pages if it was purely text…

Trina:  I can't say much for the English skills in this thing either…

A/N:  Hey!

Trina:  Plus, half of your story is all author notes and that weird ass CRRS thing…

A/N:  Well, at least I know that it's a good idea to know a guy for more than a month before you start having his children…

Trina:  *Shoots him*

Disclaimer:  There's a myriad of ways I could say I don't own Wild Arms 3, so just imagine one and pretend I said it.

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Chapter 5

To Boot Hill

            Although he had been uninjured during the fight with Cascade, Jet still had sustained a decent leg injury caused by the fall of his horse.  Because of this, his trip to Boot Hill was delayed until April 20th.  However, his comrade-in-arms wasn't as lucky.

            Through some stroke of luck, Gallows had avoided the risks of blood loss and infection, and survived the damage dealt by the massive shuriken.  It had taken the tribe doctor nearly two and a half days to completely patch up and clean the wound, as on numerous occasions it would start to bleed through the wrappings.  And through the entire ordeal, Caradine had never woken nor stirred.  His brother Shane had worried endlessly over this, and Halle, no matter how stern she may have appeared, was hurting inwardly as well.  Anyone could have seen this, except for Jet, who never really came to visit, although he did feel bad for the guy, somewhat.

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            "You know, I don't think I'd ever seen you visit my brother."

 As to why this damn kid decided to bother while I was going to sleep, I'll never understand.  So I turned to him and replied, "So what?"

"So what?"  He gave me an incredulous glare for some reason, apparently unable to see the logic.  "Aren't you his friend?"

            Clearly, this kid hasn't been paying attention.  As calmly as I could, I answered his inquiry.  "Friend?  Don't make me laugh."  Cause my side hurts.  "I've been trying to get away from that buffoon since the day I met him.  I just have the bad luck to keep running into him.  So why, then, would I go see him of my own accord?"  I waited for this fact to sink into Shane's head.

What happened next, however, really surprised me.  "You really are a bastard…"  And with that, he turned and left. 

I was pissed.  How dare he call me that!  Did he forget that I'm the one who dragged his brother's ass all the way back here?  And why can't he realize that I have no reason to 'go visit' the dumbass?  It's not my fault that he got injured!  I'm not his teammate!  Stupid brat!!

Actually, I'm not even sure who I said that last part to.  I do know, however, that later that night, after my thoughts completely lost any semblance of order, I had another one of those weird dreams.

I hear it…  The rose's voice…

It's so beautiful…

But that damn wind is drowning it out…

The wind is growing, louder and louder…

But I don't feel it.  The air is so stagnant and still…

The wind is deafening…

It's driving me insane!  I run around frantically, trying to escape its sound.

Until I see a gloved hand reaching out of the darkess…

I reach for it...

…and grabbed Gallows arm before he could put that pot over my head again.  I laughed at him and said, "Still too slow," but then it hit me.  Gallows was up and moving about? "I thought you were supposed to be dead or something."  I said, disappointed.

"Ha!  It takes more than a mere blade to take the life of the mighty Gallows of the Blue Thunder!"  He struck a pose again, even more ridiculous than usual.  I refrained from hitting him, however, because Halle had walked into the hut and sat down near the fire.

"Blue Thunder," croaked the old hag, "is that what you call yourself nowadays?  Whatever happened to the Yellow Sun?"  When he didn't answer, she muttered, "Bah, fool…"

My curiosity got the better of me, so I asked Gallows, "So what the hell happened to you, besides the wound that nearly killed your hapless ass?"

He glared at me.  "For your information, punk, that scrawny guy got in a lucky shot with that Shuriken.  Other than that, they never touched me!  Ha!"

"And yet that one wound knocked you out for days?"

Halle butted into our conversation.  "That's because the shuriken was not a normal weapon."

"Huh?  What do you mean, Granny?"

"What I mean is this:  There was something on that weapon that should have been deadly to the touch.  And this was no mere poison, either.  It was almost as if the weapon was cursed."

Gallows blinked stupidly.  "What?"

I begrudgingly sat up.  "It means those guys had some connections to someone important, or maybe someone powerful.  Or, maybe the scrawny guy just knows voodoo or something."

"So, let me get this straight.    These guys tried to kill me with evil magic stuff, I've brushed off the effects, and now I stand triumphantly before your eyes?!  Ha!  I really am a mighty warrior!"

Halle smashed him over the head with her cane.  "Idiot!  You shouldn't even be out of bed right now!  No go lie down before I show you some real 'evil magic stuff'!"  She spit out the last three words as if they were spoiled vinegar.

Gallows leapt into bed with speed and precision.  Hell, I was almost ready to go cut and stack wood in appeasement.  This woman is scary as hell…

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            The boy's thoughts were interrupted by the whistle of the train.  A voice then came over the intercom.  "Attention passengers, please excuse the delay.  The regular four o'clock train from Westwood to Southfarm has been derailed, so we will be stopping to pick up the passengers waiting at Westwood.  Hopefully, this will add no more than an hour to the trip.  We appreciate your cooperation, and thank you for riding Filgaia Railways!"

            On that cue, the train slipped into an underground tunnel.   The intermittent yellow lights flashed by, creating a flickering light as the train traversed underneath the mountain range.  Caught by the hypnotic effect of the lighting, Jet drifted off to sleep.

            During the last month, Jet had been accustomed to being surprised.  So, ironically, it came as no surprise to him that he was surprised upon waking.  After taking a moment to realize what that meant, he looked fro whoever had woken him up. 

            "Hmph…Don't you ever knock, Clive?"

            The taller man laughed at his friend's disposition.  "It is good to see you again, as well."  He sat down across from the young Hawk, and adjusted his glasses.  "So, I've heard that you pulled a pretty big job recently."

            "Well, the job wasn't so big, but the payoff was nice."  Too bad the old hag kept half of it for "Room, board, and medical treatment…" 

            "Twenty-thousand Gella is much more than 'nice', Jet."  He removed his glasses and wiped them with a cloth from his coat pocket.  "I certainly could use that kind of money."

            "Why, you finally want to splurge on your dream craft?  What was it, the Edwin Merci d'Iago?"  Jet had known for years that Clive was awfully fond of that type of Sandcraft.  Back when they used to work together, the older man would be easily distracted whenever they went to the port city of Jolly Roger.  Of course, this was before he met Catherine.

            "No, that's not it.  You see, I'm going to be a father!"  He put his glasses back on, and pushed them up on his nose. 

Jet could tell he was excited.  And in an uncharacteristic move, he responded with equal enthusiasm.  Well, sort of. "Bout time!  God, aren't you like forty by now?"  He laughed at that, knowing full well that Clive was only thirty.

Clive laughed, too.  "Well, what can I say?"

Something dawned on Jet at that moment.  "Wait, if Catherine's pregnant, then what the hell are you doing out here?  You didn't come onboard just to tell me that."

Clive looked nervous.  Adjusting his glasses again, he took a deep, calming breath before responding, "I have some business to attend to, west of Boot Hill." 

"What business?"  Jet felt that something still wasn't right.  But when Clive didn't answer, he knew better than to press into it.  Instead, he asked some general questions about Clive's plans for the baby.

"….well, if it's a girl, we're going to name her Kaitlyn…."

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A/N:  Hm…. Not as long as it could be….but oh well.  Stay tuned:  Next time, it's mystery and excitement on the southernmost continent on Filgaia!

CRRS:

Teefa85:  Yeah, they are funny.  I think I may be overplaying the "Scary Halle" thing, but… so what?  It's funny!  Wah ha ha ha ha!!!!

Black Waltz 0:  I haven't posted in a while…. That was back when he was calling me master…  Sorry it took so damn long!!!

Hypes:  Yep, it's like one of those 'buddy cop' sorta things.  Except I haven't worked out which one is Jackie Chan and which one is Chris Tucker…

Skylark Starflower:  For the life of me, I can't think of whatever you were talking about!  Did something happen to Ruskin?  (Trina:  If I find out that you did something to Ruskin…….)

JayJay-Sawada:  I hope that scene doesn't conjure up memories of the bean symphony in Blazin' Saddles…..

aya-yahiko:  No need to apologize.  (A/N:  Gomen Muyo?  Trina:  Shut up and respond to her review!)  I'm the one who should apologize.  I haven't updated in over a month….  I know Yahiko must have a hard head by now… but still….should you really be hitting him so hard?  (A/N:  Run away!!  Trina: *Shoots meteor9*)