Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun

Thanks to reviewers:

Blu and TK...and Knives '

Knives: I am not that lazy!!

Angel: Sure you're not, that's why you get all your henchmen to do the dirty work.

Knives: That is untrue.

Angel ' Thanks for your review anyway!

Knives: Yeah...thanks a lot... ¬ ¬

Surge:

Here is your update, I'm really glad you are enjoying it and thanks for your review.

Dueser:

Thanks for your really nice reviews, they really mean a lot to me and help keep me going. But don't put yourself down about your writing, you are just as good as me if not better, and I'm not just saying that to make you feel better, it's the truth! Glad you didn't mind the cliffhanger and here is the update!

Silverado:

I'm glad you like this story...I never realized how hard it would be to keep two fics up and running at the same time. My fingers are going to be totally worn out at this rate. But it's worth it if people are enjoying it. So thanks for your reviews and I hope this chapter is good enough .

Neptune Butterfly:

Looks at the Jambalaya looks pretty tasty I would let Knives try some...but he seems to have his hand full with that cute kitty. Anyway thanks for your review and I hope you enjoy this chapter, you'll have to wait and see who this mystery girl is...Maybe it'll be revealed in this chapter, but until I write it I guess we'll have to see. Between you and me...I don't know who it is either...-;

Dustdragon:

Don't worry, I'm sure Vash will be fine and if he isn't...well...they have donuts in heaven don't they? Just kidding, thanks for your review and enjoy this chapter.

Rainy-days13:

Ahh yes, wouldn't we all goes into dream mode

Knives: Hey don't start doing that again.

Ignore him...anyway thanks for your review, and I forgive your dirty mind because I have one too! But then I'm guessing most people do.

Baz:

Thanks for your comment, ones like that are the most helpful, I guess I didn't write that part very well. What I meant was saying that Vash only uses his gun arm as a last resort so he didn't have the means to protect anyone unless he used it...but it didn't come out that way did it...o well thanks for pointing it out and I may change it when I have the time.

Puchiko:

Ahh I didn't mean to make anyone cry...but I'm glad it was a strong enough chapter to be able to do that. Well I hope you like this chapter just as much.

Ashley:

Thank you for the comments and I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.

Knives: Can someone get this stupid cat away from me!

Kuroneko: Nyaa!! Chases Knives around

Angel: What and ruin our source of entertainment.

Knives: I hate you.

Angel: Good.

Knives: Climbs onto a rock so am I going to wake up in this stupid chapter?

Angel: I don't think so...

Knives: What!!! Why the hell not?

Angel: Because I don't want you causing trouble while Meryl and Vash aren't there.

Knives: Oh please rolls eyes what could I possibly do?

Angel: You're supposed to be the superior - you figure it out!!

Legato: Can't we all just get along?

Angel and Knives: Shut up!

Legato: Fine.

Angel: Okay on to the next chapter!

Knives: ...

Kuroneko: Nyaa!!

Knives: O.O Ahh!

Chapter 4 - He could feel life's energy draining away

It was cold, deathly cold and her whole body felt numb as if it didn't belong to her, but to someone else. Part of her was aware that she wasn't actually awake, but around her everything seemed real, a little too real. Trembling fiercely she stepped forwards out of the shadows and into a brilliant light, which streamed down upon her from the twin suns. They seemed to glow even brighter than usual and the brilliant blues of the sky contrasted deeply with them. No clouds could be seen and raising her face to the light breeze she called out his name.

The silence was strangely deafening and as she glanced around her she realized there was nothing. No animals...no people, no buildings...nothing except desert. The desert itself was a golden beauty that belonged to no one but itself and she felt as if just standing upon it was intruding. Then glancing down at the blistered ground below she noticed something strange about her appearance.

Her whole body was transparent and she jumped back in shock, raising her hand in front of her face she stared at the desert she could see through it. 'I'm a ghost' she thought, 'did that knock to the head...kill me?' Her chest tightened and she battled with the tears, which stung her eyes. She opened her mouth and called his name again - the name of her desire - but found that her voice no longer existed.

Then the two suns that had been blazing moments before fell from the sky and disappeared, casting her into the thickest darkness she had ever known. Never had she believed darkness could be so terrifying and she opened her mouth to give a silent scream, hoping beyond anything else that this wasn't all death had to offer.

Meryl sat bold upright trying to calm her breathing, which was causing her lungs to ache. Trembling slightly she ran her fingers through her raven hair and searched for the spot where she had been struck. As her fingers came into contact with the tender spot a wave of nausea forced her to lie back again. She leaned back against what she thought was a wall until it moved and she gave a surprised cry and tried to pull away, but was stopped by a strong arm wrapping around her waist.

"Don't worry, it's just me." Came a soft voice which made Meryl's heart leap with joy. She wasn't dead and more importantly she wasn't alone.

"Where are we?" She asked quietly as she leaned back against him, letting her taut muscles relax. Vash tensed suddenly and stifled a cry as she knocked his injured side and it was then that she remembered he had been shot. Instantly she broke away from him and swiveled round to face him, her eyes filled with worry.

"I don't know..."He replied with a slight pained tone.

"Did the bullet pass through?" Meryl asked urgently as she reached down and laid a hand against his wound before looking up at his face, searching for the answer in his eyes.

"I think so...ouch!" He complained as she reached round to his back to feel for an exit.

"Sorry." She murmured. "It's too dark to see, but we need to get a bandage or something to stop the bleeding...although I think its slowing because of the shirt." She explained.

"It'll be fine, I've been through worse." He laughed slightly and Meryl raised her head to look into his eyes once more.

"Why did you do it?" She whispered.

"Do what?"

"Take the bullet...which was meant for me."

"Oh come on insurance girl, you didn't think I would just stand there and watch you die...did you?" Vash grinned in an effort to cheer her up, but what was there to be happy about? They were in some dark place, locked up by complete strangers.

"But...you could have died!" Meryl said; raising her voice above the whisper it had been before.

"I guess..."

"And do you think I would ever forgiven myself if you had?" Tears gathered in her stormy eyes and she ducked her head slightly so he couldn't see.

Vash's POV

She tried to hide the tears that were in her eyes but I saw them as some unknown source of light glittered off of the crystal droplets. Meryl wasn't the kind of person to cry easily, in fact I had never seen her cry, except that one time when she forced me to tell her who I really was...I still don't understand why she did, I didn't deserve any pity from her. Come to think of it, Meryl wasn't one to show much emotion, she seemed to hide it all away...apart from her anger of course. She seemed to overuse that emotion in my opinion.

She shifted and lifted a hand to wipe the tears from her eyes before they escaped and left telltale trails of moisture on her face. I reached over and took her hand in mine; smiling at how small it was and tipped her face up so I could look into her eyes. The terrible light made it difficult to see anything but I could still tell she was upset.

"Maybe it would have been best if I had..." I murmured.

"You wanted to die?" Meryl asked, confusion evident in her face.

"You could have been hurt...and why? Because you know me!" I told her firmly and she shook her head in denial.

"N-no, they just..."

"It's true Meryl, if it wasn't for me you would be safe right now..." I noticed that I still had hold of her hand and quickly released it.

"But it isn't your fault..." She whispered sadly "You can't take the blame, I won't let you. Anyway you have to stay alive to take care of your brother, remember?"

"I wouldn't have thought you would care whether he died or not." I retorted a little too sharply. She winced as if I had physically struck her and I closed my eyes in shame.

"I meant to apologize for that...and for the other night as well..."

"You have been acting strange lately..."

"I guess I have." She admitted softly, and I wondered that if I prodded enough, she would tell me what had been bothering her all this time.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked.

"I don't really think this is the right time or place...do you?" She smiled in slight amusement.

"It's as good a time as any." Her smile faded.

I watched her for a while, studying her face as she became swamped in thought then she shook her head as if to free her mind and leaned forwards again. She touched my bullet wound gingerly and then went to ripping up great strips from her workers apron.

"What are you doing?" I asked but she didn't answer, instead she simply reached forward and wound the strip of material around me, which proved difficult in the dark.

After she was done she reached up and touched the wound on the back of her head, a flash of pain shooting through her eyes.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. We've got to start thinking about how we are going to escape from here." Meryl said, standing up. She wobbled slightly and reached out blindly for a support, which just so happened to be a kind of wall, although it didn't look much like walls of a building.

I stood up, leaning my back against the wall as I got used to being on my feet, the wound in my side screamed angrily at being aggravated and I grasped at it, drawing in a pained breath. Meryl's eyes locked onto me again, concern waving through them as she approached. Maybe she hadn't changed totally, she was still the kind person I had always known. I was beginning to see the person that she kept hidden behind barriers, the sensitive and loving woman she really was.

I wondered why she felt the need to hide away her true self from everyone, she gave out the impression she was some violent insensitive person, which ironically, was the opposite of what she truly was. I'm not so much different from her, hiding behind a barrier of stupidity and clumsiness so that people wont fear me as much and that maybe one day I'll be accepted. Sometimes though my true nature has escaped, the serious one...the destructive one, but Meryl never ran away or tried to kill me. Could I finally dare accept that maybe I did have a friend in this world?

I reached out and stroked her cheek lovingly, she was so small but she never let her size become a weakness. She gasped in shock and tried to pull away, afraid of the contact and affection I was giving her from such a small gesture. I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, feeling her trembling form against mine. She was scared, scared of being in this strange little room, and afraid of being comforted. Maybe she didn't want to get used to something that she couldn't always have, or maybe I'm just thinking too much into it.

"Are you okay?" I whispered and felt her nod against my chest. She reached up a hand to rest on the wound in my side, as if the contact would help heal it or somehow draw away the pain. Holding her tighter to try and calm her constant shivering I raised my eyes to glance at the far side of the room, a shadow crawled against a dimly lit wall and that's when I knew we weren't alone. A scuttling noise filled the cell and I tightened my grip around Meryl who instantly tensed and buried herself deeper in my embrace as if just being this close to me would offer protection. I truly wished that I could have protected her so effortlessly, but the scuttling sound in the room forced me to face reality; she was not safe here with me.

Normal POV

Millie paced the room for the one-hundredth time and paused again by the window to glance out into the street. Meryl was so late, and Vash had just disappeared which was not something he had done before. She had thought that he wanted to be with his brother when he woke up, so why would he disappear?

She wondered if maybe they had finally admitted their feelings for each other and that's why they were gone, but in her heart she knew something bad had happened. Nothing was ever simple with Vash around; she of all people had seen that first hand.

Not able to stand the silence any longer she decided to find out what had happened and left the house as quickly as possible. Walking down the silent street she tried to listen in on any of the conversations that people were having, but either her hearing wasn't good or everybody seemed to be whispering. So when she finally gave up trying to eavesdrop she approached a man who was standing by the saloon, his face looking extremely solemn.

"Excuse me sir." Millie said, putting on her most cheerful smile. "Could you tell me if anything out of the ordinary has happened today?" She realized how strange that must have sounded, but she couldn't very well ask if he had seen Vash the Stampede in town. The man looked up in disbelief, his mouth agape and eyes wide.

"You mean...you don't know what happened?" Millie's heart filled with a sick foreboding and she shook her head dumbly.

The man looked at her and then turned and pointed over to one of the buildings on the other side of the square and reluctantly Millie followed with her eyes. Panic filled her at realizing that he was pointing at the restaurant where Meryl worked.

"What happened?" She asked turning back to face the man.

"Some bounty hunters came into town, they were looking for the humanoid typhoon and were keeping hostages inside. Some of the hostages were freed after the guy turned up but we heard a gunshot..."

"Just one?" Millie questioned.

"Yeah..." The man nodded slowly and Mille stepped back, thanking him and returning to the house. She couldn't believe that things had returned to normal - it was strange she considered this normal - they hadn't had to fight bounty hunters for a long time and she had just believed that now Knives was not causing trouble it would all end.

Running up the short flight of stairs she opened the door to check on Knives, he was lying on his back, his eyes closed and face relaxed. He almost looked angelic in the pale sunshine that shimmered through the lacy curtains that flapped lazily at the window. She entered slowly and crossed the room to close the window before turning to get a better look at Vash's brother.

She remembered the day she had carried him up here to this room, he hadn't been as heavy as she thought he would have. That seemed like such a long time ago, and she hadn't really seen him since the day Vash returned with him. After that Vash had barely left his side not wanting to leave incase he woke up. She could understand that, Vash cared for his brother just as she cared for all her brothers and sisters, she could comprehend the bond between siblings whilst Meryl seemed a little perplexed at why Vash would want to save his murderous brother.

'I miss my family.' Millie thought sadly as she glanced out of the window still not sure what to do about Meryl and Vash. 'I'm sure Mr. Vash will take good care of Meryl...and maybe they need this to help bring them together.' She tried to be as positive as possible but it was starting to get harder.

Sighing she turned back to look at Knives and cried out in shock at the pair of icy blue eyes staring at her. At first she thought that maybe he was still asleep but he moved slightly as if to sit up. She dashed to his side, forgetting for a moment that he was supposedly evil.

"Try not to move Mr. Knives, you're still healing." She tried to get him to lie down but he lashed out instead, causing her to be knocked unbalanced and fall to the ground. Her eyes were wide with shock at how quick he had been considering he had only just woken up, and his harsh breathing and widened eyes scared her more than she wanted to admit.

"Mr. Knives it's okay you aren't in any danger here. I'm Millie Thompson and-"

"-Shut up! Just shut the hell up!" Knives bellowed between shaky breaths, his frame trembling slightly from where he was sat up in the bed.

"Wha-what's wrong?" She stammered as she staggered to her feet.

"Stay away from me!" He continued and she nodded and backed up against the wall...Meryl and Vash weren't the only ones in trouble...

"Are you in pain?" She asked softly and he snapped his head round to look at her, his cold eyes burning with fury, desperation and something else she couldn't figure out.

"He's in trouble..." He gasped.

"Who is?"

"Vash...he's in trouble." His voice was quieter now.

Vash had gently eased Meryl out of his arms and had her safely behind him so that he could protect her from any frontal attack. She was gripping his shirt as if he might slip away and leave her alone if she even dared to let go.

"How did it get in?" She asked quietly.

"I don't know, the door has been shut tight, it must have been in here the whole time but asleep or something."

"Yeah." Meryl sighed helplessly, "I wish I had my guns with me, stupid waitress uniform."

"It wouldn't do any good if you couldn't see where you were shooting anyway."

"I guess."

The scuttling sound went quiet and a pair of golden eyes lit up the room, bathing it in a magical essence, the shape of a strange creature could be seen huddled in the corner. Its eyes narrowed and pointed white teeth revealed as its lips curled up in a snarl. It took a tentative step forward as if to ward them off and gave a threatening growl, its large paws were heavily clawed and its glowing eyes illuminated its large cat-like form and a glistening mane that framed its face.

"What the hell is that thing?" Meryl blurted out as she cowered behind Vash in the dark cell.

"Hey don't ask me, but that's the largest damn cat I've ever seen and the little ones are scary enough as it is!" He whined as he took a small step back, pressing Meryl against the wall as he did so.

"Hey watch it!" She complained.

"Sorry...but that thing is scary!"

"Idiot." She complained, "And I'm supposed to rely on you to get us out of here in one piece?" She slipped out from behind him and edged away from him, keeping her back to the wall and searching for anything that might help them escape or at least knock the creature out before it could eat them.

She tripped suddenly and fell to the ground, cracking her elbow against the ground and screaming out as the pain lashed up her arm and down her spine. Clutching desperately at her arm, which she was sure she was broken, she searched for the source that had tripped her up and found it to be a large rock. Gripping it in her good hand she lifted it with a little difficulty knowing it was her only defense against the beast.

"Meryl!" Vash called out as he stumbled over to her, the wound in his side still causing him desperate pain. "What's wrong?"

"Just tripped, I found something we can use against that creature though." She glanced up at the cat beast, which was growling up a storm in the far corner, its tail swishing from side to side in rage.

Vash knelt down to help lift Meryl to her feet, one hand gripping her injured arm and jolted it, she cried out involuntarily and he saw the pool of blood on the floor just beneath her. Before he could help her further...or hurt her further the beast pounced and it's roar of resentment echoed deafeningly in the cell.

Meryl's POV

Everything seemed to be in slow motion, the beast lunging forwards, springing on powerful back legs, its forepaws stretched out and claws unsheathed dangerously. Its face was tugged into a ferocious snarl and revealed its dagger like teeth that would otherwise be hidden in its large jaws. Those eyes were filled with an unnatural anger, as if it was possessed by something completely out of this world.

But no matter how slow things seemed to be moving I couldn't throw the rock in time. The creature lowered its head as the rock flew through the air and landed with a dull clatter on the other side of the cell.

The creature landed, pinning Vash to the ground, its claws scraping tender flesh and making blood bubble up to the surface. Searching desperately for anything to knock the creature out with I searched the ground cutting my hands on the sharp ground, when I finally came to the realization there was nothing I turned around preparing to somehow force the creature off of Vash.

A gunshot rang out deafeningly in the small room and I stumbled back in surprise, Vash couldn't have shot the creature could he? As I got a better look in the dim lights I was partly relieved to see the creature dash away back to its corner. The sound of the gun had terrified it enough to release its prey and cower once again. I crawled over to where Vash lay, his breathing ragged and painful to listen to in the quiet of the room. The only other sound I could hear was the low growling of the beast from where it stood in the darkness, its bright eyes lighting it's trembling form.

"Vash..." I whispered, afraid that if I spoke to loud it would cause the cat creature to pounce again. He looked up at me, his face cast in shadow so I couldn't tell how hurt he was. To my horror I felt tears gathering in my eyes, preparing to reveal how scared I was and it was becoming more and more difficult to hold them back. Before I knew what I was doing I had lain down beside him and embraced him, not caring about being covered in blood from his wounds or if I would regret it later.

A couple of seconds later light poured into the room and I had to shut my eyes to block out the painfully bright radiance.

"I thought I heard gunfire." One voice said and I tried to open my eyes a little so I could see who it was.

"Don't be stupid, we checked them for weapons before we brought them in here." Another muttered and as my eyes grew used to the light I recognized the two men who had been in the restaurant.

"What's wrong with that beast?"

"It's just a stupid animal, that woman puts too much faith into them." One of the men complained, obviously they thought we were either asleep or dead and Vash seemed to notice as well.

I spotted the glint of light that reflected from the gun in his arm as he raised it up, his hand shook slightly but I had faith in him - Vash never missed his target - and a split second later I was proved right as he shot at the beam above the men causing it to splinter and fall down onto them so they were pinned beneath it.

"Let's go." He said as he forced himself to his feet, I got up with him and helped support him to the door. From there he used the wall support and I wasn't needed, the realization that he would prefer the support of a wall over me hurt a little more than I wanted it to.

"Do you have any idea where we are?" I asked as I followed behind him.

"Well...it looks like a deserted prison to me." He indicated the line of cells that we had been walking past since we had left our own chamber.

"I guess it would make sense, but why bring us here?"

"Don't ask me." He shrugged slightly and paused suddenly so that I ran into the back of him.

"Why did you stop?" I couldn't help feeling nervous, my knees were shaking so violently I was finding it difficult to walk.

"There's something up there." We squeezed into a gap between two of the nearest cells and claustrophobia reached out and grasped my heart with such strength I almost cried out.

"It's another one of those cat things." Vash spoke up after an uncomfortably long silence.

"Great." I muttered.

"It's coming this way, stay quiet now." He warned and I nodded in silent understanding and held my breath as the padding of clawed paws echoed from the corridor. My heart pounding so loud I was sure that the creature would hear it but to my relief it passed by without even twitching a whisker.

"That was strange." Vash whispered as the creature walked out of earshot.

"What was?"

"Well...animals usually have really great senses, that creature should have noticed us easily but it didn't."

"Oh Vash you worry about such stupid things, it's a good thing that creature is dumb otherwise we would both be dead by now." He looked at me; his usually soft aqua eyes were almost completely green with pain and worry. He opened his mouth as if to say something more but shook his head and decided against it before grabbing my hand and dragging me back out into the corridor.

I had long forgotten the cuts on my hands until now, from the firm contact they screamed out with a fiery pain and the tears built up in my eyes again although I said nothing. There was no time to worry about little cuts now. I was so afraid I never even cast a thought to the realization that Vash was actually holding my hand!

"This can't be right." Vash murmured, his eyes narrowing as he released me so I could stand beside him on the pathway. He was trembling with pain now, and he looked like he was battling to stay conscious, one hand was gripping the bullet wound in his side whilst the hand that had been holding mine had strayed to the freely bleeding wounds on his abdomen.

"What can't be right?" I asked.

"We're...back to where we started." He leaned heavily against the wall and pointed to where the beam had fallen to the ground from where he had shot it down earlier.

"I did notice that the passage was kind of curved...maybe this whole prison or whatever it is, is circular." I sighed miserably; I had just begun to rekindle the little of the hope that had been there to start with. Yet hope was as fragile as a flame in the wind and all that was left of mine was the smoking wick. Dying...dying...dead.

"Well did you enjoy your little walk?" Came a smooth voice from somewhere in the darkness ahead of us. I recognized the voice of the woman who had been in the restaurant, I think her name was Ivory...such a pretty name for such an evil woman.

"So now that you've finished getting a good look around my domain will you be willing to die?" She asked as she approached slowly, two of the cat-like creatures padding beside her. She smiled at seeing our frightened looks and brushed her long hair behind one shoulder before reaching down to lay a hand on one of the creature's shoulders.

Normal POV

Ivory gave a silent command to the creatures beside her, their manes of spikes rustling as they padded forwards and pushing Meryl to the other side of the passage. The raven-haired girl fell to the ground landing on her broken arm and cried out in shock. The tears that had been fighting to be free for so long finally trembled down her cheeks and mingled with the blood and dust on the ground.

"Who are you?" Vash asked his eyes straying to the small insurance girl lying on the ground. Although he couldn't see her face he noticed the way her shoulders trembled and could hear her harsh breathing. She was crying with pain, fear, exhaustion and confusion, he wanted to go to her but he could feel life's energy draining away from him.

"I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet." Ivory spoke. "Obviously her death wasn't important enough for you to remember." Her face creased with an angry scowl.

"Who are you talking about?"

"My sister!" She yelled and the two cat creatures roared angrily at sensing their master's anger. "Or rather, my half sister...but things like that don't matter. You killed her and I will finally get my revenge. I will be able to rest at night knowing that my sister's life was avenged."

"Sister?" Vash said as he crumpled to the ground, the loss of blood weakening him to the point where he could hardly stay awake.

"Yes...my sister...Dominique."

Knives: And I thought you said I wasn't going to wake up.

Angel: So I lied...deal with it.

Knives: And what's the whole deal with me caring about my brother's pain?

Angel: Give it a rest Knives; we all know you care about Vash.

Knives: pouts I do not.

Angel: ¬ ¬ what ever you say.

Legato: You two are so repetitive.

Angel: What's that supposed to mean?

Legato: You argue constantly.

Angel: Well no one asked you to stay, go away.

Legato: I'm not going out there by myself.

Angel: Scared?

Legato: Nods and whimpers

Angel: Rolls eyes I can't believe I'm stuck out in the middle of the desert with two evil maniacs.

Knives: That's because no one else will have you!

Angel: Come on let's get going.

Knives: Where?

Angel: That town.

Knives: We are nowhere near any town.

Angel: What do you call that then Mr. Superior?

Knives: scowls a spider nest.

Angel: Not funny! now lets go! Drags Knives and Legato away

Note: Ha yes...I didn't actually know how I was going to link my Ivory character in with Vash and his whole killing thing until I wrote this chapter. So it was a spur of the moment decision with the whole Dominique being the sister...