Gunsmoke in the Moonlight

Chapter 4: Knives May Wound, But Silence Cuts Deeper

Wolfwood stared silently out of the western most window of the house that he shared with the other girls, his stern face surrounded by the smoke that drifted aimlessly from his lips. He sat there everyday ay, for countless hours, waiting. He knew Vash would be back, but he didn't know when. It was almost 2 months since the two girls were found, and since Vash fell of the face of the Earth. Normally it was easy to find the giant thin man wearing a red coat and broom like hair; all you did was follow the destroyed towns that were in his wake. That's how Wolfwood found him before. But not this time it appeared.

The clock on the wall across from him chimed once, twice, three times. He sat and counted until he came to six and it stopped. He put his cigarette out on the windowsill.

"Bastard"

He walked slowly into the crowded kitchen where Millie sat drinking a chipped mug of Oolong tea. He studied her in the light and smiled. Her face was softly silhouetted by the setting suns filtering through the checkered kitchen curtains. She looked so contemplative and beautiful. She started as he stepped towards her to get a better look. Smiling she motioned him to sit down, and he complied, falling into the chair like his whole being was weighed down with all the burdens of the world.

"You miss him don't you?" She asked out of nowhere, as she offered him a cup of Oolong tea. Wolfwood jumped slightly at her words, and looked up at her. She smiled and motioned the cup towards him. He took it from her hands and breathed in the hefty scent. He really didn't like Oolong tea, but he agreed to give up drinking for Millie and since that was all she drank, so did he.

"Yeah.... Surprisingly so. I never thought I'd miss that dork." He muttered and then took a mouthful of the steaming liquid. It burned as it went down, but he ignored the pain, and stared out the window to the west again, searching for the missing legend. 'Damn fool.... needle noggin' he muttered silently, his words morose and angry at the same time.

"The girls seem to be adjusting well." He said, attempting to change the subject.

"Oh yes!" Millie cried happily, just as relieved as he to start another conversation "Ami and Minako are doing great. The doctor says Ami is the best apprentice he has ever seen, and Minako gets the biggest tips down at the Saloon. Ami also seems to know quite a bit about machines, I wonder...."

She stopped and Wolfwood glanced up at her. She looked serious, as if she had a sudden epiphany. Since such looks were rare on Millie, he had to know what was going through her head.

"What? What do you wonder???" He asked, slamming his mug a little harder then intended and causing her to jump.

"W..Well... you know that ship, the one that still was flying?" Millie asked, bringing the memories of his and Vash's battle together with 3 gung-ho guns to mind.

"Yeah... and?"

"Well... Ami knows so much about machinery, and she DID fall from the sky, as did Mina.... so I was thinking that maybe they came from a ship like that... floatingabovethecity." She finished the last part in one quick breath, as if she was afraid he'd laugh at another one of her "crackpot" theories. When the laughing didn't follow, she opened her eyes slowly and looked over at him attentively. He was still staring out the window, the cup raised to his lips, frozen in place.

"You... May be right." he said slowly, weighing his words carefully, as if they were distasteful to him.

He recalled the people on that ship, the damned fools who hid from the world in their own little piece of heaven. They made him sick, preaching at him, treating him like an evil man for trying to survive. He found it hard to believe that Ami and Minako, whose smiles were empty and eyes far more heavy with pain then even Vash, were from such a foolish society. But what other logic could explain their entrance to this world, other then that.

Suddenly, the front door slammed open with such force, it surprised him that it didn't fly off. Meryl came storming through, her eyes flashing and her fists clenched to her sides.

"Uhhh... what's happen..." Wolfwood started, Meryl cut him off by slamming her hand on the table so hard it shook his tea over the edge of his mug, staining the table.

"Vash is back." She yelled. Just as his name was called, in stumbled a sick and sheepish looking Vash. He was moving his mouth in a futile attempt to make words. Trying to find a way to explain everything, but utterly failing. Wolfwood blinked, he figured she would be crying happy tears and clinging to the humanoid typhoons arm like a lap dog. Needless to say her reaction was quite the opposite.

"Oh my! But that's great Ms. Meryl, why are you so angry?" Millie said, scrubbing at the tea that spilled on the table.

"I'll tell you why, because he...he... he came into town..." Meryl started, her face turning such a violent red it was threatening to erupt. Her rant was cut off prematurely by a voice in the doorway, a cool and calm, yet very feminine voice.

"With me."

Somewhere in a Valley, earlier that morning

Millions Knives greeted the morning suns with outstretched arms, breathing in the sweet scent of life. He hated this planet, the heat, the wind, the goddamn desert sand that got in his wine. But he had to admit that the green little strip of land hidden between frightening mountains was pleasing to him. After all, he was its father, its creator, its God. He fertilized that ground with his sweat, watered it with his tears and fed it with his blood. It was his child.

And like a father, he could sense when something was wrong. Like now for instance. The air seemed too heavy and the scent was too... human.

Spider.... a filthy fucking spider here? He mentally questioned the validity of his own senses, looking around for the being that filled his whole body with such seething hatred. From where he was standing, at the entrance way to a half-buried ship, all seemed well. But he knew better. Gripping the handle of his trusty black colt, he went through the garden, his trigger finger twitching.

The garden seemed fine, at least until he went through a small grove of orange trees. His eyes widened in horror at the sight of his beautiful child. A huge rift nearly an ile long marred her lovely countenance. He stepped over fallen branches and broken bushes that littered the wake of the rift. He followed it, nearly to the other side of his garden, to the crater itself. It ended against the biggest tree, the one that he had planted right after he and Vash separated 125 years ago. It was now crooked, its massive roots yanked from their abode by the force of the landing.

The sight was almost too much for Knives. He had planted that tree in hopes of having picnics under it with his dear brother, not to be uprooted by humans, whose stench he could smell wafting up from the craters depths.

He raised his gun, letting up in the safety and aimed into the darkness. He was prepared to fill whatever bastard did this with enough holes to certify them as a giant colander. But then he paused. He could hear a soft mewing sound from the depths. Not a cat, but a woman's voice, crying softly. The voice wasn't sobbing, but talking wordlessly. It was obvious whoever she was, she was in pain.

Serves her right, feeding off this planet.... fucking parasites, thinking they can just walk in and steal what's not theirs. He smiled at the thought of all humans crying out the same way and laughed silently at her pain. Crawling down the steep sides of the crater, he grabbed the heavy human body roughly, and dragged it up from the hole.

He dropped her on the ground, preparing to drag her into the desert and leave her there to die. But an odd sensation washed over him, traveling down his spine. He paused and looked down at her.

She was in bad shape. Dried blood coated half healed cuts like a second skin and her slim body was twisted unnaturally. Below the dirt and blood, he made out a soft feminine body with well proportioned curves. Her face was untouched, with lovely white skin that was ethereal on this planet of burning skies. She had large eyes with thick lashes that rested on her high cheekbones like she was sleeping, but her delicately arched eye brows were knitted in obvious pain.

He found himself giving into the urge to brush the wispy black locks of hair away from her face where they rested. As he did so, his touch upon her soft skin sent a shock up his arm. He now knew what that sensation was that caused him to stop. That sensation of warmth and healing. Of pure power. He was surprised he hadn't sensed it earlier, even through the human stench of blood and sweat.

He gave into his whims and gathered her into his arms. Her soft raven black hair tickled his nose as he leaned his face close to hers, until their cheeks were touching and his lips were pressed against her ear. He held her tightly and whispered something, something he hoped would bring warmth back to her cold form.

"Your safe now.... sister."

Back in town

"This is BULLSHIT! I don't believe a single word of it." Meryl said resolutely, crossing her arms and looking away in a huff. This green haired hussy can't be telling the truth, she mentally convinced herself. But the tall woman sitting across the kitchen table didn't falter her explanation. She fixed her blood red eyes on Meryl's grey ones and smiled coldly as she steepled her slender fingers under he chin.

"Whether you believe me or not, it is true. 4 comrades and I were transported here by way of a dimensional portal. We lost contact with our target and were separated too soon, hence our fall from the sky. I happened to collide with Vash-san here and was amazed he didn't die. I spent the last two months fixing him up. And now that he is better, I need to finish my mission" She said matter-of-factly, examining her nails for dirt nonchalantly, as if what she was telling them was something they heard every day.

"Let me get this right. You are warriors from another dimension on another planet, who came here to do.... what exactly" Wolfwood asked, restraining a snicker as he cocked an eyebrow in her direction.

Setsuna, or so she said her name was, frowned deeply and stood up, making out as if she was about to leave. Whirling around she glared at the 4 grinning people that regarded her with looks like she was crazy. Clearing her throat she hissed at him, " Our mission is none of your concern. It is a peaceful one. However, if I don't locate Usagi, all will be lost, although I can see you will be no help at..."

Wolfwood jumped up and grabbed her, spinning her around to face him and glared at her, "What did you say? Who is Usagi???"

She blinked in surprise at his outburst, unsure of why he was so concerned. " She is my princess if you must know. You speak as though you know her. Have you seen her??" it was Setsuna's turn to grab him, her slender hands gripping his shoulders almost painfully as she searched his eyes for the answer, "A young girl. Blond. Pregnant..."

Wolfwood suddenly felt sorry for her, the pain and fear in her eyes reflected how he had felt many a times. Absolute despair. Sighing he shook her hands from his shoulders. "No. We found a blue haired girl and a blond, but she wasn't pregnant."

"Blond... oh Minako. And Ami. Yes.... they came along" Setsuna muttered half to him and half to herself, "But that means that Both Usagi and Hotaru are missing! SHIT" She suddenly swore as she fell to her knees, repeatedly punching the ground with her fist. This sudden change in her demeanor made everyone in the room jump back a little. After a few moments of moaning, she looked back up at Wolfwood.

" Look. I can't stay. I must go and get the others. All I ask is..." She stood up as she said this, grabbing a piece of scrap paper and a pen from a nearby desk and scribbled something on the paper, ".. That you give this to Ami and Minako immediately. Make sure they are safe...."

Wolfwood glanced at the paper and back up at her back as she was walking out the door. "Hey wait!" He yelled running after her, but as soon as her foot touched the dusty front step, she disappeared in a cloud of dust. He stood there dumbfounded, Meryl, Millie and Vash crowding behind him to see what was going on.

"But...But.." He muttered, holding the paper up to where she once stood, "they don't know who they are...."

Back in Knives Ship

Hotaru's eyes opened slowly, blinking against the bright blue light that seemed to fill all the space around her. She felt so warm and comfortable, as if she was back in her mothers' womb (Although she couldn't literally recall how that felt). She snuggled deeper into the female chest that was cuddling her, momentarily convinced it was her lost mother.

But then the truth dawned on her, and she opened her eyes wide, this time allowing them to adjust to the light, so she could actually see. She was pressed between two... people. At least she thought the one with the female chest was a human. That is, until she studied her and found her to have huge angel wings spreading wide from her slender shoulder blades. Most defiantly not human, she thought to herself. Then she became acutely aware of the one holding her from behind. It defiantly wasn't female, that she could tell without looking.

Hotaru rotated herself in the tight embrace with some difficulty and looked up at the face of the person holding her. It was most defiantly not a woman. Whoever it was had a handsome face with a straight nose, wide lips and a narrow but strong chin that lead to a thick neck. Her eyes traveled farther, taking in the broad shoulders, muscular chest and taut abs to his....

Oh my god. He's naked. Hotaru blushed deeply at her silent realization, never had been in such a situation. Then she looked at her own body, which she discovered to her horror, was now pressing against his.

"YAAAAAAAAH" She screamed, pushing herself free from his embrace. She had propelled herself so roughly from him that she now felt the cold glass sides of its wall pressing against her naked skin.

The man, startled out of his rest from her scream, noticed her and swam towards her, his arms outstretched. Hotaru scrunched herself up in a ball and attempted to push him away as he attempted to pull her to him.

"Get Awaayyyyy!" She yelled, pushing him hard, and surprisingly, pushing her through the glass. She hit the cold floor with a reverberating thud and sat there for a moment trying to figure out what had just taken place.

Realizing her rather harrowing predicament, she jumped up and promptly fell when her weak legs become jelly under her. Stumbling and half crawling, she looked around for a door. The walls seemed sheer, devoid of any form of door, at least as far as her night vision could see.

"Where's a damn door?" She moaned, trying to stand once more, this time with marginally more success.

"And where would you go?" A voice called from behind her. She whirled about and saw him, the blond man, walking towards her in a deliberate way that made her nervous. Crying out silently, she jumped up and tried to run in the other direction. But in a mere second, he was upon her, gripping her arms and whirling her around to face him. He smirked, " There's nothing but sand and death out there. You're much safer here with me."

She doubted that very much, yet, as she found herself staring into a pair of gorgeous blue eyes that reminded her of Usagi's, she felt the doubt drift away. Those eyes held her in such a trance that she wasn't aware that he was moving her until the cold wall of the surrounding room made contact with her flesh. But he didn't stop there, instead he pressed himself against her so firmly she thought that she would be squished between his barrel chest and the cold steel. His left arm was pressed against the wall, next to her head, as his right hand encircled the back of her neck. He used his thumb to tilt her face upwards towards him.

Still enthralled by him, Hotaru unconsciously opened her lips enough to accept his kiss, which was surprisingly gentle and warm. It lasted about a minute until he pulled away so that their lips barely brushed against each other. And they stood there for a moment, their quick hot breathes intermingling.

Suddenly, he pressed his lips to hers in a totally different way, this time passionate and lusting. The move was so sudden that she gasped, and he deepened the kiss by slipping his tongue through the new opening. He felt her whole body go weak, including her jaw. This gave his tongue full reign in her mouth, which he took advantage of and proceeded to taste her fully.

Hotaru had no idea what was happening to her body. She had died and been reborn so many times that she had never experienced such an onslaught of hormones flowing through her at once. It didn't help that she went from 13 to 18 in a matter of only 2 years. It didn't leave much room for experimenting.

But here she was, being passionately kissed by a man she never saw before, and liking it. In fact, she found herself moaning in pleasure as he trailed his kisses from her lips down her neck and back to her lips yet again. Forget liking it, she was loving it.

Hotaru felt her worry over her missing princess and her reservations of romancing a strange man slip away, and her consciousness was filled with heated longing. She felt herself giving into him.

As he deepened the already deep kiss, Hotaru let her mind and body wander. It was a trick she learned back home, to let your spirit separate from your physical form and search inside another. She felt her spirit pull itself from her body, it's back arching as it struggled. Its hands and feet stretched grossly out of shape, almost to breaking point, as it yanked itself free. Then with a sickening snap, it pulled itself back into its normal shape and floated outside of her body.

Once free, it pressed into his body and like a wisp of smoke, assimilated itself with him. Once inside, Hotaru allowed it to take form. She became an adult Hotaru, much like Mistress Nine. Her long raven hair reached the floor and beyond, slinking into the shadows. The only thing covering her ghostly figure, was a long black ribbon of cloth that weaved itself in and out of her limbs. As her consciousness joined her spirit, Hotaru stepped into the light, searching the pillared halls for his spirit.

She could hear something around a sharp corner and floated towards it. But as she drew near, she was aware of a terror that filled her whole being. Shivering, she withdrew into the shadows, the ribbon expanding and surrounding her so only her eyes showed through. Now part of the shadows, she could creep unnoticed into the dome shaped room housing his spirit.

What she saw there would torture her for the rest of her life. Just the first glance sent her tumbling back into the wall, where she stood for several minutes simply staring in horror. Instead of the customary single spirit, three stood before her. The first one was the one that filled her with such fear. It resembled him in face and had a humanoid figure, but it was twisted out of proportion in such a ghastly way she felt sick looking upon it. On top of normal human legs was a huge torso with bulging veins and muscles. Its massive neck joined with a head too small for the body. It had his face, but his good looks were twisted by a hateful expression with reddened eyes and a grimace that revealed rows of shark-like teeth. Growing from its head of wild blond hair were two massive ram horns, their ivory sheen slathered in still dripping blood. He was such a horror to look upon that it was no wonder the second figure cowered on the floor in front of him.

The second figure was clothed in blue wool and appeared to be a child of no more the 10. He had long pale blond hair and large blue eyes that were widened to the point Hotaru could see the whites of his eye all around. His face was tear streaked and ghostly white, accented only by the huge bruises that covered his face and arms. She could feel his tangible fear. But also she could sense other feelings. Loneliness, grief, pain and worst of all, despair. Like the monster, which radiated anger, hatred and bloodlust, the boy had not a single pleasant emotion left. She sensed that once there was love in his heart, a bonding between him and another, but his loneliness made it clear that who ever it was wasn't coming back.

Yet despite the scene before her, grotesque and frightening as it was, she was more enamored with the third spirit. It was a woman, she was standing between the monster and the child, facing the beast with her arms held out like a human shield. The look on her face was one of maternal protectiveness and seething anger, yet she was smiling. Hotaru felt her whole body heave and the room pitched suddenly, tossing her like a doll from her shadowy hiding place.

Her spirit disengaged itself from his, throwing itself back into Hotaru's body. Upon reentering, Hotaru jerked violently, bringing their passionate embrace to a sudden end. She grabbed her head in pain as her body began to spasm uncontrollably. Falling to her knees she let out a strangled scream, and fell into a puddle of blood as her wounds tore open instantaneously.

He rushed to her, gathering her into his arms and trying to quench the onslaught of blood. She stared up into his eyes. Those tender yet cold blue eyes that she thought reminded her of someone. Now she knew why. She knew because that someone was in him. And as the room swirled and faded she let a single whispered word slip from her lips.

Usagi.

End of Chapter 4.

Next time on Gunsmoke in the Moonlight

Chapter 5: As the Players Take their Places

Knives does some soul searching of his own, and finds something deep inside Hotaru that he doesn't know whether to destroy, or fall in love with. Ami and Minako face a tough time trying to figure out the cryptic message the strange woman Setsuna left them. And who is that strange woman in Vash's dreams?

Stay tuned for the nest Chapter!

Fiona X.