The 2nd adventure begins for Vash and Meryl, but things are never what they seem and trouble is always lurking just around the corner. . .

I'm hoping to take things a little different direction with this one.

TRIGUN BETA: Series I

Episode 05: By the Books: part 1

The Pavilion was linking to the port station, but beyond the pavilion was a small town known as Duloc. It was convenient for travelers because it provided place to stay overnight after arriving at the Port.

Vash walked along casually, observing the various buildings and structures, when one caught his eye!

Meryl was too busy taking in the sights to notice that Vash had given her the slip, but it would be certain that she would be less then happy when she discovered the gunman had ditcher her!

.o.o.o.

Vash ducked into the archaic library before Meryl had managed to spot him making his escape. He glanced around at the old wooden structure around him and the towering book shelves that seemed to rise all the way up to the ceiling.

"Wow. . ." He murmured as he took in the expanse of the inner world around him. The library looked as if it could go on almost indefinitely, but the true depths were unknown because the shelves obscured his view.

The place looked pretty old and worn out, but it still looked sturdy enough to be a safe hideout for him. "This could work."

"Can I help you?" spoke a voice that failed to conceal the feeling of painful shyness.

Vash whirled around to see an odd look young woman before him. She was fair skinned with dark shaggy hair and light brown eyes. The most striking thing was that she was practically eye-level with him! Her slender build helped to compliment what must have surely been a very elongated form.

'She looks like an Amazon!' Vash though to himself. "Um, no, I'm just looking around right now." He replied politely.

"Oh, okay." She replied dully. "Um, well my name is Maggie. . . and if you need anything, I'll be here." She explained and returned to a desk in the corner of the room.

Vash shook his head and began to venture into the library's inner depths. "Odd girl."

.o.o.o.

A sudden chill went down Meryl's spine and she turned around to see that she was once again alone. ". . .Vash!" She screamed in annoyance. "You think you can ditch me? You're sadly mistaken!" She exclaimed.

She then set out to find the missing gunman and beet the hell out of him for bailing on her.

.o.o.o.

Vash continued to venture further into the Library. The tall book shelves made it hard for any descent amount of light to reach him. He had made the decision that he had to get rid of Meryl. In the long run, it really was best for both of them.

He sat down on a nearby stool and looked around. All of the book shelves had those weird old ladders attached to them so that the upper heights could be reached.

Was he doing this for her own good, or was he just running away again. It always seemed like he was running away from one thing or another. Was it for others or for his selfish needs? He needed to think about it, he needed to think about a lot of things.

Vash shook his head and got back up on his feet and began walking again when he started to hear a rumbling sound around him. "What the hell?" He exclaimed and began to pick up speed as the noise got closer and louder.

He broke into a sprint back towards the way he came, when something broke through one of the shelves.

Vash looked up at the giant beast. It was some kind dragon, and it appeared to made out of paper! Vash drew his gun and fired at it, but the rounds simply passed through it and it advanced towards him, growling.

"This looks bad." Vash remarked as he began to step back, away from the monster. He backed up into a wall. "Uh oh!"

The beast closed in on him.

-End of part 1-

-Continued in episode 6-

.o.o.o.

Well, I hope you guys like this chapter and the guest star in it. See you all around. I'll have the next chapter up soon.

See you later.

-Seras B. North