What is the Sound of One Gun Firing? - Chapter 3

Hey guys! I'd like to thank my…one reviewer! Hehe! Anyway, thank you for your review! Here's the next chapter! Pretty short, but aww, who gives a hell? I've got an hour till my deadline.

Chapter 3 – The Aiming

"Still no sign of Benree or his parents, huh?" Meryl asked Vash that afternoon as they sat around the hotel coffee table, sipping glasses of water.

"No…they seem to have completely left town," Millie told her partner. "Mr. Vash, what do you think about the situation?"

"It's possible…that Benree's telling the truth," Vash murmured. "I might have just forgotten about murdering his parents. My memory has its faults, you see."

"You didn't even shoot a single bullet during the fight," Meryl reminded him. "Vash, these aren't normal people we're dealing with."

"And therefore," Vash smiled, "shooting them does no good!"

"ARRGH! DON'T BE SUCH A SMARTASS!" Meryl shouted, grabbing Vash around the neck and doing her best to suffocate him. "You're really pissing me off, you know that?"

"Oh…Meryl!" Millie said weakly, trying to save Vash from Meryl's grip.

"Here we are, all worried about you, and you're sitting there like it's no big deal!" Meryl cried, tightening her grip and making Vash's face turn blue. "This kid is bad new Vash, and he's after you! He isn't just going to give up that easily!"

"Meryl does have a point, Mr. Vash," Millie nodded and Vash looked up. "Benree is almost certainly after you at this very minute. What do you plan to do?"

"There's nothing else to do," Vash shrugged. "Hope he doesn't come after me."

"That's not good enough!" Meryl said, letting go of Vash and slamming her fist on the table, knocking Millie's water over. "Can't you see that we're worried about you? Benree's got people you can't kill on his side! How in the world do you plan to beat them? Even if you did shoot them, which you won't, they won't die!"

"Benree seems almost unbeatable," Millie agreed with her partner. "What do you plan to do Mr. Vash?"

"First, I have to get out of here as soon as possible," Vash said, standing up. "Any one of these people could be prey for Benree. I don't want to get innocent people involved in this. And that goes for you two as well."

"You must be crazy!" Meryl exclaimed. "We're in on this too Vash! Both Millie and I are in too deep to just forget about this!"

"Meryl is right, Mr. Vash," Millie nodded to Vash. "Let us help you fight Benree."

"I'd rather not fight Benree," Vash explained. "I wish there was a way we could end this, but he seems so determined."

"There's got to be a way to defeat his undead army," Meryl sighed, sitting back down and sipping her water. "No one is invincible. He's got to have a weakness."

"The only one that I can think of," Millie murmured. "Is that he's weak himself. When you get rid of the magician, then the magic stops, correct?"

"I don't want Benree to die unnecessarily," Vash said, determined. "There's got to be a way to get through to him."

"Vash…" Meryl murmured.

"You're talking about how to stop the undead? Well, that's simple."

The three turned around to see an old man behind them sipping tea. He turned to them and held up a few pieces of paper with ink writing on them. "Use these, of course."

"What are those, old man?" Vash asked rather rudely, picking one up. "It's got weird writing on it. I can't read it."

"It's a talisman," the old man explained. "Don't you young people know anything nowadays?" The man slipped on his violet colored tunic and his wide brimmed straw hat. "Those can defeat the undead."

"How?" Meryl asked, looking at the other papers the man had.

"Simply place them on the subject's forehead," the man said, sticking one onto Vash for demonstration. "As you can see, when placed on a normal person, nothing happens. But when placed on an undead creature, it can completely destroy them."

"How do you know that, sir?" Millie asked.

"Years of research, young lady," the man said, standing up. "The undead happen to be my line of study."

"Line of…" Meryl began.

"Study?" Millie finished.

"I've been called many things in my lifetime," the man chuckled. " 'Coot', 'Crazy', 'Nut-job'. The works. But I never minded those words. I knew that the undead existed, and I devoted my entire life to researching them."

"Well…do you know that there's a--" Meryl began, but Vash cut her off.

"Excuse us old guy!" He said, bowing and grabbing Meryl and Millie. He dragged them to a corner to talk. "I think it would be best if we kept Benree a secret for now."

"Huh?" Meryl looked up. "Why?"

"I don't want to cause an alarm in the village," Vash said, smiling. "And no one will believe us anyway. I say we take the talismans and wait for Benree to make his next move. We'll leave in the morning. If I'm correct, Benree will follow."

"All right Mr. Vash," Millie nodded. "We'll do as you say."

"Hey, Pops!" Vash called to the old man and walked over to him. "We'll take those talismans. They might prove of use to us, you never know."

"Good choice, boy," the man said, handing Vash a packet of talismans. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take my leave. My research calls."

With that, the old man left a bit of money on the table and walked out of the restaurant, grasping a large bag in his hand, his straw hat over his eyes.

"Well, at least we've got these," Vash smiled.

"How do you know they even work?" Meryl asked suspiciously. "He could be a nutty old man pulling our legs, you know."

"We have nothing else to use, Meryl," Millie giggled. "We might as well."

"You've got a point," Meryl sighed. "C'mon, let's get some sleep. It's already dark outside, and I'm tired."

The next morning, the trio awoke to the shining sun streaming through their windows, waking them to a fresh new day full of adventure and suspense.

Or maybe the trio awoke to both Millie and Vash lying on Meryl's bed.

"WILL YOU GET OFF MY BED YOU SLACKERS?"

"I TOLD YOU, I SLEEP WALK!"

"MY ROOM WAS COLD MERYL! I'M SORRY!"

"I'm tired of your lame excuses!" Meryl panted as she cornered the two. "You slacking off has really gotten to me this time!"

"Vash!"

The group looked up to see the innkeeper running towards them. "Mr. Vash! You won't believe it! Someone's been kidnapped!"

"Who?" Vash asked, getting out from behind his corner. "What's going on?"

"The General Store's owner's daughter and son!" he told Vash. "A woman in a red dress and a man in a hat came and kidnapped them!"

"That's Benree all right," Meryl murmured, running into her room to get ready. "Why would he kidnap them though? To lure you out?"

"Where are they now?" Vash asked.

"They're in a wagon just outside town!" the inn keeper said. "We tried to shoot them down, but nothing happened! They're monsters, Vash!"

"Not monsters," Meryl said. "Just undead souls. C'mon Vash, we've got no time to waste.

"Right," Vash nodded. "Let's go."

A few minutes later, the trio was running out into the dirt road just to see Benree in his wagon, along with two young children about the age of thirteen or twelve tied up in the back of the wagon. Benree's mother was manning the reins, while Benree's father watched the children. The little boy smiled as Vash came out.

"Hey there Vash!" he called. "I'm just picking up some souvenirs! I like young additions to my army," he told him.

"Let them go, Benree!" Vash told him. "You don't want to do this!"

"I beg to differ," Benree smirked triumphantly. "Mother! Start the wagon!"

"I don't understand!" a man from the crowd yelled as the horse kicked at the dirt and began to run off. "I shot that horse! He always had a sore temper, so I finally had to get rid of him! How's he still walking around like that?"

"Didn't know he could bring back horses too…" Meryl said bitterly. "Vash, we need to go rescue them. Benree's luring us out to his own territory."

"We have no choice but to go along," Vash said. "We'll need a wagon to follow them in! Get a horse right away!"

"Right!" the innkeeper nodded. "Someone get these folks a horse and wagon. I'm sorry we don't have anything faster Vash."

"It doesn't matter," Vash shook his head. "I don't want to catch Benree, I want to follow him. He'll stop, eventually."

"Right," Meryl said, pulling out the stack of talismans. "And if that old geezer was right, then we've got some sort of weapon against those freaks!"

"Then let's go," said Millie to her companions. "Those kids are in danger."

"Millie's right," Vash nodded, pulling on his gloves. "We've got no choice. We're giving chase.

The End of the chapter! Tune in to the next one! Sorry it was so short! (bows)

Until then,

Ciao for now!