Story Note: Nothing for this chapter...Except that it doesn't have much action...You get that next chapter! Although, I'll let you know that this chapter's sort of chopped up into little sections...But I tend to do that when I write...

Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater.

Noches de Polvo

Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

by. xxBurningxx

"So, Officer, lemme properly introduce myself..." Soul says as he leans against the door jam of Maka's residence. He had followed her to her house after she told him that she needed to grab her supplies, and after approaching it, he wondered if he had misjudged how much money this officer makes.

It's not that her house was a mansion or anything like that, it was pretty small actually, but it was well kept-he would give it that. The wooden walls looked sturdy enough, and after doing a quick scan over the interior of the building, he realized that the officer must be a neat freak. Everything was organized and cozy; a single bed, small bookshelf, everything a person really needs, including a medium sized chest at the foot of her bed.

And now she was rummaging through said chest, hastily grabbing and stuffing necessary things in a small shoulder bag that he had noticed she had earlier. She was just about pull out a folded up tent from the bottom of the chest when she looked up at him.

"Sure," She replies, then proceeds to pull the tent out. He waits for her to finish grabbing her things before continuing: the shoulder bag that is filled with a variety of things, a canteen already filled with water, ammunition (for both her pistols, and his Winchester), the tent, a pair of sleeping bags, and a roll of bandages and medicine for first-aid purposes. He also notices that she has a lasso hanging from her hip and a sheathed hunting knife on the opposite side. After she's properly fixed herself with everything, hat and all, he continues.

"Well...They call me Soul Eater." He tells her, tipping his hat up for the extra effect.

"And I doubt that "Eater" is your real last name..." She answers with a eyebrow raised skeptically.

He smirks at this, "You're pretty bright, Officer..."

"I'm not denying that, but it's sorta obvious. How about 'Soul', that your real name?" She asks, because "Soul" isn't exactly the most common name either.

"Actually, yes it is..."

"And your real last name?"

"Not to be rude, Officer, but I'm afraid that's my business, and my business only." He tells her, casting his eyes away from hers. But she catches the way they darken at the mention of it, as if he were recalling a bad memory. She realizes that he must have a history that doesn't settle well with him, and she doesn't hold him for it; she has her own dark past involving her father that she wishes she could simply let go. It is for this reason that she doesn't push the matter any further.

"I respect that, Eater. I'm Maka Albarn. Officer Albarn to you," She says as she walks past him at the door, "And you're taking this." She shoves the canvas tent into his hands. And the sleeping bags.

'Bossy...' He thinks with the smallest whisper of a smirk on his lips.

"And I also hope you got'cha self a horse..."

"Sure do, Officer." He replies as he follows her out of the house, closing the door behind him. He waits by the entrance as she walks around to the back of the house, and when she returns, she's on a darkly colored horse. The creature's fur glimmers in the sun's beating rays, and he slightly marvels at the majestic animal's beauty.

"Meet Blair," She says, rubbing the horse's neck, "She's pretty fond of people, I reckon she'll like you." Soul nods his head in acknowledgement as the horse snorts dismissively towards him. Soul locks eyes with the horse, holding its gaze for a few moments, but then Blair snorts again, as if Soul weren't important enough to register in her mind. The beautiful steed holds a mysterious aura, and it's almost as if he could imagine the animal as a human. And then he realizes something else.

"No saddle?" He asks, looking at the single blanket-cloth she's sitting on. It's brightly colored in a Mexican-tradition style, almost like a fancy poncho, minus the fact that she's sitting on it like a rug.

"Yeah, well...It's jus' a habit. You get used to it." She gives a shrug before patting the empty space behind her, "Hop on, I'll give ya a ride to where ever ya need to go to get yer stuff."

Soul narrows his eyes at the sudden offer. It's not that he doesn't trust her, but he isn't exactly comfortable around this woman yet, considering the fact that he's only just met her about an hour ago. After a quick moments thought, he decides, why not? It's much faster than walking to his hotel room.

"That's mighty kind of ya, Officer." Soul says, hopping onto Blair. He tries to adjust himself where he's comfortable, making sure he's not touching the officer, but frankly, he can't find a spot that feels okay. Holding onto the horse with just his legs wasn't easy, and he certainly wasn't putting his arms around this officer that he hardly knew.

"Just tryin' to save daylight, Eater." She tells him, before giving a slight tug on the reigns, "Tell me where ya need to go..."

"ARGH!"

Maka slowed the horse to a halt as she looked back to see her "partner" crumpled in a heap on the dusty road. After he told her to take him to the Death Town Hotel, she had taken off, and apparently it didn't take him long to fall-rather, fly- off the back of the horse.

"Damn it woman! How do ya ride without a saddle?" He asks after standing up and dusting himself off.

And she can't help but smirk at the tone at which he uses and his somewhat bewildered expression, "It takes practice, I guess...Like I said, ya get used to it..."

"I'll just walk from here on...The hotel's already in view, anyway." He tells her in an annoyed tone, but she can tell he's not angry. She almost laughs, but she doesn't let the sound escape her. He bends over to pick up his hat, which was thrown askew after his fall, and puts it back on his head.

"Whatever suits ya, Eater. I'll wait for ya there."

And so she takes off in a trot towards the hotel, not exactly sure why or how this stranger's antics had managed to make her grin so much.

"So we need to head towards Fort Humphrey..." Soul is on his own horse now; a golden colored steed that has no name because he's never really bothered giving it one. He's relieved to have his own horse now because now he has the security of riding with a saddle. The two of them are lingering around the Death Town gates. Maka studies a frail and fairly old map while Soul fingers the wanted poster that he had folded up earlier.

"Yeah...It's pretty far from here, it's gonna be at least seven days worth of travel, and that's probably with no stops..." She informs him, handing the map out to him. He takes it and studies it, following the outlined trail from Death Town to Fort Humphrey. His expression wrinkles a bit in slight annoyance.

"It's gonna take longer than seven days...Probably around ten, maybe twelve, if we camp at sundown. That's excluding any mishaps, which I'm sure we'll come across." He says, folding the map. He lifts his hat so he can run a hand through his white hair. Sweat has already accumulated on the back of his neck just from being out and under the sun's unforgiving rays. He begins a slow trot forward, his gaze still focused on the map.

Maka's horse falls into pace with him as they start down the dirt road that exits Death Town.

"I guess we outta get goin' then..." Maka says, glancing back at her hometown. She can clearly see how the gate rises above, rusty metal forming the words, 'DEATH TOWN' in capital letters. It's certainly not the first time she's left this town, but each and every time, she feels that little ache somewhere inside of her, deep in her gut, as if she were saying good bye to an old friend.

"Yeah. Time's a'wastin'. Let's go." And with that, Soul gives a curt double clicking sound and tugs on his reigns, ordering his horse into a swift pace.

Maka takes one last glace back, before nodding and following after the white-haired gunslinger.

"Eh. Sun's goin' down. We should stop." Maka suggests, slowing Blair to a halt. Soul slows down as well, turning around a couple of feet in front of her. He looks to west, and sees that she's right. The sun is falling below the horizon, casting an orange glow on the dirt and cacti that surrounds them.

"I agree...We outta get settled before sunset."

And so they both get off of their horses and begin setting up camp. Maka starts kindling a fire, collecting twigs and scraps of dried grass to serve as a fire starter. By the time she's got a smoke started, Soul has finished setting up the tent and was already sitting down. As soon as the fire is started and going strong, Maka settles a few feet away from him.

"We'll just have to eat on the dried meat for tonight." She tells him, retrieving a few strips of the meat from her shoulder bag. She hands him a slice.

"That's fine. We'll probably need to start hunting soon though..." He replies, and she nods in agreement. She takes off her hat and sets it down besides her, letting her hair splay freely across her back.

"We should be arriving in Camp Soney sometime tomorrow..." She says, pulling out the map and quickly estimating their location. She assumes they're about three quarters close to the next town, and she figures that they made pretty good time, considering Camp Soney is a fairly large distance from Death Town.

"Yeah..."

"Is that all ya ever say, Eater?"

"What?" And it's the first time she ever feels a spark of annoyance from the gunslinger. Something about his tone and the way he says it, the carefree and lazy way he carries himself, it sends a twitch of anger through her, threatening to spark a fire. But she quickly dowses that fire, keeping a casual tone sturdy in her voice.

"That word, 'Yeah'...You seem to be fond of it." She tells him after ripping a bite off of the beef strip in her hand.

He rests his elboys on him knees, and raises his eyes as if in thought, "I've never really noticed it, but I guess it's a cool word..."

"Mmm." She takes off the canteen and takes a sip of its liquid contents. After she's had enough to satisfy her dry mouth, she holds it out to Soul. He gladly takes it, taking a few generous swigs.

"Watch it, idiot. We need to make sure we have enough to last us until we reach Soney tomorrow." She warns him, that old strictness that comes with being an officer filling her voice. And then, there it is again, that flicker of annoyance. It makes her wonder if she really could work with this man, actually be "partners" with him. He grunts in acknowledgement and sets the canteen down.

"Anyways...Tell me why you don' use a saddle?" He asks, glancing a Blair, who's a few feet away, nibbling on the grass. The sudden strike of conversation inwardly startles her, the way he casually just starts talking to her makes her wonder what kind of person Soul is, whether she should really trust him.

The sun's already set by now; the moon just starting to float upwards. She decides that if the two are ever going to be able to work together, they outta get to know eachother a littler.

"Eh. It was from a bounty I took a while back..." Maka starts, recalling the day. "I was bein' chased by a big group'a criminals, after killin' their leader. They weren't exactly pleased when they found me with a gun pointed to his head." She gives a slight chuckle, remembering the shocked expression on many of the mens faces.

"Go on." Soul urges. She notes the way he intensely listens to her, how his attention is unfazed. She realizes that he has a very intense concentration level.

"And so, when I realized that I couldn't outrun 'em, I ended up ditching the saddle, so I could ride faster, ya know? And trust me when I say it wasn't easy; stoppin' and tryin' my best to rip it off'a Blair. I'd probably be dead if I didn't do that then...When I said it was a habit earlier...I've just never really bothered with buyin' another one...And ever since then, I've been ridin' bareback."

"Huh. That's quite the tale you got'cha self there, Officer." Soul says, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, well, it's not the most interestin'..." Maka says grimly. He was about to ask, but the way her eyes darkened made him think otherwise. Instead, he yawns and spreads his arms out wide, taking pleasure in the way his muscles stretch.

"We should get some sleep if we're gettin' up early tomorrow..." Soul suggests.

"Mhmm...Yeah. We'll sleep in shifts. I'll start off." Maka starts. She grabs one of the sleeping bags, which is lying haphazardly a few feet away, and tosses it to him. After he catches it, she finishes, "I'll wake you up in a few hours, you can sleep in the tent until then."

But he's still not sure whether he can trust her. Exactly how dependable is she? Soul isn't sure he could fall asleep soundly with just the protection of a female officer watching his back. Deciding that he could just stay awake in the tent if he has to, he relents and goes anyway.

"Okay..." He says, unfolding the sleeping bag and crawling into the tent. "I guess this is an okay start to our trip..."

"Heh. I guess so..." Maka replies. "Night. I'll call you if anything comes up." And with this, he nods and dissapears behind the canvas flaps of the tent. Maka sighs and looks at the sky. She's not quite sure about this whole "partnership" deal with the white-haired man, but she figures that if comes to it, she can defend herself. Although she knows nothing about this gunslinger, "Eater", she can usually picks up vibes on people. Ever since she was little, she could sorta pick up on a person; whether they had good hearts or cold ones.

And although this Soul "Eater" may have seemed a little rough around the edges, Maka felt that he was an okay guy.

So she figured, this would be a good way to start a new "journey." Besides, this time, she had company.

And consequently, Soul ended up falling asleep soundly.

A/N: Okay, so I feel sort of bad about this. I take forever to update, and then I give you guys this short-ass chapter...I'm sorry. I've just been really sick lately and busy with school and all of that good stuff. Heh. So I hope you guys liked this chapter. I personally didn't care for it(I feel like it's really choppy)...But...Well, frankly, I never do...

I think that Soul and Maka are already too casual around eachother. That's why I'm gonna add some tension in the next chapter, ya know, some arguments, action, danger, the whole package.

Oh, and courtesy of WindyCanyon for the idea about the 'no saddle' thing. It'll lead up to something later in the story (AKA: Some sorta fluffy scene). Anyways, since I gave y'all this short chapter, I'll give you guys a little idea of what is to come. I'm not guaranteeing anything though, these are more like, just little brainstorming ideas WindyCanyon and I came up with, lol.

There will definitely be a part where Stein and Marie are included.

Somewhere along the line, Maka is gonna fess up to Soul (when their relationship is a little closer, when they're coming close to Fort Humphrey) about her sex-obsessed father and blah blah blah.

They will be attacked in the middle of the night by wolves (sometime soon), killing Soul's horse, and therefore forcing Soul to ride behind Maka. (Boy will I have fun writing about how Soul is too shy to wrap his arms around her, because he certainly wouldn't do that! Lol)

There will be a point of time where Maka and Soul sleep in tent at the same time. (Because I gotta put that fluff in somewhere, right?)

And there's another something that includes Soul "saving" Maka, but...I'll save that for later. WindyCanyon, you know what I'm talkin' about, right? Lol!

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Not very exciting, I know, but it'll get better. There'll be more action in the next chapter, and hopefully, it'll be longer. (I'm thinking about doing the wolf thing next chapter, in fact, I know that's what I'm gonna do. Action, yaay!)

Lol. Thanks for reading, and why the hell are my A/N's so freaking long? (I really need to work on making them shorter!) Lol. And guys, seriously, reviews are really nice. They inspire me to write more! :)