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------DISCLAIMER----- ...
-----AUTHOR'S NOTES----- Lynda: ... 50 reviews!!! Oh, wow. I'm... All... Teary... ;_; Thanks
soooo much. **sniffle sniffle snort** Kuroneko: Mya? Lynda: Oh yes. Things do start to spin... @_@
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Wolfwood shifted. The thomas stable was intolerably humid and stifling; the obscure odour of the native animal more than a little overpowering. The walls were grubby and not even fit for leaning on, insubstancial or not; the filth seemed to live on all Planes. Next to a stall, the two Claims Investigators were negotiating with the beast caretaker, occassionally an angry Meryl sound over-riding the din created by the strange creatures. Not even bothering to light himself another cigerette, the priest tugged on his already open collar, suffocating slightly in the overload of life. Stables and Barns were always the worst. Regarding life energy, what animals lacked in longevity they more than made up for in concentration and intensity. Not for the first time, Wolfwood wondered vaguely if every single creature was given the same amount of life, big or large, short or long. The thought, like always, was dissmissed as more pressing matters stole his attention. Another glance out the nearest window confirmed that, yes, he was indeed worried about Vash. As much as he hated to admit it. That big idiot would be getting into all sorts of trouble without him. Who knows what an innocent living mortal was being put through; harrassed or poked or blown up or whatever crazy thing the Humanoid Typhoon took upon himself to do. Which, judging by the spikey haired loser's luck, could very well be world threatening. ...And Wolfwood's shoulder was aching from his cross. He needed his slave back. And that idiot had run away from his duty of guarding the Small Insurance Girl. Lip curled in the faintest hint of a sardonic snarl, Wolfwood grimly went through all the terrible and sadistic things he would do to the lousy jerk when he managed to stumble back. And also knowing the strange Luck that blessed the blonde fool, he would invariably stumble back eventually. After, of course, he had caused wide spread chaos and destruction, effectively living up to his title of 'Stampede'. Wolfwood sighed and settled himself down on a chair. It was set up in front of the thomas herders table; the bench top covered in business papers and the remains of the man's lunch. Anything to keep off his feet. 'That much?!' Meryl suddenly all but shouted in anger. Upon returning his attention to the pair, Wolfwood observed an angry digit pointed accusingly at the thomas herder. 'That's robbery and you know it!' the short insurance worker snapped, continuing to point savagely at the man's chest. The afore mentioned male regarded the woman stoically, hands buried in his pockets casually. 'That's the price Miss, there ain't nothin' I can do 'bout it.' he said evenly, the toothpick dangling from his teeth wavering. Milly took a step forward, hands clasped together. 'But why so expensive? We're only borrowing them, not buying them.' she said in that tone that forboded tears and much misery for all. 'You're takin' the thomases to Carcasses, right? Tell you what. If you bring 'em back alive, I'll give you back some of your money, ok?' he offered, motioning to the beasts with his head. 'The situation in Carcasses is that bad?' Meryl asked incredulously. 'You are the only folks here a'bout that have even mentioned goin'.' was the reply. 'But we have to go!' Milly declared, raising a finger matter-of-factly. 'We are Claims Investigators for the Bernedelli Insurance Society, and it is our job to make sure damages are seen to properly!' Resolutely resting his cross against the wall, the priest grinned at his guards words. If only the pair knew of the disaster machine that was following them around. Right on que, because sometimes narrative runs by rules even deeper than reality, Vash the Stampede stumbled through the wall into the stable, looking incredibly shaken. Wolfwood's hand rose immediately to his mouth to smother that small jaw drop of shock that had invariably followed the blonde's entrance. His entrance, that is, through the wall. And Vash seemed completely insouciant to this Materialistic breakthrough. In fact he didn't seem to notice at all. 'Welcome back.' Wolfwood managed, deciding to add this little event to the steadily building list of enigmas. Best not to mention it just yet, though... 'Uh, hi.' Vash returned in a distracted voice, eyes darting about the stable fearfully. Strange. The blonde gunman walked through the chair on the opposite side of the table, and as soon as he was in front of it, sat down. Facinating. Plane jumping in seconds... 'How did you find us?' the priest asked lightly, lowering his hand to get himself a cigerette nonchalantly. 'I, uh, followed some people.' Vash replied noncommittally, resting his hands on the table and tugging on his fingers. Damn, he's wound tight as a spring... the priest thought suspisciously. And the gunman's hand kept passing through the knife beside the half eaten lunch in his fidgetting. 'Careful, Tongari. You know how you are with the solid.' Wolfwood said
sharply, eyebrow raised, the tone in his voice completely betraying
the sentence of it's meaning. When did you learn to do that? 'Oops.' he said simply, pretending to look apologetic for his 'clumsiness', but it was a poor farce to a man who was obviously struggling to focus on the present. The priest lit his cigerette and took a contemplative drag. Whatever was up with the Humanoid Typhoon was effecting even his acting. Best to leave it for him to explain when he's ready. 'You and sharp objects don't mix, Tongari. Someone should keep you away from knives.' Wolfwood grinned, deciding to change the subject. The reaction was a little different than expected, however. Vash near choked and really did knock over the chair accidently this time in his haste to jump to his feet. 'What?!' he managed, eyes wide. Wolfwood blinked back, cigerrette hanging limply from his lips in mild surprise. 'I said someone should keep you away from knives.' he repeated, eyes searching the man in front of him for an explaination. Vash's mouth opened and closed in a desperate search for words, his feet even endeavoring to back up a step. Fear spread eyes finally dropped to the knife on the floor and the $$60 Billion Man let out a relieved laugh. 'Oh. Oh, yeah. You know how I am! AHAHAHAHA!' he exclaimed, a painfully fake grin spread across his features. Wolfwood winced. The blonde hurriedly took his seat again, impervious to the strange looks he was recieving from the thomases in the stalls. Luckily the bestial din had rendered the three humans impervious to the 'action' occuring at the table. Sinking to his seat and anxiously fidgetting, Vash materialized himself a donut to chew on nervously, eyes focused on something out the window. It was Wolfwood's turn to choke. 'Where did you get that?!' he demanded. The blonde jumped and looked down at the donut in his hand. There was a second of guilt and panic that swept the gunmans features, but he smoothed over the expression quickly. 'I... Well... Picked it up... From the plate.' Vash managed, waving a hand to the half eaten lunch between his elbows. Wolfwood narrowed his eyes but said nothing. There had been no donut on that plate. Yet another enigma to add to the steadily growing pile... Shrinking under his companion's gaze, Vash endeavored to change the subject. 'So, uh, when are we leaving?' he asked lightly, another empty smile pulled across his lips. Glaring, but changing the subject anyway, Wolfwood motioned to the two Guards. 'Actually, it was lucky you found us. We were just getting ready to leave.' he admitted, flicking his cigerette. Sure enough, Meryl and Milly were brought to a stall and handed the reins of two thomases. As far as mounts went, they were pretty sad looking creatures. Milly's thomas was quite scrawny and Meryl's had a huge crack in its carapace-mask. The thomas herder obviously didn't expect them back. 'Thank you for your time.' Meryl said stiffly, her expression betraying her mood and opinion. 'We're leaving so soon?' Vash asked, looking genuinely relieved, standing in his obvious haste and passing through the table in the process. Again Wolfwood regarded his spectorial companion suspisciously. 'Don't let your guard down. Carcasses is when the real fun begins.' he said sharply, hoping to drag at least a little bit of a confession out of the blonde. 'You're right. We should get there as soon as possible and get it over with.' Vash said in cheerful determination, striding over to Meryl and looking like he was going to pick her up and throw her on the beast, then stopping himself in time. So, Wolfwood thought, raising an eyebrow and standing slowly, Whatever happened out there has him spooked. 'Hey, you wanna hurry up?' Vash asked in a voice that cut through the priest's musings like a hot knife through butter. Wolfwood stared blankly at the tall gunman for a good few seconds before standing resolutely. 'No rush.' he replied calmly, making a great show of sauntering casually over to Milly, slowing down even more when he could see his angelic co-worker fidgetting under the pace. And there really was no rush. If the slow thomas ride to Carcasses didn't weed Vash's problem from him, Wolfwood's incessant pressuring would. It was going to be an interesting trip.
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'I'm all you need for this.' she reassured, tipping her hat slightly. This woman, tall and dark, stood on an outcrop above the small town of Carcasses, her long hair billowing slightly in the breeze. 'How long do I have?' she asked into the distance, addressing the horizon itself. Whatever she was talking to obviously talked back. 'I see...' A slow and grim smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. It was in the process of fixing there permanantly when a scuffling behind her dropped the expression into non-existance. Turning, the strange woman took in three people, men in fact, struggling past the water tank to the flat surface of the outcrop. Two of the men were dragging the third between them, one could go so far as to say violently forceful. The woman smiled and turned. One of the two assailants broke contact with the prisoner long enough to club him across the back of the head. The figure sunk to the ground in a semi-conscious slump, the knees the first to resign function efficiency. 'Dominique. The Master bids you make an example of this traitor.' one of the thugs said clearly, standing to attention and staring into the distance. It was obvious he couldn't see who he was talking to. The woman named Dominique smirked, kicking an old salmon tin by her foot toward the party as an answer. The two standing men watched it roll towards them in horror, but remained standing to attention. 'An example?' she asked, knowing full well they couldn't hear her. Dominique stepped forward and ran a hand through the closest thug, causing him to shiver uncontrollably. It was enough of a warning for them to step up to the edge of the cliff and face away from the groaning man on the ground. Satisfied with the privacy, the woman turned to her subject. She reached down and slapped him. The resonating crack echoed surreally around the open space, the two thugs at the outcrop jumping slightly but keeping their posts. The man on the ground managed to open his eyes. He was in the process of scrambling to his feet when Dominique kicked them out from under him, a small chuckle escaping her lips as she did. The man froze. 'I can hear it...' he gasped, frantically sweeping his gaze across the landscape for the source of the sound, crawling backwards across the dusty ground. What he found was a jaw rattling punch across the face. 'Do you hear this?' the voice asked sweetly, followed closely by the click of a gun being loaded. When the fear ridden man failed to answer, he recieved a kick in the ribs that sent him tumbling. Coughing slightly, he raised himself to his elbows and squinted in the setting sun, again seeking a creature that simply wasn't visible. 'Why-?' he began, only to be kicked again. Strong invisible hands dragged him by the shirt up off the ground. 'They say you see demons before death.' the voice came again, deathly quiet this time. In response to this sentiment, the man screwed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth and discovering that one had been knocked loose. In a half hearted cough, he managed to dislodge it and spit it out, the tiny clatter of tooth hitting the ground drowned out by the sudden laugh that emerged from thin air. He made the mistake of opening his eyes. Before him, smiling beautifully and pointing a pistol at his chest was Dominique, the front of his shirt bundled into her fist. Her smile broadened into something a little more malevolent. 'Before death?' she repeated, the gun inching closer. 'I- I didn't do anything I swear!' he managed, forcing words past a constricted throat and rendering it a husky exhalation. Dominique feigned surprise. 'Oh? In a bid for revenge and to escape this two bit town, you blew up my Master's Vault factory. Taking with it half of his mansion. With so many demons wandering around the halls, did you think we wouldn't notice? And your actions have brought the attention of outside humans to our little town.' 'I- I-' 'You didn't believe Master when he warned you he was in posession of demons, did you? Well, it comes to no consequence in the end. And you will pay.' she said, sighing with mock boredom, the metal eyepatch over her right eye sliding open.
The two thugs on the edge of the outcrop grimaced at the sunset as screams split the air behind them. They didn't understand what these demons were, but then, they were not paid to understand. So they didn't.
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-----AUTHOR'S NOTES----- Lynda: Sigh. Whatever. As soon as Knives comes in, I'll be happy. Why?
Because things will run more smoothly. Whatever. Mwe heh.... I GOT A
GAME CUBE!!! GAME CUBE people, GAME CUBE!!!!! **Lynda is a happy Ghost
Bustin' gal** Kuroneko: Mya. Lynda: What's a Vault you ask? Only a huge part of the story line.
Again, now that I'm gettin' into the story, you'll find humor, though
still running 'Rampage', is slowing a little to a 'Stampede'. You know
what I mean. -_-;; |