Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Trigun: Doushikai ❯ A Warm Welcome ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter I

A Warm Welcome

"Damn it's hot." The young woman used the back of her hand to wipe away the sweat on her brow, pushing away the wet locks of red hair that stuck to her forehead and cheeks. A snicker came from the tall blonde on the redhead's left.

"In another ten or twenty minutes you're going to be whining about how cold it is, Okaia." She quickened her pace so that she was walking in step with the redhead. "Baka. Don't you know how cold it gets in the desert after the sun-," she paused to look back behind her, "excuse me-the suns set?" she finished, her pale blue eyes crinkling in laughter. Okaia ignored her question, turning instead to speak to the two dark-haired women on her right.

"Hey, so is our bounty here," she gestured towards the cluster of buildings that stood a little over 20 yards away from them, "or what?" The woman directly to Okaia's right stopped in her tracks; the other three followed suit and circled around her. They looked at her speculatively, the two facing into the dying sunlight shading their eyes with their hands.

The woman looked down at the ground and pushed at the loose sand with her boot. A few strands of long, dark brown hair fell loose from the intricately twisted plait that flowed nearly to her waist and she absentmindedly tucked them behind one of her ears. Frowning slightly as she stared at the simple, clay buildings, she looked towards the shorter woman standing quietly before her.

"Arana, do you sense anything in there?" Arana's large, dark blue eyes met her own brown ones as she heard her name mentioned. She nodded wordlessly and turned so that she faced the small village sprawled out before them.

"Yeah, Ayashi, what does our trusty radar have to say?" the blonde chirruped.

"That's enough, Kena, let her concentrate." Ayashi said, shooting her a warning glance. She couldn't quite manage to hide the smile that crept to her lips, though. The blonde smirked but made no move to retort, and Ayashi turned her attention back to the brunette standing beside her. Arana's eyes were shut tightly in concentration. She clasped her fists at her sides and leaned forward in the direction of the town, her long wavy hair falling down around her face in shiny brown cascade. She began to hum quietly, not a tune but a single, low note. Her fingers uncurled slowly and floated upwards to cup her face. The humming faded away until all that could be heard was the hard exhaling of breath from her lips. Arana massaged her temples gently, urging the third eye-the portal in her mind that would reveal the location of their quarry-to open.

The blackness on the inside of her eyelids disappeared suddenly as the eye opened, replaced by swirls of brightly glowing shapes. A tingling sensation, not totally unpleasant, coursed over her body. She pushed back against them. For a short moment she had the impression that she was living in and experiencing the sensations of two bodies-her physical and her astral body. In a matter of seconds, though, the feeling passed and she was loose and free in the caverns of her mind. Relaxing slightly (the most taxing part of this process was now over) she focused on making the energy signals, for that was what the glowing figures were, to become distinct and separate entities in her mind. They did, though reluctantly, and she was able to discern the presences of approximately 200 people. Moving her astral body, she waded into the spectral sea of lights. Some were glowing more brightly than others, signifying stronger psychic powers. She floated upward and around the glowing figures, moving through family homes, stores, and bars.

She was searching for someone, a light so bright that it had nearly blinded her the first time she had seen it. Arana suspected that due to its color-most human lights were a greenish color whereas this one was whitish-blue-and the intensity of the energy signal that the person it belonged to was more likely than not something other than human. She reached the end of the town, clearly obvious for the total lack of light beyond, and circled back to make another run; there was no way that she would let a bounty this large slip through her fingers. She went through the town again, and once more after that. There were two similar signals, one so faint that it she had missed it the first two times she had searched, but neither was a fraction as powerful or intense as the original. The two people (she reckoned that they were related in some way) possessed blue-colored energy signatures, but that was still within the range of possible human energies.

Arana let herself return slowly. The lights grew distant and faint, finally disappearing in the darkness. The tingling started up again as her two bodies-the physical body and the astral body-neared. Her astral arms and legs slid inside those of her physical body like hands into a glove. She wriggled her fingers and toes vigorously to encourage the two bodies to merge completely. She opened her eyes slowly, letting herself adjust to the light, as dim as it now was, that streamed into them. She turned around so that she faced her three partners. Ayashi was nibbling on a small hunk of bread that she had fished from her pack. Kena, arms crossed over her chest and an unreadable expression on her face, was looking out at the towering rock formations that they had passed through when they had arrived here.

Arana blinked in confusion. Where was Okaia? She heard a grunt from below her. The petite redhead was sitting cross-legged on the ground, the large-not to mention extremely heavy, as Arana and the others were always swift to point out-machine gun she always insisted on carrying was sitting in her lap. Okaia's hands moved rapidly and expertly over the weapon, checking to make sure it was in perfect working condition. Smiling, Arana lifted her hands up above her and languorously stretched, happy to be back in the physical world again. The movement caught her comrades' keen eyes and they looked over at her, expectant looks on their faces. Arana sighed and shook her head from side to side.

"No luck," she said quietly. Okaia frowned and went back to caring for her weapon. A disappointed look passed briefly over Kena's face before she turned back to look at the rock formations. Ayashi sighed, took one more bite from the roll and then stuffed it back into her pack. She turned around in a slow circle, taking in the empty expanse of desert stretching out behind them. A faint wind blew up, and she shivered. The last sun was a sliver of dull red that was quickly disappearing below the horizon. The air had grown noticeably cooler, and would more likely than not become even colder as the night progressed. Ayashi turned back to the tiny town, a warm twinkle of lights standing boldly out in this cold, sand-strewn wasteland. She smiled and nodded to herself, decision made.

"Well, no use staying out here any longer," she said, turning back to the other three. "We might as well stay here tonight. There'll be plenty of time to investigate in the morning."

Arana made a sound of agreement and inclined her head at the town. "They should have all the supplies we need there."

"Need?" Ayashi's brow rose in question.

Kena laughed and strode over to stand next to her. "In her haste to make sure we were armed to the teeth, Okaia forgot to pack all but a day's worth of food and water rations."

Ayashi's eyes widened in shock and her gaze darted down to Okaia, who was hunched down over her weapon. She looked like she wanted to sink right into the sand and out of sight. Ignoring the dry chuckle that issued from Kena's mouth, Ayashi slung her pack off of her shoulder and onto the ground. She rooted through it almost frantically, tossing its contents onto the sand. Her fingers came upon what she was looking for, and she pulled the three squarish plastic packages from the bag. Normally these would contain her water rations. When her canteen was empty, she could just replace the empty water bag with a full one and be on her way. The ones she held in her palm were bone dry and painfully empty. Ayashi clenched the empty packages in her shaking fist. She took a deep breath, exhaled noisily, and began to replace the items that she had strewn out on the sand back in her pack.

Okaia regarded her from beneath a sweat-matted swatch of red hair. She glanced back down at her machine gun. She had no interest in cleaning it anymore. With a pained grimace, she slid her arm through the wide leather strap and slung the gun over her shoulder. She pushed herself to her feet, brushing away the sand that clung to her rear and the backs of her thighs and waited, her head hung, for the tongue-lashing that was sure to come.

Replacing her sleeping roll back in her pack, Ayashi strapped it shut and threw it over her shoulder. She stood up, shaking her clothes free of sand, and leveled a hard look at the redhead standing remorsefully before her.

"I'm sorry," Okaia mumbled quietly. Eyes of a vibrant orchid purple, swimming in hot tears, rose to meet each of the women's faces in turn. They lingered on Ayashi's, waiting for her reply.

Kena's smirk faltered and she glanced over at Ayashi, begging her to be merciful in her response. The other woman felt, but didn't meet, her eyes. There was a sudden pressure in her mind, followed by a faint tingling.

Go easy on her, Ayashi. She was just excited and forgot, Arana implored in her mind. Ayashi didn't reply, and Arana broke the link. Sighing forcefully, Ayashi looked down at Okaia. A warm smile spread on her face and she touched the redhead's shoulder gently. No matter what the circumstance, she could never stay angry for very long with Okaia.

"You do realize the trouble we might have been in had we not been so close to civilization?" She squeezed her shoulder in emphasis and Okaia nodded briskly. Ayashi chuckled quietly and clapped her on the back. "It's good to know at least that we're prepared for anyone or anything that gets in our way, am I right?"

Okaia looked up and flashed her a bright smile.

"Yep!" she crowed, her characteristic good humor back in full force. Kena exchanged a pleased look with Ayashi, and a large smile spread itself across Arana's face. Okaia, head held high and grinning fiercely, took a few steps towards the town. She turned back, her shoulder-length hair flipping around in the air behind her.

"So are we going or what?" she called cheerfully. The other three nodded and fell in step with her.

The town was mostly quiet as they entered. Trickles of a lullaby floated down from the upper window of a two-story adobe house on the outskirts of the village. The sounds of harsh, crowing laughter punctuated by the occasional sound of breaking bottles or a gunshot echoed from somewhere farther inside, more likely than not a saloon. The four women walked quietly down the sand-strewn main street through alternating patches of light thrown from windows.

A group of three or four giggling children suddenly darted out in front of them. One of them, a short waif of a boy, collided head on into Kena's legs, nearly throwing her off balance. The blonde stifled the curse that flew to her lips as she caught sight of the little boy lying asprawl at her feet. Expression softening, she knelt so that she was at eye level with him.

"Hey there, big guy, you okay?" Her voice was soft and gentle as she spoke and the boy looked up at her and nodded soundlessly. Kena's smile widened and she affectionately ruffled his unruly mop of black hair.

"Look out where you're going next time, okay?" The boy nodded again and darted off after his playmates. Kena rose to her feet, still grinning warmly. She flushed in embarrassment as she saw the look the other three were giving her.

"Ah, come on. It's not like I read him a story or played peek-a-boo or whatever kids play now-a-days or anything." Her flush deepened as she saw the identical grins on their faces widen.

"Dumb kid should have been looking where he was going, anyway," she muttered, her voice trailing off to the barest whisper.

"Stop right there, ladies."

All four women spun around quickly to face the owner of the voice. Okaia, moving with the speed and dexterity of years of hard training, instantly grabbed her machine gun and leveled it at the five men standing in a solemn line before them. The one in the center was wearing a shiny silver star pinned to his vest. Arana's hand moved to her weapon as well. Kena crouched low to the ground, ready to dart past and circle the men. Taking one look at the five guns pointed at them and the hard, yet slightly fearful looks on the men's faces, Ayashi signaled to Kena and Arana to back off. Moving slowly so as not to alert the men, she pulled up beside Okaia.

"Easy there," she spoke out of the corner her mouth as she laid one hand on the barrel of the gun, pushing it down and away from the men. Okaia shot her a worried look but didn't protest. Moving as if in slow motion, Ayashi lifted her hands, palms facing outwards, into the air.

"Is there a problem, gentlemen?" she asked as innocuously as possible.

The one wearing the star stepped forward. "We don't want any trouble here, ladies, so if that's what you're after, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"We mean you nor anyone else in this town any harm whatsoever." The sheriff, or deputy, some sort of law enforcement officer anyway, glanced warily over at Okaia, who still had her hands on her weapon, ready to swing it up and fire if necessary. Ayashi followed his glance and quickly added, "My three comrades and I are bounty hunters. All we're looking for is a place to stay and replenish our supplies."

The officer nodded, but didn't look entirely convinced. He holstered his gun and motioned for the other men to do the same. They did, although reluctantly, and backed off slightly.

"The first sign of trouble and you and your friends," he nodded toward Arana, Kena, and Okaia, "are out of here. Got that?"

"Yes, sir, we understand perfectly. We shouldn't be here much longer than a week. We have some investigating to do a little south of your village and-"

"I don't care." The officer's reply was curt, his voice chilly. "Just keep on moving."

Ayashi nodded in compliance, dropped her hands to her sides, and motioned for her comrades to follow her. They walked past the men silently, alert to the slightest movement. When they were a good distance away, Okaia, glancing back to make sure that they weren't being followed (the street was empty, save for a couple of teetering and singing drunks), began to speak.

"If those guys were supposed to be the welcome wagon, I hate to wonder what the rest of the townspeople are like."

"Think of it this way," Kena replied quietly, her eyes traveling over the various storefronts (all dark now), "if you saw people who looked like us entering your hometown, would you be so quick to welcome them in?"

Okaia nibbled her lower lip and glanced down at her feet. "Well…I wouldn't pull a gun on them! That was just plain rude!"

Kena's eyebrow rose in speculation. "Oh wouldn't you?"

Both Arana and Ayashi stifled giggles. Okaia threw her hands up in the air in mild exasperation and sighed noisily.

Arana, composing herself, stopped and stared out at the small village spread out before them.

"So where do we go from here?"