Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Wyldfire ❯ Colors of the Rainbow ( Chapter 2 )

I don't own the rights to Vash, Planet Gunsmoke, or anything else associated with Trigun. That honor goes to its creator Yasuhiro Nightow. Zion is my original character and the young woman introduced in this chapter was created with much much help from my friend Joker ^_^. And sorry this took so long, I've been having bad computer problems which are hopefully fixed.

"A thomas would've been nice. Or a...what was it called? That animal back on earth. A camel? Yeah that woulda worked to. How many days could either of them go without water? A week or two? Yeah, that would be nice. Woulda even made sense, but a cat? What were they thinking?" the young woman muttered to herself as she slowly marched across the hot desert. Her throat was dry, it had been three days since she'd had water. The bottoms of her feet were blistered from walking for so long on the hot sand. She wore little more than rags, her thin clothes had been torn to shreds by the fierce sandstorms that swept across the desert. I hope I get a town soon. I...I might not make it too much longer. Ack!! What am I saying? Of course I'll make it. I've come too far to give up now. And she continued marching, slowly humming a little song to herself.

"Huh? Whats that?" she said wiping the sand from her eyes. As she drew closer she could see a young man with bright red hair lying on the ground. "Oh man! Now I'm seeing mirages. I've heard that could happen when you go without water for too long. But you'd think I coulda imagined up an oasis or something, instead of a guy. Although," she said smiling, "he is kinda cute, so maybe its not a total loss." "Wait a minute," she slowly bent down and touched his cheek. "Oh my god! He's real!!" she jumped back with a scream. She then saw a puddle of blood growing beneath him. "He's hurt...." she whispered.

Finding a person dying in the desert probably wasn't out of the ordinary, it probably happenned everyday, but it had never happenned to her. "What should I do? What should I do?" He could be dangerous. He might even have been sent to look for her. No, there's no way anyone could've gotten ahead of her. But he could still be dangerous. As she looked at his face though, something inside her told her that he wasn't. Besides she couldn't just leave someone to die.

She rolled him onto his back and removed his cloak so she could see his how badly he was hurt. He had a gunshot wound on his side which had broken two of ribs. He was also pretty dehydrated. She tore of the lower part of her shirt and tied it around him to help control the bleeding. "He still needs to see a doctor." Her sharp eyes scanned the horizon and she could see a small dot out to, what she thought was, the east. "Oh, c'mon please be a town," she thought as she sniffed the air. Her ears suddenly perked up, "People! Thank goodness!"

She reached down to pick the young man up but stopped when she saw her hand. The sight was like a soft stab in her gut, a not so gently reminder that we wasn't a part of the outside world. A reminder she wasn't normal. She stood there for a moment staring at her hand, her palm was a bright pink and sharp claws came out the end of her long fingers. On the back of her hands white fur ran from her wrist to her knuckles. She hugged her arms, which were covered in white, orange, and black stripes, a sudden chill had come over her. "I can't go into town like this..." Her eyes lit up when she remembered the young man'c cloak. She quickly put it on and drew the hood up over her head. After making sure she was well covered she got the young man onto her back & headed toward the dot on the horizon.

The twin suns set as she continued toward the town and for that she was grateful. The sun shone down with near unbearable heat on good days and carrying another person made it even worse. Sweat poured down her face trying to wash away the determined look she now wore, but she refused to let it. It wasn't just her life at stake anymore, it was his to, and she wouldn't let another person die.

It was midnight before she reached the town and only a few minutes after that till she found the hospital. She burst through the door in a fury shouting for help, if there was one thing she's learned over the years it was how to make an entrance. The doctor came running into the room almost before he was truly awake. "Please, you have to help him. I found him passed out in the desert. He's hurt," she said between pants. The doctor woke his wife, who helps him as his nurse & they put the young man on the examination table. "There's some water in there," the nurse said pointing to an adjoining room. "Please help yourself. You look like you're about to drop." "Thank you," the young woman called back as she greedily drank the water.

After drinking her full the young woman stood in the doorway watching the doctor and nurse work. I should go. I can't stay here...its dangerous. I should go but she couldn't. She wanted so much to turn and run that her legs threatened to leave without her, but she just couldn't leave yet. She had to know if he was going to be ok first. The nurse turned to her after a few more mintues with a smile on her face. "He's going to be ok. He'll need a few days to recover his strength, but he's out of danger." "Thank goodness!" the young woman sighed. "Oh! You're hurt! I didn't even realize. Let me get the doctor."

"Huh?" she looked down and saw bloody footprints covering the floor. Guess that's what I get for walking across the desert. I didn't even realize... "Just sit down over here young lady and let me see," the doctor said as he walked toward her. "No really, I'm ok. Its no big deal. I have to go anyway. I'll be fine." she said nervously as she backed up pulling the cloak tighter. "Nonsense. That could get infected, or worse. Now come here." The doctor grabbed her arm and began to pull her, but suddenly found himself on the ground. "Stay away from me!" she yelled in a voice that was more of a growl than a yell. The doctor just stared at her as bright purple eyes shown fiercely from beneath the cloak. Without another word the mysterious young woman with purple eyes turned and lept through the window and ran down the street.

As she wandered streets until she found a half-wrecked building on the edge of town. Cautiosly she peeked in the window, Abandonned....perfect. She climbed in and huddled in a corner. Her feet really did hurt. She tore the lower half of each leg of her pant off and wrapped them around her feet. She looked down at her remaining clothes, what was once a pair of pants and a shirt had become shorts and half a shirt. "At this rate I'll be naked in a week," she said with a slight laugh. The smile faded quickly though, "I wish I hadn't done that. I hope I didn't hurt that doctor. I just....I panicked." Just as quickly these thoughts vanished as well as she looked through the a crack in the wall and saw the night sky. "Look at that," she whispered. "The sky. I finally did it. I'm free."