He trudged slowly through the desert, his enormous burden slung over his back, pressing him firmly into the desert sand, making each step a titanic struggle.
He sat down on the sand, exhausted.
He had a job to do...but was it really worth it? Was he selling off his soul piece by piece, to no real end? Becoming a mere pawn in a game he didn't fully understand?
His...'Teacher' didn't think so.
It was important enough to have serious consequences if he didn't do it. And, In the end, that was all that mattered, right?
He leaned against his burden, the giant cross-shaped bundle tilting against him, pressing him further into the hot sand.
Was this a smart way to approach him? What if they didn't see him? Was he going to die out here? These thoughts faded from his mind as the desert heat grew more intense.
As he dozed, there was a slight pulling in the back of his mind. A whispered promise of release from a hard and difficult road ahead.
He agreed, willingly...and Nicholas D. Wolfwood was gone.
In his place, a stranger was placed in Wolfwood's body. A stranger to the body...the world...even the very universe.
And yet...he was one of it's last hopes...
"Uuurrrgg..."
Ginn shook his head, and opened his eyes.
"Ack!"
Closing them really quickly, he rubbed them with his hands. Last night had been a total blur. Who knew that an engineering frat could throw such a party? Ah well, such is life. Although, it was awfully hot for northwest United States... what the...
Opening his eyes ever so slowly to let his eyes adjust, he surveyed his surroundings.
North: Sand.
South: Sand.
East: Sand.
West: Big bundled thing.
"Errr..."
Being a college student, while it opens doors of opportunity, teaches a world of knowledge, and promises a once in a lifetime experiance, doesn't quite prove the intellegence or common sense of a person. Therefore, Ginn's current muddled mind was still in 'Its warm enough to go back to sleep, deal with people leaving computer messages about the interweb later.' Unfortunely, it was also extreamly bright. So his mind sought various ways of turning it off.
1. It is a natural light source, as there is sand as far as the eye can see. Almost.
2. Therefore, shade should be found to resume the action known as sleep.
3. There is a nice cross-shaped bundle here, providing a little shade.
Moving towards the cross-shaped bundle, his mind finally clicked. Cross-shaped bundle? He didn't own one of these... plus, there wasn't a desert anywhere near where he lived... this spelt trouble...
Eyes adjusted to the light, Ginn stared at the bundle for a while. He considered the possibility, but he needed more proof to be sure. Only 2 people would tote around such a bundle (Well, 3, but Ginn REALLY didn't want to consider that option).
Ginn looks down at himself.
A thin, lanky body greeted Ginn's eyes, clothed, if one could call it that, in a rumpled suit, with a white shirt, open several buttons down. One arm lay across his lap, and he could see a bit of grey on his cuff, in what looked to be the shape of a cross. he wore a pair of shoes that may have been stylish once but now were quite scuffed.
As he sat there, a hot wind blew by, picking up a fair bit of sand, and depositing it on his pant legs and pooling around his shoes as the wind continued on, blowing more sand as it went...
In the distance, almost too faint to be heard, was the sound of an engine...
Well, at least I got one of the two I picked...
Ginn shuddered at the thought of waking up as Milly. Standing up, he brushed himself off the best he could, before surveying his surroundings yet again.
Where the hell am I, and how the hell did I get here? Damn it, Carthrat, because of you, I may see hell.
Not use to the body he was in Ginn stumbled for a minute, as he tried walking around the bundle. Catching himself, Ginn sighed and leaned (standing) against the bundle.
He knew where he was. He knew who he was. The why and how hadn't come in yet, but being quite familiar with anime and fanfiction in general, he didn't freak out, which also surprised him.
This could be just a dream again, but... it feels too real to be a dream. The heat, the sand, the feel of the fabric... all too real.
Of course, there is one way that one can confirm the difference between the real and the dream, which is to find a book, and read it. If it has never been read before, the mind has to stick something in there, whether it makes sense or not. Of course, in this world, Ginn had not read anything yet, and thus wanted to prove reality versus fiction.
This lead Ginn to his second act, which was to dig through all the belongings on him (including the bundle), and to inventory them.
That being said, Ginn acts.
Ginn's pockets were quite full. After a few moments search, he turned up money, of a rather unusual denomination, a number of crumpled cigarettes, a lighter, presumably for the cigarettes, sunglasses, an oddly detailed model of a church, and three small wrapped items, that were food, by the look of them.
The search of the cross-shaped bundle revealed... a big-ass cross.
This fucknut has no water? What kind of sane man goes into the desert with just food, but no water? Shit, I'm going to die.
Sighing, inspected the cross closer. Taking into detail the very center of the cross, where the arms met.
Lets see, it should be around here somewhere... where the hell is the release mechanism for the arms...
The center of the cross was a small door, that opened easily to the touch. Inside was what looked to be some sort of trigger mechanism. The trigger structure itself was shaped in such a way as to make the circular opening to the trigger resemble a skull, with buttons and triggers in the eyes, nose and mouth.
The arms of the cross, themselves seemed to be metal sleeves of some kind, apparently opened by a set of buttons inside the trigger guard...
Ginn, familiar with where he was, checked the ammo sleeve, and the handgun sleeve, before bundling it all back up.
Let see if I can carry it.
Grasping the bundle by its leather straps, Ginn lifted.
And found the cross heavy, though not as much as he would have expected. His muscles, well adapted to the weight, hefted the cross with no difficulty. In point of fact, he realized that, while difficult, if needs be, he could support it's weight on one arm.
In the distance, the sound of the engine drew slightly closer, though still quite faint...
Hey, this isn't too bad... I wish I had the bike, though...
Setting it back on his shoulder like a japanese school bag, Ginn placed a crumpled cigarette in his mouth, lit it, and started walking towards the sound of the engine.
Far off in the distance, the shape of a bus driving across the desert, kicking up clouds of sand as it went became visible, distorted slightly by the waves of heat rising from the sand...
Suddenly, the bus deviated from it's straight line path across the desert. It turned, and began heading quickly in Wolfwood's direction.
Ginn, aware that the bus was now headed in his direction, took another puff off the cigarette before taking it out of his mouth, waving his arms around, and shouting, trying to hail the bus down.
The bus continued to drive toward him, and after a long wait, it closed the distance and pulled up nearby. The driver, a dark, shortish man wearing a green T-shirt, shorts and a cap walked over to the door and hopped out, looking at Wolfwood, his eyes drawn to the huge cross on his back.
"You sure seem well prepared to die out in the desert," he commented, surprised.
"Apparently, I am. I'm not sure how I got here, though. Thanks for stopping, will I have to pay to get a ride?"
The driver looked at Wolfwood for a moment, then shrugged.
"I'm not heartless enough to leave a priest out here...Hop on. when we're closer to civilization, we'll talk about fares..."
"Thanks alot, you're a lifesaver."
Ginn grabbed the cross, and stepped on the bus, looking for a seat.
The driver stopped him as he was getting on.
"Sorry father, but this'll have to go up on the luggage rack," he insisted.
At Ginn's words, he shrugged. "Don't thank me...I wouldn't have noticed you if it weren't for them..." He jerked his thumb toward the back of the bus, where a small woman with short, dark hair was loudly chastising a blonde man in a red leather coat, whose hair, oddly enough, was standing on end, in a psuedo-punk spiked haircut.
As they argued, a cheerful seeming brown-haired girl looked on, smiling...
My god, its Vash and company... O_o
Ginn desparatly tried to find another empty seat.
Unfortunately, all the other seats were taken, and more than a few passengers looked on him pityingly, though not so much as to take the seat in the back in his stead, where the crazy woman kept hitting that blonde man...
Well, fuck... I wonder if they'll act differently if since I do too...
Ginn slowly walked to the back, and tried to interuppt the seemingly married couple.
"Ano..."
The dark haired woman turned at his approach, and the anger seemed to vanish, replaced by a friendly, if slightly reserved smile.
"Oh! Hello. Nice to meet you, Mister....?"
The blond man eyed him curiously, with a faint hint of a grin about his mouth.
The big girl beside the dark-haired woman simply smiled cheerfully.
Oh god... how... unpredicatable.
Ginn pointed at the empty seat.
"Ummm, is that seat open?"
The dark haired woman looked slightly miffed at the dodging of the question, but the blonde man simply nodded and scooted over, still eyeing him curiously.
The dark haired woman persisted, however.
"What were you doing, walking around in the desert like that?"
OOC: How many people ask you your name on the bus? o_O
IC: Ginn thanked the blonde man first.
"Thanks."
Ginn turned to the dark haired woman.
"Err, getting some exercise? I'm not exactly sure myself... I'm kinda just wandering for now..."
Edit: Ginn kicks spelling in the face!
The blonde man nodded amiably, and continued watching, a hint of a grin on his face as he glanced at the dark haired woman.
The dark-haired woman's eyebrow twitched. "You're...not sure?"
The brown haired girl smiled. "Oh dear! You must be very thirsty, walking out in the desert like that..."
Ginn frowned for a second at the twitching of dark hair, before responding to brown hair.
"Slightly, I guess, I haven't been walking out there for that long."
The dark haired woman blinked at that. "Not that long? You're a day's walk from the nearest town, nothing else is closer in any direction...How...?"
The blond man just watched the conversation, his attention on Wolfwood, but not overtly so.
Ginn smirked at dark hair.
"Hi-mi-tsu."
The blond man chuckled, and the dark haired woman blinked in disbelief, then began to open her mouth to make a retort.
However, she seemed to stop herself mid-sentence, and began scowling at the seat in front of her, mumbling about 'men' and how they were all aggravating.
The blond man leaned over and whispered conspiritorially in Wolfwood's ear. "You're in for it now. She's very cranky...OW!"
The darkhaired woman sat back down, withdrawing her fist from the blond man's head, ignoring his now-watering eyes.
The blond man uttered a single word through his watering eyes. "Scary...."
Ginn turned to blond snickered.
"Thats ok, it's not every day that I get to use that particular line. Anyways, do you know where this bus is going?"
The Blond man eyed Wolfwood curiously, as though looking for an opening.
"May City." he said simply. "Why? Where were you headed?"
OOC: Back from Vancouver!
IC: "Not anywhere, really... I'm just kind of a wandering spirit for now. Whats in May City?"
The blonde man grinned, watching the two women out of the corner of his eye.
"Not much. Wandering spirit, huh?"
Ginn nodded.
"How's about yourself, where are you headed?"
The blond man's face never lost it's cheerful grin, but the humor vanished from his expression.
"Nowhere in particular. I'll just travel until I find him..."
Off to the side, the more serious tone was detected by the two women, and they both looked over with expression of mixed puzzlement and concern.
Which the blond man ignored. He eyed Wolfwood appraisingly. "What was your name, by the way?"
Ginn looked slightly hesitant before responding.
"Ginn. And you?"
OOC: Famous Ryder Tagline stolen from Vash the Stampede. =P
The blond man grinned, then the grin vanished and he stood up suddenly, ramrod straight, a deadpan expression on his face.
"I am known as Valentiez Alkalinella Xifax Sicidabohertz Gombigobilla Blue Stradivari Talentrent Pierre Andri Charton-Haymoss Ivanovici Baldeus George Doitzel Kaiser the 3rd... " he took a deep breath here, and the serious face relaxed into a casual, eyebrows raised expression. "...don't hesitate to call." he finished, sticking a hand out casually, to shake.
The brown haired girl giggled, even as her dark haired companion groaned deeply. "What are you talking about, Mr Vash the Stampede?"
The blond man whirled around to face her, an expression of highly comical dismay on his face, complete with a few tears.
"You KNOW I hate it when you use my full name!"
God damn it.
"Oh? So you're the guy thats been going around, being the center of a whirwind of chaos that leaves most cities destroyed? Well, thats not too bad. Say, I bet that leaves with with many, many sins you want to confess. Come'on, how about it? Wanna confess yourself to a real live priest? It won't cost you that much." ^_^
Vash simply stared as the girls began to giggle. Grudgingly, a grin started to form.
"Not this time, Thanks." he demurred. "Though-"
Whatever he was going to say was lost, as the bus driver made an announcement.
"Attention passengers. We are 6 hours from Mei city, and we'll be stopping here for a short break."
Even as the announcement was made, the bus slowed to a stop...
"Oh excellent. I get to use the bathroom." Ginn stood up, and walked up to the front of the bus to get off.
The others followed Wolfwood off of the bus, Vash wandering around nearby as the two girls went off by themselves.
Vash backed off slightly, to give him privacy while he 'did his business', but still kept him in his line of sight. Every so often, the blond man scanned the crowd of other passengers, evidently looking for something.
OOC: Who's him?
IC: Ginn, making sure he had enough privacy dispite Vash staring at him, did his business.
I sure hope he's not gay in this universe.
Finishing up, Ginn zipped up, and wandered back onto the bus.
I guess I still have some time to kill...
Ginn ate some food.
As Wolfwood was eating, the bus driver climbed back on, and, spotting him, headed to his seat.
"We're well within safe distance to the next town, father, so It's time to discuss fare, If you don't mind?"
"Sure, how much is the usual fair from the last town you were at to May City?"
The driver looked thoughtful. "Well, the fare is 200 double dollars, but since we found you at roughly the halfway point, I'll charge you 100."
"Ok."
Ginn took out his money, and counted up to 100 before handing it to the driver.
Unfortunately, The sum total of Wolfwood's on hand cash was $$95...
"Uhhh... well shit. Maybe I could preform a service for the rest of the cash? I know, hows about a confessional! Confess your sins, totally discreet, to a certified priest!"
The driver sweatdropped, and adjusted his sunglasses. "No, this'll do fine," he said nervously, pocketing the proffered cash.
"But thanks for the offer..." he added, hurrying away.
As the driver mover the the front of the bus, a loud cry of pain could be heard from outside the bus...
Ginn's interest is piqued, and he moves to see if the two girls were putting the hurt on Vash yet.
As Wolfwood moved outside, he could see that the girls had not, in fact, injured Vash. Yet. They were standing, along with many other passengers, in a large huddle roughly a hundred yards from the bus.
His only othe clue as to what was going on was that there was a pair of feet sticking out of the huddle, hinting at a person in the center, laying in a prone position...
Damn. Ah well, might as go investigate.
Ginn walked up and poked his way through the crowd to where the body was.
"...none of the passengers were anywhere around." Said the dark haired woman as Wolfwood approached. "Maybe bandits?"
Vash looked down at the man, who Wolfwood could now clearly see, and stared hard at the wound on his shoulder.
"No mortal did this..." he commented cryptically.
The brown haired girl started. "Eh???"
Ginn observed the body carefully.
The body, a tanned, weatherbeaten man, with an oddly pompadour-like hairstyle, was beginning to stir.
He seemed largely intact physically...and came fully awake, gasping and sweating in pain. However, the shoulder of the man's coat was torn away, exposing the skin underneath...and a dark, extremely painful-looking burn, covering almost the entirety of his shoulder....
"Hey, who just discovered this, anyways? Was he one of our passengers?"
The short, darkhaired woman in the cloak frowned.
"Yes, but it was a group of three. They claim they came over when they saw him collapse, thinking it was sunstroke..." She pointed to the burning desert sun overhead.
"But there's no way to confirm or deny...."
A large group of the passengers came back with a backboard, and loaded the injured man onto it, and began carrying him back to the bus...
Hmmm... what an odd type of attack... I guess I can't do anything except observe for now.
Ginn started to move for the bus, but first decided to question the three.
"Who were the passengers to first come across the man?"
The dark haired woman opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the sound of something large bursting out from under a nearby sand dune.
The robot was large and ungainly, looking very much like an upside-down snail shell supported on spider's legs.
An odd looking head protruded from the top of the shell, swiveled in the direction of the people...and froze.
Small appendaged on the legs fanned out with an audible click, and the robot rose slightly....and seemed to slide along the sand, racing straight for the group.
All around Wolfwood and his companions, people started to scream in suprise....
What the fuck?!?!
Ginn finally broke free of the surprise as his legs tried to run him away from the site quickly. However, for some reason, he felt the need to act and not selfishly run away...
Running as fast as he could, he tried to get to the bus.
Because Wolfwood had fled for the bus, he couldn't see what followed. But he could hear it.
There was the loud sound of two gunshots, fired in quick succession, followed by the dull sound of metal on metal twice.
There was a lengthy pause, and then two muffled booms, and the sound of the strange robot's jet-feet disappeared.
A muffled cheer followed, but was cut short by the resurgence of the sound of the jets, only loud enough for a whole FLEET of the bizarre looking robots....
And then, the sound of shouting, and a mad dash for the bus.
By this time, Wolfwood had made it to the bus and climbed on...
Ginn climbed on top of the bus, and looked back to see exactly what was following (since he could only hear it).
Reaching down, he started unbuckling his giant cross. extending the gun holster, Ginn grabbed two .45s, and prepared for action.
As Wolfwood looked up, he saw that his ears hadn't decieved him. What looked like an entire squadron of the strange, spider-like robots were chasing the last remaining passengers back to the bus.
Vash and the two girls led the way, sprinting at top speed. There was a brief surge as they climbed onto the bus, and Wolfwood heard the dark haired girl gripe at Vash.
"Why doesn't anything NICE ever follow you?"
"I KNOW!" Vash replied, in a put-upon tone. "It's such a drag!"
The driver didn't waste a moment, and the bus' engine roared as soon as the last passenger was aboard, and it sped away from the fleet of robots....
Ginn clung to the top of the bus as it sped away.
The bus struggled at first, but quickly began to gain ground in escaping the spider-like robots. Momentarily, Vash stuck his head out the window, staring back at their pursuers.
Catching sight of Wolfwood on the roof, he looked up curiously.
"What are you doing up there?"
"Enjoying the ride... hows about you?"
Vash grinned up at him. "Well, I didn't get the good seats, but as long as we aren't overrun, then I'm enjoying myself," he commented cheerily.
Vash was interrupted by a frantic woman's voice from within the bus.
"Helen? HELEN??
There was a pause, and no answer was forthcoming.
"O-Oh, no..."
Wolfwood could see Vash look back to where they had left the spider-bots behind.
"Look after the wounded man!" he ordered sombody inside the bus, and then dove out the open window, into a waiting sand dune....
Ginn chuckled to himself as Vash jumped out the window, and sat back down on the roof.
He frowned as something seemed to be tugging in the back of his head... a need to do or fulfill something...
Sighing, Ginn decided to test the gun out. Gripping the cross, he jumped from the roof of the moving bus into the sand, dropping the cross and positioning himself to roll into a fall.
Wolfwood fell heavily from the roof, but rolled to his feet quickly, the sand being remarkably soft.
A few feet away, Vash blinked and looked at him. "What're you doing?"
Ginn dusted himself off and picked up his cross.
"I'm... testing my guns! Yeah, thats it."
Vash blinked and raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you were a Priest?"
"I am. Is that a problem?"
Vash shook his head. "No, no problem." The puzzled look was replaced by a small grin.
"Glad to have you aboard. Shall we go?"
Hefting his cross, Ginn gave Vash a grin of his own, and nodded to Vash, a gun in the other hand.
The two men marched together toward the sand dune they'd traveled over while fleeing, the last place they'd seen the robots...
****
OOC: Continued in 'Wolfwood, Mihoshi and Kiyone: Strength in Numbers!'