Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction ❯ Cowgirl Ed ❯ The Desert Peanut ( Chapter 1 )

CHAPTER ONE:

The Desert Peanut

The air before Ed waved in the blistering heat, though it didn't seem to bother her all that much. Her feet danced and flailed as she skipped over the rocks and cracked earth beneath her. Her mood was accentuated when she began to hum a random tune, pleasantly oblivious to the poor speed at which Ein was walking behind her. His tiny legs desperately struggled to catch the youth as he fell several paces behind her.

"Ugh," he thought to himself, "wait for me, you silly girl!"

As though she heard him telepathically, Ed suddenly froze in place, halting the music and the rhythm of her feet. Her laptop, the Tomato, teetered precariously atop her head, but she stopped it with her right hand. Seeing his chance, Ein made a great lunge forward to catch up. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the force required to catch her, and he was soon entangled between her legs.

With a yelp, Ein became wrapped in Ed's feet, and with a scream, Ed began to fall. And just as quickly as the commotion began, it ended with the comrades tumbling through the dirt. Ed was very disoriented momentarily, but she was able to clear the cobwebs and sit up, just in time to see Ein do the same. Their eyes met, and they immediately cracked up. Ed began to roll over in laughter at the hilarity of the situation, and Ein sniggered and shook as several days' worth of struggle and hunger seemed to melt away.

Slowly, reality set in, and the two were forced to take stock of their surroundings. Ein sniffed the air and glanced quickly about. There was a distant scent that attracted his attention immediately. Ed noticed his reaction and followed suit, her tiny nostrils feverishly twitching to pick up anything at all. She too smelled something. It was foul and thick, alien to the environment, yet strangely familiar.

"Rrrrufff!"

Ed's eyes flashed open as Ein abruptly interrupted her nasal search. "What is it, Ein? Where's that stinky-stanky smell coming from?"

He turned and pointed his nose towards the East, where a rather large object was obstructing their view. At first she thought it was simply a large plateau or a pile of rocks, but it soon became clear what it really was: A ship! Painted a dark red, it blended in perfectly with the surrounding area, and would be nearly invisible at a distance. `That's what the smell is,' Ed realized quickly, `ship fuel! Just like Bebop!'

The thought of Bebop made her wince. She'd left behind three of her best friends, but it would hopefully be for the best.

"Come on, Ein, let's go!" she shouted ecstatically.

And in one fluid motion, she placed Ein in her backpack and ran, her left hand holding the Tomato on her head. She leapt over rocks and brush like they were hurdles, not slowing for any obstacle in her way. Ein bounced up and down violently as objects raced past his vision. He began to get very queasy and instantly wished he hadn't pointed out the ship in the first place. And with intense determination and passion, Ed sprinted to catch this ship, hoping that the people on board would be friendly enough to spare food or even perhaps transportation to a new destination. And she knew just where she wanted to go, too.

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Ronnie Vasquez was swiftly packing up crates and returning them to the cargo bay. His ship, the Desert Peanut, was supposed to have picked up this shipment hours before, but because of the unusually large number of tourist ships, gate access was extremely limited. The ISSP even got called in to do traffic control, a job that was low even by their standards. As he turned to pick up the last package, he spotted something moving very fast towards him.

"Yo, Jimmy," he called, "What's that?"

Jimmy Sanchez, the ship's pilot, poked his head out of the loading bay. "What's what? All these boxes got the same stuff, you know."

Ronnie pointed toward the distant moving object. "That."

Jimmy squinted and peered in the direction he was pointing. He also saw something running towards them. Running pretty darn fast, too. "Hang on," he said nonchalantly, "I'll get those new view-goggles you bought."

As he ran into the small storage room in the back of the loading bay, he thought back to when Ronnie purchased the new view-goggles. 20x zoom, he said. You never know, he said. Jimmy thought it was pretty stupid at the time, but now he was happy they got them. He rifled through a pile of useless trinkets and gadgets that no one ever used until he found the prize he was searching for: the view-goggles.

He pulled them over his eyes, adjusting the view for clarity. Then he ran back to his partner outside. "Got `em, boss."

Ronnie stared back at his comrade and thought he was looking at an alien. He chuckled at the idea. Jimmy fiddled with the dials on the goggles until he was at 10x zoom. He looked right at whatever was moving towards them, and was shocked to see a kid running straight at them. The orange hair almost hurt his retinas it was so bright.

"You're not gonna believe this, man," he quipped, "but there's a kid out there."

"You gotta be kiddin'! What the hell's a kid doin' all the way out here?!"

"I dunno, but he's runnin' right for us!"

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Ed began to wave her right arm and shout in the hopes of attracting the attention of the two men she saw standing by the ship. They seemed to be standing and watching her, but she couldn't be sure from where she was. In a few moments she'd be close enough. Ein did his best to hold on as his intestines were twisted into knots, but he wouldn't last long.

"Heeeey," Ed called, "OVER HEEEEERRRRE!!!!"

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A few minutes after first seeing the youth running at them, Ronnie and Jimmy were touching the weapons they had hidden in their back pockets. They couldn't take any chances, especially if this kid was after their cargo. Their clients simply would not accept failure. They were gonna be in enough trouble as it was for being late.

Ronnie glanced nervously at his compatriot before calling to out "Hey, you there! Who are you and what do you want?"

The boy didn't respond. He simply continued sprinting and panting. Jimmy became anxious. His hand was on his weapon when the boy finally got within a few meters of their position. The child, however, suddenly collapsed, revealing an open backpack she was carrying. Before his partner could say anything, Jimmy burst forth toward the fallen boy, Ronnie in hot pursuit.

He fell quickly to his knees, removing the child's bag and turning him over. "Kid," he said, "you alright? Are you okay, boy?"

The child's eyes opened slightly. "Edward, girl," was all she could say, before falling asleep in her rescuer's arms.

No one seemed to notice the corgi stumble from the backpack, walk behind a nearby rock, and vomit until he was completely empty inside. Were it not for the last second yelp he made before passing out, no one would have noticed him at all.