Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ A Second Chance ❯ The Fair ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A mass of chattering children drained from the bus, a tall, black-haired man being drug along in their midst. His dark sunglasses were almost jolted off. The slipping revealed a sort of gray-blue eyes, then were concealed once more. "Slow down, would you?" He attempted to slow them down, failing horribly.
Trying a new approach, their teacher stuck two fingers in his mouth and emitted a sharp whistle. Everyone instantly became silent. The sudden reaction brought a smile to his unshaven face. "Does everybody have their buddy? Shouts once more filled the air as they all began to point out their partners. "Alright, alright." He sighed and gave a defeated wave of his hand. "You can go now. Just don't get too lost, loose your buddy, or come back late." They all shot off, causing a racket. "Bye Mr. Wolf!" It barely added to the hustle and bustle of the fair.
A man was coming to town. He looked up at a big, cheerful sign that announced he had arrived in Gentle Brooks though orange-tinted glasses. A man was in town. He dropped his pack, slipping it off one of his shoulders. After doing so, he twirled a huge cross he had been lugging and jammed it into the ground. He leaned against it, continuing with the soft melody he had been singing. "So~ on the third evening the children of the waltz make waves upon the wor~ld." Vash the stampede was in town.
Vash took off the glasses and pocketed them, rightening himself. This place looked peaceful enough. Carvival music drifted through the air, accompanied by happy shouts. So that was why the place seemed so empty. They were all at the fair!
Instantly happy at the thought, the humanoid typhoon pulled the cross out of its lodgings and started walking in the direction the sounds were coming from. He caught a scent-of-no way. Couldn't be. DONUTS. Good ones, too, judging by the aroma. Now he had some real motivation. There was a DONUT stand there. He started running as fast as he could with what its previous owner called his 'luggage.' Luggage indeed.
As Vash grey near to his destination, something became apparent. Two things were missing in the town- the scent of gunsmoke and alcohal. Everywhere else he had been reeked of it. What, did they not have a saloon? Ah well, he could manage with the drinks he had saved in his pack. But the absence of guns, however, was welcome.
The ticket booth loomed ahead, manned by a woman that looked like the belonged in a hairnet, scooping out balls of mush to kids waiting in line with plastic foam trays. Keeping back a shudder, the irripresable gunman bounded up and leaned on the counter. "Hi Granny, how much to get in?" She might of given him a slap had they not been seperated by a plastic window. Noticing the death glare, Vash quickly corrected himself. "I mean-uh-how much for a ticket, ma'am? Aren't we looking lovely today."
She merely grunted and pointed to a sign above her head. $$5. Vash dug in his pcoket for the money, sliding it through the little slot. "Is it just you?" He was about to answer when his light blue gaze fell on a small girl sitting nearby in the shade. Her dress was somewhat tattered about the edges, her eyes were large and soulful. Obviously either homeless or from a poor family.
Vash leaned down, and she stood quickly. Even so, he had to look down a little at her. "Hello. Do you want to go to the fair?" She hesitated, the mutely nodded. He smiled and stood back up, turning to the ticket lady. Then he handed over more money, receiving two sets of tickets. "Here you go. Since part of it is actually in the town, you'll have to keep me from getting lost." He gave the girl her own stip of paper and picked up the cross.
The Stampede threw it over his shoulder, bracing on the left side and in doing so exposing his right hip. The lunch-lady resembling woman frowned and tapped on the glass. "Hey, you." "Huh?" Vash looked over while extending a hand clothed in black to the girl. "You seem like a nice guy, but we don't want any trouble around here, got it?" He glanced at himself to see what she was talking about. "Oh." His gun. "I don't intend on having to take it out while I'm here." She leaned back in her chair and watched him enter the grounds. "There goes an odd one.." "Mrow," answered the cat with abnormally large eyes sitting on her desk.
"So, what do you want to do first.." He looked down at the girl. Her small hand was enveloped his by own. "Mary." "Mary, then." A ride near them was coming to a halt, with a relatively small line. It was aptly named WhirlWind, as it spun rapidly in circles. Halfway through the ride, it slowed, then twirled in the other direction. Mary lo oked between him and the ride, meekly asking for permission in the stare. He caught on and blanched. "Y-You want to go on that thing?"
Mary looked down. Vash rubbed the back of his neck, considering. "Alright.." He sighed and went to join the line. "I'm probably going to regret this." Their wait was short, though the whole time he was fidgeting. "Tickets," barked a man at the enterance. "Right.." Vash tore a off piece his and Mary's and gave it to him. "Enjoy your ride." Leaning the cross against the small fence running around the area, he approached it. A sign in the seat neartes them warned that children under 13 must side in the inside. "In you go.."
They both slid in and he pulled down the bar that kept them in. 'No backing out now,' he thought distractedly and looked at the bench opposite them. Two identical boys sat by each other, with matching chesire cat grins. He sweatdropped and dropped back, leaning his head against the red cushion behind them.
They began to move, starting out going backwards. The ride started out somewhat slowly. 'This isn't too bad..' Too soon. It picked up in pace. He clung to the bar across his lower stomach, hair being falttened forward. They were all now nearly a blur. While Mary and the two males were laughing hystaricly, Vash, on the other hand, was screaming his head off.
It began to slow, causing stares at Vash's hair. He began to smooth it back up, and as he was doing so, WhirlWind started up again in the opposite direction. When they stopped a minute or so later, his spikes were swept flat back. "Um..mister?" Mary tentatively prodded the man. He was frozen in place, still clinging to the restricting bar. He gave a twitch and looked over slowly. "NeveragainwillIdothat." She gave him a weak smile as he climbed out, a bit shell-shocked.
Hair mysteriously reverted to its former state, he brightened. "Who wants ice cream? I'm buying." The twins bounced in circles around him, shouting their compliance. Mary just nodded with another little smile. And so the disputed destroyer of July, murderer of thousands, and man responsible for putting the enormous crater in the fifth moon happily walked off with three small children in search of ice cream.
"So, mister, what's your name?" Ted, one of the twins asked. Coming to a stop, Vash struck a pose. "I am called Heidleshnueger the thirteenth." The other, Tim, folded his arms and stared up at the blonde. "No way your name is Hi-Hidalshnooger." "It is too!" he protested, falling out of the pose. "Heidleshnueger. But you can just call me Mr. V."
"What does the V stand for?" Vash dramaticly bured his face in his hands. "No! No more! Stop the merciless interrigation!" "Can we go for ice cream now?" He looked through a slit between his middle and ring finger, smiling amusedly to himself. "Yes, we can go get ice cream now." His hands fell away. "What flavors do you want?" "Vanilla!" "Chocolate!" "..mixed." "One chocolate, one vanilla, one of the swirly mixed kinds. Be right back."
He returned soon, balancing the mixed between the other two. "Quickgrabitbeforeitfalls!" Mary snatched it quickly, the twins grabbing their own. "Ice cream!" "Let's sit over here." Vash motioned to a bench on the side of the road. They all piled on, him taking a seat on the far left. Crossing one leg horizontaly across the other, he wrapped his left arm behind the bench.
Tim, who was sitting up on the back of the bench, saw the black suit underneath the red coat as the sleeve was pulled up from the strain of the stretch. "Where did you get that suit, Mr. V?" "Hm? Oh, a friend of mine made it for me." Mary was next to Vash, head barely coming up to his chest. This position gave her full view of his six-shooter. She had truthfuly never seen one, and hoped that she never would. It was somewhat of a shock. It was a given that the man ment no one harm. But the people of the town had taught her that guns were evil, destructive things. They could only cause death and pain, and their owners were cruel people as well. Mr. V had seemed like such a nice person...Mary slid off the bench, glanced around, and started to walk away.
Vash blinked and lifted his head, having reclined it on the bench. "Hey, where're you going?" He froze in her tracks. "Thanks for the ice cream..but..I..have to go.." "Huh?" He removed the arm from behind him and layed it beside him. "I..probably shouldn't be..y'know.." "Talking to strangers?" he finished for her, tilting his head. The single earing glinted int he sunlight. "Y-Yeah. I guess I might..see you later." She started walking again, heart beating madly. SHe was ready to bolt if need be. But the man made no move toward her, merely sat and observed her leaving. Then he shrugged and turned to the twins. "Wanna keep checking out the fair?"
Having finished with their frozen snacks, they both bounded up. "Yeah!" Tim took his right side, Ted left. "How come I've never seen you before, Mr. V?" "I just got here." "How did you get here?" "I walked." "But it's over a hundred iles to the closet city!" "Yeah." "Aren't you _tired_?" "A little." "Thirsty?" "Kind of." "Hungry?" "I SMELL DONUTS." "Huh?" "DONUTS." Vash whirled around, seeking the location of the scent, and then the world stopped turning.