Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Unseen Scars ❯ And They Train ( Chapter 15 )

Meryl pulled out a derringer in each hand. She was on the outskirts of town, which was really about a ten minute walk from her little house, trying to warm up before Vash came to help her train. She had just noticed that as a gunwoman, she was slightly pitiful. She knew she wasn't horrible, but considering what she'd seen Vash face, she could easily be killed if their new enemy was as strong as he and Knives made them out to be.

 

She could barely hit a Jack Daniel's bottle from ten yarz, when Vash could easily hit six while suffering from a hangover. She had a lot of work to do, and the only one who could help her was the great Humanoid Typhoon himself.

 

She loaded the guns for the fourth time, aiming for the bottle she placed about fifteen yarz away. Aim…shoot…miss. That was the third try on that bottle. She laughed at herself pathetically, Heh, Derringer Meryl, yeah right.

 

The dark haired girl looked to her left, seeing her trainer approach oddly carrying a basket of eggs. “What are those for?” Meryl raised an eyebrow as he smirked lightly.

 

“If you can draw and holster your gun without the egg dropping, then you are well trained. Now, for starters, watch me.” Vash set the basket down, picking up one egg from the basket. He showed her the oval object as if he were about to do a magic trick before tossing it in the air. In a split second his cheap make-due gun was drawn and the egg was balancing perfectly on the barrel of the gun. In the next second it was holstered, and drawn again. If you didn't see the slight blur, you wouldn't have known he'd even moved at all.

 

“Are you kidding?! I can't learn how to do that in three days! Are you crazy?!”

 

“What do you mean three days? We are going to train while we are moving, not just before we leave.” Vash said innocently.

 

???

 

Milly stood over the stove, slightly transfixed on the boiling brown substance in the pot she was stirring. The chunks of tender meat and vegetables spread an aroma around the room. “What's wrong with you, woman?”

 

The words pulled her back from her earlier mental state. “Huh?”

 

Knives just stared back at her, his brow raised. “You've been staring at that stew for ten minutes, what's the matter?” He asked harshly.

 

Milly bit her lip shyly, not wanting to admit what she had been thinking about. She took his question, though sounding unfeeling, as a bit of worry coming from him. “It's…nothing.”

 

He knew she was lying, but he just shrugged, it was none of his business. “Has my brother told you when we are leaving?”

 

“Three days.”

 

Knives nodded to lightly, in assurance towards her.

 

Milly stood silently for a little bit before making a sudden move to turn off the stove. “Stew's done.” She said, presenting him a hollow grin before retreating back to her room. She took one quick glance at him before exiting the room.

 

Milly's eyes suddenly widened as she stopped walking, staring at him stock still with tears forming at her eyes.

 

Knives looked back at her, his eyes just as wide, and he himself just as confused.

 

She shook her head quickly, blinking as she looked back up at him. A silent tear crept from her eye, flowing slowly down her cheek as she turned again, this time running back to her room.

 

???

 

“Vash! I can't do this yet! Can't we practice some other way for a little bit?!”

 

Vash sighed. “Fine. I'm not going to shoot, but you are. Try to hit me.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Don't worry, I'm not going to let you hit me if I can help it. You just need to work on your aim.” He said planting his feet into the ground.

 

Any other time Meryl would have taken his comment as an insult, but these were different circumstances, and she knew he was being blunt for the better. “Uh…okay.” Meryl took her derringers into her hands, aiming at his leg. Her hands shook nervously; this was the first time she'd ever pointed her gun at Vash and really intended on shooting him. But it didn't matter, because as the gun went off, he was half a step over, and out of the way of the small derringer bullet.

 

“Meryl, that was pitiful. Don't be nervous. Just concentrate on your target.” He listened as she sighed in what sounded like defeat. “It's alright.” He walked over towards her, laying a hand on her shoulder. “Did you set that bottle over there?”

 

Meryl nodded, loading her gun. She was suddenly surprised as his hands covered hers and moved the gun towards the bottle. Her cheeks became a bright shade of pink as she noticed that he'd laid his chin on her shoulder in order to see from her point of view.

 

“Now. Take a deep breath, and concentrate on your target. Think of it as if it right in front of you. It's only you and the target.”

 

There was only one problem with that theory, she could feel more than just her and the bottle. She felt Vash, standing behind her, his breath hitting the side of her neck. Meryl shook her head of all thoughts but the bottle, or as Vash called it, the target. She took a deep breath, aimed, and shot.

 

She waited for the criticism of the man behind her, but instead heard the sound of glass shattering in the distance. She'd hit her target.

 

“Good job.” Vash said, releasing her hands and standing up straight. “Now try again to hit me.”

 

Meryl nodded, her voice still slightly unable to work because of their closeness earlier. She pulled the gun up to aim at his leg again, so as not to hurt him in case she did shoot him, just as she had done before. She looked up at his reassuring face, just to tell herself that he would still be there even when the gun was shot.

 

Her comfort, though, disappeared as she looked up at him. His spiky blonde hair began to droop down into a messy form on his head and became a dirty brown color. His beautiful aqua eyes turned into a deep hazel, and his tall slim figure became shorter and plump. He had become Howard.

 

Meryl watched his transformation in fear, suddenly aiming straight at his heart as she shot, pulling out another derringer and shooting one after another. “Go away! Go!” she cried, tears streaming down her face.

 

“Meryl calm down! It's okay!” His gruff voice called, grabbing hold of her shoulders as she dropped the last of her derringers onto the ground.

 

He wrapped his arms around her slim figure, causing her to squirm and try to pull away. “Not again! Let go! Let go!” She felt around his waist for what she was looking for, finally finding it, she pulled the dagger from his waist. “I said let go!”

 

???

 

Note: Man, don't ya just hate cliffies? Yeah, this is probably the only good one I have ever left. Don't ya love me?? I know half of ya are probably very confused, but you will learn a bit more in the next chapter. Don't worry. I hope to update next weekend, but the Variety Show is Friday and Saturday, so I don't know. Wish me luck!! Well see you guys later then!

 

~DPA(Pyro)