LEAVING ONLY MY FOOTPRINTS BEHIND
By : mirkwood-elf-2931

CHAPTER 2

After her second encounter with Vash, Jeweli relaxed back on her bed, the bottle she had been drinking from now sitting on the floor, half empty. But her half-lidded gaze widened when there was a knock on the wooden door of her room and a muffled voice sounded from the other side.

"Miss Phoenix, I'm back with our food."

Jeweli quickly sat up, setting the bottle back down in her travel bag. "You don't have to knock, Sam. This is your room too. And stop calling me 'Miss', it's either Phoenix or Jeweli, take your pick."

Finally, a girl of sixteen emerged through the entry carrying a grocery bag and shutting the door quietly behind her. "Sorry...Jeweli. Um, I got us some sandwiches and water." She half grinned at the woman, now sitting up on the only bed. But every trace was wiped away when she saw the bandaging on her right arm. "What happened to you!" She took a small step forward, then stopped. It was hard trying to keep remembering that this woman obviously liked her space and no human contact whatsoever.

"I met Vash face to face earlier. That give you a hint?"

"Does he know we're following him?"

At the mention of her blowing her cover, Jeweli rolled her eyes, rising to her feet. "He knows I'm following him. So, if it calls for it, I may need you to do a few things in my place."

Sam nodded, setting the sack of food on the dresser. "Sure, anything."

While they ate, Sam washed Jeweli's suit top, and Jeweli cleaned and reloaded her three guns.

After she'd finished her own chore, Jeweli reached down to the bottom of her bag, bringing out a cloth wrapped object that Sam had never seen before. "Tomorrow, you get to use this, but first we have to make sure Vash isn't leaving, before we even think of setting foot outside the city's walls."

Sam watched as she uncovered the item to reveal a black handgun, much like the extra one Jeweli carried, at least in size. "Really? I finally get to try?"

"Yes, you're strength training is over for now. This; is a .40 automatic. It holds ten rounds, plus one in the chamber." She explained, sliding out the unloaded clip for her to see it's full length. "It doesn't recoil much, even though we're pressed for time, because Kain expects me to have you to be able to go out on your own by the end of the year. Anyway, in skilled hands it's pretty accurate, and the clip capacity makes up for the lack of efficient stopping power. Understand?"

Sam nodded without taking her eyes off of it.

"Good. I don't think you'll have a problem. When you're older, you can have something more powerful if you want, and just keep this as a backup. After you get the hang of shooting it, I'll show you how to take it apart and clean and reload it, okay?" Tucking it safely away again, she happened to glance up at the window, where she could see nothing but her reflection in the glass against the black night outside. Realizing that it must be late, she announced what their next plan of action was to be. "We should get some sleep; Vash might try to sneak out early. If not, then later in the day we'll go outside the city so you can practice."

After completing all the necessary tasks to ready for bedtime, they settled down into their places, Sam on the single bed, and Jeweli on the floor. And immediately, it fell so silent that one could hear their own heart beating and the other person breathing.

And now, all Sam could do was lay there, staring at the ceiling. She wasn't really tired now and to sleep with so many thoughts shifting around in her mind proved impossible. What kind of things would she have to carry out now that Vash the Stampede knew about Jeweli? How would she do with her first time shooting a gun the next day?

And once, when she was through thinking about the present, she even gave a little thought to the past, like how she came to be in this situation in the first place.

After the death of her parents, six months ago now, men wearing long dark coats were sent to retrieve her, and she was brought before a man by the name of Kain. He explained himself, and soon employed her with the 'honor' of being an apprentice to his most valuable assassin. Finding out from him that just like herself, this woman had no family at an early age and was left with nothing and nowhere to go, so he was taking her in and giving her a chance to earn a living, now that she too was on her own.

"Hi, I'm Sam Valentine. Mr. Kain just hired me on here." She waited hesitantly for the woman to say something. "Are you...?"

"Jeweli Phoenix," She stated, seeming to tower high over her, though she was only actually a head taller. Then, Jeweli merely continued to stare down at her, unmoved by her presence, almost frowning. "Welcome to the team." She muttered, suddenly starting off in the opposite direction she had been going, wishing to return to her quarters without further interruption, but it was to no avail.

"Um, Miss...I mean, uh, wait, I was assigned to you, so..."

"What?"

Sam's eyes widened as her soon-to-be-trainer rounded on her faster than she had ever seen anyone move in her life. She swallowed hard. "Mr. Kain...he said I was to find you, and you would train me to be a bounty hunter."

The scowl on Jeweli's face softened and she stared at the girl again, this time with a moment of speechlessness. "All right, we'll see how this works out. I was just about to head out again anyway, so I guess you can come along. Just don't get in my way." And she started down the hall again, Sam right behind. "So, what exactly did Kain tell you about me?"

Looking up to just make out the right side of her face, Sam thought about the tone Jeweli had used to speak four separate times now. Each time it was dull and careless, so already she could tell that this woman wasn't happy in the least, and not just about having her as a student. "He said he was sending me to you specifically, because you're the best and the fact that you're life was like mine is now, with no family. He said that he hired you because you didn't have anywhere to go either..."

As they turned right, down another hallway, a row of doors on each side, Jeweli stopped at the third one, again to the right. "That's what he told you?" She shook her head, when the girl nodded in confirmation. "Heh...maybe someday I'll tell you the truth." And she opened her room with a silver key from her coat pocket. "So, how old are you, Sam?"

"I turned sixteen two months ago." She replied, stepping into Jeweli's little apartment to have a look around.

"What happened?"

As Sam continued to scan the room, she explained. "My parents were killed in a mining accident last week. They were thirty feet down and the shaft collapsed. They'd been studying further on the resources of this planet with a group of others for eight years now. Six people survived out of the fourteen, because they hadn't had the chance to go down as far." Setting her bag down, she gave a small shrug, trying hard not to look like talking about this subject would upset her, she couldn't let herself seem like a child now, not in front of the one person that would be training her to act and think like a responsible adult. "I don't have any other living relatives, so I had to go to the local shelter. I guess Mr. Kain found out and sent men to bring me here."

"Kain knows too much sometimes." And Jeweli turned her back to her guest toward a table, taking a glass bottle from it into her hand to tip it's rim up to her mouth.

"Whoa, do I get guns like these?"

Jeweli swallowed the clear burning liquid, looking over her shoulder to see her large double guns in the girl's hands, making them appear even smaller than they were. "No, those aren't for..."

Sam looked over at her, waiting for the word 'children' as she knew it was probably coming. From adults, it always did.

"Just put them down."

The student obeyed her teacher. "So, when do I get guns? What kind will they be?"

"You don't get any until you've had body and strength training, then comes weapon training. I'll have to talk to Kain about what kind of gun to give to...someone your age."

"I don't get two?"

Jeweli sighed. "I think for now, we should go into town to pick out things you'll need for the 'journey'."

"Journey? Where are we going?"

Jeweli squared her jaw, literally having to hold her tongue with her teeth, so as not to yell from the annoyance this young girl was already wreaking upon her, even though she had only met her not ten minutes prior. This outing was going to be one of her longer ones, she had a feeling; probably the longest she had ever been on. It was just as well though; she didn't care to stay at the base for very long anyway. Walking over to Sam's position in the room, she gathered her guns to their rightful holsters.

After collecting money from Kain, they set out for supply stores, where they purchased Sam a larger travel bag than the one she already had and new personal things to fill it with. Then, they looked for more firm fitting clothing, as with this type of work one was required to be quick and able to move freely.

And by the next day, they were off.

Eyes closed now, Sam smiled.

Yes, so far it was going well, she thought. It was a lot of traveling, but she had expected that and was actually glad, for as far as she'd ever been was the next town over from her hometown. Besides, there was no reason to stay in one place when you no longer had a true home there. Though sometimes, on nights like these, she would question if she really wanted to do this, to train to become a professional killer, even if she had willingly accepted when Kain told her why she was there at his headquarters. Sure, she had compassion for others, but taking the lives of bad people like those who had committed major crimes seemed like it wouldn't be such a big deal.

Now, she was only left to wonder what would it be like when she was ready and finally had her first kill. How would she feel then?

If it was a problem, then Jeweli could continue doing it, while she merely assisted in errand running. This idea sounded good to her, to keep doing what she was doing now. Six months she had already spent beside Jeweli, and in having no one else, she was starting to grow attached to her, as if she was a best friend or older sister. Even if she did never laugh or even really smile, or have any other mood than serious for that matter, at least she was never under any circumstances mean or cruel toward her. In fact, sometimes she actually took care of her, like giving her, her own supply of water when she ran out, or at night when they camped and it cooled down considerably, Jeweli would give up her blanket and some of her bedding. She never said much, if anything at all, just handed things to her.

Just before she drifted completely off, loud noises jerked her back to full awareness. She sat up to find that Jeweli was already at the end of the bed staring out the window.

"What's going on?"

"Not sure, but it sounds...big. Stay here, I'll be back in a while." She said, reassembling her cleaned attire upon her lengthy body.

"But I want to come too. I wouldn't be able to sleep now anyway."

For the first time, Jeweli seemed reluctant in agreeing. "Fine; hurry up."

Soon, the two were creeping around in the shadows, paying close attention to what they heard from what direction. The commotion seemed to be coming from the south a few streets over. But it wasn't long before a few streets over became the street in front of them.

"Whoa! What was that!"

Ahead of them, a blurred shape of red and another of what looked like black had passed by the end of the alley they were in.

Brows creasing, Jeweli continued moving slowly down the narrow enclosed street. "Don't know, just...stay behind me."

Only a few minutes more of trying to keep up, they pursued the scene down at least three more streets. Finally, they were granted a better view where the two weren't moving as fast.

"Hey, is that...! It's Vash!" Sam whispered excitedly. "But...who is he fighting?"

"No idea. I've never seen that thing before."

Jeweli figured Vash was simply trying to escape, but she wasn't about to help him again, unless things grew too severe.

At last, their wait for the end of the fight came with the assassin lying on his back and his target standing over him, they talked briefly and then it was all over. Where Sam was surprised, Jeweli went without change in emotion at the fact that Vash would walk away without ending the life of the man who'd just tried to take his.

"Come on, Sam."

"So, no practice tomorrow, huh?"

Shaking her head, Jeweli moved passed her, heading back for their inn. "Looks like we'll be leaving in the morning. Maybe the next town, if we get to stay long enough."

Sam was disappointed, but she had been glad to see that Vash had come out of this ordeal seemingly unharmed.

TBC ...

mirkwood-elf-2931 :
I just realized that this is my first non-sequel fic where I didn't start the first chapter out in my girl character's past! Cuz' there's the part in this chapter to tell how Jeweli and Sam met, but I think it will be the only 'flashback' scene. By the way, I also forgot to mention in chapter one's author's notes, that the title of this story is taken from a line in the translated (English) lyrics of 'Kaze wa Mirai ni Fuku', the ending theme to Trigun.
Ok, I feel the need to explain everything in my stories...LOL...and I'm sure this is obvious, but when talking about a gun type and I have a period before a number, even if you don't know anything about guns I would hope you would know what it means, but if you don't, here's an example...I have it that Sam's new gun is a ".40 automatic" therefore it's a 'forty caliber' automatic, so you say the number and then the word caliber, but you're not suppose to spell it all out. And yes, I researched (as I do for all of my stories) and all of the guns mentioned throughout the story are existing models, I even collected pics of them to look at for describing each one.