Ken's Notes: Yaay! I got up off my petard and wrote chapter 1! Liah and
all new characters are copyright to me & Kara Jade who is doing a kind
of alternate version of my story! (Don't ask me to explain... It's a
long story... even though it's kinda short...)

Anyhoo, on with the story!

Trigun: New Blood
by Ken Scott

Chapter 1: Activation! New Beginnings

	"Hey, did you hear about what happened to Vash the Stampede?"
	
	"No... You mean that guy who allegedly killed all those people? What
happened?"

	"Well, apparently his daughter killed him!"

	"Wow... I guess she's more ruthless than her father..."

	As the two men continued their conversation, a young blonde girl wearing 
sunglasses and a long, red trenchcoat sat back in her seat. She looked at the
ceiling fan that was slowly turning, providing the bar with an almost non-existant
air conditioning. Occasionally she bent forward and sipped her iced tea... with lots
of ice... and savoured the sweetness. Beside her chair was a briefcase, a dufflebag,
and a cross-shaped bundle.

	"How much are they offering for her?"

	"Well, they say it's about triple what they offered for her father..."

	"Damn! $$180,000,000?!"

	"Yep."

	"Man... Hey! How come nobody's caught the humanoid Typhoon until now?"

	"Apparently it wasn't his fault... Apparently it was his twin brother. I
think that's the first time that excuse has been actually true..."

	"Oh... So I guess his daughter is the one who's cold-blooded."

	"Yeah... Must have thought it was necessary to live up to her father's
legend..."

	The girl put her glass down. Everybody had it wrong! She hadn't killed her
father! As a matter of fact, he wasnt even dead; he was on life support. Of course,
telling these two that would blow her cover...

	"So, what name does she go by?"

	"Liah the Stampede."

	"Man, she has no modesty at all... It'll be good when she gets caught!"

	Liah Milly Saverem sat back. Is history repeating itself? A look of concern
spread across her face. No, certainly not. Her brother was surely the one to
blame... or maybe their uncle wasn't as reformed as he said... All she knew is that
after her father had been attacked, her twin brother, Kyle, had pointed the blame
to her. He was the one who suggested the 180 million double-dollar reward. Maybe
Kyle didn't act alone... After all, there was that cryptic thing that her father had
said when she and her mother had found him...

	Just then, a young, black-haired man walked into the bar. He was wearing a
long white cloak and he was tall and hunched over. He nervously made his way to the
bar and sat down. He set a pet carrier beside him. Many onlookers observed that he
looked quite feminine.

	"What'll it be, hmmm?" inquired the barkeeper.

	"I'll have a vanilla shake please."

	"A vanilla shake?" yelled a burly man. "What kind of a pussy are you?"

	The young man turned around. "I'm no weakiling... I just like to have a
clear head. Booze kinda messes that up, y'know?"

	The man got up and pushed the young man. "Pussy!" he guffawed. The young man
 simply shrugged.

	"If you insist..." In a flash, the young man drew a large minigun and fired
once. the man seemed to float through the air. Th illusion was shattered as he broke
through a wall. His shoes remained bt the young man's feet.

	"Holy shit! You blew him away!" shouted one of the burly man's friends.

	"No I didn't," replied the boy, lifting the gun to one shoulder as if it
were made of cardboard. "He's just gotten knocked out of his shoes. He'll wake up
shortly... Sorry if it's any trouble to you... Does anybody else want to challenge
me?" When nobody did, he congratulated them on the wiseness of their decision,
looked around, saw Liah, and sat down beside her.

	"Impulsive as always, huh, Wolfwood... "Liah sighed.

	"Yeah, well..." replied the young man, blushing slightly.

	Wolfwood Vash Thompson was Liah's half-cousin. Her aunt Milly had had him as
a result of a night of passion with a travelling priest named Nicholas D. Wolfwood.
This priest had travelled off and on with their parents. He was then killed the day
after by his former teacher.

	Wolfwood was almost a spitting image of his true father. He had his nose
and, unbeknownst to him, almost the same stubble. Wolfwood was an only child, as his
step-father, Knives, was not able to impregnate Milly. Vah on the other hand...
Liah's father was able to have her brother, herself, and their younger, 3 year old
sister, Katt Astra Saverem by way of her mother: Meryl Stryfe. This fact frustrated
her uncle to no end.

	"So, Wolfie, how's my little kitty-kins doing? As she spoke, the cat in the
pet carrier mewed.

	"'Lord Black Cat' is doing okay. Here are your guns as well." with that he
handed two very familiar bottom-loading revolvers to Liah. "Damn, you're hard to
track down... Mom and Auntie Meryl are worried sick about you. They don't think
you..." Wolfwood looked away.

	"I know. Mom was with me when Daddy was hurt..."

	"But Kyle..."

	"Kyle lied. I'm not sure, but I think uncle had something to do with it..."

	"My dad? But... he's reformed now, Lee..."

	"Not enough to teach me and Kyle how to make copies of his and Daddy's
guns."

	"Well..."

	" ...or to tell us how he wishes humans were dead!"

	"That was in the past! Okay, so what of it is my dad who's responsible? What
then? We won't be able to prove it!"

	"Kyle... What has your dad told you about someone named Rem?"

	" Rem? He hasn't told me anything. Who is Rem? Why do you ask?

	"Oh, nothing..." Liah went back to her iced tea.

	"Oh... Anyways, now that I found you Lee... I'm afraid I might have been
followed..."

	"Aww nuts..." groaned Liah.

	"Liah the Stampede! We know you're in there!" shouted a deep, echoing voice
from outside. "Come out now or we start firing!"

	Liah turned to Kyle. "You ready?" asked Kyle.

	"As always!" replied Liah with a wink.

	Both grabbed their respective weapon and lept out the door...

		TO BE CONTINUED...