KW0 Chapter 2

"June 12, 1889

Death beckons, fear creeps, another week diminishes into gaunt nothingness. Such a violent crusade for a men who wish to take thine own destiny. Klaas Winters was the title given to our enemy, yet... no such face coincides." 

Sable sat in the back of the carriage which carried her and Akka in the back. It a dark, cloudy day full of gloom. Sable often thought of these days as the types of days that matched her best. But in an outwards appearance, as well as how she felt internally. It's cool breeze reminded her of the chilling loneliness she felt, despite being surrounded by masses. 

Akka peered over the sheepish girl's shoulder as she wrote in her notebook. The monster hunter's breath was loud, and hot on her neck. 

"Me want to know what you writing," she stated, "You write funny? Me no know how to read English."

Sable closed her notebook, and scooted forward, escaping the breath of the murderous monster hunter. 

"Alas, I am afraid that there is nothing humorous inscribed on these pages. They are desolate words, forever transcending from pen to page, forever locked in a state of perpetual misery."

"Oh me see. Wait! Me no see anything! Me blind to what you just say!" Akka looked confused, and upset by the writer's explanation.

Sable shook her head in irritation. The writer didn't have to explain this to someone such as Akka. Someone like her could never understand what she felt in the first place. She decided to remain quiet, and turn lay down in the back, bed area of the carriage. Her horned head rested on her arms, as her eyes closed. 

"Hey you sleep now?" Akka asked as she came closer, gently shaking the ewe-woman. 

"Leave my side at once," Sable commanded. 

"Me bored! Me need stimulation!"

This woman was insufferable! Sable lifted herself up, and broke away from Akka's grip. Her head peered out of the moving carriage's coverings, and looked at the driver's seat where Bullet had been steering. 

"Mr. Speeds," Sable called out, "May I ask that you converse with with Mr. Gambit, or Mr. Remmington, and advise them to take their own grips on Miss Nensho. She is maddening. I feel my brain deliquesce with each word she endlessly spouts into my ear. Madness comes, madness goes, yet the madness she brings i--" 

"You ain't gettin' along with Miss Nensho?" Bullet raised a brow, as he turned his attention away from the forest path the the horses carrying the carriage walked down. "What'll ya have me do, Miss Strays? You want'ta ask Mr. Remmington if he can take a crack at her? How's 'bout I ask Remmington to steer the carriage, I'll take his horse, and Miss Nensho can ride with me. Sound good?" 

Sable nodded, "Wonderful. Her insufferable noise curtains my creativity, blackens my thoughts, and era--"

"Remmington!" Bullet shouted up head to the man in a long, top hat.

The doctor was riding a darkly colored horse. His horse stopped it's tracks, and carriage that Nensho, Sable, and Bullet rode in followed. Bullet stepped off of the vehicle, and approached Remmington. 

"Our lovely lady friends are havin' a little spout. You mind takin' the reigns, and drivin' Miss Strays?" 

Remmington smiled, and descended from his horse. "Of course, Mr. Speeds! I've been awaiting my moment to speak with Miss Strays for quite sometime! Ha ha! She's a writer, and having someone else who's educated really tickles me pink!" 

"Don't think women are that good at havin' conversation." 

"Absolute nonsense!" Remmington exclaimed. "My mother was a brilliant woman. And this was without an education. So, Miss Strays warm conversation will likely warm me on such a dreary day! Here, take care of my horse! Her name is Black Betty. Hmhm." 

Remmington began to chuckle, as he handed Bullet the horse. 

"Treat her well, as she's treated me! She does love merry tunes as she walks, so remember that!" 

"Yeah, okay." Bullet took a deep breath and shook his head in disapproval.

 The doctor walked towards the carriage and boarded it, climbing directly onto it's passenger seat. Bullet, on the other hand, raised his voice, and climbed up onto the horse. 

"Miss Nensho! C'mon out of the carriage.. Come ride with me, ya hear?"

In a sudden burst of energy, Akka jumped out of the back area of the carriage, and rushed towards the horse, jumping on the back. 

"Now me ride like the wind!" She cried out in excitement, pointing a finger forward. 

The sudden weight on the horse's back side started the creature, and caused her to start galloping forward as fast as it could, shooting Bullet and Akka off, and away from the other two in their party. 

"Oh dear," Remmington gasped, "It seems that Mr. Speeds and Miss Nensho will be arriving at our destination before us. Ah ha ha! That does not matter now though, does it Miss Strays? You and I can keep each other warm with out conversation." 

Sable groaned angrily. The world was cruel. She got rid of  one person who kept talking to her, only to gain a new one. 

Akka and Bullet were zooming off into the forest. The masked man kept trying to calm the horse that was spooked, but seemed to be unable to his. His arms clung around the creature's neck tightly. Akka, on the other hand, was fearless. She stood up straight on the rear end of the horse, moving her hips from side to side. 

"Me ride on the horses all day~!" she sang merrily. 

"Oh sh*t, oh sh*t!" Bullet shivered. 

Akka noticed how cowardly Bullet had been acting, and decided to sit herself back down on the speeding horse. She tapped on the blond, masked man's back. 

"Speeds, you scare? Why you scare?" 

"B-Because this horse ain't slooo-- Whoaaa!" 

The horse stopped directly in it's tracks, flinging the two people riding on it forward, as well as stumbling itself. It quickly stood up, whinnied loudly, and than ran off into the forest leaving Bullet and Akka behind. 

Bullet had landed face first in a pile of forest dirt, and Akka had landed perfectly on Bullet's back. She was standing up straight and looking around. The masked man pushed Akka off of him, and sat up for a few brief seconds, just before falling back on his back. 

"Sweet Jesus!" Bullet huffed, "I almost got killed? And now we--" 

"Shhh, shh..." Akka shushed, "There something in woods. Something big..." 

"W-Wha?" 

It took a bit of effort, but Bullet was able to eventually stand on his feet, and dust himself off. He tried his hardest to stay vigilant. His eyes shifted back and forth. 

"You really hear somethin', Miss Nensho?" 

"Me hear it all..." She whispered back. 

Akka got down on her knees, and pressed her face into the dirt. Her nose started to sniff at the floor profusely. 

"Ooooh, me sense monster..." 

"Y-You sense what?"

Humans were one thing, but if there were actual monsters present, Bullet was definitely not feeling confident in himself. He reached for the gun at his side, and pulled the firearm from his holster. 

"Where, Miss Nensho? Where?" 

"Me busy, Speeds! Me busy!" 

Akka reached for the crossbow on her back, and shot an arrow that pierced the bark of a nearby tree. On the arrow was long rope that connected it to the weapon. She pressed a button on the crossbow, and pulled herself towards the tops of the tree leaving Bullet behind. She was now nowhere to be seen. 

Bullet stood there in the center of the forest with no one else. He looked panicked, and afraid of what was going to happen. Especially with the warnings of there being some sort of monster out in the woods. 

"W-Wait, Miss Nensho! You're a woman, you're gonna end up g-gettin' hurt or somethin'!" 

Sweat ran down the masked man's forehead. He wiped it with the backside of his hand, and continuously turned. The horse was gone, Sable and Remmington were far behind, and Akka was someplace that he didn't know.  That's when he heard it. 

A loud howl echoed through the forest. It was loud, which meant it was nearby. This only worried the gunslinger even more. 

"M-Miss Nensho, are you still around? Ain't funny to leave behind! Gettin'... G-Gettin' real worried about yo--" 

A snarl was heard, and in a flash, Bullet was charged after by a large, wolf-like creature. It was ginormous. Nearly the size of a small house. It pushed him forward, and onto his back. His gun fell off to the side in a pile of dirt. The monster loomed over him, it's mouth opened wide as slobber fell down onto the masked man's face. He was unable to move with how the creature was positioned under over him. 

This predicament couldn't get any worse, or at least that's what he had thought. In just mere moments, more of these gigantic, wolf-like creatures started to surround him. It was almost as if they were about to enter a feeding frenzy on his lean corpse. He shook his head back and forth, his body trembling. The wolf then pressed it's long, tongue, slimy to Bullet's cheek, tasting the saltiness of his skin. 

This was the end, wasn't it? He closed his eyes and accepted his fate. His mind raced, praying prayers to god above, hoping that there was a heaven, and hoping that his sins were be judged fairly. That's when he felt it. Warm liquid spilling all over his face. His eyes opened only to see the large wolf which trapped him now bleeding from it's neck. 

Atop of the wolf's back was the tiny Akka. In her hand she had a very large knife. The wolf fell forward, all of it's dead weight now crushing Bullet underneath it. Akka jumped from that wolf, to a few of the others that surrounded the area. One more had it's neck slit, and then she went towards another. She was so fast that they barely had any time to react. After killing at least six of these wolves, there but one more left. She zoomed towards it, and stabbed it repeatedly in the heart.

Now that all of the wolves were dead, the monster hunter went to help Bullet out from underneath the wolf that laid on top of him. Despite being so short, she seemed to have immense strength, as she lifted it with little struggle. She threw the body into a pile of other dead wolves, and held out her hand. 

"Me sorry, Speeds-san! Me knew they come, so me use you as bait! They kill for scare prey." Akka smiled innocently.

Bullet stood up, and wiped his face of the wolf slobber. He was visibly shaken. by the events that had just transpired. After gulping, he had to ask. 

"W-WHAT THE HELL?! What were... what ARE those things, and how did'ja do that?" 

"Huh? Me kill monster like them all time! Simple!" Akka stated nonchalantly. 

"..." Bullet tipped down his hat to hide his masked eyes. He felt embarrassed that a woman had saved him from nearly being killed. "Th-Thanks, Miss Nensho." 

"No worries!" Akka opened her arms wide and gave the blond a tight hug. "Me help teammate to win!"  

Bullet pushed the small woman away from him after being hugged. 

"Now ain't the time for that, Miss Nensho," he stated coldly. 

"Hm?! Okay! Me get it. You hunger? You eat wolf? Me from Asia, me eat all kind dog." 

"Uhhh, that ain't too appetizin' to m--" Bullet's eyes became wide. 

His entire body started to shiver. All of the dead wolf bodies were now humans, and standing in the distance was an even larger wolf that was alive and well. It ginormous, with white fur, and teeth that was even bigger than the others.

"M-Miss Nensho, what are these? These are... and what is that?!" Bullet said with fear in his voice, "Look!"

Akka turned around, and reached for her knife, gripping it tightly in her palms.

 "Me take care this..."  

The monster hunter rushed towards the beast, her knife ready to pierce it, but before she could attack, the animal rolled onto it's back, and panted happily. This took her by surprise, and caused her to drop her guard.  

The gigantic wolf stood back onto it's feet, and started to lick Akka happily, just before it's body started to transform into that of a large, muscular man who was completely nude.  His chest was covered in white hair, as well as the rest of his body. He looked as if he was some sort of mountain man, with a body to prove it. 

"Ha ha ha!" he laughed jollily, "Name's Bearlake! Seems you killed all of my pack! But that's no problem! They were real sticks in the mud anyway! Vicious, evil, and cruel!" 

Bullet was... astonished, in the least. A man who transformed into a giant, white wolf? What kind of reality was this? 

"Herro, Bearlake-san!" Akka smiled, and waved. "You not hurt us? You not eat us?" 

"Nope! Ain't gonna eat ya! I'm a vegetarian! Never got along with them other guys anyway! HA HA!" Bearlake scratched his glorious beard. "But, I am without a pack now! Which means I ain't sh*t! HA HA! But that's no problem, because I'm YOUR problem now! I'm part of your pack now!" 

"NOW JUST WAIT A DAMN SECOND!" Bullet shouted, "This man's naked like damn fool, and now he's our problem? No way,  no how! Ain't gonna fly with me, Miss Strays, or Mr. Remmington! Not only that, but he's one of them wolf-things!" 

Akka frowned at Bullet being so sour. 

"Why you sour, Speeds? Why you no like Bearlake-san?" 

Bearlake flexed his biceps, "Yeah, Speeds! WHY DO YA DISLIKE ME?!  HA HA! YOU SHOULD STOP DISLIKIN' ME, COS DISLIKIN' ME MAKES YA A DUMB-ASS!" 

Bearlake came up close to Bullet, and then slapped his back so hard that the masked man went flying into a tree. It seemed Bearlake didn't know his own strength. Bullet had been knocked unconscious, which only meant one thing: Now Akka could convince the others to let Bearlake come with them and join their party!

It seemed they had a new member who would help them track down these ghosts. Bearlake would come in handy. 
 
[ To be Continued ]