BLUE SUN ROOM FAN FICTION - ADVENTURE

WHITESILENCE

A River of Violence - Prologue
Tuesday, December 4, 2007

When one hears the line "Two men walked into a bar..." it's usually the beginning of a bad joke but for Jayne, it's the sound of his past about to catch up with him. After years on the run, it's finally time for him to settle old scores and confront old enemies. But the only way for him to get out of this alive is to turn to the one person he can count on. A multi-chaptered fic set after Serenity, inspired by the graphic novel and movie, A History of Violence. Rayne. Rated R WARNING: Violence, lots of violence.


CATEGORY: FICTION    TIMES READ: 1924    RATING: 9    SERIES: FIREFLY

PROLOGUE: MIGHTY FINE SHOOTIN’

Billings was a quiet town on a quiet rock. It wasn’t a city but it was the only town around with some semblance of a spaceport. There were only three official berths but occasionally they would fill up and a boat or two would land in the empty field behind them. The two men who emerged from the beat up old ore hauler one sunny afternoon in late summer were the rough and tumble type that was typical of those who docked in Billings so when they ambled off with their arms slung over each other’s shoulders, no one paid them much attention. They moved easily through the streets, searching for a place that offered a bite to eat and their favorite way to relax. There were several such establishments in Billings that could have fulfilled their requirements but they bypassed them all in favor of a little hole in the wall on the other side of town.

The man behind the counter looked up when the door opened, pausing in his task of slicing limes. A few locals were chatting at the bar and a couple more were seated at the tables. The barmaid was serving them cold beer and sandwiches. The two men strode up to the bar and waited for her to return.

The barmaid, Ella, could tell they weren’t locals. Their clothes weren’t worn with hard dirtside living and the skin on their faces was as pale as the moon. One had a hint of sunburn across his nose. The man on the right was older, going by the few strands of grey hair at his temples and the lines of his face. The other one was quite a looker, hair the color of corn silk and eyes as blue as the summer sky. Sensing the chance for a large tip, she put on her most charming smile. “So what’ll it be, gents? We got the meanest cha xiu bao this side of the Rim.”

The blue-eyed man gave her a slow, toothy smile. “Well honey, I think I’ll have a coupla yer buns then.”

The older one ordered the same, minus the innuendo. While they were waiting, Ella served them their drinks. The bartender’s wife peeked out into the seating area when she set their finished orders on the window ledge between the main room and the kitchen. Blue eyes flashed his grin at her too but she glanced at her husband, whispering yang gui zi, before slipping back into the kitchen. The man’s grin faded.

The two men ate quickly and efficiently, leaving barely a crumb on their plates. Ella saw the older one draining his glass and walked over to ask if he wanted a refill. Instead of answering, the two men pulled out matching revolvers and aimed them at the shocked barmaid.

“Do as we say and ain’t no one gonna get hurt.” The older one said, loudly. Ella nodded nervously. She looked over at the bartender whose chin dipped almost imperceptibly. The blue-eyed man flung a bag over the bar. It slid across the smooth wooden surface and hit the barmaid in the belly. “Good girl, now go over to the register there and get me all that cashy money.”

She scrambled to comply with shaky hands.

Suddenly, the older one stumbled backwards with a kitchen knife embedded in his right shoulder, his pistol in the bartender’s meaty hand.

“Ya know, if it was money ya wanted,” said the bartender “You coulda just asked.”

The younger man’s finger tightened on the trigger but before he could get a shot off, he fell backward with the contents of his brain pan splattered all over the floor. The older one pulled the knife out of his shoulder with a snarl and moved to jump over the bar but took three bullets to the chest instead.

The patrons and barmaid were frozen, staring at the bartender in shock. They had never seen a person move so fast or shoot so accurately and of the people in town, no one had truly expected it of Jayne Cobb.

River’s Bend wasn’t too much to look at and it didn’t try to be anything it wasn’t. The place was clean and the drinks were strong. Just like the owner. Jayne had come to Billings on a transport ship one day, saw the bar for sale and plunked down the money for it then and there. That had been five years ago. Since then, he and his bar had become part of the fabric of the town. The townsfolk had been wary of the newcomers at first. He hadn’t been born in Billings but they could tell just by looking at him that he was a Rim boy, through and through. Though from where, they weren’t exactly sure.

When the gossip was slow, the locals liked to speculate on Jayne’s past. Some said he had been a Fed, tired of walking the straight and narrow. Others whispered that he had been a convict, escaped from slam and hiding. He had that edge to him, something in his walk that made the local toughs look away first when he came down the street even though he carried no weapons they could see. Their guesses amused him but whenever someone got up the nerve to ask him to his face, his lips twitched and his eyes flashed and he told them it wasn’t any of their business.

“Someone wanna call the lawman?” Jayne asked as he gently set the pistol on the bar, fingers lingering over the grip. It was a nice piece, all shiny silver with gold inlay along the barrel.

“No need,” said Ralph. The sheriff pushed the door open all the way and stepped into the bar. Another uniformed man followed him. “Herbert says he saw a couple a fugies walkin’ in. Thought I’d come see for myself.”

Ralph eyed the bodies lying on the floor. “And I see I came too late. Gorramn, that looks ta be some mighty fine shootin’ there son.”

Jayne shrugged. “Weren’t nothin’.”

The Sheriff grinned like they were sharing a joke. “Weren’t nothin’? Before today, Cobb, I’d a sworn ya never touched a gun before in yer life.”

“’Course I’ve held a gun before, lawman,” growled Jayne, though his eyes were laughing. “Won a few shootin’ contests back home too. I ain’t no nancy Core boy.”

“Never doubted that for a minute.” said Ralph. Chuckling, he thumbed on his comm. unit and asked Thelma back at the Sheriff’s office to send the undertaker over. He nudged one of the bodies with the toe of his boot. “Why don’t ya close up early and come on down to the station later an’ give yer statement. Stan’s gonna be a while with these here stiffs.”

Jayne nodded and glanced down the bar. Ella was huddled on the floor crying softly. At some point, his wife had snuck out of the kitchen without anyone noticing and wrapped her arms around the frightened barmaid. She rocked Ella gently, whispering reassurances in her ear. Even though brawls were somewhat of a common occurrence, Jayne didn’t blame her for getting all weepy this time. He squatted down next to them.

“Kooky, why don’t you drive Ella home?” he suggested. “I’ll stay and deal with the mess.”

She smiled up at him. “Your mess, you clean it up.”

“’Course I’ll clean it up. What kinda husband do ya think I am?” Jayne rolled his eyes as he stood, making Ella giggle wetly. He reached down and easily pulled both of them to their feet. Something scraped across the floor with a metallic clang. He looked down and saw the meat cleaver now lying next to his foot. “You plannin’ on makin’ a mess too?”

“Only if necessary.” She shot Jayne a cheeky grin and gave him a peck on the cheek. Winding her arm around Ella’s shoulders, she tucked the taller girl’s face into the crook of her neck before leading her out of the bar. “Don’t need to look.”

Jayne watched the door close behind them before turning back to the Sheriff.

“Yer a real lucky man, Jayne Cobb.” Ralph remarked. Even though she had hidden Ella’s eyes so she wouldn’t have to see, the bartender’s wife had not seemed at all bothered by the bloody mess on the floor. “Most girls get all up in vapors at the sight of a little blood .”

“Yeah, well, her brother’s a butcher.”

~*~

Jayne got back to the house later that night after spending hours scrubbing the wooden floor, getting the blood out before it set, to find his wife sitting at the kitchen table. Spread out before her were weapons he hadn’t expected to see again for a long time and a formerly locked trunk that should have been in the attic sat open and half empty on the floor next to her chair.

“Kooky?”

Her head jerked up from the rifle she was working on, visibly stopping herself from snapping it into firing position. As she turned to face him, he realized she was holding Vera.

“What 'cha doin'?” he asked.

“They never stopped looking.” She said in that haunted voice he had hoped he would never have to hear again. She looked up him, staring at him with wide eyes, pupils dilated until almost none of her brown irises could be seen. “Have to be ready. They’re coming, coming for you.”

Translations: cha xiu bao – barbecued pork buns, also known as hum bao in Cantonese yang gui zi – foreign devils

Next - Chapter 1

COMMENTS

Sunday, February 22, 2009 3:34 PM

GORRAMITGIRL


I really like the beginning of this.


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