Rango Through Dust and Flames

Gaby stared in shock at the sight before her. A young, beaten human girl lay in front of her in a fatal position. She was easily twenty times bigger than the terrified white cat staring. Gaby didn't know what to do. The girls back was turned toward her, and long, fresh scratches could be seen near her ankles sense her pants were rolled up slightly. Blood oozed out of each scratch, making Gaby cringe in disgust. The white cat cautiously moved closer to the injured and towards her legs. Once she was directly in front of the girls ankles she wrinkled her nose at the smell. The smell of raw flesh overwhelmed her senses, and she had to use all of her will not to turn around and leave. With shaking hands, she reached out and touched around one of the long cuts. Gaby winced when she heard the girl whimper slightly.

Continuing, she took a few deep breaths in before touching the deep cut in front of her. The human girl practically screamed from the pain she must have been feeling as Gaby touched the source of her agony. The white cat trembled as she listened to the girl cry and scream from what she was doing. Gaby wanted to stop, but couldn't. She needed to help this human somehow. She didn't know why, she just needed to. It felt like this was meant to happen, their meeting…. Gaby refused to gag, even when she felt her throat tense as it made to do so. Not far from the surface of the gash the girls bones laid, but before that veins and tissue. She moved her hand over the gash one last time before stopping. The human girl shook in agony and whimpered. Gaby's heart broke at seeing this girl so broken and in pain. She needed to comfort her somehow.

"It's okay. I'm not going to touch it again, I promise." Gaby said while stoking the girl's leg away from her many gashes.

She continued to stroke the girl's leg comfortingly before she realized something. She needed to get her town's doctor. The white cat regretfully backed away from the pain stricken girl. Gaby looked at the human in front of her sadly, and then ran back to her home. _Silver _was rugged and partially dead at that time of day. Gaby ran as fast as she could so she could get to the doctor before it was too late. What would the human do if Gaby didn't get home fast enough…? Finally, Gaby caught sight of her small town. She stopped at the towns sign. "_Silver"_, it read with black writing. She walked the little ways from the sign and into the town. Some whispered, but most just minded their own business. Gaby was strange to them; foreign.

But she didn't care. At least not then when she needed to help someone in dyer need. The baker, and old rabbit with one floppy ear, waved to her with a small smile on his face. Gaby ran over to him, hoping he would know where their town's doctor was.

"Well, good evening, Miss Gaby." the old baker said casually.

"Hello, Mr. Todd. Do you happen to know where Mr. Lee is?"

"He's out in another town two miles off. Why do you ask?"

"Shoot! I _need_ him. I can't go to another town two miles away!" Gaby cried in frustration. She needed to help that poor girl.

Without thinking, Gaby turned around and ran out of the small town. The baker yelled for her to come back, but she didn't listen. Her legs felt like they were on fire, and she thought her knees would give out. But she couldn't stop. And so she ran. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she reached the injured girl once again. She slowly walked over to her weak form and went over to the back of her head. Gaby reached out with one of her hands and stroked the girl's hair soothingly. Tears pricked her blue eyes as she listened to the girl's ragged breathing. She didn't know what to do. But this wasn't the first difficult situation she's been in.

The thought of her parents' death led to the first tear. And the girl starting to shake led to another. Soon tears were flowing down from Gaby's eyes like rivers. She stopped stroking the girl's hair and sat down. Bringing her knees up to her chest, her face in her trembling hands, she cried. Gaby was a very kind hearted creature. And the thought of not being able to aid the injured in her head, she wiped her face and stood. She listened to the girls breathing once again, noticing that with every intake the girl shook. Gaby walked over to the human's ankles once again, determination in her sky blue eyes.

"This is going to hurt, you hear. I need you to be brave and stay still, okay?" Gaby said softly, doubting the girl even heard her.

She took out a needle and a ball of white thread she always kept in her dress pockets just in case her dress ripped. She put the end of the thread through the needles hole and took a deep breath. Each intake was shaky, and every outtake was the same. She's never done this before. How would she do this? Gaby reached out with her free hand and placed it under one of the gashes. The girl whimpered softly, almost making Gaby falter. With a shaking hand and a needle with thread, she punctured the gash until the needle was through. The girl screamed in pain, and Gaby felt more tears swell in her eyes. With deep regret, she continued.

"I'm sorry, love. Just take a deep breath and hold still. I'm almost done, okay?" Gaby whispered in a soft motherly like tone.

For what felt like another hour, Gaby listened to nothing but the girls once labored breathing turn back to normal with each passing second. Once it was all over, Gaby looked at her once perfectly whit hands. They were now red with the poor girl's blood. But she didn't care. All she did was wipe the blood onto her skirt and walk over to the girls head. She listened closely for a second, making sure the human was asleep before lying down next to her huge form. Gaby looked up at the thousands of stars in the night sky before slowly closing her eyes. She slept for the rest of the night, the girl's heat radiating onto her. But she woke with a start when she felt the human shift beside her. Gaby opened her eyes and gasped when she realized the girl was turning to lay on her other side. The white cat quickly scrambled out of the way so she wouldn't get crushed by the girl.

With a small groan, the human moved so she was lying on her right side while Gaby stared in shock. Than, the girl slowly opened her eyes with slight grogginess. Gaby gasped at the sight of the girl's bright, brown eyes looking at her. She looked tired and overworked. But then she closed them. Gaby breathed heavily and kept her eyes on the girls pale face. She stood slowly, cautiously, and walked over to get a closer look at her face. Gaby stared in wonder at the writing engraved on the girls left cheek. In black ink, dark and menacing, the words "_Prisoner of Honesty_" were written on the girl's cheek. Gaby didn't understand what those words could have meant at the time, but being a prisoner of anything was never good. She decided to forget about the words and went to look at the girls ankles on the other side of her legs.

"You're gonna heal just fine, love." Gaby sad with a smile on her face as she observed her work. They still looked bad, but better than the night before.

Gaby looked down at her dress and cringed slightly at the sight of the girl's blood on her skirt. She was able to save the girl from bleeding to death, that's all that mattered. Her paws were sticky with blood as well and she seemed to have lost the needle she had used. Gaby silently began to hum as she walked back to _Silver_ to wash up and get some more supplies. A cool breeze blew through the desert with a wolf like howl. The sky was covered with dark clouds and the smell of rain flowed through the crisp air. Gaby looked up at the sky as she hummed with worry. How was she going to protect the girl from the rain if it came?

_Silver_ was practically empty in the early hours of morning. Minors got out of their houses and headed toward the mines a mile away with fearful wives and children waving to them in farewell. Gaby's father was a minor when she was very young; around three years old. He was a respectful man who worked very hard and took care of his family unlike most in _Silver_. Gaby stopped humming and looked around at the minors leaving town. Some of them had worked with her father in the mines when her father was alive. But when he died, they didn't even try to help her mother or Gaby. She looked away from their dirty faces and kept walking toward the other side of the town to her house.

Gaby's home was above a tailors shop where she worked to make ends meat. The floor above the shop wasn't very big with only one bedroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. It was once her mother's shop but was passed down to Gaby when she was fourteen years old due to her mother's death. She sighed and unlocked the shops door to get inside. The air inside smelled of dust, making Gaby crinkle her nose at the thought of having to clean. She made her way up the wooden stairs to her home with great relief. Her mind was cloudy and worry overwhelmed her as she thought more of the oncoming storm and the girl. Gaby quickly made her way to her bedroom where she changed into a clean brown dress. She washed her hands in the bathroom and prepared food for lunch and dinner just in case.

The sky had grown darker and the wind had turned into strong gusts. Gaby set her bag down next to the girl with a small smile on her face. The girl smelled of dust and smoke Gaby noticed as she sat near her head, eating an apple. She wondered how long it's been sense the girl has eaten; she looked so skinny as Gaby observed her the night before. As Gaby ate her apple in the silence of the wind, the girl shifted and groaned. Gaby turned to look at her and gasped in shock. The girl had sat up and was looking out into the distant desert. She slowly rose from the ground and moved silently toward the front of the girl. Once she was, Gaby's heart sank. The girls eyes looked so far away, and she looked in pain.

"You should've left me here to die." The girl said in a weak whisper. Gaby was taken aback with the words spoken from who she thought as her responsibility.

Gaby shook her head with a grim smile. "I could never have done that to anyone. No one deserves death at such a young age."

"Who are you?" The looked down at the Gaby with her bright brown eyes in question. She didn't know how to answer without sounding terrified.

"I'm G-Gaby. What's your n-name, love?"

The girl raised a brow and stared down at Gaby in confusion. "Minnie."

"I've never heard that name before." Gaby said honestly. Who was this human?

"Maybe it's because I'm the only one with that name besides Minnie Mouse." Minnie giggled like a small child.

"Who's-"Gaby was abruptly cut off by the sound of distant gun shots. Minnie looked up sharply; her teeth were bared in a snarl and her hand went down to her hip. The shots were coming from _Silver_, piercing the air like daggers. Minnie looked down at Gaby and sighed. She reached down to her left wrest where a black watch laid and pressed a button. Gaby shielded her eyes from the bright light that engulfed Minnie. When she looked back at her, she almost screamed. Minnie was about Gaby's size, but a little smaller, and was wearing a black jacket with a hood covering her eyes, jeans, and brown leather boots.

"What happened to you?" Gaby asked breathlessly. Minnie smiled and put a finger to her lips. She reached over and grabbed one of Gaby's paws.

"I think we should go."

"Okay."


End file.

Rango, Adventure, Romance