Trigun Fanfic

Trigun © Yasuhiro Nightow Shonen Gaho-sha Tokuma Shoten JVC Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc.

The following fanfiction was written by me (Chiruken) and is intended for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication

or sale.

Falcon's Blade

By Chiruken

Chapter 1

Meryl shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as she stared out over the dark wastes of the desert, searching for any sign of movement. Sighing softly she turned her back on the panoramic view beneath the moons and shook her head. "Who am I kidding? There's no one out there. I'm stuck." She shivered again and looked towards the sharp out-cropping of rock rising before her, forming shelter from the elements of the desert world. A small fire glowed and crackled, casting weird, misshapen images across the rocks, reminding her just how precarious her current situation was. "Oh man." She moaned softly and closed the distance, forcing her expression to remain calm, not showing her inner turmoil and fear boiling just under the surface of the thin veneer of her control.

"Well?"

Despite her resolve, she jumped at the harsh voice breaking the silence, a shiver of fear running up and down her spine. Swallowing with difficulty, she forced her legs to carry her forward, willing her hands to stop shaking. "N-nothing." Silently, she cursed the tell-tale tremor in her voice.

"Thought so." Knives stared hard at the small woman standing just inside the circle of light afforded by the glow of the fire. It was just his luck to be stuck with a human in a situation as dire as the one he currently found himself in. Unlike his brother, Vash, he felt nothing but contempt for the fragile creatures that polluted the universe with their corruption, yet he found himself curious about this one. "Are you going to stand there all night?" He didn't bother trying to hide the impatience in his tone. There was no point. She already knew how he felt about her kind so there was no use in pretending otherwise.

Shaking her head with a sharp, jerking movement, Meryl slowly closed the distance and sat across from the one man in the entire world whom she truly feared above all else. She had no illusions that he could and would kill her at the first opportunity. What puzzled her, though, was that he hadn't done so already. She knew that could only mean that he had some sort of diabolical plan up his sleeve and it somehow involved her. She didn't want to even think about what such a plan might be. Considering his past it could only be evil and intent on the destruction of the entire human race. "Why do you hate us so much?" She whispered, staring into the flames of the fire separating them. Suddenly realizing what she had said her eyes widened in horror as she quickly covered her mouth, her gaze flying to meet his. To her surprise he was smiling.

"Why do I hate you, little spider?" He chuckled softly and leaned forward, blue gaze intent on her pale features. "You're all parasites, living off my brothers and sisters without a thought or care for their feelings and well-being. You're all selfish and corrupt, like a disease, spreading across the universe to infect every world you come across. Have you ever given thought to how you came to be here?" He held up his hand when she opened her mouth to speak. "Save it. Plants brought you here. My brothers and sisters. How do you live? By the grace of the slaves you use and discard...the Plants. Your kind are all the same...contemptible."

Meryl looked down at her hands, the fingers laced together tightly. "Not everyone is like that." She looked up slowly, a defiant tilt to her chin. "Have you ever tried to get to know people? Have you deemed everyone guilty for the sins of a few? For every person who answers to the description you just gave there are a hundred more who are kind, caring, generous and hard working. You can't judge everyone without at least trying to..."

"Shut up." He spoke softly, but the quiet menace in his tone halted her words in mid-sentence. "Do you presume to question me, little spider? Do you presume to tell me what I can and cannot do?" He reached around the fire and caught her by the throat in an iron-like grip and shook her. "Remember to whom you are speaking, human!" He shook her once again before tossing her aside.

Meryl lay on her side staring at the rock wall through a haze of pain and a blur of tears as she held a shaking hand to her bruised throat. She'd forgotten, for a moment, in her self-righteous anger who it was she was with. "So why am I still alive?" She whispered painfully.

Knives glared at her back, her quietly spoken words reaching his sensitive ears. "You amuse me, for the moment." Truthfully, it was more than that, but he wasn't willing to admit that, not to himself and certainly not to her. "However, my good will isn't limitless, so watch your tongue, human."

"Meryl." She rolled over slowly and faced him again.

"What?"

"I have a name and it's Meryl. Meryl Stryfe. I'm not 'human' or 'spider' or any other hateful name you can think of. My name is Meryl."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you quite through?"

"Yes." She closed her eyes and drew in a ragged breath through her bruised and raw throat. "If you're going to kill me, then do so."

"Are you in such a hurry to die, little spider?" He tilted his head to the side curiously when she shook her head. "Then why are you purposely trying my patience?"

"Because I know you'll kill me anyway. I just want to die with a little bit of dignity intact." She wasn't certain where this boldness was coming from, but she was just so tired of being walked all over that she was willing to chance his wrath to finally assert herself. Her whole life she'd been bullied because she was smaller, had developed a giant-sized temper to hide her hurt, and learned to use the derringers she usually wore at all times to protect herself. She was tired of hiding behind the tough- girl act. Was it too much to ask to, just for once, not have to fight for the respect she yearned for?

"Dignity, huh?" He shrugged and leaned back against the rocks to study her small form where she lay curled into a small ball, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "You're amusing, little spider...I think I'll keep you for the time being." He murmured under his breath as he watched her breathing slowly even out, indicating that her exhaustion had finally won out over her fear of him.