AN: I wrote this based on the manga universe, though it is not directly inspired by any one specific event or chapter. If I had to pin a time frame on this baby, I'd probably say that this fic is set to occur sometime around volume five or six of Trigun Maximum... but don't hold me to that. I just wrote this for the fun of writing it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, I do not own Meryl, I do not own Vash and I certainly do not own Knives or Legato. Yasuhiro Nightow and Young King Ours own the copyright to Trigun and all the various characters therein. If you want to give money to someone for these wonderful characters, give money to them.
Please do not steal this fan fiction. That would make me more than a little aggravated. Comments and criticisms are welcome and appreciated.
The Pawn
He read and reread the report obsessively, staring at the perfectly typed letters and the neatly spaced words. The starkness of black on white was mesmerizing and he found himself becoming increasingly lulled into thoughts only of her. She had given him so much without even realizing it. So much insight and perspective.
She was a blessing, but she was also a curse. He couldn't allow himself to forget that, even though he had a healthy amount of respect for her. Even fondness.
Still, she was expendable. Just a tool to be used to reach his goals and desires. A perfect human tool. There was not a flaw yet to be found no matter how he sought to find one. Her motivations were pure, her dedication and loyalty remarkable. Her thoughts bore no untruth, only misunderstanding and occasional doubt. She always strived to be responsible, even at the cost of her own personal gain.
She was unique in a sea of maggots.
It was unnerving to him how perfect she appeared to be at times, but he still held-fast to his faith. The humans were all alike, every last one of them.
Even her.
Imperfect, petty, selfish, sentimental fools who thought only of their own needs and desires. Rarely did they ever consider anything outside of themselves. Occasionally he witnessed the rare few play the sacrificial lamb, the martyr. It was sometimes touching, but more often than not it was trite. When it all came down to bare basics, none of them acted unless there was something to gain. 'My needs come first and damn all the rest,' that was their philosophy as a species. That was their motivation for raping their home planet and cannibalizing their own creation. They were loathsome creatures whose extinction was long overdue.
Yet, his twin actually seemed to enjoy their company. Even crave it.
Lips curled into a slight smile. Well, he always did act the fool, even when they were young.
It was sadly predictable.
Raising the report closer to his face, the free-born plant inhaled its scent deeply. He could have sworn that he could detect her fragrance there, but he knew logically that such a thing was impossible. Even for him. Still he focused on that imaginary scent as he let his mind churn with more pleasurable thoughts of future outcomes and painful lessons to be learned.
Everything was coming together so beautifully. Eden was at hand.
"Sir, would you like me to send someone else..?"
His thoughts interrupted, Knives glared at the offending human angrily. The old man was intelligent enough to back up a few steps, fall to his knees and apologize profusely. He knew better than to speak without first being spoken to. Ice blue eyes promised pain and panic radiated from the old Bernardelli's mind. Perhaps the old man would save him the trouble and simply die from fright.
Weak and pathetic humans, so easily broken and manipulated.
The sight of the groveling human left him feeling satisfied. Anger slowly drained from his being leaving loftiness in its wake. It would be amusing to kill the man, but now was not the appropriate time. The old bastard was still useful.
"No," the free-born plant said quietly, a shadow of a smile playing about his lips, "I have other plans."
A quick motion of his hand, and the cowering human found himself relieved to simply be dismissed from Knives' presence. He moved soundlessly from the room leaving the master to ponder once more the nature of Homo sapiens.
From the darkness behind him, Knives felt the stirrings of a slightly confused and questioning mind gently whisper across his awareness, a fluttering. It was no surprise. He turned his face toward the questioning and commanded it to speak.
"Master..." the meek voice began, "they seem to be holding him back, perhaps they should be eliminated..."
Focused once more on the stark contrast of the pages still held within his grasp, Knives replied, "No. They are helping him to see."
Silence echoed around him as he stared into the depths of the neatly typed report. Once again, a quiver of confusion brushed against his mind. Knives sighed quietly as he turned around to fully face Legato and his pallbearer. Explaining this to him was a chore, but a necessary chore nonetheless. The cripple could be just as blind as all the others, but still he was very useful to his plans. Perhaps it had been a mistake to maim him so thoroughly. His mind seemed to work so much slower now. Knives quickly dismissed the notion; Legato is human after all.
A magi-like smile filtered across Knives' timeless features as he looked upon his crippled pet. "He trusts them, just as he trusts Chapel. Especially her." Knives caressed the pages in his hands with both of his thumbs, feeling the texture of the page and the impression of the ink.
Such contrast.
"He sees that woman in her and thinks she is somehow different, but he forgets that she is flawed. She is human, and all humans are flawed. All humans fail." Knives peered pointedly at Legato from across the darkness of the room noting how natural he appeared to be in a coffin, how perfectly appropriate.
Legato shrank back under his master's gaze, but his yellow eyes never wavered.
The free-born plant continued, "They always return to their base nature, and she will, too. In time, she will, too. She will show him the truth better than I can. Better than anyone can."
Legato licked his lips and smiled slightly, "But she does not know you..."
"Yes," Knives interrupted, "and that makes her pure. She's the perfect tool; they both are."
A whisper of a pause filled the room and a smile spread across the face of the free-born plant, a smile of genuine joy and merriment. "I have not touched her; she belongs completely to him. Don't you see? Vash may come to believe that Chapel betrayed him because of me, because Chapel belongs to me just as you do... but when she eventually betrays him, I will have had nothing to do with it. I simply sent her and her partner to follow him, nothing more.
"When she betrays him, the whole of humanity will be reflected in her. All of their imperfections and lies and their selfish, sadistic natures will all be reflected in her. She will show him the truth and he will finally understand the spider."
Knives grinned as he gazed down at the report in his hands, child-like joy sparkling in his eyes. "Then he will be my brother again."
AN: I don't remember exactly where I got the idea of having Knives be the one responsible for sending Meryl and Milly off to follow Vash around. It just always seemed weird to me that they would send two women out to follow around the Humanoid Typhoon. I mean, this is a man who is responsible for destroying an entire city... and they send two young women off to keep him under 24-hour surveillance? Anyone else think this is odd?
Plus, Knives and Meryl have always seemed to be very alike to me and since Knives seems to be the type to think far, far ahead into the future... I don't know. Maybe I've read the Dune series too many times and like the whole "plans within plans" thing. It just seemed like an interesting idea to toy with at the time. Then again, the whole Meryl/Knives thing is strangely appealing to me. I think it's the angst... yeah, that's it. :p
Anyway, this little one-shot spawned a continuation. Check out Double Helix for the rest of the story... ~_^
One last thing for those of you who may not know... Chapel is Wolfwood.
Thanks for reading!