Chapter 2

Vash and Knives made it back inside just as a sand storm was rolling through, the townspeople already packing up the market and moving indoors for safety. Up the stairs the spiky haired blond went, Vash setting her down carefully against the bed of their spare room. He was careful not to aggravate her wounds, but even that seemed difficult to accomplish.

"Turn that light on."

"Do it yourself."

"Knives!"

His gaze turned back to his brother, fuming at the arrogant and smug expression all over his face. With a huff Vash stormed back towards the doorway, finger flicking the light switch before rushing back to the bed to examine the visible wounds.

"She's going to die. You don't need a light to see that."

"There's a medical kit in the bathroom. Either be useful and get it or shut up!"

"But this is too much fun."

"Vash!"

"Who is she?"

"We don't know."

The blond stood, feet moving his body back out of the way as Meryl came barreling into the room, the doctor quickly on her heels with a large bag at his side. He was quick to step out from the room, the blond leaving the stranger's care to the doctor and Meryl. It wouldn't have been right for him to remain and he knew as much. His thoughts were more consumed with the wounds the raven haired girl had suffered, unable to even imagine what kind of torment she'd been through.

It was only after the doctor had taken over that he realized Knives was already out of sight, retreating to his own room where he spent most of his time. It was not a surprise to him, once Meryl had come charging in with the doctor his brother had run off to escape over exposure from the humans as Knives often referred to it. Heading down stairs Vash's green eyes turned to the window, and the raging sandstorm that was brewing. They'd all be stuck in doors for a while.

By the time Meryl emerged from the room Vash had already prepared dinner, plates laid out across the table with one extra set out for the doctor who was still upstairs tending to the stranger they'd found.

"How bad is it?"

"Her wounds are pretty bad, some look worse than they are. The doctor says she should pull through."

The tall blond gave Meryl a skeptical look. Her expression gave away more than she was telling, eyes downcast to the plates in front of her with lips pursed together. There was more to it, and he knew it. "But?"

"She's blind." Meryl averted her gaze from the shocked expression, a hand moving up to rest under her chin. "Her eyes are a real pale color. Almost white. The doctor says it's common for people who have lost their eye-sight."

"Said you should have left her." Knives pushed off of the corner wall of the stairwell, arm waving in front of him as he moved towards his twin. "So- what now? You going to take care of her like a weak baby, right Vash?" the lighter blond gave a laugh, leaning in towards his twin with a cocky undertone. "You gonna give her a bath too? I could always just put her out of her misery for you-"

"Shut up Knives!"

The retort left the twin to raise his hands up in fake defeat, laughing as he moved around Vash and made to step outside into the raging storm like it was a clear sunny day. The spiky blond ran his hand through his hair in frustration, looking to Meryl before making his way back upstairs to speak with the doctor himself.

Outside the wind whipped about with menace, blowing Knives hair about like a fury trying to take strikes at the obstinate male. Grumbling under his own breath now that he was alone he slipped back behind the house to his personal practice range, the only other space he was content with beyond his own room. Positioning himself, he loaded his basic revolver with the rubber bullets he had been given. It was a joke to say the least, but it allowed him to blow off steam.

It really was a mockery. Not one bit of it was anything like his own creation. The black .45 long colt. He missed that gun. In what time he'd had to search the house up and down though, he'd had yet to discover where that brother of his had hidden the weapons. If he could have gotten a hold of either one he'd have decimated the town already.

Still it all held some amusement. Vash was out to prove to him that humans were worth more than Knives had given them credit for. That they weren't vermin that just needed exterminated. It was all his idiot brother could harp on for the five months it'd taken him to fully recover from his wounds. His Gun-Ho-Gun's were gone and Vash was always ever vigilant about keeping eyes on him if he tried to take off. Like the town itself was some hellish prison.

A hellish prison surrounded by vermin. Everything they did just pissed him off, and none pissed him off more than Meryl Stryfe. Vash's wife. Why his brother married a human was beyond him. Inconceivable. Still, there was nothing he could do. His brother wouldn't listen to reason no matter how hard he tried to tell him he was being foolish. What point did it serve when she would die long before either of them did?

With his gun aimed at the target, Knives imagined Meryl being tied to the structure in the distance. Short black hair blowing with the wind as her crippled body hung lifelessly against the target board. Without a second thought he pulled the trigger until the chamber was empty, each shot aimed at one specific point. The heart.

Inside the safety of the house Vash stood by the window of the room he shared with Meryl, running a towel though his freshly wet hair. The scars that were scattered across his body lay exposed with nothing but a pair of loosely fitted black pants covering his lower half from view. His left arm he'd lost years ago to his brother, replaced by metal mechanics of lost technology. If a stranger saw the scars he wore they would be terrified. Both of what he'd been through, and what he was capable of to have survived so much.

Meryl entered the room, hand ruffling through her hair as she sat on the bed. The expression she wore brought Vash to sit beside her. "The Doctor asked to keep her here for now. He said her wounds are bad enough she shouldn't be moved yet."

The blonde gave a nod. "We'll look after her then." His head tilted to the side. "Meryl? What is it?"

"I just can't imagine who would do such things. There's a good chance she may not even wake."

"All we can do is hope."

With a soft sigh Meryl gave a nod. "You know this is the fifth time you helped a random stranger. You got us a place with two extra rooms for that very purpose." She lifted her head up to look at the tall blond. He wasn't sure if it was out of sadness or tiredness that she continued. "You can't save everyone."

Vash turned his gaze to the window, the sand storm already having dissipated. "I just want to help."

Leaning against his shoulder, Meryl placed her hand against his. "I know. This just isn't easy for me. With watching over your brother and having random strangers in our home…"

"I've asked a lot of you, haven't I?"

She gave a smile, turning as she brought her lips close to his own. "I followed the humanoid Typhon across the world. This isn't anything I can't handle."

Though she held her confidence stance and words, her tiredness still showed through, the blond knowing that he'd need to make a more conscious effort to relieve her of the stress it caused. The two embraced before slipping into their bed for the night.

A week would pass by in the blink of an eye, though still the girl did not so much as stir let alone wake. Meryl and Vash took turns in caring for the girl's wounds while she laid asleep in their spare room. The local doctor even brought by IV drips to make sure she was getting some form of nutrients as well as fresh bandages for her care.

Knives of course spared no expense in using the unconscious girl as a way of taunting his dear brother. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to express just how weak the humans were and how wasteful it was spending so much time and effort on one little insect.

The days passed by the same, no signs the black haired girl would ever awake.

Hinata squinted her eyes open, light pouring in from the window and blinding her view. Her body was wracked with pain in more places than she could name, a fresh sense of soreness and stiff muscles as though she'd gained new wounds since last she'd opened her eyes.

Her stiff neck popped as she shifted her gaze to look about her surroundings. She'd expected to stare at wet stone walls under a dark lit cell, but that was not the sight that fell before her hazy gaze. She was in a small ordinary looking room. The sun beat down against her skin from the window, a refreshing change from the dank cell she'd grown so used to.

As she raised her arm up to block the sun's rays she felt a tug move along with the act. To her left she noticed the two sets of dressers and the bed side table. Just next to the table was a metal rod holding up a half full bag of fluids. Reaching across her body she pulled the needle from her arm, tossing the piece to the floor as she began to sit herself up.

Her movements staled as she hissed with pain from her weakened muscles. It was in that moment she fully realized she was lying against a comfortably soft bed. It was not the hard stone ground of her cell, nor was it a medical bed much like the one she'd found herself on more than once. Just a plain and ordinary bed.

Footsteps. Her head lifted as alarms raised within her own mind, gaze drifting to the door at the other side of the room. Her heart skipped a beat, eyes glazing quickly across the room before her. She had no weapons, no way to fight against whoever would soon come walking through the door. Frantic her eyes darted from one spot to another, eyes falling on her boots in the corner of the room. Quickly she pushed herself away from the bed, pulling out an object from inside her boot.

Everything from that moment happened all at once. The door creaked open, black hair moving across the room like a shadow on the wall. Spiky blond hair appeared, and before anyone realized what had happened, Vash the Stampede was in the room facing the doorway, a sharp stone blade at his throat.

A high pitched scream echoed through the house. "Vash!"