I do not own Trigun

-----

-Eva POV-

I could talk; sure, I had been able to talk for about six months now, but frankly I didn't see the point in it. I didn't particularly like any of Knives' minions, I was allergic to Wolfwood's cigar smoke, and if I talked to Knives I would have ended up lapsing into disgusted silence anyway. So I kept my silence except for when I would sneak into the room when Knives was asleep and sing to the Plants he had fused with. They seemed to enjoy it and I found it soothing.

I had regained most of my sight in my right eye. Enough to know I didn't like what was going on, but I felt powerless to stop it. Despite what Knives had told me about my mental capacity, I knew he was far more practiced in the art and could beat me easily, inexperienced as I was.

I hadn't liked the last encounter I had with Knives. I was determined to detest him and him being charming made that exceedingly difficult.

I was currently laying on my back in my room listening disinterestedly as the ship shook with gun shots and other signs of mutiny. I suspected that Wolfwood had finally made his move to free Vash from the cage Legato was holding him in.

While staying in my room while such acts of violence were going on elsewhere could be viewed as an act of cowardice, I had two very good reasons for staying where I was. First off, I didn't belong here. I had a feeling this was a major battle and since I technically didn't belong in this world, I really shouldn't interfere. Secondly, the sight of blood made me nauseous, so I wouldn't be any help anyway.

I scowled when an explosion rocked the airship, tipping me unceremoniously to the floor.

"Brother!"

The heart-wrenching cry was quickly followed by another explosion. I stumbled against the wall, protecting my head.

"Knives.." I muttered thickly, for indeed he had been the one to cry out. Almost as if in a trance, I shoved myself against the door and stumbled out of the room and down the hallway in the direction of the fighting.

I clamped a hand over my nose as my feet slipped in something slick on the floor. I didn't want to know what it was, so I just moved forward without looking down.

"KNIVES, STOP!"

I could see Crimsonnail standing at the edge of a drop. Slowly I made my way to the edge as well, intime to see Knives come back up. Something dark and reddish was on him, but I knew it wasn't his blood. I wrinkled my nose at the smell and took a step back, delicately placing a hand over my nose.

Knives looked very tired and sad, staring down at the ground almost as if he were looking for the answer to whatever was troubling him in the filthy deck. When he heard me shift, he looked up at me.

"Eva.. you're alive... good..."

He took a few steps toward me, his right hand outstretched. I took a step back, eyeing him coldly.

"Hypocrite..."

He stopped and blinked a few times at me.

"Eva.. you finally spoke... Wait, what did you call me?"

I lowered my hand from my face.

"You are a freakin' hypocrite, Knives."

His eyes were wide and confused.

"Wha... what do you mean?"

I waved my hands at the wreckage.

"You fight the humans because they drain your brethren of their energy, correct?"

Knives nodded, still with the expression that he had just been slapped in the face.

"Then what do you call what just happened here? What you've been doing the past few months?"

Knives opened his mouth to answer, but I waved a hand to make him be quiet.

"You fused with your brethren to save your sorry hide," I snapped, voice dripping with vemon. "You used their energy, Knives. You drained them, exploited them. For absolutely nothing. I don't know what you thought you'd achieve, but you obviously didn't gain it."

I could sense anger and resentment building in Knives' face, but I continued anyway.

"Thank to you, not only has the planet been plunged into chaos, sending my decendants to their deaths, but you've also killed off those you were going to save! You're a filthy hypocrite!"

Knives towered over me. I stared up at him, unafraid. I thought he was going to slap me, but in my rage I didn't care.

"You have no idea what I am trying to achieve," he hissed. "You don't know what they've done to us..."

"Yeah, I do," I snapped. "Tessla, right? Guess what Knives, that was a long time ago. That was an accident. It was wrong, it was sick, but it's in the past! Rem begged you to forgive her! She loved you and Vash, Knives! You threw that away! You stole it from your brother! You're a bloody fool!"

Knives looked shocked. Before I knew what was happening, he was standing right in front of me holding me tightly by the shoulders.

"You can't possibly understand what that was like for me," he hissed. "In one moment having your world fall down around you and realize that you're never going to be accepted."

I slapped him across the face.

"ACCEPT YOU? You've never given them the chance, Knives! Not everyone is going to accept you! Not everyone accepts everyone else! That's just how life is! So what if not everyone treats you fairly? Everyone goes through it! Do you think I have been accepted by everyone in the world?"

He opened his mouth, a shocked look etched into his face.

"News flash, I haven't! In highschool, I was picked at and laughed at and ignored! But I didn't turn into a psychotic killing machine! Life's tough, people can make you miserable! So you hold on to the people how make you happy, who accept you, who love you. That's what being accepted is about! But you never gave it a chance! You killed the one human who loved you, and from the sounds of it you alienated your brother too!

And by the way, don't even think about saying that Legato and Mister Cross-dresser over there accept you. They'd kill their own mothers, so it's hardly a complement.

A word to the wise, Knives. If you want to be accepted, you better start accepting other people too."

Knives opened and shut his mouth a couple times. I watched him silently, arms folded across my chest.

"You... I ..." he stuttered.

Completely exasperated, I threw my hands into the air and stomped away from him. During my rant, Crimsonnail had stealthily sneaked off somewhere. Probably afraid of getting in the way of Knives' rage at the insolent little spider. I was, quite frankly, expecting a blast between my shoulder blades.

"Eva..."

I stopped at the mournful call from behind me. I had most certainly not expected that.

"Eva..."

"What."

"Don't do that... don't walk away from me..."

I spun on my heel and glared at him. He had a rather pathetic expression, though I was quite sure he was unaware of sporting it. Hesitantly, he walked toward me, his hand outstretched in a pleading gesture.

"I just lost my brother... please don't make me lose you too..."

I looked at him coldly.

"Losing your brother was hardly my fault. You did that on your own."

The outstretched hand clenched.

"Don't mock me; he made his choice."

I smiled mockingly.

"Quite a choice. You force him to fight but tell him not to use his power. Hardly the loving sibling are you?"

I turned away from him again and started picking my way back through the rubble.

"Don't worry, you still have your pawn." I called over my shoulder. "I'm not stupid enough to jump through the hole in the floor and plunge two hundred feet onto the desert. I'd like to be alive to enjoy my freedom."

"You're really ungrateful, you know that?" snapped Knives.

"Oh I'm sure," I smirked. "Well please excuuuse this pitiful spider."

I stalked away from him, well aware of the silence.

-----