Title: Forsaken
Author: Akima The Stampede Maxwell
Date begun: April 3, 2002
Anime: where does Knives and the gang come from?....oh yeah! Trigun!!!! What about Dryden and Millerna?....Escaflowne
Pairings: no comment
Rating: NR for Knivishness, other peopleness, tiny bit of violence(nothing extreme), and language and OH THE ANGST THAT I HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU PEOPLE!!!
Disclaimers: Nope. Nothing owned.
***Again I apologize to anyone who wanted the characters to be in character all the time. This is my version of what happens after Trigun. It has nothing to do with the manga though I do add stuff from it but it has nothing to do with character traits. I changed them according to my version. ( Oh yeah…sorry about the delay. School…gotta love it.
Chapter 19: Face Off
"Please, Legato! Take me back!" Meryl wailed. She clawed at his arm.
"I am sorry but he instructed me to take you a safe distance from here."
Meryl`s eyes flashed.
`I`m sorry.`
Legato felt his hands unwrapping from around Meryl.
"Meryl…stop it!"
He tried fighting her back. He would have won had not Meryl let out a cry. Suddenly his arms flew away and she fell to the ground. She cried out as she landed on her back. She got up just in time to push Legato out of the dome. She ran off as fast as the wound on her back would let her.
`You are not leaving me behind again!`
----------------------------------------------
Knives stopped when Legato began speaking in his brain. He began scratched at his back. For some reason it was irritating him.
`She`s gone.`
`Is she dead?!`
`No. She used her mind to escape me. She pushed me out of the dome.`
`Then get back in and find her!`
`There is a problem. I cannot get back in. I believe that Fenris closed it off after I was thrown out.`
Knives kicked the wall next to him. Millerna put a hand on his shoulder. He shook her off.
"What`s wrong?"
"Meryl`s looking for me! This is just like when I left the first time! Damn it! When will she learn that when I say not to follow me that I mean it?!"
"That`s like telling her not to care about you! You should have gone with her!"
Knives glared at her then at Wolfwood, Milly and Dryden. He growled then sighed. He turned away from them for a second. He turned back to them.
"Okay. You…Millerna…go with Dryden and you…Chap…er…Wolfwood…go by yourself." he said softly, pointing to Wolfwood.
"Where are you going?" Wolfwood asked.
"I am going to find her."
"You`ll find her."
Wolfwood left down the hallway. Millerna opened a door that lead to another hallway. She let Dryden through first. She turned back to Knives and smiled.
"Good luck!"
He did not say anything. He turned away from her.
"When you find her tell her how you feel. Maybe if you had said that in the first place she would have let you go without getting so upset."
"…Why would that change anything?"
"Maybe it wouldn`t. I don`t know. I think that all she needs from you is to hear you say it. Don`t give me that crap that you don`t care. I saw how worried you were when Meryl took that hit in the back for you…and when you pulled that necklace off of her. That took a lot to do that."
She walked into the other hallway and stood against the wall next to Dryden.
"No matter how much you try to stay coldhearted, Knives, the more it will be eaten away. Just give in to the feelings you have for her. Trust me. You`ll be better off."
Millerna listened. After a couple of minutes she heard Knives run off. She turned to face Dryden.
"I hope that he listened to what I was saying."
--------------------------------------------
Milly chatted on and on with Raven even though she was the one doing all of the talking. Vash was still not certain whether not they should be following her. He had been more open minded before but now he was not so sure.
`What if Fenris ordered her to do this?`
"Is something wrong, Vash?"
Raven stopped. She turned to look at him. Her eyes flickered.
"How can we be sure that this isn`t some kind of trap?"
"You will just have to trust me."
"What if you lead us into some room with a lot of guys that are going to try and kill us?"
"I would not do that."
Vash noticed her pupils form into a snakelike appearance. The pupil was long and thin and the shade of the whites were greenish. Vash took a step back after grabbing Milly`s shoulder.
"I would lead you into a trap of my own though."
Two large bat like wings tore through her robes. Horns twisted out of her skull right above her eyes. Fangs extended over her lips. Her face changed into a somewhat leathery exterior. Her arms twisted and reformed until they were long and gaunt. Her legs lengthened and talons extended from her toes. A long tail writhed out from behind her. Vash took one look at her and his eyes nearly burst from his skull.
"SCARY!!!!!" he exclaimed. He pulled Milly along. They ran down the hall. They heard her flapping behind them.
"You cannot run from me, Vash the Stampede! Can you not face me?"
"We would but Fenris is the one we`re looking for! Take a number!" Vash replied. Raven`s tail slammed them against the wall with a loud thud. She came towards them. Milly aimed and fired after standing shakily to her feet. Raven screeched as she was knocked to the ground. Vash sighed. He pulled out his gun and spun the barrel.
"Looks like we have to take her down!"
Milly giggled.
"Right, Mr. Vash the Stamepede!"
They waited patiently until Raven stood back up. She smiled evilly. She went into a fighting stance.
"Give me you best shot!"
-------------------------------------------------
Meryl quietly stepped down the hallway. The only sound she heard was her own breathing.
`It`s too quiet.`
A faint tapping could be heard barely along the wall. She pressed her ear closer.
`What is that?`
She kept walking. The taps got closer and closer. She felt a slight chill go down her neck. She stopped. Now the tapping was beginning to fade. She felt her heart beat louder and louder. She put her hand over her chest. She winced as she brushed the raw flesh.
`Stop beating so loud!`
She scraped her back against the wall as she slid down it to the floor. She coved her mouth to stop from crying out.
`Where are you, Knives?`
The tapping started up again. She got up and quickly walked a bit faster down the hallway. The tapping came from behind her now. It was getting closer. She trembled violently which only resulted in aggravating the wound on her back. She tripped over her own feet. She toppled to the ground. She huddled into a ball, waiting for whatever was following her. Nothing happened.
`What are you waiting for? Attack me!`
Silence was all that answered her. She slowly unraveled herself. She sat up. She let out a deep breath then stood to her feet. Something dripped down from the ceiling. She looked down. A greenish slime lay in a small puddle next to her. She looked up. She screamed.
------------------------------------------------------
Knives stopped. He itched at his back again. He felt like someone was ripping open his back slowly. He wanted to scream.
`Damn it I hate pain! Why am I feeling this? Is Fenris doing this in my mind?`
He heard a faint screaming to his left behind a closed door. He opened the door without making much noise. He pulled out his gun. He heard the screaming once more. Now it sounded like the person, obviously female, was in a great deal of pain. He felt his back flare up again. He cringed. Sweat began to form on his brow as he approached the noise. His heart began to beat.
`I don`t like this. Something isn`t right. That voice sounds familiar. That girl went the other way and Vash or that priest would be with the other one then…`
His eyes narrowed. He sprinted down the hall. The screams were getting louder now. He rounded a corner and held out his gun. He dropped it. Something that resembled a giant lizard was hunched over Meryl. It clawed at Meryl`s back slowly as it seemed to savor the screams and pleads for her life. Knives touched his back.
`I…I can feel it!`
He scrambled to pick up his gun. The thing snapped its head up. It smiled a toothy grin. It scrapped along Meryl`s back. Knives suppressed his reaction.
"I believe that you are too late. She has already bled much. If the bleeding does not kill her then the pain will." it rasped.
"You idiot!" Knives exclaimed. He looked down at Meryl as the creature approached him. He averted his eyes from her. He locked eyes with the monster before him.
"Why did you do that?!"
"You should not have to ask. You used to order people around as well. You had people kill others for yourself. The master simply told me to kill her."
Knives cocked the gun. His arm began to shake. His teeth clenched. He glanced down at Meryl once more as the creature lunged at him. He fired. He hit it right between the eyes. It fell dead at his feet. Knives stepped over the dead thing and went down on his knees beside Meryl. His eyes slitted. A few tears escaped them. He wiped them away. He laid a hand carefully on her back. She flinched. He felt it in his own back.
`I feel her pain.`
Meryl whimpered. Knives took off his shirt(Yes. He is taking off his shirt. Oh yeah.). He removed what was left of her shirt and did his best to wrap the wound. The best he could do was wrap it one and a half times around. He became increasingly enraged as Meryl cried. It got weaker when he finished with her.
"Stupid girl! Why did you come after me after I told you to go? Why?!"
Meryl did not answer. He turned her over to look in her eyes. She gazed up at him through tear filled eyes. She reached out a bloodied hand.
"Can you just…hold me?"
Knives put his gun away then picked her up. She moaned as the pain got worse. Knives felt weak. His back burned horribly. He could feel her losing blood steadily. He reached a hand up to push the hair out of her face.
"If you die then I will be really pissed off!"
His voice cracked. His attempt at sarcasm was failing. Her eyes closed. She was limp. Too limp. He shook her.
"Wake up! Damn it! Wake up!"
He wanted to slap her more out of fear than out of anger. He thought better of it. He shook her a bit harder this time.
"Meryl, wake up!"
At the sound of her name her eyes opened.
"Knives…"
He felt the tears in his eyes again.
`Damn it! Will these stupid tears ever quit?`
He wanted to wipe them away but Meryl obviously would have a fit if he let go of her. He mentally told himself to quit crying and he did.
"…I`m getting you out of here."
"Are you…coming too?"
"Yeah."
She smiled. Millerna`s words floated back into Knives` ears.
`All she needs from you is to here to say it.`
He just could not find the words to say it. He knew the words but it would go against everything that he used to stand for even if she was not human. He began to run. His back was burning which only made him run faster. He ran into several dead ends which really pissed him off.
`I`m losing my sense of direction. Damn it! If I don`t get out of here soon then…finally!`
He came to the edge of the dome. He laid Meryl down at his feet. He touched the side with both hands and recited the words. Nothing happened. He shrugged.
`It was worth a shot.`
"The shot that will kill you."
Knives growled as he turned around. Fenris stood there. His eyes glowed white. His grin practically spread around his whole face.
"Once again we meet. How fortunate. It looks like my guard did not fulfill my request." He said gesturing to Meryl. Knives felt his heart grow cold. His eyes began to glow.
"Your stupid guard would have if I hadn`t shot him between the eyes."
"I know that you did. It was quite amusing to see your reaction to what was happening to the girl. You dropped the gun then had to hurry to pick it up. He would have killed you but your speed saved you."
"It slipped from my hands!"
"After seeing what happened. Can you honestly tell me that you can look at her right now and tell her that when you saw her lying there being ripped apart that you felt nothing?"
"Yep!"
He heard her whimper. He turned to face her. He wanted to say it again just to prove the bastard wrong but he could not. Meryl was lying there in a bloodied heap with her eyes trained on him. Tears welled up once more in her eyes. His lip curled. He punched the wall leaving a small indention. Blood began to form on his fist. Meryl whimpered. She rubbed her fist. Knives blinked in surprise.
`She feels it too.`
Fenris noticed too.
"How intriguing. You feel eachother`s pain. This could prove interesting."
Suddenly Meryl`s body floated over into Fenris` arm. Knives tried to get her to come back towards him but her wound was aggravating him. He came towards Fenris with gun raised. Fenris grabbed Meryl`s arm and twisted it. Meryl cried out followed by Knives. He fell to his knees. Fenris laughed.
"Now this is torture!"
Knives got to his feet. He came towards Fenris again. He twisted Meryl`s other arm and Knives dropped his gun. As he reached for it Fenris broke her hand. Knives wailed. His hand looked normal but it did not feel normal. He glared up at Fenris. He ripped off the makeshift bandage around Meryl. Now she was nude from the waist up. Meryl shrieked. Knives growled.
"Don`t you dare!"
"I would never do that to a woman. I am more into pain."
He did something to her back. Knives could not see what he was doing. He felt it though. His eyes practically burst from his skull. His fists and teeth clenched. It felt like someone was pulling at his skin and scraping muscle. Fenris laughed as Knives contorted into a fetal like position then writhing around on the floor.
"It is fortunate that I found this out! This would have been somewhat of a matched fight otherwise!"
Knives pulled at his hair. Meryl answered with her own cries. Blood dripped on the floor.
"Get away from them!"
Fenris turned. He frowned as a bullet hit him in the back. He dropped Meryl but she was caught by Millerna. Dryden had his gun focused on Fenris. Millerna brought Meryl a good few yards away from Fenris. She covered her back with her jacket. A tear fell from her eyes.
"Shoot him again, Dryden!"
Dryden fired again. The bullet froze in midair. Dryden`s eyes widened.
"Shit!"
"Shit is right!" Fenris exclaimed. He pointed his hand at Dryden and he went flying back. Fenris turned back to Meryl. Millerna put her hands protectively over her. Fenris grinned. Suddenly Knives leapt on him. Fenris screamed as knives grew out of Knives` arms right into his back. Meryl cried out as she felt the knives come out of his skin.
"How do you like it?!" Knives growled. He ripped the claws out of Fenris` back.
"Impressive…but not impressive enough!"
He flew up. Knives lost his balance and fell off. Fenris floated back down a few feet away. Knives wiped blood from his lips and grinned.
"Hurting her was a mistake!"
----------------------------------------
Vash ducked as Raven flew at him. Her claws ripped his shirt on his shoulders.
"I liked that shirt!" he whined as she swooped by for another attack. Raven screeched. Milly shoot her with another round from her gun. Raven stood up on her taloned feet. She began to flap her wings. Vash and Milly held up their guns and ran at her. They felt themselves stopping slowly. They looked at each other simultaneously. They screamed. They were thrown back slowly as Raven walked towards them. They did not fire bullets at her. They figured that they would only fly back and hit them anyways. They had no choice but to try and stand against it. Raven extended her hand out with her claws out towards them.
"It is pointless to stand against it!"
Her wings beat a little slower but not enough for them to get out of the wind tunnel.
"Hey! Fight fair and square!" Vash exclaimed.
"There would not be any fun in that."
Milly turned around. She angled her gun just right.
"Vash, get ready!"
"For what?"
Milly fired her gun. The metal blasted away from them then clanged off the wall. It hit the ceiling then bounced all around. Raven began to slow down. She was watched the metal as if it would blow up or attack her. It ended up hitting Vash forward. He screeched then plowed into Raven. They fell back against the floor. Vash put the gun to Raven`s head.
"You will not shoot me. I know you won`t."
She kicked him off. Milly fired a chunk of metal at her knocking Raven away from Vash. Vash got up and shot Raven in the left wing. She shrieked then flew at him. She managed to scratch him pretty badly on the shoulder before Vash could shot her again this time in the other wing. She stood tall in the hallway. She hissed menacingly. She came towards Vash. He shot her in the collarbone. He had been aiming for her shoulder but he tripped. She backed off a little.
"You two are fools for going after Fenris! I will not waste any more time here! I will find you another day and rip your heart out with my claws!"
She fazed away. Vash blinked.
"Damn! That`s a cool trick!"
Milly grabbed Vash`s hand.
"Come on, Vash! We have to find Fenris!"
"Right!"
They ran down the hall. Behind them a pair of silver eyes floated in midair.
"Fools. They are only running towards death."
----------------------------------------
Millerna comforted Meryl as Knives and Fenris attempted to rip each other apart. Meryl whimpered as her blood continued to run. Millerna motioned for Dryden who was rubbing his head angrily.
"Dryden, try to find a way out of here! Take her with you!"
"There is no other way out of here!"
"There has to be! You have to try! If you keep her here then Fenris will just have another way of hurting Knives! Please?"
Dryden sighed. He carefully picked up Meryl. He gritted his teeth against the pain of his own wounds. He grinned at Millerna.
"Wish me luck?"
"Good luck!"
Dryden walked as quickly as possible away from the battle. Suddenly Fenris was in front of him.
"Going somewhere?"
He swiped Dryden across the face. Before Fenris could get his hands on Meryl Millerna butted him in the side with her head. She caught Meryl. She gave her to Dryden.
"Run! Now!"
He did not have to be asked twice. He ran. He could hear Fenris behind him then the sound of Knives ripping at him with those long knives. Meryl cried.
"Take…me…back!"
"No! Millerna told me to find an exit! I won`t do that! I won`t!"
"I…don`t want…to leave him!"
"He`ll be okay! A tough guy like that would never lie to his woman! I promise! He`ll live and you two will be happier than ever!"
"But, Dryden…I…I have a…bad feeling! Please!"
Dryden grumbled to himself.
`Why is she doing this to me?! Why couldn`t she take her? Now I`ll feel guilty for not doing what she wants!`
"Dryden! Dryden, please! Don`t take me…away!" she wailed. She hiccupped and sobbed as he ran. He looked around desperately.
`Damn it! Where in hell is an exit?!`
"Dryden?!"
He stopped just before running into Wolfwood.
"What happened to her?!" Wolfwood asked with wide eyes.
"No time for chit-chat! I need an exit now!"
"I was looking for Fenris but…"
"Knives and Millerna can deal with him! I`m sure that Vash and Milly are in here somewhere! They`ll help!"
At the mention of Milly Wolfwood`s eyes dimmed. They cleared up and he nodded.
"You`re right. Let`s get out of here."
"Where to first?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?! I`ve been running around without a damn clue as to anything that goes on here!"
Dryden chuckled slightly then went back to serious when he heard Meryl say `Knives` under her breath. He and Wolfwood ran silent as they searched for an exit.
*sigh….almost over (….. YES! THERE WAS ANGST ANGST ANGST!!! Will Dryden and Wolfwood find a way out of that hell? Will Fenris be defeated? Why was Raven there? Is she really Fenris` sister or was that really something to get Vash to follow her? She was one hell of a monster, wasn`t she? How are Knives and Meryl connected like that all of a sudden? Ahhh.. so many questions to be answered. Maybe in the next chapter…or maybe not. Chapter 20 comin` as soon as I write it. I have other stuff I gots to do for awhile but hopefully I can work a little on it everyday. (
Author: Akima The Stampede Maxwell
Date begun: April 3, 2002
Anime: where does Knives and the gang come from?....oh yeah! Trigun!!!! What about Dryden and Millerna?....Escaflowne
Pairings: no comment
Rating: NR for Knivishness, other peopleness, tiny bit of violence(nothing extreme), and language and OH THE ANGST THAT I HAVE IN STORE FOR YOU PEOPLE!!!
Disclaimers: Nope. Nothing owned.
***Again I apologize to anyone who wanted the characters to be in character all the time. This is my version of what happens after Trigun. It has nothing to do with the manga though I do add stuff from it but it has nothing to do with character traits. I changed them according to my version. ( Oh yeah…sorry about the delay. School…gotta love it.
Chapter 19: Face Off
"Please, Legato! Take me back!" Meryl wailed. She clawed at his arm.
"I am sorry but he instructed me to take you a safe distance from here."
Meryl`s eyes flashed.
`I`m sorry.`
Legato felt his hands unwrapping from around Meryl.
"Meryl…stop it!"
He tried fighting her back. He would have won had not Meryl let out a cry. Suddenly his arms flew away and she fell to the ground. She cried out as she landed on her back. She got up just in time to push Legato out of the dome. She ran off as fast as the wound on her back would let her.
`You are not leaving me behind again!`
----------------------------------------------
Knives stopped when Legato began speaking in his brain. He began scratched at his back. For some reason it was irritating him.
`She`s gone.`
`Is she dead?!`
`No. She used her mind to escape me. She pushed me out of the dome.`
`Then get back in and find her!`
`There is a problem. I cannot get back in. I believe that Fenris closed it off after I was thrown out.`
Knives kicked the wall next to him. Millerna put a hand on his shoulder. He shook her off.
"What`s wrong?"
"Meryl`s looking for me! This is just like when I left the first time! Damn it! When will she learn that when I say not to follow me that I mean it?!"
"That`s like telling her not to care about you! You should have gone with her!"
Knives glared at her then at Wolfwood, Milly and Dryden. He growled then sighed. He turned away from them for a second. He turned back to them.
"Okay. You…Millerna…go with Dryden and you…Chap…er…Wolfwood…go by yourself." he said softly, pointing to Wolfwood.
"Where are you going?" Wolfwood asked.
"I am going to find her."
"You`ll find her."
Wolfwood left down the hallway. Millerna opened a door that lead to another hallway. She let Dryden through first. She turned back to Knives and smiled.
"Good luck!"
He did not say anything. He turned away from her.
"When you find her tell her how you feel. Maybe if you had said that in the first place she would have let you go without getting so upset."
"…Why would that change anything?"
"Maybe it wouldn`t. I don`t know. I think that all she needs from you is to hear you say it. Don`t give me that crap that you don`t care. I saw how worried you were when Meryl took that hit in the back for you…and when you pulled that necklace off of her. That took a lot to do that."
She walked into the other hallway and stood against the wall next to Dryden.
"No matter how much you try to stay coldhearted, Knives, the more it will be eaten away. Just give in to the feelings you have for her. Trust me. You`ll be better off."
Millerna listened. After a couple of minutes she heard Knives run off. She turned to face Dryden.
"I hope that he listened to what I was saying."
--------------------------------------------
Milly chatted on and on with Raven even though she was the one doing all of the talking. Vash was still not certain whether not they should be following her. He had been more open minded before but now he was not so sure.
`What if Fenris ordered her to do this?`
"Is something wrong, Vash?"
Raven stopped. She turned to look at him. Her eyes flickered.
"How can we be sure that this isn`t some kind of trap?"
"You will just have to trust me."
"What if you lead us into some room with a lot of guys that are going to try and kill us?"
"I would not do that."
Vash noticed her pupils form into a snakelike appearance. The pupil was long and thin and the shade of the whites were greenish. Vash took a step back after grabbing Milly`s shoulder.
"I would lead you into a trap of my own though."
Two large bat like wings tore through her robes. Horns twisted out of her skull right above her eyes. Fangs extended over her lips. Her face changed into a somewhat leathery exterior. Her arms twisted and reformed until they were long and gaunt. Her legs lengthened and talons extended from her toes. A long tail writhed out from behind her. Vash took one look at her and his eyes nearly burst from his skull.
"SCARY!!!!!" he exclaimed. He pulled Milly along. They ran down the hall. They heard her flapping behind them.
"You cannot run from me, Vash the Stampede! Can you not face me?"
"We would but Fenris is the one we`re looking for! Take a number!" Vash replied. Raven`s tail slammed them against the wall with a loud thud. She came towards them. Milly aimed and fired after standing shakily to her feet. Raven screeched as she was knocked to the ground. Vash sighed. He pulled out his gun and spun the barrel.
"Looks like we have to take her down!"
Milly giggled.
"Right, Mr. Vash the Stamepede!"
They waited patiently until Raven stood back up. She smiled evilly. She went into a fighting stance.
"Give me you best shot!"
-------------------------------------------------
Meryl quietly stepped down the hallway. The only sound she heard was her own breathing.
`It`s too quiet.`
A faint tapping could be heard barely along the wall. She pressed her ear closer.
`What is that?`
She kept walking. The taps got closer and closer. She felt a slight chill go down her neck. She stopped. Now the tapping was beginning to fade. She felt her heart beat louder and louder. She put her hand over her chest. She winced as she brushed the raw flesh.
`Stop beating so loud!`
She scraped her back against the wall as she slid down it to the floor. She coved her mouth to stop from crying out.
`Where are you, Knives?`
The tapping started up again. She got up and quickly walked a bit faster down the hallway. The tapping came from behind her now. It was getting closer. She trembled violently which only resulted in aggravating the wound on her back. She tripped over her own feet. She toppled to the ground. She huddled into a ball, waiting for whatever was following her. Nothing happened.
`What are you waiting for? Attack me!`
Silence was all that answered her. She slowly unraveled herself. She sat up. She let out a deep breath then stood to her feet. Something dripped down from the ceiling. She looked down. A greenish slime lay in a small puddle next to her. She looked up. She screamed.
------------------------------------------------------
Knives stopped. He itched at his back again. He felt like someone was ripping open his back slowly. He wanted to scream.
`Damn it I hate pain! Why am I feeling this? Is Fenris doing this in my mind?`
He heard a faint screaming to his left behind a closed door. He opened the door without making much noise. He pulled out his gun. He heard the screaming once more. Now it sounded like the person, obviously female, was in a great deal of pain. He felt his back flare up again. He cringed. Sweat began to form on his brow as he approached the noise. His heart began to beat.
`I don`t like this. Something isn`t right. That voice sounds familiar. That girl went the other way and Vash or that priest would be with the other one then…`
His eyes narrowed. He sprinted down the hall. The screams were getting louder now. He rounded a corner and held out his gun. He dropped it. Something that resembled a giant lizard was hunched over Meryl. It clawed at Meryl`s back slowly as it seemed to savor the screams and pleads for her life. Knives touched his back.
`I…I can feel it!`
He scrambled to pick up his gun. The thing snapped its head up. It smiled a toothy grin. It scrapped along Meryl`s back. Knives suppressed his reaction.
"I believe that you are too late. She has already bled much. If the bleeding does not kill her then the pain will." it rasped.
"You idiot!" Knives exclaimed. He looked down at Meryl as the creature approached him. He averted his eyes from her. He locked eyes with the monster before him.
"Why did you do that?!"
"You should not have to ask. You used to order people around as well. You had people kill others for yourself. The master simply told me to kill her."
Knives cocked the gun. His arm began to shake. His teeth clenched. He glanced down at Meryl once more as the creature lunged at him. He fired. He hit it right between the eyes. It fell dead at his feet. Knives stepped over the dead thing and went down on his knees beside Meryl. His eyes slitted. A few tears escaped them. He wiped them away. He laid a hand carefully on her back. She flinched. He felt it in his own back.
`I feel her pain.`
Meryl whimpered. Knives took off his shirt(Yes. He is taking off his shirt. Oh yeah.). He removed what was left of her shirt and did his best to wrap the wound. The best he could do was wrap it one and a half times around. He became increasingly enraged as Meryl cried. It got weaker when he finished with her.
"Stupid girl! Why did you come after me after I told you to go? Why?!"
Meryl did not answer. He turned her over to look in her eyes. She gazed up at him through tear filled eyes. She reached out a bloodied hand.
"Can you just…hold me?"
Knives put his gun away then picked her up. She moaned as the pain got worse. Knives felt weak. His back burned horribly. He could feel her losing blood steadily. He reached a hand up to push the hair out of her face.
"If you die then I will be really pissed off!"
His voice cracked. His attempt at sarcasm was failing. Her eyes closed. She was limp. Too limp. He shook her.
"Wake up! Damn it! Wake up!"
He wanted to slap her more out of fear than out of anger. He thought better of it. He shook her a bit harder this time.
"Meryl, wake up!"
At the sound of her name her eyes opened.
"Knives…"
He felt the tears in his eyes again.
`Damn it! Will these stupid tears ever quit?`
He wanted to wipe them away but Meryl obviously would have a fit if he let go of her. He mentally told himself to quit crying and he did.
"…I`m getting you out of here."
"Are you…coming too?"
"Yeah."
She smiled. Millerna`s words floated back into Knives` ears.
`All she needs from you is to here to say it.`
He just could not find the words to say it. He knew the words but it would go against everything that he used to stand for even if she was not human. He began to run. His back was burning which only made him run faster. He ran into several dead ends which really pissed him off.
`I`m losing my sense of direction. Damn it! If I don`t get out of here soon then…finally!`
He came to the edge of the dome. He laid Meryl down at his feet. He touched the side with both hands and recited the words. Nothing happened. He shrugged.
`It was worth a shot.`
"The shot that will kill you."
Knives growled as he turned around. Fenris stood there. His eyes glowed white. His grin practically spread around his whole face.
"Once again we meet. How fortunate. It looks like my guard did not fulfill my request." He said gesturing to Meryl. Knives felt his heart grow cold. His eyes began to glow.
"Your stupid guard would have if I hadn`t shot him between the eyes."
"I know that you did. It was quite amusing to see your reaction to what was happening to the girl. You dropped the gun then had to hurry to pick it up. He would have killed you but your speed saved you."
"It slipped from my hands!"
"After seeing what happened. Can you honestly tell me that you can look at her right now and tell her that when you saw her lying there being ripped apart that you felt nothing?"
"Yep!"
He heard her whimper. He turned to face her. He wanted to say it again just to prove the bastard wrong but he could not. Meryl was lying there in a bloodied heap with her eyes trained on him. Tears welled up once more in her eyes. His lip curled. He punched the wall leaving a small indention. Blood began to form on his fist. Meryl whimpered. She rubbed her fist. Knives blinked in surprise.
`She feels it too.`
Fenris noticed too.
"How intriguing. You feel eachother`s pain. This could prove interesting."
Suddenly Meryl`s body floated over into Fenris` arm. Knives tried to get her to come back towards him but her wound was aggravating him. He came towards Fenris with gun raised. Fenris grabbed Meryl`s arm and twisted it. Meryl cried out followed by Knives. He fell to his knees. Fenris laughed.
"Now this is torture!"
Knives got to his feet. He came towards Fenris again. He twisted Meryl`s other arm and Knives dropped his gun. As he reached for it Fenris broke her hand. Knives wailed. His hand looked normal but it did not feel normal. He glared up at Fenris. He ripped off the makeshift bandage around Meryl. Now she was nude from the waist up. Meryl shrieked. Knives growled.
"Don`t you dare!"
"I would never do that to a woman. I am more into pain."
He did something to her back. Knives could not see what he was doing. He felt it though. His eyes practically burst from his skull. His fists and teeth clenched. It felt like someone was pulling at his skin and scraping muscle. Fenris laughed as Knives contorted into a fetal like position then writhing around on the floor.
"It is fortunate that I found this out! This would have been somewhat of a matched fight otherwise!"
Knives pulled at his hair. Meryl answered with her own cries. Blood dripped on the floor.
"Get away from them!"
Fenris turned. He frowned as a bullet hit him in the back. He dropped Meryl but she was caught by Millerna. Dryden had his gun focused on Fenris. Millerna brought Meryl a good few yards away from Fenris. She covered her back with her jacket. A tear fell from her eyes.
"Shoot him again, Dryden!"
Dryden fired again. The bullet froze in midair. Dryden`s eyes widened.
"Shit!"
"Shit is right!" Fenris exclaimed. He pointed his hand at Dryden and he went flying back. Fenris turned back to Meryl. Millerna put her hands protectively over her. Fenris grinned. Suddenly Knives leapt on him. Fenris screamed as knives grew out of Knives` arms right into his back. Meryl cried out as she felt the knives come out of his skin.
"How do you like it?!" Knives growled. He ripped the claws out of Fenris` back.
"Impressive…but not impressive enough!"
He flew up. Knives lost his balance and fell off. Fenris floated back down a few feet away. Knives wiped blood from his lips and grinned.
"Hurting her was a mistake!"
----------------------------------------
Vash ducked as Raven flew at him. Her claws ripped his shirt on his shoulders.
"I liked that shirt!" he whined as she swooped by for another attack. Raven screeched. Milly shoot her with another round from her gun. Raven stood up on her taloned feet. She began to flap her wings. Vash and Milly held up their guns and ran at her. They felt themselves stopping slowly. They looked at each other simultaneously. They screamed. They were thrown back slowly as Raven walked towards them. They did not fire bullets at her. They figured that they would only fly back and hit them anyways. They had no choice but to try and stand against it. Raven extended her hand out with her claws out towards them.
"It is pointless to stand against it!"
Her wings beat a little slower but not enough for them to get out of the wind tunnel.
"Hey! Fight fair and square!" Vash exclaimed.
"There would not be any fun in that."
Milly turned around. She angled her gun just right.
"Vash, get ready!"
"For what?"
Milly fired her gun. The metal blasted away from them then clanged off the wall. It hit the ceiling then bounced all around. Raven began to slow down. She was watched the metal as if it would blow up or attack her. It ended up hitting Vash forward. He screeched then plowed into Raven. They fell back against the floor. Vash put the gun to Raven`s head.
"You will not shoot me. I know you won`t."
She kicked him off. Milly fired a chunk of metal at her knocking Raven away from Vash. Vash got up and shot Raven in the left wing. She shrieked then flew at him. She managed to scratch him pretty badly on the shoulder before Vash could shot her again this time in the other wing. She stood tall in the hallway. She hissed menacingly. She came towards Vash. He shot her in the collarbone. He had been aiming for her shoulder but he tripped. She backed off a little.
"You two are fools for going after Fenris! I will not waste any more time here! I will find you another day and rip your heart out with my claws!"
She fazed away. Vash blinked.
"Damn! That`s a cool trick!"
Milly grabbed Vash`s hand.
"Come on, Vash! We have to find Fenris!"
"Right!"
They ran down the hall. Behind them a pair of silver eyes floated in midair.
"Fools. They are only running towards death."
----------------------------------------
Millerna comforted Meryl as Knives and Fenris attempted to rip each other apart. Meryl whimpered as her blood continued to run. Millerna motioned for Dryden who was rubbing his head angrily.
"Dryden, try to find a way out of here! Take her with you!"
"There is no other way out of here!"
"There has to be! You have to try! If you keep her here then Fenris will just have another way of hurting Knives! Please?"
Dryden sighed. He carefully picked up Meryl. He gritted his teeth against the pain of his own wounds. He grinned at Millerna.
"Wish me luck?"
"Good luck!"
Dryden walked as quickly as possible away from the battle. Suddenly Fenris was in front of him.
"Going somewhere?"
He swiped Dryden across the face. Before Fenris could get his hands on Meryl Millerna butted him in the side with her head. She caught Meryl. She gave her to Dryden.
"Run! Now!"
He did not have to be asked twice. He ran. He could hear Fenris behind him then the sound of Knives ripping at him with those long knives. Meryl cried.
"Take…me…back!"
"No! Millerna told me to find an exit! I won`t do that! I won`t!"
"I…don`t want…to leave him!"
"He`ll be okay! A tough guy like that would never lie to his woman! I promise! He`ll live and you two will be happier than ever!"
"But, Dryden…I…I have a…bad feeling! Please!"
Dryden grumbled to himself.
`Why is she doing this to me?! Why couldn`t she take her? Now I`ll feel guilty for not doing what she wants!`
"Dryden! Dryden, please! Don`t take me…away!" she wailed. She hiccupped and sobbed as he ran. He looked around desperately.
`Damn it! Where in hell is an exit?!`
"Dryden?!"
He stopped just before running into Wolfwood.
"What happened to her?!" Wolfwood asked with wide eyes.
"No time for chit-chat! I need an exit now!"
"I was looking for Fenris but…"
"Knives and Millerna can deal with him! I`m sure that Vash and Milly are in here somewhere! They`ll help!"
At the mention of Milly Wolfwood`s eyes dimmed. They cleared up and he nodded.
"You`re right. Let`s get out of here."
"Where to first?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?! I`ve been running around without a damn clue as to anything that goes on here!"
Dryden chuckled slightly then went back to serious when he heard Meryl say `Knives` under her breath. He and Wolfwood ran silent as they searched for an exit.
*sigh….almost over (….. YES! THERE WAS ANGST ANGST ANGST!!! Will Dryden and Wolfwood find a way out of that hell? Will Fenris be defeated? Why was Raven there? Is she really Fenris` sister or was that really something to get Vash to follow her? She was one hell of a monster, wasn`t she? How are Knives and Meryl connected like that all of a sudden? Ahhh.. so many questions to be answered. Maybe in the next chapter…or maybe not. Chapter 20 comin` as soon as I write it. I have other stuff I gots to do for awhile but hopefully I can work a little on it everyday. (