YAY!! Some action! Now this fic is getting somewhere, I think. Anyway...I
do not own Trigun. (Darn it.) Well, enjoy and R&R! Love and peace!
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Chapter 7: A World Destroyed
Gavin strolled through the quiet streets of Polaris. It was late and the only noise that could be heard was coming from the saloon as people became drunk. Houses and shops were dark and gave an eerie, creepy look to the town, as though it was a ghost town.
He reached the square of the town and looked around at what he was about to destroy. This was his home, keyword: WAS. He remembered the games that he would play with the local kids. Gavin smiled to himself as he remembered that he is the dodge ball king of the town. He was the best at the game; Astra wasn't as good as he, but close to it.
Then he remembered the reason he left this town. It was because his parents died in that very square, as his sister told him since he wasn't there. Gavin blamed her for their deaths, but she argued that it wasn't her and the whole town knew that.
Bringing his hand in front of him, palms up, Gavin created a fireball as large as a bowling ball. He chucked it into a building to his right. He continued to throw bowling ball size fireballs all around him. He left the fiery square and came to a refilling station for vehicles. He chucked on there and watched it blow up. Gavin allowed himself to be engulfed by the inferno, knowing that he won't get burned.
The town was no longer dark and eerie, it was as bright as midday but it was much hotter. People began to realize that their homes were on fire and began to scream and tried to escape. Soon, the streets were filled with terrified people, trying to escape from the inferno.
Gavin ran through the inferno that he created out of the refilling station. When he emerged on the other side, he threw a fireball into the building in front of him and turned to his left. He ran through the town, throwing fireballs to his left and right.
Once he realized that the whole town was in flames. He ran out of town, right through the flames. Gavin didn't stop until he reached a ridge that overlooked the town. His face was black, parts of his clothes were burned, his eyebrows were gone and the tips of his red hair were charred, but there was not a single burn on his body. Since fire is his power element, he can go through fire and not get hurt what so ever. And he can become fire if he wanted to.
Gavin smirked as he looked over the inferno that he has created that was once the peaceful town of Polaris. Behind him, Knives walked forward and stood next to Gavin.
"Good job," Knives commented.
He nodded, still smirking. "Thank you, Master."
Knives ignored Gavin's thanks. "Have you talked to your sister?"
Gavin sighed and his smirk disappeared. "No, but I will when she's alone."
Knives turned and started to walk away. "And if she refuses?"
Gavin still looked at the fiery town, unmoving. "I know what to do."
"Good." Knives kept walking away.
Gavin stood there a bit more, and then he, too, turned and walked away from the ridge.
*****
Astra was the last one to wake up, but it did take a while for Vash to wake up himself. Meryl was in the kitchen, making breakfast and Nick was limping around, happy that he was able to move about again.
Milly was in Astra's studio, kneeling next to Astra, who was still asleep. Milly had a hand on Astra's shoulder and was shaking her slightly.
"Miss Astra, wake up. Breakfast will be ready soon."
Astra groaned and rolled over. "Not now Mom. I dun want to get up for school."
Milly blinked. Vash looked up the stairs and saw Milly in the studio. He climbed the stairs and saw what Milly was trying to do.
"Having problems," he asked.
Milly looked at Vash. "Yeah, Mr. Vash. Miss Astra won't wake up."
Vash kneeled next to Milly and looked at Astra. Then Vash stood up, walked over to the foot of Astra's blankets and ripped them off of her.
Astra curled up into a ball, trying to keep whatever heat has just escaped. But she was fast asleep.
Vash arched an eyebrow and scratched his head. Then he thought of another idea. He moved and stood next to Milly.
"Can you help me real quick," Vash asked as he took hold of part of the side of Astra's mattress. Milly nodded and did the same.
"Ok," Vash stated. "On three, one.two.three!"
Milly and Vash lifted the edge of the mattress, tossing Astra off the mattress.
Astra awoke instantly while in mid-air. She yelped as she crashed on the studio's wooden floor. Astra blinked and turned her head toward Vash and Milly. Vash was fighting laughter.
Milly looked at Astra with her blue eyes. "Good morning, Miss Astra," Milly said. "Breakfast should be ready by now."
At that instant, Meryl shouted from the kitchen that breakfast was ready. Vash stopped laughing and bolted down two flights of stairs. Astra blinked at Vash's quick reaction at the sound of breakfast. Then she got off the floor and stood in front of Milly.
"I'll be there in a couple of minutes," Astra stated.
Milly nodded and left the studio.
After a couple of minutes, Astra joined the others in a breakfast of pancakes and juice. This time Vash and Astra did the dishes.
They were close to being done with the dishes when Astra sniffed the air a moment. Something wasn't right, she could tell. When they finished, Astra went out onto her porch. She looked out at the horizon. Her eyes widened when she saw a black ploom of smoke that was in the direction of Polaris.
"What the-?" She shouted from the porch.
After a moment, Milly, Meryl and Vash were on the porch with Astra. Nick stayed at the door and leaned against the doorjamb. Astra turned and dashed across the porch. Leaping over the railing of the porch, she ran over to her motorcycle. After starting it, Astra turned it around and sped off toward Polaris.
The group she left behind yelled out her name, but soon stopped when Astra was too far away. Meryl kicked at the sand.
"Damn it! She's worse than you, Vash!"
Vash gave Meryl a weird look. "Gee, thanks. I think."
*****
Astra leaned close to the handlebars of her motorcycle, willing it to go faster. Her brown hair whipped behind her as the wind blew in her face and through her hair. She whipped the tail end of her bike sideways as she stopped at the edge of town. She gasped in surprised at the sight that she saw what happened to the town.
Polaris, the only town Astra had known all her life, was destroyed. Astra blinked tears in her eyes. Within the plooms of smoke, she was the red-orange color of dying fires. People were burned and dead. Buildings were blackened and collapsed. Everything was destroyed.
There's only one person I can think of who could do this, she thought, Gavin Kaji.
Vash was sitting on the railing, staring at the continuous black smoke that was still in the horizon. There was a faint roar of a motorcycle as Vash saw Astra on her motorcycle. She was still pretty far away. As Astra pulled closer, Vash realized that her expression wasn't very happy.
He jumped off the railing and walked over to Astra as she parked the motorcycle. Meryl came storming out of the house.
Astra came off her motorcycle as Vash reached her. He asked, "What happened?"
Astra closed her eyes. "It's.it's.it's." She stuttered. "Completely destroyed!"
Meryl instantly stopped in her tracks. Her anger dissipated. "What?"
Opening her eyes, tears were in her eyes. "Destroyed. Burned to the ground. I don't think anyone survived."
Vash looked at her in awe. "Who.how."
Astra walked around Vash and past Meryl and into the house. Nick was about to open the door when Astra came in. He half-jumped back in surprise.
She dashed up the stairs and to her studio. Astra clamored out of the window and onto the roof. Hugging her knees, Astra cried into her knees. Vash came on the roof, too. Astra didn't realize that he was there until he placed an arm on her shoulders and brought her close to him. She didn't put up a fight as she uncoiled and allowed Vash to hug her.
In between her tears, Astra was muttering, "How could.how could.how could he do this? How?"
Vash looked at her with his aqua eyes. "Who, Astra?"
She lifted her tear-stained face and looked at Vash. "My brother."
"Gavin?"
She nodded and gulped. Astra pulled away from Vash and looked out at the desert, chin on her knees.
Vash was confused. "How could he be able to destroy a whole town?"
"Because of what we are."
This made Vash even more confused. "I'm not sure I understand."
Astra kept looking out at the desert. "I wasn't expecting you to." She continued, "My brother and I aren't exactly human."
"Well, neither am, at least that's what people say."
She smiled weakly. "I am what is called an Element. I'm supposed to develop a certain unhuman power. And while I develop my power, I change in some way, shape or form. My brother's main power is fire and his hair color changed and it stayed stuck out."
Vash nodded, not saying anything.
Astra decided on changing the subject. "We should head out, before it gets too late. Even though its close to midday."
Vash agreed and they both went into her house through the window. Nick and Milly had a simple lunch of soup and sandwiches ready when they came down.
Everyone was silent and Astra was avoiding eye contact with anyone.
Finally Nick spoke, to Astra more than anyone else. "So.do you know who did that?"
Astra almost had her spoon to her mouth when she stopped. Slowly, she placed the spoon back to the bowl. Finally, she rose her head, showing that she was crying earlier.
"Yes," she half-whispered, "It was my brother."
"The one who shoot my foot?"
She nodded slowly.
"But how?" Milly asked.
"Its pretty hard to explain," Vash said. "But I'll explain it the best I can."
Vash told the group what Astra told him on the roof.
"Oh, great," Meryl exclaimed. "Another humanoid for the world."
Astra ignored Meryl's statement as she got up from the table. "We should leave. There's no use for us staying here much longer. If we leave now and use the vehicles, we should be about a quarter to the next town. Which is Cassieopeia."
"Well, then, let's get ready," Meryl stated.
With that being said, everyone left the room to gather their belongings. Vash took care of the most important items for the trip, the food.
Astra entered her studio once more. Her bag was placed at the bottom of the steps. She couldn't believe that she would be leaving this place. She looked at the drawings that she has done over the years. This was her world, and now she had to leave it.
This time, she heard a knock on her door. Astra walked over to the top of the stairs and saw Vash leaning against the doorjamb.
"You must like being up there," Vash observed.
Astra smiled and sat on the top step. "You can say that."
Vash climbed up the stairs and sat next to Astra and looked around the room. "I gotta hand it to ya though," he commented. "You are good at what you do."
She smiled and blushed. "Thank you."
Astra stood and walked over to her desk. She picked up the painting that she'd done of Vash. Then looked at the various drawings and paintings.
"I dunno what I am going to do with all of these."
Vash stood up and looked over her shoulder. "You have no place to store it?"
Her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about those!" She walked over to a closet and opened it. Pulling out a large rectangular box, Astra set it on the floor. She opened the box, reveling a bunch of cylinders and a pack to put them in.
She pulled a bunch out of the box. Vash looked at her odd as she chucked a few cylinders at him. Astra then stood and grabbed a few pictures and started to roll them up.
Vash soon got the idea and started to help. They finished within 10 minutes. Astra was finishing placing the cylinders into the pack, when Meryl barged into the studio.
"What is taking so long?"
Astra swung the pack over her shoulder and smiled. "I'm sorry, but I decided to bring my drawings so I can sell them in town."
Meryl raised an eyebrow. "Drawings?"
Astra nodded. "I'll show you some when we set up camp tonight."
"Okay, then let's go!"
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Chapter 7: A World Destroyed
Gavin strolled through the quiet streets of Polaris. It was late and the only noise that could be heard was coming from the saloon as people became drunk. Houses and shops were dark and gave an eerie, creepy look to the town, as though it was a ghost town.
He reached the square of the town and looked around at what he was about to destroy. This was his home, keyword: WAS. He remembered the games that he would play with the local kids. Gavin smiled to himself as he remembered that he is the dodge ball king of the town. He was the best at the game; Astra wasn't as good as he, but close to it.
Then he remembered the reason he left this town. It was because his parents died in that very square, as his sister told him since he wasn't there. Gavin blamed her for their deaths, but she argued that it wasn't her and the whole town knew that.
Bringing his hand in front of him, palms up, Gavin created a fireball as large as a bowling ball. He chucked it into a building to his right. He continued to throw bowling ball size fireballs all around him. He left the fiery square and came to a refilling station for vehicles. He chucked on there and watched it blow up. Gavin allowed himself to be engulfed by the inferno, knowing that he won't get burned.
The town was no longer dark and eerie, it was as bright as midday but it was much hotter. People began to realize that their homes were on fire and began to scream and tried to escape. Soon, the streets were filled with terrified people, trying to escape from the inferno.
Gavin ran through the inferno that he created out of the refilling station. When he emerged on the other side, he threw a fireball into the building in front of him and turned to his left. He ran through the town, throwing fireballs to his left and right.
Once he realized that the whole town was in flames. He ran out of town, right through the flames. Gavin didn't stop until he reached a ridge that overlooked the town. His face was black, parts of his clothes were burned, his eyebrows were gone and the tips of his red hair were charred, but there was not a single burn on his body. Since fire is his power element, he can go through fire and not get hurt what so ever. And he can become fire if he wanted to.
Gavin smirked as he looked over the inferno that he has created that was once the peaceful town of Polaris. Behind him, Knives walked forward and stood next to Gavin.
"Good job," Knives commented.
He nodded, still smirking. "Thank you, Master."
Knives ignored Gavin's thanks. "Have you talked to your sister?"
Gavin sighed and his smirk disappeared. "No, but I will when she's alone."
Knives turned and started to walk away. "And if she refuses?"
Gavin still looked at the fiery town, unmoving. "I know what to do."
"Good." Knives kept walking away.
Gavin stood there a bit more, and then he, too, turned and walked away from the ridge.
*****
Astra was the last one to wake up, but it did take a while for Vash to wake up himself. Meryl was in the kitchen, making breakfast and Nick was limping around, happy that he was able to move about again.
Milly was in Astra's studio, kneeling next to Astra, who was still asleep. Milly had a hand on Astra's shoulder and was shaking her slightly.
"Miss Astra, wake up. Breakfast will be ready soon."
Astra groaned and rolled over. "Not now Mom. I dun want to get up for school."
Milly blinked. Vash looked up the stairs and saw Milly in the studio. He climbed the stairs and saw what Milly was trying to do.
"Having problems," he asked.
Milly looked at Vash. "Yeah, Mr. Vash. Miss Astra won't wake up."
Vash kneeled next to Milly and looked at Astra. Then Vash stood up, walked over to the foot of Astra's blankets and ripped them off of her.
Astra curled up into a ball, trying to keep whatever heat has just escaped. But she was fast asleep.
Vash arched an eyebrow and scratched his head. Then he thought of another idea. He moved and stood next to Milly.
"Can you help me real quick," Vash asked as he took hold of part of the side of Astra's mattress. Milly nodded and did the same.
"Ok," Vash stated. "On three, one.two.three!"
Milly and Vash lifted the edge of the mattress, tossing Astra off the mattress.
Astra awoke instantly while in mid-air. She yelped as she crashed on the studio's wooden floor. Astra blinked and turned her head toward Vash and Milly. Vash was fighting laughter.
Milly looked at Astra with her blue eyes. "Good morning, Miss Astra," Milly said. "Breakfast should be ready by now."
At that instant, Meryl shouted from the kitchen that breakfast was ready. Vash stopped laughing and bolted down two flights of stairs. Astra blinked at Vash's quick reaction at the sound of breakfast. Then she got off the floor and stood in front of Milly.
"I'll be there in a couple of minutes," Astra stated.
Milly nodded and left the studio.
After a couple of minutes, Astra joined the others in a breakfast of pancakes and juice. This time Vash and Astra did the dishes.
They were close to being done with the dishes when Astra sniffed the air a moment. Something wasn't right, she could tell. When they finished, Astra went out onto her porch. She looked out at the horizon. Her eyes widened when she saw a black ploom of smoke that was in the direction of Polaris.
"What the-?" She shouted from the porch.
After a moment, Milly, Meryl and Vash were on the porch with Astra. Nick stayed at the door and leaned against the doorjamb. Astra turned and dashed across the porch. Leaping over the railing of the porch, she ran over to her motorcycle. After starting it, Astra turned it around and sped off toward Polaris.
The group she left behind yelled out her name, but soon stopped when Astra was too far away. Meryl kicked at the sand.
"Damn it! She's worse than you, Vash!"
Vash gave Meryl a weird look. "Gee, thanks. I think."
*****
Astra leaned close to the handlebars of her motorcycle, willing it to go faster. Her brown hair whipped behind her as the wind blew in her face and through her hair. She whipped the tail end of her bike sideways as she stopped at the edge of town. She gasped in surprised at the sight that she saw what happened to the town.
Polaris, the only town Astra had known all her life, was destroyed. Astra blinked tears in her eyes. Within the plooms of smoke, she was the red-orange color of dying fires. People were burned and dead. Buildings were blackened and collapsed. Everything was destroyed.
There's only one person I can think of who could do this, she thought, Gavin Kaji.
Vash was sitting on the railing, staring at the continuous black smoke that was still in the horizon. There was a faint roar of a motorcycle as Vash saw Astra on her motorcycle. She was still pretty far away. As Astra pulled closer, Vash realized that her expression wasn't very happy.
He jumped off the railing and walked over to Astra as she parked the motorcycle. Meryl came storming out of the house.
Astra came off her motorcycle as Vash reached her. He asked, "What happened?"
Astra closed her eyes. "It's.it's.it's." She stuttered. "Completely destroyed!"
Meryl instantly stopped in her tracks. Her anger dissipated. "What?"
Opening her eyes, tears were in her eyes. "Destroyed. Burned to the ground. I don't think anyone survived."
Vash looked at her in awe. "Who.how."
Astra walked around Vash and past Meryl and into the house. Nick was about to open the door when Astra came in. He half-jumped back in surprise.
She dashed up the stairs and to her studio. Astra clamored out of the window and onto the roof. Hugging her knees, Astra cried into her knees. Vash came on the roof, too. Astra didn't realize that he was there until he placed an arm on her shoulders and brought her close to him. She didn't put up a fight as she uncoiled and allowed Vash to hug her.
In between her tears, Astra was muttering, "How could.how could.how could he do this? How?"
Vash looked at her with his aqua eyes. "Who, Astra?"
She lifted her tear-stained face and looked at Vash. "My brother."
"Gavin?"
She nodded and gulped. Astra pulled away from Vash and looked out at the desert, chin on her knees.
Vash was confused. "How could he be able to destroy a whole town?"
"Because of what we are."
This made Vash even more confused. "I'm not sure I understand."
Astra kept looking out at the desert. "I wasn't expecting you to." She continued, "My brother and I aren't exactly human."
"Well, neither am, at least that's what people say."
She smiled weakly. "I am what is called an Element. I'm supposed to develop a certain unhuman power. And while I develop my power, I change in some way, shape or form. My brother's main power is fire and his hair color changed and it stayed stuck out."
Vash nodded, not saying anything.
Astra decided on changing the subject. "We should head out, before it gets too late. Even though its close to midday."
Vash agreed and they both went into her house through the window. Nick and Milly had a simple lunch of soup and sandwiches ready when they came down.
Everyone was silent and Astra was avoiding eye contact with anyone.
Finally Nick spoke, to Astra more than anyone else. "So.do you know who did that?"
Astra almost had her spoon to her mouth when she stopped. Slowly, she placed the spoon back to the bowl. Finally, she rose her head, showing that she was crying earlier.
"Yes," she half-whispered, "It was my brother."
"The one who shoot my foot?"
She nodded slowly.
"But how?" Milly asked.
"Its pretty hard to explain," Vash said. "But I'll explain it the best I can."
Vash told the group what Astra told him on the roof.
"Oh, great," Meryl exclaimed. "Another humanoid for the world."
Astra ignored Meryl's statement as she got up from the table. "We should leave. There's no use for us staying here much longer. If we leave now and use the vehicles, we should be about a quarter to the next town. Which is Cassieopeia."
"Well, then, let's get ready," Meryl stated.
With that being said, everyone left the room to gather their belongings. Vash took care of the most important items for the trip, the food.
Astra entered her studio once more. Her bag was placed at the bottom of the steps. She couldn't believe that she would be leaving this place. She looked at the drawings that she has done over the years. This was her world, and now she had to leave it.
This time, she heard a knock on her door. Astra walked over to the top of the stairs and saw Vash leaning against the doorjamb.
"You must like being up there," Vash observed.
Astra smiled and sat on the top step. "You can say that."
Vash climbed up the stairs and sat next to Astra and looked around the room. "I gotta hand it to ya though," he commented. "You are good at what you do."
She smiled and blushed. "Thank you."
Astra stood and walked over to her desk. She picked up the painting that she'd done of Vash. Then looked at the various drawings and paintings.
"I dunno what I am going to do with all of these."
Vash stood up and looked over her shoulder. "You have no place to store it?"
Her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about those!" She walked over to a closet and opened it. Pulling out a large rectangular box, Astra set it on the floor. She opened the box, reveling a bunch of cylinders and a pack to put them in.
She pulled a bunch out of the box. Vash looked at her odd as she chucked a few cylinders at him. Astra then stood and grabbed a few pictures and started to roll them up.
Vash soon got the idea and started to help. They finished within 10 minutes. Astra was finishing placing the cylinders into the pack, when Meryl barged into the studio.
"What is taking so long?"
Astra swung the pack over her shoulder and smiled. "I'm sorry, but I decided to bring my drawings so I can sell them in town."
Meryl raised an eyebrow. "Drawings?"
Astra nodded. "I'll show you some when we set up camp tonight."
"Okay, then let's go!"