The Descent of the Second Sun
CHAPTER 2; Conversion
The room was shrouded in darkness. Shadows danced upon all the walls, seemingly grotesque and malevolent. But they were just shadows; the true threat sat in the center of the room. His healing having been recently completed, he now found it quite satisfying to sit in his chair and stretch his limbs. At the moment, he was focused on polishing his jet black six-shooter. Even when the two men entered, he didn't look up.
'Hello there, dear brother,' he mentally greeted the spiky-haired blonde cheerfully.
'Hey, Knives,' came an equally cheerful reply, 'It's been a long time.'
'That it has,' he smiled.
"Well," Knives finally spoke out loud, laying aside his gun for the moment, "Is it true then, Vash? Have you truly come to join me?"
"Yes," Vash responded.
"Then at last you've seen the truth in my logic," Knives rose from his chair, grinning, "We must save the butterflies."
Vash nodded, "So let's kill the spiders."
Knives grinned wider and slowly stepped toward his brother, who smiled kindly at him.
"It's good to have you back," Knives took Vash's real hand in both of his own, "brother."
"And it's good to be back," voiced Vash.
"Legato," Knives finally addressed the other in the room, "Prepare a room for my brother."
"Yes, Master Knives," replied the blue-haired man as he left the room.
"Vash," Knives turned back to his brother with a smile, "We will soon have our Eden."
Vash smiled in response. His brother didn't seem to notice the emptiness of his smile.
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"Come on, Milly! We've got to get going!" Meryl Strife was screaming at her partner, as she frequently did.
"Sorry, Meryl!" came the ever-kind, ever-patient reply, "I guess I should really get this fixed better next time."
They were in the middle of the desert, Meryl on her Thomas, Milly next to hers, picking up her stungun; the strap had broken… again.
"We're already way behind Vash," Meryl complained, "We don't have time to be wasting."
"I know, Meryl," Milly responded, "I'm sorry!"
She was now climbing back onto her Thomas, holding the stungun as best she could with the strap broken.
"I cannot believe that man!" Meryl ranted on, "Always wandering off like that. It's not as if we chose to be stuck around him all the time, we're just doing our job! He doesn't have to make it so difficult for us!"
The roar of an engine disturbed Meryl's little fit and both the Thomases stopped as the insurance girls turned to see where it was coming from. Rapidly approaching was a motorcycle, carrying a certain, very familiar priest, and his conspicuous "luggage".
"Mr. Priest!" called Milly to the approaching driver. The cycle came to a stop next to the girls and Wolfwood lowered his right foot to the ground to balance it.
"Hey there, girls," Wolfwood greeted, "Where are you headed?"
"After Vash… where else?" replied Meryl.
"Ah, of course," replied Wolfwood, "Well, I don't know if it's the best idea."
"It's not like we have a choice," Meryl complained, "It's our job. It's just what we do."
"Well," Wolfwood said, "If you keep following him now, I think you'd be putting your lives at great risk. And I just wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let you two do that."
"But, Mr. Priest," Milly spoke up, "I don't think Vash was ever the safest person to be around… and we've got to follow him, or else the chief is going to get really mad."
"You're getting into dangerous territory," Wolfwood replied, "I really think you should turn back now, or there's no telling if you ever will."
"But-" Meryl was about to protest, as Wolfwood put a hand up.
"I've told you all I can," he spoke softly and solemnly, "I can't explain how or why I know this, but I'm just asking you to trust me. Please, listen to me. Don't follow Vash any longer. I wouldn't head into this area myself, either, but I've got a job of my own to do."
Wolfwood revved his motorcycle and was off again, leaving the insurance girls coughing in a cloud of sand dust that he had kicked up.
"What are you doing, Vash?" Wolfwood muttered to himself as he went on, "You know they'll kill you, unless you've come to help him... how are you going to get yourself out of this one? Damn it…"
He sped towards the location… he knew they would be angry at him; he'd let Vash get away from him. He was supposed to bring Vash here… and yet, Vash had come on his own... maybe HE would be so busy dealing with Vash that he'd forget all about it. No… he wasn't the kind to forget.
To be continued…
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Okay, so that's the end of Chapter 2. ^_^ Sorry these are so short, I'll probably get to writing longer ones soon…
Anyway, I hope this fic isn't too bad so far… let me know what you think! I have some vague idea of where it's going, and I think I've got a loose grasp on the ending… oh well, guess I'll just see where the story takes me. Hope you guys enjoyed it, at least a little!