Disclaimer: Disclaimers suck, Trigun isn't mine -_-
Chapter Twelve: Wounds Both Physical and Mental
A/N: I just want to take a minute to thank all you guys for R&R-ing, it's what keeps me
going. And to those of you who haven't reviewed- why aren't you reviewing?? Anyway, I'd like to thank K-Chan especially, and of course, to Tempest Blue, who was my very first reviewer and came up with the name for my little ficcy. I would like to point out one final thing: I have an Escaflowne story that hasn't gotten a lot of reviews (does it suck? Wait.. no, don't tell me that) So if any of you like Escaflowne, please read my other story Thorns of The Fiery Rose, okay? Thanks and mucho love as always, LL ^_~
Rhianne munched happily on a piece of bread she had produced from her pack and was sitting calmly on the sand beneath the crimson sky of the setting sun. She bit absently into the bread, enjoying the soft texture and wishing she had some butter or something to eat it with. She chewed slowly, watching the suns disappear below the horizon, creating a rainbow of colors. Orange, red, crimson, purple and gold etched themselves seamlessly into the continually clear sky, bordered by the inky blackness that began to give way to the night. Rhianne took another bite of her bread, and a shadow flew overtop of her, accompanied by a loud, girlish scream.
Then Knives face-planted into the sand just before her.
His 'landing' threw a substantial amount of sand into the air, most of which landed on her bread. Knives pulled his head from the sand, grinning sheepishly at his female counterpart, who was glaring at him through her thick lashes angrily.
"You killed my toast!!" she cried at him angrily. Knives stood, holding the board, and looked at her dubiously.
"First off…" he stated firmly "I can't kill it, it's an inanimate object, and second…." A long pause "it's not toast." He finished bluntly.
Rhianne stared up at him, and a strand of her hair fell in front of her eyes. Knives leaned forward and brushed it back, smiling kindly at her; he was taking a liking to this one. But much to his dismay, the action didn't provoke a happy reaction, as Rhianne slapped his hand away and glared at him.
"I was hungry, you know." She spat. Knives sighed "I'm sorry, okay?" he offered, hoping to make peace, but Rhianne wasn't up for it
"Look, Knives" Rhianne breathed out slowly "I'm not in a good mood right now, so why don't you haul your pretty-boy ass back up that hill and LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE????"
The happy smile on Knives' face was whipped away like a leaf in the wind, and his face now sported a scowl.
"Why you little bitch." he muttered, then his boot collided with her shoulder with a terrific cracking sound as the bones in Rhianne's arm ground together under the force of Knives' foot. She flew down onto the sand, landing on the same shoulder and emitting a wrenching sob as the bones popped out of place. Knives walked over to her, the corners of his mouth twisted up into a maniacal sneer.
"That'll teach you to fuck with me, you worthless excuse for a Plant. And you call
yourself one of my kind." He sneered. The other plant rose on her good arm, glaring at him with tear-glossed eyes.
"Just leave me alone, Knives. I'm not in the best of moods right now." Knives snorted "I could tell." She rose shakily to her feet and grappled feebly for the collar of his shirt.
"Don't mess with me, Knives, I'm warning you!" she cried weakly, looking as if she would collapse from the pain within the minute. Knives stared down at her, and the rage disappeared from his face; she looked so forlorn, the pain in her aqua eyes resembled Vash's too much; it hurt him to see a face so similar to his bakayarou brother. Ignoring Rhianne's protests, her scooped her up and sat cross-legged down on the ground, placing her in his lap.
"Knives, what are you-OW!! Don't move me like that! Why am I sitting in your lap? Hey, don't give me one of those looks! Quit doing that!! You stupid sonofabitch, I oughta-"
"Shut up." Knives cut her off. She looked at him, then weakly hit him upside the head. "Don't tell me what to do." She snapped waspishly. Knives turned to her, his patience wavering.
"Do you me to help you heal or not?" he snapped back, pushing gently down onto her dislocated shoulder to press his point. Rhianne threw her head back and screamed as white-hot pain shot through her body at his touch.
"You bastard!" she shouted as soon as she unclenched her teeth. Knives blinked at her, oblivious to the pain she was trying to mentally throw at him. She squinted her eyes against the pain that surged through her body from the wound in her shoulder, and hardly noticed Knives wriggling around beneath her. She was in so much pain, and it was his entire fault, that stupid little-
"Aha!" Knives cried triumphantly, and he produced something, raising it up to the dying light so that Rhianne had to shield her eyes with her good hand, a maneuver that still pained her other shoulder. She squinted, wondering how the light seemed just as brilliant now, at twilight, then as it did at noon, when she realized what Knives was holding: his belt. Her eyes widened in horror as she squirmed around, trying in vain to wriggle out of his lap.
"No Knives, don't make me do anything, please…" she pleaded, so that he turned and looked down at her with those ice blue eyes that seemed to beautiful but so fearsome at the same time, his eyes not understanding what she was saying.
"What is it now, girl?" he asked, sounding exasperated. Rhianne shot him a dirty look "you know damn well what I mean. You're not getting any, you sick twisted bastard."
Knives still had no idea what she was talking about. Unless she was referring to what the vermin did to mate, and that meant…
"Ack!" Knives recoiled, causing Rhianne to fall from his lap to the sand, which caused another shriek to escape her lips. She glared at him "what was that for?" she demanded. Knives looked at her disgustedly.
"You thought I was going to…. What is the term…? 'Rape' you, didn't you?" he asked, the revulsion evident in his voice. Rhianne spat at him, missing his ear by a fraction of an inch.
"Why else would you take off your belt?" she spat angrily. Knives sighed in annoyance "for this" then he shoved the belt into her mouth. His female counterpart began to choke on the leather, and finally managed to ask what the hell he thought he was doing. Knives sighed again, this girl was much more of a burden than he had originally thought, but he had to try to gain her trust to sway her to his cause. He knew it could be done, he just had to be patient.
"I'm going to pop your shoulder back into place." He stated finally "bite down on the belt and it'll be over soon.."
"Wait!" Rhianne shouted, the sound of her voice muffled by the belt "there's a needle and a vial of blue liquid in my bag, if you put one teaspoon into the needle, it should be enough to numb my shoulder and most of my upper arm. That way it won't hurt as much." Knives looked exasperated.
"Why didn't you tell me that before?" he asked, placing her down on the sand and moving over to her bag, (holding his pants -_-) and beginning to rifle through it.
"Well" the other plant started, leaning up on her good arm, wincing a little at the pain "I didn't know you were about to go butt-naked." Knives shot her a look over his shoulder as he closed her bag.
"This (he motioned to his pants) isn't going butt-naked… He grinned "this is." (down fangirls, down!!!)
"Ack!" Rhianne cried, bowing her head and closing her eyes so as not to see anything. She heard Knives rustle around and figured it was okay to look up, and found her assumption to be correct. "What was that for?" she demanded as he sat back down and sat her down again in his lap. He grinned devilishly.
"I… don't know." He stated wonderingly, sounding almost embarrassed "most likely to see what you'd do, but I'm not quite sure…"
"Whatever." Rhianne snorted "let's just get this over with. Put the needle then… OW!! No, not there, there. Okay, now leave my shoulder alone for a few minutes… No, Knives, I'm not numb yet."
She leaned her head back against Knives' shoulder, looking up at the darkening sky. The numbness was beginning to creep down her arm as she turned to him and smiled weakly. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He looked very serious. Rhianne giggled, trying to ignore the icy cold feeling coursing through her veins. He turned his head to her slightly "in a better mood, are we?" he asked quietly, looking back up at the sky and the stars making their marks on the ebony blanket spread over them.
Rhianne sighed quietly and considered telling him why she was acting so weird… but decided against it. He didn't need to know yet. It would simply be a burden. She didn't want his pity, and she certainly didn't want to him to try to take advantage of it… she sighed, why did she have to make things so complicated like this? It really hadn't been her fault, but she still felt wholly responsible for the whole mess. She sighed again, letting her head loll back against Knives' shoulder.
She hated to admit it, but she was starting to get some really strong feelings for that asshole. He was really sweet when he wasn't beating her up. She gazed down at herself and wondered if Knives had done any permanent damage. It was probably too early for anything serious to happen, but she still had to wonder. Her eyes turned skyward, searching for familiar constellations. She came upon the Winged Huntress, an angel who chased the demons through the sky, and her eyes welled with tears. She remembered sitting in her room on the Seeds ship, pointing out constellations and naming them with Corrin, her younger brother. He had always loved the Winged Goddess; he always told her that the woman who fought her battles in the darkness of space reminded him of her. Drew, one of the crew members, had taught them to find pictures in the stars, and told them stories of how the ancient peoples of Earth had each thought the stars represented something different; basically a different picture for each culture. Rhianne, less than a year old, had been fascinated to find out how diverse the Human race had been. All the different ethnic groups and religions, the different beliefs that were so different, but so very much the same.
~Flashback~
A year old Rhianne sat at the window of the Main Deck of Seeds ship number 2, watching the stars cruise slowly by. She sighed contentedly, and heard someone enter the room. She continued to stare out at the stars, ignoring the person as they walked up behind her.
"What are you looking at?" it was Corrin. She turned her head to look at him, and smiled. Even though they were twins, Corrin looked nothing like his sister. His eyes were a deep mauve, his hair nearly white, he was slightly taller than her, a good few inches, and was wearing a pair of baggy black jeans and an off-white shirt, both of which draped over him loosely, as they were borrowed from Drew.
"Nothing really?" He sat down next to her on the steps next to her "you've been acting really weird lately, what's up?" his sister sighed, and her bob haircut vibrated slightly.
"Do you think people will like us when we're settled?" she asked quietly. Corrin smiled warmly at her "if the rest of the Humans are as nice and as accepting as the ones here on the Seeds ship, we'll be just fine." Rhianne's gaze flitted from the stars before her to her brother.
"Do you promise?" she asked uncertainly. He smiled, and draped his arms around her in a hug "I promise Rhianne, and you'll always have me. That you can be sure of."
~End Flashback~
A tear fell from Rhianne's eye as she remembered her brother. He had promised to always be there for her… but he wasn't with her anymore. He had broken his promise, and had left her for a new home among the stars. She unsuccessfully tried to blink back her tears, but felt another fall from her watery aqua eyes. She gazed longingly up at the constellation of the Winged Huntress and a pang of sorrow hit heart like a drum.
~Flashback~
Rhianne found herself sitting once again in the Main Deck of the ship, stating out into the vastness of space, her brother by her side. They stared into the black void ahead of them together, like the pioneers of old. They did that a lot; sitting in silence and watching the stars cruise slowly by as they headed for their destination.
"Brother?" the teenage-looking plant asked. Unlike the other two plants that had recently been born, the two siblings often addressed each other as 'brother' and 'sister'. They were always very impersonal with one another, save that one flaw in their speech; although the option to call each other by their given names was always open, he turned to her, not choosing to exercise that right to impersonality "yes, dear sister?" His sibling wetted her lips, a sign that she was thinking deeply on whatever it was she wanted to ask him.
"I'm having strange feelings for Drew, brother dear. I feel a strange, fluttery sensation in my chest. What is this I'm feeling?" Her brother leaned back against the steps they were sitting on, and closed his eyes for a moment, thinking.
"My dear sister" he started "I do believe you've fallen in love." His older sibling gasped a little, unsure of what to say.
*Don't say anything, sister dear. Love is something that even our complex minds cannot grasp the concepts of. We know when we feel it, yet not why or how.* He paused, giving his sister time to chew his mental words. Then, clear as a bell inside his mind, came the reply:
*Is being in love with someone bad, brother dear?* her mental voice uncertain of whether this was a safe question. Corrin smiled at her, not bothering to turn his head. She could sense his amusement at her question.
*Of course it isn't.* Came the mental reply. *Being in love is a perfectly normal feeling, and most people experience it at least once in their life.*
His sister sighed and leaned on his shoulder, creating a stronger emotional link between them. She was unsure of this new feeling, her brother realized. She was going through the stages of teenagerdom that every child does. But, because of their heritage, they weren't prepared to face the large mental problems that botched the surface of their lives. They hadn't gained enough experience to figure out how to deal with the emotions they were being dealt. Corrin had come to this realization not too long ago, when he had began to feel for a member of the Seeds crew, Marlene. That the reason Human children matured at a certain rate and only began to feel certain feelings around a particular age was that they stocked the information they experienced during their childhood and made use of it during their teenage year; an advantage to life the plant children were denied. That's why one of the children on the other Seeds ships showed a large amount of hostility towards the crew. He had been beaten by a crewmember, and had always seemed fine, but gave a standoffish vibe when not around his brother, a lively young plant named Vash. Corrin had obtained this information by listening to the crew's talking while he was preparing one of the plants while his sister played with Drew.
He ruffled his sister's hair and smiled at her.
"Don't worry. Remember what mom said before she died? 'Always let people know how you feel, or they'll take advantage of you.' Maybe we should listen to her advice, ne?" Rhianne sighed.
"I miss mom." She stated sadly, squeezing her brother's waist in a fierce hug.
"I do too, but she was malfunctioning, and knew it. She did the noble thing, and saved us all."
"I know that Corrin," she started, deciding to be impersonal "but I wish I could talk to her about these feelings." Her brother hugged her again "you always have me," he promised "I'll always be here."
~End Flashback~
Rhianne sighed quietly and looked up at the glimmering stars overhead.
"No, Dear Brother, you won't." she mumbled.
