Longer chapter than normal! I rewrote the whole thing just to get it right too. I'm sorry if Knives is a bit OOC (out of character) but he's really hard to do! Well, enjoy! ^-^
PLEASE REVIEW!!!
The Telltale Heart
Chapter 12
(A/N: This takes place now after the sceries. Changes to the original story line- I'm having Knives recover from his wounds at the secret Eden. Vash never returned to Meryl or Milly but he has sent word of his safety.)
Ages:
Vash- 131
Kat-16
'I feel…'
"How's she doing?" Vash asked Knives.
"Still recovering," he replied with his head pointed upward to gaze at the bulb. An eerie soft blue light coated the room and made the tips of the brother's hair blue. "You can speak to our sister about it if you want."
Vash turned to go as he stepped out of the room, the blue tint disappeared. "No thanks, I'll be out in the recreation room."
Knives nodded slightly in return to show he was listening. He turned his attention back to his sister, 'How's the bitch spider doing?'
Silence was his only answer. He shifted his weight and lifted an expecting brow. His arms were folded across his chest in a sign of slight irritation. His icy blue eyes shone in the dimly lit room.
'Sister, I asked how your leach was doing,' Knives growled.
Still no answer from the angel.
Knives let out a small irritated noise and used his telepathy to search the bulb. All he felt was his sister.
'She's fine brother. Excuse me for my rudeness but I'm preparing to release her.' Shuffling sounds began to come from within the bulb. As the sound became louder, it became wet and disturbing. 'I'm not very skilled in human antimony. She's been cured but I warn you about the side affects...'
Knives glared at the bulb, his eyes becoming colder as if about to drop to sub zero temperatures.
Then, almost as an afterthought, the angel added. 'I advise you not to touch her…'
A large figure emerged from the bulb, covered in pink membrane. It fell to the floor with a disgusting wet thump and remained still. Membrane dripped from parts of the bulb and slid down the glass. A small pool of pink tinted slime began to collect around the figure and Knives began to wonder if the spider was dead after all. He sent probes to awaken her mind. He felt it stir then his connection dropped.
The film sack split open and Knives watched as Kat gasped in her first breath of air. She began to cough and spit up membrane. When her small fit was done she attempted to stand on limbs not used in years. Her hair unraveled, having come loose from the rest of the film Kat was covered in and dropped to the ground with a sticky, Velcro-like sound. It pooled to the ground resting in the mucus she had emerged from. She swayed on her unsteady legs, shaking, and coughed again. 'Thank you sister.'
'You're welcome our half sister... I must now hibernate. You took a lot of energy to revive.'
"You can speak to plants?" Knives hissed.
Kat ignored him, or at least it appeared that way, her ears were clogged with mucus and her attention was focused on standing. When Kat thought she could stand without concentration on it too much she checked herself over and noticed… that she was stark naked.
"Why the hell my brother insists on saving shit like this is beyond me," Knives muttered.
Kat's eyes widened and she turned to see Knives watching her with interest. The first thing she noticed about him was his ice-like eyes and white-blonde hair. 'Well let's see… I'm naked, covered in slime, can't remember what the hell happened and there's a man I've never seen before in my life standing there watching me as if he's used to seeing this stuff…'
Loud, clumsy footsteps could be heard thundering up the stairs and Knives spoke without turning to see who it was, "What the hell took you so damn long?"
The blonde paused in the doorway of the stairwell. His eyes became as big and round as saucers, proclaiming his surprise. There Kat was, three years older, and wearing nothing but slime. Vash didn't seem to notice this though since he ran over and began hugging the sticky teenager. "YOU'RE AWAKE! ImissedyousomuchandIthoughtyouweredeadandI'veneverbeensospookedinmylifeand… and…"
It was just then that he noticed that Kat wasn't wearing anything. His face became as red as his coat and he let go of the bewildered and stunned Kat. She swayed on her feet but didn't say anything. Vash was too embraced to notice that he was now covered in slime.
'It's as if he's never seen someone naked before…' Knives thought. 'Knowing his luck I'm sure he hasn't.'
Kat's memories began to come back to her when her eyes landed on Vash. She remembered him being angry at her, then getting raped and having her throat slit.
Her already wobbly legs buckled and she slipped, plunking back down into the cooling puddle of slime. She shook uncontrollably with fear and confusion. 'What's happened to me? It's as if I've aged five years but I can't remember anything…'
Vash's concern grew when he noticed Kat was shaking uncontrollably. His embarrassment was replaced with concern. 'A human has never been healed by a plant. What will the side affects be? I know that she's learned out language but what else has she picked up?' He rushed over to help but as soon as he got within three feet of her Kat recoiled and slid as far as she could into a corner.
Knives watched with a shortening attention span. It was a bit amusing to see his brother covered and dripping in slime, redder than his stupid coat and embraced beyond belief, but it was beginning to bore and confuse him. 'Spiders, the filth of this planet, are too weak and brittle. It's a wonder they survived this long.'
"Leave," Vash said thinking that with Knives gone Kat wouldn't be as scared.
Knives snorted in annoyance, not liking his brother ordering him around, but using this as an excuse to leave.
Vash waited until he felt his brother was far enough away, "Kat, I'm not going to hurt you."
She ignored him and continued to quiver. Her golden eyes darted nervously around the room as if someone was about to attack her.
It hurt him to see her this frightened and he wondered if it was him that was scaring her so much. Vash sighed and leaned forward to peal some of the remaining mucus off her arm. When he got close a numb feeling seemed to run through his fingers in warning. Instead, the blonde shed his coat and draped it over the wreck that was once Kat. Her eyes finally landed on him and attempted to focus themselves, bringing her from her nightmarish thoughts. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, before finally realizing who he was. She wrapped her aching arms around him, still shaking, and began to sob. Vash gently picked her up and carried her to his room. There were only two sleeping quarters, one for Knives and one for Vash, so he had decided it was better to keep an eye on her in his room. As soon as he put Kat on his bed, she passed out.
'I finally have a naked virgin girl in my bed… and here she is unconscious,' Vash thought sarcastically. He shoved his slightly more perverted thoughts away and turned his attention to the presence in the doorway.
"Is it sleeping?" Knives asked as he glared at Kat.
"Unconscious," Vash corrected.
"I can tell you like her dear brother, and it disgusts me to no extent, but if you try anything with this… thing… you'll deeply regret it," Knives sneered.
"Why is that?" Vash asked curiously (and also thinking that it was just a bluff to keep him away from her).
"We have over one hundred and fifty thousand genes, humans," he said with disgust, "Have only thirty thousand genes." He paused at the odd look his brother was giving him and his sneer grew more intimidating. "If you were to try to produce offspring…" He paused again for emphasis, "Well, let's just say the results wouldn't be pretty."
"How many different chromosomes do we have?" Vash asked beginning to remember some of the things Rem had taught them in science.
"Fifty seven pairs," Knives answered, "Which means that we have one hundred and fourteen in all. This means that our sex cells should carry fifty seven chromosomes."
"Humans only have twenty three?" Vash asked not sure if he remembered correctly but not really caring. "What do you bean by should?"
"Not very smart are we?" Knives mocked. His eyes landed on Kat and he stared at her a split second longer than normal. His gaze returned to Vash. "You should know by now that plants are cloned from two sisters-"
Vash cut him off, "If all plants are cloned from sister plants then how did we-?"
"Never mind, you always asked too many questions." Then Knives muttered almost too low for Vash to hear, "I don't see how Rem could stand you."
He left the room leaving Vash to turn his attention back to Kat. 'Could that mean that Knives and I are part human? Is this what makes Knives so on edge lately? The fact that his perfect world might be crashing down around him may be too much to bear. It's a wonder he still thinks plants are better than humans, how could he? We act the same and share similar traits. Then perhaps he bases all his judgment on the crew of the ship? You can't judge an entire species by only a handful of people!'
He rubbed his temples and sighed. He checked himself in the mirror and inspected the blackening parts of his hair. 'You're making me old Katsura. How is it that Knives has less black hair than me? He is the older brother and all of us know that black hair judges age so why will his life exceed mine?'
He sighed when he noticed that there was no chair or spare blankets. 'I guess I'll have to share a bed. Wonderful, she's naked and covered in slime… This is going to be great explaining to her in the morning.'
(A/N: One of the longer and better chapters I've written in a while! PLEASE REVIEW!!!)
