Disclaimer: Trigun, Wolfwood, and so forth are not mine, I'm just borrowing it to have fun with. Please don't sue because, apart from anything, you won't get any money anyway.
WARNING: Spoilers after about episode twenty I think… Can't remember the exact number… be careful, anyway.
Chess
By Yma
Wolfwood is quite good at chess. He's not the best by any means, but he's capable enough. He enjoys it, looking down upon the pieces, black and white, it's straightforward. You consider possible moves, possible outcomes, and make you decision, you move your piece, wait for the consequence. Simple.
When he's playing chess he can see the entire world, all the pieces, every plot and ploy. He's in control, not some hired gun, not some goon, for once he knows what's going on, who everyone is, who's in control.
But as has been said, he's not the best. It bothers him sometimes, as he lies awake at night and replays the latest, failed game. He wonders where he went wrong, what he could have done, how he could have won.
What he is really good at, however, is speed chess.
Ten seconds between moves, that's the one he likes the most, forcing his opponent to think on their feet, stripling them of leisurely deliberation, forcing to make quick, brutal choices.
He's tactic is simple, but fierce. He'll attack with all he has, sacrificing pawn, rook, knight, queen in a savage assault, watching with smug assurance as his opponent, pressured by time, fights to save their own pieces, even as they reveal and expose their king.
So it will be that, in their haste to protect the smaller pieces, to take advantage of his attack, he sneaks in from behind and wins the game.
When it is all over he'll stand there, the opponent's king in hand, looking at the chess board, strewn with taken pieces. It's good going if he has even half of what he starts with. But he has won the game, he has made the fast, brutal choices necessary and his opponent, striped of all slow deliberation, caring too much for the minor pieces, always looses.
Now he stands over the latest fallen pawn, playing a game he's too small, too weak and too short sighted to play.
Zazie the Beast lies dead upon the sandy roof, blood pooling around his small form.
He made the best move he could; he sacrificed a pawn to save the King, all be it maybe not the right king.
He hardly knows any more. Things are no longer black and white, much as he wishes they could be. The game is moving far too fast and he wonders if he's just made the wrong move.
He sighs and grabs his heavy cross, bearing it upon his shoulders. His face still stings from where Vash has slapped him and, from below, he hears the two insurance women talking, hears the soft, sad tones of Millie.
Just another pawn to be sacrificed at the feet of the King. Black or white, it hardly matters.
Suddenly, Wolfwood doesn't like chess so much any more.
The End.
This story is dedicated to all those readers of How Far is Eden.
If you haven't read it, go on, check it out!
Bye!
