Day 30

            Today he says his first words.

            In all fairness, it was not him who broke first but Vash. He had been chatting away to, or rather at Knives for several days, obviously unable to stand the silence any longer.

            So he nattered on about this and that, inconsequential matters, the weather, the taste of donuts, favourite foods, the expense of salmon sandwiches, and the small town outside the building they now inhabited. He seldom gave names; of course, he

has enough wit for that, but his incessant rambling grated and frayed Knives' nerves.

            It was sickening, hearing him talk about the spiders, about the humans.   Perhaps he was showing off, rubbing salt into his wounds as it were. Relishing his victory. To Knives it seems as if he is just wallowing in his own dung, showing how much he has debased himself by conversing, by living with the humans. A king amongst thieves and murderers.

            'Shut up,' he whispers, his voice parched and rusty with disuse, 'please, finish it.'

            Vash blinks and grins that idiotic, stupid grin of his, 'decided to talk at last? Good.'

            'No, finish it. End this… please.'

            That last word took a lot of effort to say, but it needed to be said. He just wants peace at last, his brother had tended to him, after all, had given him some modicum of comfort. Surely there must be something in there, a sliver, a slice of goodness, or purity. The humans could not have sullied him completely, could they? Some part of him must still be his brother?

            'What do you mean, Knives?' asks Vash, his face bearing that absurd puzzled look, the mask of an idiot. Well, mostly a mask, anyway.

            'End it,' spits Knives, barely able to get the words past grated teeth and wounded pride, 'kill me.'

            Vash's face turns grim, 'I'm sorry, Knives. But you know I disapprove of suicide, and I certainly won't help you.'

            'Do you hate me that much?'

            'No, of course not.'

            'Then end it. Finish it! Show me some small mercy you idiot!'

            Vash shakes his head, 'no.'

            'You must truly hate me then, not do to this for me.'

            'I don't hate anyone; I don't hate you, even if you hate me. Do you hate me, Knives?'

            'Less than you do, it seems.'

            'Then you understand.'

            'No, I don't. I could never understand you. How long will you keep me like this?'

            Vash smiles coyly, 'how far is Eden?' he asks.

            And Knives screams, his world turning red.

            He pays no heed to anything other than his anger, the inferno of his rage coursing through his veins, its heat bringing some, strange comfort. He bucks and writhes on the bed, spitting, screaming yelling innumerable, incomprehensible oaths and curses. Yelling at the one who has caused this torment, at Vash, at his own brother.

            For his part, Vash remains silent. He merely sits, watching the wild, insane wailing of Knives, making sure he does not hurt himself too much, but making no attempt to intervene.

            Through the crimson haze, Knives sees Vash cry, his tears the only source of cooling moisture in the conflagration of soul destroying rage.

Reader's Replies.

Hi guys! 5 reviews now, Whoo! (:

Me is happy…

Anon: Thanks for pointing the problem out, it was a dumb mistake and not one I'll make again (hopefully.) If you're interested the wrong chapter was from a fic of mine called Being Normal in X-men Evo fanfiction. It's in my profile if you want to read it. It shouldn't have been here anyway, and thanks for being to kind as to point it out. Thanks for the complement too.

Silverarm: Thank you again! Oh, I can't tell you how good it is to have *someone* reviewing, so please don't stop. As I mentioned, as long as I have at least one person reviewing for each chapter, I'll continue posting, but I would like SOMEONE to review, or I won't even know if it's being read. I hope more people review this anyway… I know the chapters are short at the moment (this is the longest so far) but it does actually get better… or I think it does anyway, but then again I'm the writer, so I'm biased. But thanks for your reviews and noticing the detail and all, one of the reasons for the shortness is there's not much for Knives to actually *do* at the moment, but as he heals that will change.

J: Ah, a nice, short log in name, gotta love it. Thank you for the kind words. I'm only really just started in Trigun Fanfic and I'm still a little bit unsure about my skill there in. So your encouragement is greatly valued, thanks!

Alright, the next chapter is going to be pretty short, if you guys want I can post two next update session. Up to you.

Thank you all! See you next time and PLEASE review!