Day 308
Today is the day.
For almost a month now Vash has left the front door open, so that Knives can let Pete inside when he arrives. Vash is going to be working late at the plant tonight, and Pete has said he won't be able to visit as he's celebrating some sort of special occasion, a friend's birthday or some such.
He has everything packed, not that 'everything' is all that much. Just some clothes, a little food, and a pen knife he found whilst rooting around in Vash's room. It's not much of a weapon, but it's a start and he feels sure he can procure something better later on. He's also stolen some of Vash's money from the jar under the bed where he keeps his earnings.
So, with everything packed snugly away into a bag strung upon his back, Knives opens the door and makes his escape.
It's not as dramatic as might have been hoped, he thinks as he walks down the street of Angel's Rest, but it's an escape none the less.
The people watch him as he passes; they've probably never seen him out without his brother. Well, they should take a long look because this will probably be the last time they ever see him, unless he returns to kill them all, that is.
He hasn't really made any solid plans for the future. He knows where he's going, though; he's going to the bus station. Pete mentioned that there should be a bus passing through from January city at some point today. The exact time is never given as these things can depend on a variety of factors.
He knows that once he is upon that bus he is free; there are few cars in Angels Rest, none that can outpace the bus. The bus should take him to August city, and there he can easily loose himself in the busting crowds, applying the skills that have kept him from under Vash's radar for over a century.
As he walks through the street someone cries his name, he turns to see the three children, Jen, Paul and Roberto waving to him merrily.
He ignores them.
He paces past the barber and the general store, conscious of the looming shape of the plant in the far distance.
Eventually he reaches the bus station, just a large post at the side of a dirt track. He's alone there; Angel's Rest doesn't get many travellers at this time of year.
He scuffs his boots in the dirt, drawing aimless patterns in the sand.
Time passes; he shifts his position, becoming acutely aware of his aching legs. The bullet wounds are no longer painful, except perhaps the one in his left shoulder, the one which became infected; it aches occasionally when he bathes himself.
It's good, he thinks, not to be in pain.
The dust is settling into his skin and his throat feels parched, so he reaches into his bag and takes a swill of water. He's still alone at the bus stop, but he doesn't mind that. Doesn't mind it at all. Not one bit.
He hums an aimless tune, he wishes he could remember where he learned it, not from Rem, he thinks… Mary maybe? One of the villagers here? Their next door neighbour, a woman whom he has never bothered to become acquainted with, sometimes sings to herself in the evening as she puts out washing to dry. Perhaps that is the source.
His legs really hurt now, so he sits down in the dust, wishing there was some shade he could languish in, the suns are hot upon him, even though they are now descending. When will the damn bus come?
The suns continue to sink towards the horizon, Knives' stomach rumbles rebelliously and he states it with some bread from his pack. Usually at about this time Pete would be visiting, they'd be playing checkers or cards or even chess. Pete still hasn't beaten Knives, though he vows he will, someday. It won't be today, however.
The suns fall further down and the moons rise to take their place. Knives digs out a tattered cloak from the bag and wraps it around himself, needing protection from the rapidly cooling air. The bus must arrive soon, or it will be tomorrow already. It cannot be much later than this, unless something has gone drastically wrong.
Vash will soon be finishing his shift at the Plant, will soon know that Knives has gone and will undoubtedly know where he is. Unless the bus arrives soon Knives will have no hope of escape.
As if in answer to these thoughts he spies something on the horizon, a small dust cloud coming rapidly closer, pale in the moonlight he recognises it none the less. It must be the bus.
He watches it approach, soon he will be out of this tiny town, away from his brother and out into the wide world, making his own future, continuing his work, with no one to hinder him. No one at all.
'Damn Knives,' he whispers to himself and into the empty night air, 'you're an idiot.'
He picks up his bag and stands up, stretching muscles that have become cramped from sitting down for so long.
Then, with one last glance at the rapidly closing bus, his ticket to January city, he turns on his heel and starts off away from the bus stop, down back into town.
He walks the quiet streets, his feet kicking up dust, pale in the moons light.
Soon he reaches Vash's house again, his brother must have arrived home before him and must be quite concerned, he's left the front door ajar.
Knives walks straight back in, barely sparing a glance at his shocked brother, who is sitting at the table with his head in his hands.
Before Vash can say anything Knives drops the travelling bag, throwing out the food, money, pen-knife and any other objects which belong anywhere except his room
Those are taken into his room and put away neatly, under the astonished eyes of his brother.
'So,' Vash says at last, finally finding is tongue, 'you came back.'
Knives just grunts and closes the draw, leaving only his night clothes out.
'Thank you,' says Vash, but again Knives does not reply.
He simply glares at his brother, challenging him to say anything else. Vash does not take up the challenge, he walks out, allowing Knives to change into his night clothes and go to bed.
This Knives does and he is marginally surprised that, when he does find sleep, it is deep and untroubled by any dream.
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Reader's Replies:
Angelstryke: Aw, Knives is cute when he's all sulky, he's defiantly got a childish streak to him, as I tried to illustrate in the chapter. Heh, father son? But that would make Vash the more mature one, and that's just scary! Hell, Vash being more mature than just about anyone is plain scary! (I did have a funny idea for a story, a while back, Knives is always presumed to be the older brother, but what if they found out that Vash was actually the elder. Only by something like 0.2 of a second or something, but it would still annoy the heck outta Knives and give Vash plenty of teasing to do! Anyway, I'm so glad you updated your fic, I'm reading it avidly though I'm going away for a bit so I don't know if I'll catch your next chapter as soon as it comes out. Sorry!
TeaRoses: I'm glad the hair cut part worked, I think I left a review with you for Bones, right? It was a very good story and I enjoyed it a lot! Don't worry, there's a lot more character development still to come… for better or for worse.
SanoGirl: I think Vash is my favourite character, I just love all the facets to him. But I've got a growing love for Wolfwood and Knives has always fascinated me. I don't actually think Knives is really my favourite, it's more that there's such a lot I can say about him in a fic, and whilst I love Vash I didn't want to start with him, if you know what I mean. I'm just writing a fic about him and Wolfwood now and boy! Getting the dynamics between those two is hard! Any how, yes, I think you're right. Knives isn't so much evil as… well… just a little bit wrong. Hell, maybe he isn't even wrong, but he is closed minded and made decisions far to fast which he hasn't' thought about retracting. But anyway, one of the good things about Trigun is almost non of the 'main' villains were completely evil, they almost al have some motive if you look. I hoped you liked the story, in my opinion it is one of the best Gravitation fics ever!
Aoi: Heh, I think Vash is the 'hippie' of the brothers, with all his love and peace. I actually remember reading, somewhere, a complaint against making Knives nice, because he just turns into a big hippie. But anyway, I think that Knives just distrusts humans on principle, after all humans are more than happy to kill other humans anyway, so whether they know he's a plant or not is pretty much redundant, in his eyes. Who is he now? I'm not even sure he could answer that. Yeah, he's probably wondering that exact question, but he'll find his answer… sooner or later… he'll find his answer…
Magnet-Rose: A new reader! Yay! :glomp: please don't stop reviewing! The most enlightening stories of all time? :blush: well, I just like exploring different angles, that's all. And I'm sure your Knives characterisation isn't that bad, we all have our own vertions of the characters, so long as you can at least partly back them up with the cannon it's not a problem. I've just tried to make mine as 'realistic' as possible. Cannon wise it might be very wrong, because in the canon Knives was just an out and out nutcase for the most part… Anyway, thanks again for the complement, I hope you'll review this chaptrer, I love all reviews!
Ron the Future Weasel: Nice turn of phrase! Comfort Jen? Nah, he hasn't gone that soft yet, sorry! He was close to it, though… Heh, Knives is still not sure what to make of humans, maybe he is slipping back into the lies thing, but it's what he's belived for centuries, what's kept him going in a way. He won't throw that in built belief away quickly or easily! I hope this escape chapter works… it might seem kinda lame but it's really just here to show how far he's come…
Baz: Hello! I don't know if you've come to this chapter yet, but welcome aboard! I do love debating and seeing two points in an argument. It's how the human mind works and I think an intelligent fic should try to how that… but thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying this, please keep reviewing!
Next Time… well, I can't say much without giving tons away, so I'll just give you this quote from the chapter…
"Knives knows the sent of blood, the feel of grief, it sends him into an entirely new dimension..."