Ok, we don't own Trigun.. blah, blah, blah. If you actually think we do own Trigun then you are an idiot. :) And now, for your reading pleasure.....CHAPTER THREE! *drumroll* WoooHoooo! -Zuka and Stel
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Meryl sat within the warm encompass of Vash's arms. Silent tears slid down her cheeks. Her eyes had turned red and puffy from crying. Dust still clung to her from the hotel's collapse. She let her head fall into her hands, Vash's words of comfort washing over her like waves. She was a monster now, an uncontrolled machine of destruction.
"Shh... Meryl, stop crying. Everything's going to be fine. It's not your fault. They'll rebuild in no time. Then the hotel will be even better. Hush now, it's alright."
Vash's voice seeped into her mind, gently washing away her fears. Slowly she raised her head to meet his loving eyes. They held compassion and understanding. Softly, she answered his soothing words.
"Thank you, Vash, for saving me. If it weren't for you, I could've destroyed the whole city." She sighed a little shakily, tears still threatening to spill. "I guess now I know how you feel."
Vash closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at the sound of pounding feet.
"There they are!" a voice called from down the road. "Meryl, Mr. Vash! Thank goodness you're both alright."
Vash quickly let go of Meryl and was bowled over by an enthusiastic Milly who came racing up and heartily hugged each of them in turn.
"I was so scared that you had been in there when it fell and that..." She trailed off, unable to voice her greatest fear. "Well, never mind! You both seem to be fine..." Suddenly, a frown crossed Milly's face. "Meryl, what happened to your hair?"
"Oh. That..." Meryl still felt too dazed to take on the task of explaining her situation to anyone.
She was spared when they were interrupted yet again by the sound of soft laughter. The three turned to see Vash's twin, Knives, hobbling toward them, only now having caught up with Milly. He was healing wonderfully from his showdown with Vash, but still confined to the use of crutches. He eyed the remains of their current Hotel.
"Well well well. Having fun are we, dear brother?"
Vash glared a reprimand back at his homicidal sibling.
"It was an accident." He replied hotly.
Meryl glanced up at Knives. She still wasn't sure how she felt about traveling with the maniacal man. The things Knives had done... The bleakness in his eyes and coldness in his voice led her to believe he would try something again.
She could still remember the day two weeks ago, when Vash had stumbled into their hotel room dragging a limp form. Knives had been half dead then, deep in a coma. He hadn't seemed so bad laying there, looking so innocent. That is, until he woke up. That was when all hell broke loose.
He had tried to kill Milly, summoning his plant energy and slamming her into the wall. Luckily, Vash had arrived and the two brothers had yet another confrontation. Meryl wasn't sure exactly WHAT happened behind the closed hotel room door. However, when Knives was good enough to come out he had his shiny black revolver in its holster and a fragile peace treaty with the human race.
Knives merely cocked an eyebrow at his brother.
"An accident, huh?" He said in a sarcastic voice. "This looks like something the Humanoid Typhoon would do, and he never makes mistakes."
"Hey," Meryl said roughly. "Stop ragging on Vash. It's not HIS fault Augusta was destroyed. Besides, you're not so perfect yourself!"
Knives' eyes had narrowed dangerously. 'How dare she speak to me with such insolence!' he thought. 'Look at her, a pathetic human! How can my brother even stand to be in her miserable presence?'
"I'm not perfect, you say?" He responded coldly. "Well, I certainly don't see any flaws." His voice had picked up a hint of glacial fury.
"That's enough, Knives," Vash said, hoping to placate both of them. The last thing they needed was Meryl upset again. It was important that they find time to talk things over. Preferably alone.
Meryl continued glowering at Knives. He decided she was one of the worst things that could happen to his brother. Almost as bad as Rem. Before her, Vash had thought reasonably. They had been like one mind in two bodies.
He hadn't noticed when it first started happening. When Rem had begun to steal him away. At first Vash had only started spending more time alone with her in the Rec room. There was no harm in that, was there? If he was fascinated by her stories of life, love and the earth she had left behind it didn't bother him. He, Knives had no interest in hearing about such trivial things, but why shouldn't his brother enjoy them? Then came that fateful day. The day he simply saved a butterfly, only to find Vash attacking him and that woman behind him, telling Vash he was doing the right thing! What had she known? Not the way plants like them had suffered under the wrath of a sick and twisted species that believed they had the right to use all other creatures as they saw fit.
He thought that killing her and the others would eliminate the problem, that he would get Vash back. But after everything played out it became clear that given the choice between him and Rem, Vash would have picked her ten times over his own brother.
Things still hadn't changed. This Meryl had looked almost exactly like Rem, excluding the length of her hair and it was clear to him that Vash was quickly becoming just as attached to her, even if it was in somewhat of a different way. 'And now,' he thought furiously, 'now she's gone and changed her appearance. As though he would feel more for her if she looks more like one of us!' This whole scenario made him sick.
"Why?" Knives demanded harshly. "Why should I listen to YOU." He sneered the last word, getting violent in his rage.
By this time Vash and Meryl had stood up, joining Milly in front of the demolished Hotel.
"What have you EVER done for the plants, for your own kind! You go around saving the lives of your pathetic humans. All the shooting, all the crying... and for WHAT? So you can watch them leech more life from your failing brethren? Well, I've had just about enough of your sniveling. I've had enough of you hanging around the stinking humans. Now, I'm gonna take care of it once and for all."
His tirade ended as a wicked sneer bleached his face, sapping the light from his eyes. Silence seemed to smother the group as the mid-day heat settled oppressively on their shoulders. Dust twirled lazily by them, swirling in unkept patterns. Vash and Meryl stood side by side, eyes set in defiant determination as they faced Knives. Time froze for a split second before Knives reached for his gun, having it out and ready before anyone could perceive of a threat. He raised the weapon and sighted down the barrel... at the center of Meryl's forehead. Vash's eyes widened in terrible realization. Before anyone could move, a shot rang out, rolling over the desert like thunder.
To everyone's amazement, Meryl still stood, unharmed, just to the right of her previous position. Knives' jaw dropped in shock.
'How did she do that? She moved faster than anyone I've seen. No HUMAN can move like that.'
His eyes started to glow a dangerous blue. Quickly he fired another shot at her, emptied five more rounds, to hit nothing but thin air.
'No,' he thought. 'It's impossible.'
"Well, Mr. Perfect," came a deceptively soft voice. "It looks like you missed me."
Knives considered her for a moment, then sighed, and lowered his gun. A peculiar grin crept onto his face and the tension evaporated just slightly enough for them to notice a tumble weed roll past.
"How?" He said simply. For the first time he could remember, he didn't know exactly what to say. He knew what he saw. All his senses were telling him that she was like them. Like him and Vash. It was incredible, really. The first other plant he had ever seen outside of a bulb... but she couldn't be...
"What happened to her?" He demanded. "Vash?" They all just stared at him.
'NO! There is no way she can be a plant. Even if she looks and moves like one she could never be a REAL plant. Only two days ago she was a disgusting human. The idea that such a repulsive thought could have come to my mind is enough in itself to-'
Knives' thoughts were painfully interrupted as a large metal crossbar hit him from the side, knocking him off his feet. He flew through the air. One of his crutches snapped as he landed hard, several feet away, but that was nothing compared to how his torn muscles felt. Why didn't anything ever seem to go his way? He grimaced, and then lost consciousness.
"Sorry, Mr. Vash! I know that's bad for his condition right now, but he seemed distracted and I really didn't want him to start shooting again."
"It's ok, Milly. Thank you." Vash's voice came out hollow and sad. "I'm such a fool. I should never have agreed to bring him with us."
"But, Mr Vash, what else could you have done? It's possible that he could change, you know. We just need to have a little faith."
He, smiled, nodded and turned back to Meryl. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I guess so," she replied.
Milly beamed. "Gee, Meryl, you really were great! Dodging all those bullets just like Mr. Vash. You'll have to teach me how to do that sometime."
"Um..."
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Stel and Zuka would like to thank you for reading. We hope you enjoyed our story. Comments, questions, constructive criticism, plot suggestions are appreciated!
To our reviewers: THANK YOU so much! Your reviews encouraged us to write, please keep it up!
blood-lust6
Sophia
LadyCecilia1
Hecate (lol, we'll make them fall farther next time!)
AnonymousTrigunOtaku
krazyMaze
Drager
rroan (sorry, we don't have kids)
Vitralastla
Roganu-chan
Godzilla2
solar-sun
Katrina-chan
@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!
Meryl sat within the warm encompass of Vash's arms. Silent tears slid down her cheeks. Her eyes had turned red and puffy from crying. Dust still clung to her from the hotel's collapse. She let her head fall into her hands, Vash's words of comfort washing over her like waves. She was a monster now, an uncontrolled machine of destruction.
"Shh... Meryl, stop crying. Everything's going to be fine. It's not your fault. They'll rebuild in no time. Then the hotel will be even better. Hush now, it's alright."
Vash's voice seeped into her mind, gently washing away her fears. Slowly she raised her head to meet his loving eyes. They held compassion and understanding. Softly, she answered his soothing words.
"Thank you, Vash, for saving me. If it weren't for you, I could've destroyed the whole city." She sighed a little shakily, tears still threatening to spill. "I guess now I know how you feel."
Vash closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at the sound of pounding feet.
"There they are!" a voice called from down the road. "Meryl, Mr. Vash! Thank goodness you're both alright."
Vash quickly let go of Meryl and was bowled over by an enthusiastic Milly who came racing up and heartily hugged each of them in turn.
"I was so scared that you had been in there when it fell and that..." She trailed off, unable to voice her greatest fear. "Well, never mind! You both seem to be fine..." Suddenly, a frown crossed Milly's face. "Meryl, what happened to your hair?"
"Oh. That..." Meryl still felt too dazed to take on the task of explaining her situation to anyone.
She was spared when they were interrupted yet again by the sound of soft laughter. The three turned to see Vash's twin, Knives, hobbling toward them, only now having caught up with Milly. He was healing wonderfully from his showdown with Vash, but still confined to the use of crutches. He eyed the remains of their current Hotel.
"Well well well. Having fun are we, dear brother?"
Vash glared a reprimand back at his homicidal sibling.
"It was an accident." He replied hotly.
Meryl glanced up at Knives. She still wasn't sure how she felt about traveling with the maniacal man. The things Knives had done... The bleakness in his eyes and coldness in his voice led her to believe he would try something again.
She could still remember the day two weeks ago, when Vash had stumbled into their hotel room dragging a limp form. Knives had been half dead then, deep in a coma. He hadn't seemed so bad laying there, looking so innocent. That is, until he woke up. That was when all hell broke loose.
He had tried to kill Milly, summoning his plant energy and slamming her into the wall. Luckily, Vash had arrived and the two brothers had yet another confrontation. Meryl wasn't sure exactly WHAT happened behind the closed hotel room door. However, when Knives was good enough to come out he had his shiny black revolver in its holster and a fragile peace treaty with the human race.
Knives merely cocked an eyebrow at his brother.
"An accident, huh?" He said in a sarcastic voice. "This looks like something the Humanoid Typhoon would do, and he never makes mistakes."
"Hey," Meryl said roughly. "Stop ragging on Vash. It's not HIS fault Augusta was destroyed. Besides, you're not so perfect yourself!"
Knives' eyes had narrowed dangerously. 'How dare she speak to me with such insolence!' he thought. 'Look at her, a pathetic human! How can my brother even stand to be in her miserable presence?'
"I'm not perfect, you say?" He responded coldly. "Well, I certainly don't see any flaws." His voice had picked up a hint of glacial fury.
"That's enough, Knives," Vash said, hoping to placate both of them. The last thing they needed was Meryl upset again. It was important that they find time to talk things over. Preferably alone.
Meryl continued glowering at Knives. He decided she was one of the worst things that could happen to his brother. Almost as bad as Rem. Before her, Vash had thought reasonably. They had been like one mind in two bodies.
He hadn't noticed when it first started happening. When Rem had begun to steal him away. At first Vash had only started spending more time alone with her in the Rec room. There was no harm in that, was there? If he was fascinated by her stories of life, love and the earth she had left behind it didn't bother him. He, Knives had no interest in hearing about such trivial things, but why shouldn't his brother enjoy them? Then came that fateful day. The day he simply saved a butterfly, only to find Vash attacking him and that woman behind him, telling Vash he was doing the right thing! What had she known? Not the way plants like them had suffered under the wrath of a sick and twisted species that believed they had the right to use all other creatures as they saw fit.
He thought that killing her and the others would eliminate the problem, that he would get Vash back. But after everything played out it became clear that given the choice between him and Rem, Vash would have picked her ten times over his own brother.
Things still hadn't changed. This Meryl had looked almost exactly like Rem, excluding the length of her hair and it was clear to him that Vash was quickly becoming just as attached to her, even if it was in somewhat of a different way. 'And now,' he thought furiously, 'now she's gone and changed her appearance. As though he would feel more for her if she looks more like one of us!' This whole scenario made him sick.
"Why?" Knives demanded harshly. "Why should I listen to YOU." He sneered the last word, getting violent in his rage.
By this time Vash and Meryl had stood up, joining Milly in front of the demolished Hotel.
"What have you EVER done for the plants, for your own kind! You go around saving the lives of your pathetic humans. All the shooting, all the crying... and for WHAT? So you can watch them leech more life from your failing brethren? Well, I've had just about enough of your sniveling. I've had enough of you hanging around the stinking humans. Now, I'm gonna take care of it once and for all."
His tirade ended as a wicked sneer bleached his face, sapping the light from his eyes. Silence seemed to smother the group as the mid-day heat settled oppressively on their shoulders. Dust twirled lazily by them, swirling in unkept patterns. Vash and Meryl stood side by side, eyes set in defiant determination as they faced Knives. Time froze for a split second before Knives reached for his gun, having it out and ready before anyone could perceive of a threat. He raised the weapon and sighted down the barrel... at the center of Meryl's forehead. Vash's eyes widened in terrible realization. Before anyone could move, a shot rang out, rolling over the desert like thunder.
To everyone's amazement, Meryl still stood, unharmed, just to the right of her previous position. Knives' jaw dropped in shock.
'How did she do that? She moved faster than anyone I've seen. No HUMAN can move like that.'
His eyes started to glow a dangerous blue. Quickly he fired another shot at her, emptied five more rounds, to hit nothing but thin air.
'No,' he thought. 'It's impossible.'
"Well, Mr. Perfect," came a deceptively soft voice. "It looks like you missed me."
Knives considered her for a moment, then sighed, and lowered his gun. A peculiar grin crept onto his face and the tension evaporated just slightly enough for them to notice a tumble weed roll past.
"How?" He said simply. For the first time he could remember, he didn't know exactly what to say. He knew what he saw. All his senses were telling him that she was like them. Like him and Vash. It was incredible, really. The first other plant he had ever seen outside of a bulb... but she couldn't be...
"What happened to her?" He demanded. "Vash?" They all just stared at him.
'NO! There is no way she can be a plant. Even if she looks and moves like one she could never be a REAL plant. Only two days ago she was a disgusting human. The idea that such a repulsive thought could have come to my mind is enough in itself to-'
Knives' thoughts were painfully interrupted as a large metal crossbar hit him from the side, knocking him off his feet. He flew through the air. One of his crutches snapped as he landed hard, several feet away, but that was nothing compared to how his torn muscles felt. Why didn't anything ever seem to go his way? He grimaced, and then lost consciousness.
"Sorry, Mr. Vash! I know that's bad for his condition right now, but he seemed distracted and I really didn't want him to start shooting again."
"It's ok, Milly. Thank you." Vash's voice came out hollow and sad. "I'm such a fool. I should never have agreed to bring him with us."
"But, Mr Vash, what else could you have done? It's possible that he could change, you know. We just need to have a little faith."
He, smiled, nodded and turned back to Meryl. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I guess so," she replied.
Milly beamed. "Gee, Meryl, you really were great! Dodging all those bullets just like Mr. Vash. You'll have to teach me how to do that sometime."
"Um..."
@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!@!
Stel and Zuka would like to thank you for reading. We hope you enjoyed our story. Comments, questions, constructive criticism, plot suggestions are appreciated!
To our reviewers: THANK YOU so much! Your reviews encouraged us to write, please keep it up!
blood-lust6
Sophia
LadyCecilia1
Hecate (lol, we'll make them fall farther next time!)
AnonymousTrigunOtaku
krazyMaze
Drager
rroan (sorry, we don't have kids)
Vitralastla
Roganu-chan
Godzilla2
solar-sun
Katrina-chan