Trapped Within the Desert of Your Mind

"Yume's missing?" Vash asked in shock as he watched a medic lean over the prostrate mother. She had been found, beaten nearly to death and they were not sure that she would make it. The kidnapper was believed to have harmed her. "And her father's dead?"

Meryl nodded grimly. "The police have no suspects so far. The girl's father was an alcoholic but he never got into fights at the bars and always paid his bills. We can think of no one who would hold a grudge against him."

"Uh, Meryl? I don't know if this is helpful or not but, well, Knives is… missing." It really was not the most opportune time that Vash could have chosen but he felt that she had to know.

Meryl gave Vash a look of incredulity. "'Missing?' How can he be missing? He's paralyzed! He can't move much, if any! Even in that wheelchair of his, how far could he get?"

"You see, Knives was tricking us with the paralyzed act. He left the wheelchair behind and is long gone." Vash's face was grave. "I think he might have been the one to do this."

"I thought you told us he was harmless! That he had 'turned over a new leaf,' as you so quaintly put it," Meryl snarled.

Vash held up his hands in a hopeless gesture of defense. "Hey! I said 'mostly harmless!'" Meryl glared at him with an expression that clearly stated: "Don't even start." Vash chuckled nervously and decided to abandon that topic. "Shall I go find him?"

"Will it as easy as your tone puts it?"

Vash smiled sadly. "I wish. If I know Knives, he will soon have a place to hide and new henchmen recruited."

"How long do you think it will take you?"

"At the least, a few months. At the most, a few years…" The blond Plant sighed. The last time he had tried to find Knives, it had taken him a small eternity and he only located his brother when he was ready to be found.

"You have any ideas of where to start?" Vash shook his head slowly. Meryl heaved a frustrate sigh. "Well, then you better get going! God only knows what havoc Knives could wreck in a few months, let alone years! He's probably out doing just that right now!"

Meryl could not have known but at that exact moment, Knives was quite incapable of wreaking havoc of any type. Having never been around any children before, he had not thought of the needs of the child he had brought along and was being bombarded by so many questions, complaints, and childish thoughts that he could barely handle it.

"Knives-sama?"

Knives looked over to the young girl who trudged along by his side through the never-ending desert that was the planet Gunsmoke. "Yes?"

"Are we there yet?"

"Does it look like we are?"

"Um, no?"

"Then we have not yet reached our destination."

"Oh." The child fell silent and the pair continued on their long journey across the hot sands.

"Knives-sama?"

"Yes?"

"Why is the sand yellow?"

Knives did not know the answer to this one and so he improvised. "Because it is."

"And the sky? Why is it blue?"

Knives did happen to know why the sky was blue and so he explained. "Blue light's short wavelength causes it to get scattered around 10 times more by oxygen and nitrogen molecules than the longer wavelengths, like red, of the other colors visible to us. The blue in the sky we see is scattered blue light." Knowledge was one of the only good things he had gotten out of the humans on board the SEEDs ship.

"There's blue light? And red light?" Yume's eyes shined as she marveled at the thought. "What's oxygen and nitrogen? And what's a wavelength?"

"I'll tell you some other day, when you have a more basic idea of science."

"Okay… Knives-sama?"

"Yes?"

"I'm thirsty." Then, after a moment of silence, she added, "And I'm hungry."

"Wait until we reach our destination."

"How long will that take?"

"A two or three days of traveling."

Her face fell, showing that she was near exhausted and was not looking forward to the next two days. As they walked on, she asked another question. "Is there food there?"

"Most likely. The one who has prepared the new base ahead of us enjoys his food."

"Who is he? What's his name? What's he look like?" She pounced on the conversation topic like a cat on a mouse.

"He is my minion." Knives said the statement as if it explained everything.

"Oh." For an hour the only noise that could be heard from the two travelers was the shifting of sand under their feet as they walked over the surface of the desert.

"Knives-sama?"

Knives ground his teeth together and attempted to control himself. He preferred the quiet, contemplative mood of the desert over talking. "Yes?"

"What's a minion?"

"A minion? A minion is a servant, a subordinate. One who exists only to fulfill his or her master's will."

Yume blinked. "Oh. I see. What's his name?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, no, not really. I'd just like to know…"

"Legato. Legato Bluesummers."

"Oooo… that's a spiffy name! He must be really awesome!"

Knives chuckled softly. "You might say that."

"I'm still hungry and thirsty though."

Knives-sama gritted his teeth. "Can't you wait until we arrive?"

"But… that's gonna be so long away… and I'm sooooo hungry!" Her eyes shined, pleading with him to give her sustenance.

Knives sighed with frustration and relented to the girl's pleas. "Fine, fine. The next time we pass a town, we'll stop somewhere and get you something."

"Yay!" she grinned and happily skipped down the dune that they had just crested. Knives shook his head and smiled slightly. It always amazed him, the simple ways with which the child could be pleased.

It was not long before they came across a diner, situated at the edges of a small town. Yume practically bounced up to the door, catching herself right before she crashed into it. She whipped around, her long black hair flipping around wildly, and flashed the adult Plant a large grin. "C'mon Knives-sama! There's food to be ate!" She turned back and pushed the diner door open wide, holding it for him.

The diner was deserted save for an older woman who was wiping down a table. She looked up at their entry and smiled. A few stray wisps of graying hair fell over her eyes as the corners of them crinkled. "Hello there. You two dears hungry?"

Knives opened his mouth to answer with an insult to the human race and the woman who had dared to call him such an affectionate term as 'dear' but Yume spoke first. "I'm starving!" she announced, happily cavorting over to the counter and climbing up to sit in a barstool. "My name's Yume! What's yours?"

The woman laughed lightly and extended a small hand to the girl for a frail, yet firm, handshake. "I'm Grace." She cocked her head and eyed the blond-haired, blue-eyed Plant with interest. "And him?"

"He's Knives-sama! My bestest friend in the whole world!" Yume smiled widely at the woman as the old waitress moved behind the counter.

The elderly woman arched an eyebrow at the name 'Knives' and the term of respect the girl had attached to it, but she did not comment. Instead she said, "Well, Knives. You going to take a seat by the girl or no?" She had a slight smile on her old, frail lips and she looked at him expectantly.

"I would prefer to stand," Knives answered coolly.

The old lady shrugged and pulled a pad of paper and a pencil out of her apron. "Suit yourself." She leaned on the counter and addressed Yume. "And what'll you be having, young miss?"

It was Knives' turn to cut the girl off. "Just water."

"Just water?" the old woman looked at him questioningly.

"But Knives-sama, I'm hungry too." Yume turned around in the chair to look at him.

"Food takes money, girl, and we have none of that."

"Oh…" she looked back at Grace, "Just water."

"All right." Grace nodded, slipping the pencil and pad back into her apron. She picked up a glass and a pitcher of ice water and poured a tall glass for the girl, setting it in front of her. She turned to Knives, questioningly. "You want one?"

"I'm fine." Knives answered curtly.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"Suit yourself." Grace sat down on a stool behind the counter as Yume sipped at her glass of water noisily. "So, what brings you two out here?"

Knives was not prepared to answer such a question but luckily, Yume answered for him. "We're moving."

"Oh really, where to?"

Yume looked back to Knives weighed his options quickly and decided there was no harm in letting the woman know. "Gorge."

"Quite a trip for a little one like you," she smiled at Yume, "You have a car?"

"We're walking." Yume answered and, as her back was to Knives, she pulled a face to let Grace know how she felt about it.

"Walking?" Grace's tone betrayed her surprise. "All the way to Gorge?" She gave Knives a hostile, suspicious look that seemed to scream 'slave-driver' at him.

He shifted testily on his feet, beginning to dislike the old woman. But since Yume seemed to enjoy her company, he dared not to harm the old witch. Instead, he cleared his throat and spoke. "I'm going to step outside for a bit. It's a little… stuffy in here."

"All right." Yume gave him a smile and waved him off.

As soon as Knives was out the door, Grace turned to Yume with a serious look. "Who is he, girl? Is he related to you?"

Yume gulped from the water and then answered, her brown eyes sparkling. "Oh no. Knives-sama is just my friend. He's taking me to a new home."

"What about your parents?" Grace had a bad feeling about the Knives man. He did not feel right. There was something about his gaze that made her feel like a bug about to be squashed. She had known children that had been kidnapped by such men and she wanted nothing more than to keep the dear child that sat in front of her from being added to the list.

Yume paused, looking up, as if she was searching the air for an answer. She looked back to Grace. "What about them?"

"Are they dead? Is he taking care of you now? Did he take you from them? Did they let him?"

"They…" Yume looked down at the table, struggling for the words. "They're dead. Knives-sama is taking care of me now."

"Oh… I'm sorry." Grace felt relieved, glad that the child was not being taken forcefully. She guessed that Knives was only a protective man, wishing to keep him and the girl safe. Nothing more. At least, she hoped nothing more.

Grace smiled suddenly. "Just a moment, dear. I'm going to go into the back for a moment." As soon as the old woman had disappeared into the kitchen, Knives came back into the diner. "Interesting human…" Knives muttered.

"Yeah, she's pretty nice," Yume agreed, not understanding that Knives did not like the woman. She took a little sip of her water and the two travelers sat, and stood, in silence. Yume picked at a small scratch in the counter's surface and hummed quietly to herself.

Knives flexed his jaw muscle in irritation. This better not take much longer, he thought to himself, I would like to get to Gorge as soon as possible.

As if she had been reading his mind, the old woman exited from the back of the diner at that moment, wielding a large plate. She set it down in front of Yume, a large grin on her face. "Here you are, dear."

Yume stared down at the large meal Grace had brought her. "But-"

Grace winked. "Don't worry, little one. It's on the house. I am the owner, after all."

"Thank you so much!" Yume said and then dug into the pile of pancakes that was on the plate, drenched in syrup, with a side of sausages and a small roll.

"Well, I figured since you're going to be walking so far, a young girl like you needs to keep her strength up for such a journey." Knives once more found himself the focus of the woman's hard gaze. As Yume ate her free meal, the elderly lady bustled about the diner with a knapsack, putting in small snacks, two water bottles, a few sandwiches, and other odds and ends.

Finally, Yume licked her fork clean and it was time for her and Knives to leave. Grace came out from behind the counter and gave Yume a large hug. "You take care of yourself, you hear?"

"I will. It was great meeting you! I'll come back someday to say 'hi!'" Yume promised.

Grace smiled and then held up the knapsack. "I packed some food for you and your friend to have to munch on the way." Yume let out a joyous exclamation and reached up to take the bag but the woman pulled it back, locking eyes with Knives. "No, no, dear. He's going to be carrying it. I don't want to put any unnecessary strain on you, at such a young age."

Knives found himself near a breaking point. It was everything he could to do to stop himself from instead of taking the bag, breaking the old human's neck. She made him so mad with those little, baited comments. If the child had not been there, the old woman would have been dead a few mere moments after Knives had walked in the door. But the girl was there and Knives had always prided himself on his self-control. He implemented this as he took the bag and gripped it tightly in one fist, his knuckles turning white as snow.

"What do you say?" Grace grinned, knowing that she was getting under his skin.

Knives was silent.

"Knives-sama! That's not polite!" Yume chided him.

Knives swore to himself that he would come back to this diner someday and kill the old woman. "Thank you," he muttered, imagining those words written on the wall with the human's blood. He turned and walked out of the diner, Yume close behind him.

Grace also walked out of the diner to stand on the porch, watching the two as they walked off into the bright distance of the sand covered surface of Gunsmoke. "Good luck, child," she said to the shrinking girl who was far out of earshot, "Someone who lives with a man like that needs it."

To Grace's surprise, the bright-eyed girl turned and waved, as if she had heard Grace speaking to her. The old woman shook her head, banishing the idea. Telepathy was a myth… right?

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Jeril: I apologize fifty times over for getting this out so late. _ The road trip through Canada took six days and then my computer busted! @_@ The visual was all wacked and stuff so my father had to take it apart, find a loose screw, and put it back together. Then the problem was still there. So he had to take it apart again, look for the screw's place, put it back together and end up with three screws without a home. ~_~;; Males. But, hey! I'm not complaining because the computer works now! ^0^ Yay yay yay! *dances* And because you all are so nice, patient and supportive, Yume and I got you some treats! *Yume wanders among the reviewers dispensing chocolate bunnies* I know it's not Easter, but it's always fun to bite their little heads off. ^_^;; Hehehe…

Anyway, back to the story. The Grace lady was pretty cool (hint: we'll be seeing her again. ^_~). But wait! Yume! You lied… You lied to that kind old lady!!

Yume: I had to! *looks sad* But I didn't want to… Grace was so nice…

Jeril: My poor baby's growing up on me. *sniffles and blows her nose on a tissue Yume hands her* And it's all Knives' evil influence! If it wasn't for him, your soul would be as pure as… *searches for a metaphor* dammit…

Yume: 'Pure as dammit?'

Jeril: *gasps and slaps a hand over Yume's mouth* Don't you ever say that word again, young lady! I should ground you!

Yume: But you said it…

Jeril: Well, I'm older and… er, allowed to… sort of… ^_^;; Heh, all right! Next subject! The chapter titles! All the chapter titles so far, and from now on, have some reference to something in the chapter, no matter how small a detail. I'd like to encourage you guys to interpret the titles and tell me what you get from them (if you have the time). I'm really interested in what you're getting from them. ^_^ Anyway, I'll see you all next time! *Yume and Jeril wave 'good-bye'*

P.S. I tried to compile a mailing list from your profiles to inform you all of the update but Hotmail was being a bitch with me and saying the some of the addresses were wrong and crap, so I gave up. ^_^;; But the mailing list will be continued if you want it. Just leave a note saying you want to be on it with your e-mail addy, unless the addy's on your profile. ^_^ Thanks.