MaroonSorrow: Hello!! In this chapter, Knives- sama is introduced! Everything I've written has been leading up to this... It's chapter four already?! I have reviews... joy! For the people that have been with me since I started the story, I went back and added some stuff to chapter 1 a while ago and forgot to tell you...Sorry... ;; I've been meaning to ask for a beta reader too... so now I ask... I NEED A BETA READER!!!... In the second paragraph of the story, I will use a quote from a video game...Legato will grant you a quick end if you can tell what the game is... And I'll give you hot dogs...
As always, means a change in POV.
Yma: You have no clue how happy it makes me to have someone actually review multiple times... I fixed a couple of things so feel free to re-read the chapter...Thank You, You're most of the reason this story isn't dead....
AnonymousTrigunOtaku: I killed the bold text...;;
Raditz: I think in some twisted way, I take threats as more of a compliments than actuall compliments, sooooo.... Thank you!
DemonAvatar: Hey guess what? In this story, Vash is Legato's dad... Did you read the story, or just the first paragraph and then decide to review and make me feel stupid?!
Disclaimer: Legato is Knives' minion, I am Legato's minion, Knives is NOT MY MINION. ... and Trigun is not mine either... My only minion's are the original characters... :P
Warning: This a happy- fun chapter, and is bound to be more light hearted than the rest of the story...Legato may seem slightly OOC at first, because this chapter has little angst... ( Legato with no angst! :P How could that be? )
He walks confidently, the sun glinting off his insane- blond hair that broadcasts his personality, although most are too simple to hear it, to listen to his blue, glass mirror, sanity- deprived eyes. From the tilt of his head and the tone of his voice, you can see that he is a man used to getting his way. Not since he was a small child has he taken orders from anyone. He has a perfect self-control..., if he gets angry, it is because he allows himself to do so, if he seems to know everything, it is because he does. His breaths are all for appearance, he does not need them, when he drinks water, it is just for show. He is everything Legato has ever wished to be.
Knives is the psycho/ cool leader of the Gung-ho guns, worthless minions, all. But they serve his purpose... like fools they assist in a goal they will not ever comprehend. They know nothing, they see nothing, they can learn nothing. In the end, there must be understanding to begin with in order to create mastery of a concept. Although Knives' presence alone is enough to awaken hidden powers in the people around him, enough to create a vicious tornado out of a mild breeze, to craft understanding out of confusion... he does not think it is enough. In the end, he believes that only his worthless brother will ever fathom what he is trying to do. But Knives, what if someone did understand what you were trying to do? What if they were human? Or Half- Human? What would you think then, Knives?
Ch. 4 Illumination
It is sad to think that in my whole life, but five or six times have I felt sunlight. The most recent was on the day I was kidnaped, and even then the only reason I was allowed to go to market was that many were sick and medicine was needed. But now, in the new sunlight, such thoughts have lost most of their hold on me. I sit up, blinking sleepily on the brink of sleep, trying to gauge my surroundings. I am on the rooftop of an abandoned building... As I straighten up, I notice a slight crust of dried blood on my shirt, and the memories of last nights glorious lack of restraint come flooding back. I feel liberated, exhausted..., I hear no thoughts, feel no sorrow. The dark room of my heart feels strangely illuminated by this simple ray of light, my mothers death. I lie back down and allow the soft sunlight to wash over me. I am... happy? Strangely enough, I have no desire to contemplate last night, or entertain thoughts of Why?, or How... This feeling is new to me, and I am determined to enjoy it while it lasts, this hallow contentment.
I lounge here, trying to recover my body, which is weakened terribly, no doubt from my exertions yesterday evening ( this morning? ). A gentle, hallucinatory daze takes me, and I fall into a soft slumber.
( Change in POV)
" What am I doing in this worthless town? " Knives asks himself as he leans against the doorway of the shabby hotel he has been staying in, watching spiders scurry through the streets. He has been following his talent for sensing psychic energy, collecting minions. Late last night, before the sun rose, Knives had been jerked out of his coma like state of sleep that he only observed when he was in absolute safety, a state of sleep only his will, or that of his brothers could jerk him out of. Instead of the white blankness that sleep ordinarily was, he had been having a dream, something that was impossible in this state of mind. Everything had been swathed in fog, and through this fog, Knives had seen glimpses of a blue haired child with the same talent to his energy as Vash, a blue haired child who had been using his powers to... what? Knives couldn't recall, but he remembered muted blood and a strong sense of approval.
When he had awoken, Knives had felt a burst of raw energy, pure as death and uncontrolled, as if the user was barely holding on. The energy had been of excellent quality but in need of refinement, like a diamond in the rough. Knives had simply stayed in his bed until the power let go and he was no longer gauging skill levels and frantically trying to get an exact fix on the location of the power flare, but could now try to hypothesize what that had been.
" It has been so long since I felt a burst of essence like that, not the slight, watered down aura that humans have, but real power. A breath of fresh air, certainly a nice respite from the niggling impure talents I am forced to resort to cultivating... As it is, that was not my brother, that was certainly not me, so...? My other brothers and sisters are trapped, unable to channel energy like that..." Knives had heard rumors, a stain on his brothers mind, a whisper of a child with golden eyes... " If you had a son, Vash... "
Although Knives doubted that he would be that lucky, it would be interesting if he was... A slight giggle rose in his throat as he thought of Vash's son... blackmail, extortion, kidnaping certainly... Although having another Vash around would be no end of trouble, he was sure he could find ways to make sure the boy didn't go the way of his father... Knives giggled to himself as he closed his eyes and started mentally scanning for any flickers of energy...
( C. in POV )
A vague awareness overtook Legato, making him realize that his body having had recovered all the energy it could through sleep, and was now looking for sustenance. In other words, he was really hungry. Legato struggled down from his perch, wondering how he was going to get food...
" I can no longer read minds" Legato mused "... so how will I get any food?" Normally Legato would've been able to find the nearest human by listening for them, but now... " I suspect that I have not lost my "powers" but simply used up most of my energy..." Whenever Legato projected his mind to search for someone reading, he was hungry afterwards. "So, as fallows, if I get my energy back, I'll be able to read minds again... Now that I need my talent to eat, I won't get it back until after I do... hopefully..." Legato smiled slightly, the irony of the situation not lost on him.
" Who would've thought that I would EVER miss my "talent"..." Legato thought as he staggered off...
(C. In POV)
Knives had been standing in the doorway for some time, scanning. He had found several empty echoes that felt as though something HAD been there, but there was nothing now. Knives growled softly in frustration, feeling mentally through a dark alley with ... blood on the walls? He had a sense of Deja Vu as he asked the walls for any imprint of aura and discovered with chagrin that the whole alley was painted with traces of energy...
Knives shook himself out of his mental fog and rose from his doorway, staggering as unused muscles adjusted themselves, oblivious to the spent aura that was flaring slightly in response to his... He was going to find out what had happened in that alley, and his posture dared anyone to get in his way, his thoughts were hovering so strongly in the air around him, not even a human could've missed his determination.
(C. In POV)
Legato had guided himself to the " civilized" part of the city, away from the cold alleys and side streets. He had just emerged from a back alley when he felt something prickle along his skin, drawing his attention to a hotel with a tall blond man in the doorway of a nearby hotel, not allowing him to look away. Legato lurched forward, feeling like an invisible something was yanking him forward, an aura covering every last inch of his body, smothering him... Legato stepped out into the street...
( C. In POV)
A blond man strides confidently across the street, a blue haired child in rags marches forward like a soldier pulled by invisible strings, his eyes fixed on the sky-eyes stranger. As they approach each other, Destiny smiles as her strings draw tightly around the two...
( C. in POV)
Knives' mind was so preoccupied with Legato's existence that he failed to notice Legato until he bumped into Knives, sending a whirlwind of aura dancing around them. Knives glanced down then, his eyes widening to see an immobile, blood spattered Legato, golden eyes glinting with macabre knowledge of killing done under the stars, aura so empty but so huge, lying on the sidewalk. Legato was simply so overwhelmed by the flutter of thoughts he was getting from this man, the feeling that they shared, a hatred of humans. Knives smiled, reaching down to this juvenile psychic, his mind reeling as their hands met. All of Legato's hatred, his emptiness, his sorrow was crammed into Knives' mind, leaving Knives shocked, listening to Legato's questions about his father, wondering... Legato, in turn, received glimpses of Knives' past, felt his hatred for the " spiders"... those little bits of information were enough to overload his already taxed body, making him let go, mind reeling.
Knives couldn't help but feel a strong sense of comradeship with Legato as his mind quickly processed the situation. The boy needed food... and training.... As Knives bent over Legato and wrapped him in his coat, one thought flowed both ways... " Maybe he could understand me..." A mutual wish for understanding had briefly linked their minds before Legato's tired mind let go and he collapsed, happy in his fugue of exhaustion.
Knives strolled over to a nearby street vendor, gently setting Legato down by the cart. " Can I get a hot dog?"
Marronsaro: Good chapter? Bad chapter? I refuse to update until I have sixteen reviews... that is not a lot, people! I leave you with this: I had to write a paper on my hero for Drama... I wrote about Legato... Review!