Golden Recluse Chapter 2: Cryptic, a trigun fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Trigun, Vash (I wish I did!), Knives, Millie, Meryl, the deceased Wolfwood, Rem, any other characters, Planet Gunsmoke, any of the Seven Cities, the twin suns, any of the moons, Project S.E.E.D.S., the song "Sound Life", voices in the wind, or cryogenically frozen geezers. All of the aforementioned are property of the wonderful and wise Yasuhiro Nightow. However, I do own myself, and my adorable Vash plushie, who gives my inspiration when he's not stuffing his face with doughnuts or salmon sandwiches.. which I don't own either..

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for their wonderfully helpful reviews! It's great to receive detailed feedback, with lots of comments and critiques. I'm flattered!

Don't forget to read, enjoy, and leave reviews for my story! Nice long ones lead to quick and witty updates! Without further ado, here's chapter two of "Golden Recluse".

Chapter II: Cryptic

'So.. On the first evening, a pebble falls to earth from somewhere.'

'So.. On the second evening, the pebble's children hold hands and sketch a waltz.'

"Sound Life," came a low whisper.

Whispers were, by nature, meant to be soft-spoken and gentle; they were words, passed between lovers in times of restful intimacy. Over relaxed tongues they would roll, placidly leaving the lips as sweet nothings.

This whisper was anything but pleasant.

'Rem, why can't everyone get along?'

'Because people have many different ways of thinking. But even if we do make mistakes, we have the ability do something about it, to make better choices next time. Then if you keep your vision clear, you will see the future. What happens in our future is our responsibility..'

"Rem.."

Tears ran down Vash's bristly, unshaven face, mingling with coarse sand and sweat, which clung feebly to his outrageously scarred skin. His eyes stung horribly, as he attempted to brush the tears away with the back of his bare hand. The bitter taste of salt lingered in his mouth, burning his chapped and desiccated lips.

'The splendors of desert life,' he thought sardonically, rising to an uncomfortable sitting position.

His body, in its entirety, ached excruciatingly. His head was throbbing painfully, along

with each beat of his heart.

Lub dub, lub dub, lub dub.

"Ouch," he muttered, his hand instinctively going to his temple. "That really smarts.."

And it was then, that from the pit of his sinewy stomach, came a monstrously ferocious growl. How long had it been since he'd last eaten?

"What I wouldn't give for a salmon sandwich."

Heaving a disenchanted sigh, Vash ran a hand along his exposed torso. Lost in thought, he traced the deep ridges in his raw skin, bits of sand falling into his lap. He was thoroughly fed up with this whole desert business; he had sand in places he didn't even know he had! Yet, in his heart, he knew that he'd brought it all upon himself.

He knew that he had condemned himself to a life of turmoil in the harsh boondocks, rather than endanger any more innocent lives by frequenting towns in the name of 'love and peace'. It was a sacrifice he was willing to make in the name of man-kind.

He could go weeks without a scrap of food if it meant saving a child from going hungry for one minute, and he would go without water for days on end if it meant saving the life of an elderly man, on the brink of death by dehydration. He would endure it; he would live through the pain. After all, he wasn't an ordinary man.

'You're not a human being, you're a plant..'

'I know that.'

'You're a superior breed..'

'I disagree.'

And he did disagree. From the bottom of his half-broken heart, he knew he wasn't superior; different, yes, but never superior to anyone else. He was no better than the bartender at a run-down tavern, doing nothing to quell the nightly brawls, and he was no better than the corrupted sheriff, who took weekly bribes to let a gambling ring carry on another day. He was worse; his hands were stained with the blood of the innocent.

Looking down at his hands; the very hands that had caused devastation as Gunsmoke had never known, bereavement swept over him like a sand-storm. It engulfed him, bringing pearly tears flowing to his beautiful, yet troubled eyes.

Trembling violently, he reached out towards his .45 Colt revolver, grasping its metallic surface in his hand. He could feel the cold steel beneath his clammy fingertips, as he tightly clutched the handle, his index finger coming to rest on the trigger. It was this gun that had taken lives from the living. By his hand, the gun had performed the unforgivable sin.

'Thou shalt not kill.'

In his mind, he could picture Wolfwood, in his priest's attire, thumbing through the Good Book in search of answers. Hell, he could still picture Wolfwood alive! But as fate would have it, he was stolen away from the giant ball of dust, and whisked into the infinite heavens.

Wolfwood wasn't the only one gone, though! There were countless other people; the Gung-ho-Guns, for starters. So many of them had perished; their deaths weighed heavily upon Vash's conscious.

Legato Bluesummers, Monev the Gale, Dominique the Cyclops, E.G. Mine, Rai-Dai the Blade, Leonof the Puppetmaster, Zazie the Beast, Gray the Ninelives, Hoppered the Gauntlet, Caine the Longshot, Chapel the Evergreen, Midvalley the Hornfreak..

They were all dead, and he couldn't help but feel responsible as he picked up his dark gray canteen.

After all, he was the $$60 billion man.

He was the infamous Vash the Stampede.

And he was completely out of water.

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C/N: How was that for a second chapter?

True, the rumours of Vash being dead were nothing more than rumours, but in the land of gun shots and sand, should we honestly expect anything else?

Thank you very much for reading Chapter II of 'Golden Recluse'. Now is the time for you to do your part, as the reader, and drag your mouse over to the place where it says 'Submit Review' and click go. You know you want to, so go on. Leave me a nice, descriptive review that will make me proud when the alert appears in my mailbox! -

If you follow through with that, there is sure to be another wonderful chapter of this story coming soon! (But that's only IF you do what you're told!)