Alrighty! I'm back! Again! For the thousandth time! I'm sure some people out there want me dead at the moment, but maybe this chapter (resolving that agonizing cliffy) will make up for my undeniably long absence. Hooray for English! Research paper time (as tho' you people care) so I'm gonna be busy. Chapters will be slow as usual, but I will finish this fic if it kills me, and after that, look for me in the Rurouni Kenshin and the Full Metal Alchemist sections! Enjoy!
Chapter 12 – Faint
"What in the world are we going to do?" Vash's foggy mind vaguely registered a deep, masculine voice somewhere near him. "That woman is half-mad, demanding to see this guy every time we go into her room. We've had to lock the damn door to keep her from coming in here and causing him even more hurt than he's already in!"
"Well, keep her as contained as you can, and see if Doctor Wylde will give her a sedative. She most certainly cannot bust in here; with his wounds, the poor guy probably won't even be awake for a while," answered another male voice, softer and more professional.
The first man said something else, but Vash started to drift back into blackness. His head whirled as he fought to stay conscious. He lost the battle however, and drifted back down into dreams that felt like memories, and memories that more closely resembled dreams he wished he'd never had.
Sometime later, Vash woke once more, this time to a trickling sound and a coolness on his forehead. Forcing his eyes open, he waited patiently for his swimming vision to clear. Finally, he was able to see a woman, presumably a nurse, gathering up bandages and cloths, preparing to leave him. Her hair was a shade of auburn, and her twinkling brown eyes set off her round facial features nicely. When the woman turned to pull Vash's quilt up around him, she was startled to see his beautiful blue-green eyes staring back at her.
"Well hello!" she said cheerily. "Good to see you awake! Quite a nasty fall you and that little girl took!"
Vash licked his dry lips and tried to speak. "Wh… where am I? Where's Meryl? Is… she okay?"
"So many questions!" The nurse gave the quilt a final tug. "That should do it. The young lady is fine. You should be worried about yourself right now!" She gave him a sharp poke in the ribs and Vash let out a yell of pain.
"Yah! What'd you do that for?" he whined.
"Just a demonstration." She smiled down at him and counted his injuries off: "Three broken ribs, a nasty concussion, and some nice slashes that will add beautiful scars to your collection!" Vash blushed a little at the last remark.
"My name is Lana Trask. You need anything, you just call for me, alright?" She gestured to his bedside table. "There's some water and pain pills if you need them."
"Um, wait… Lana," Vash called after her retreating form. She turned with a grin. Vash looked sheepish as he continued. "Can you bring Meryl to see me? Please? I bet she's really worried."
Lana's grin widened. "She is pretty worried, but not nearly as worried as you are. I'll see what I can do," she said playfully, pretending not to see Vash's embarrassed expression.
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Meryl was quite proud of herself.
That man, the one who called himself Cal and cursed at her for banging on the door, had come at her with a needle. Meryl wasn't THAT injured however, and promptly got rid of both him and the needle. Unfortunately, he'd managed to edge out before she could cause some serious damage, but he'd be hurting for awhile, she thought smugly. Her head started to pound with new ferocity, and she sank to the floor.
With a sigh, Meryl glanced around her surroundings. She was in the small, gloomy room she'd woken up to. Drab walls closed around a metal-framed bed; there were no windows, and only one door.
'Reasonable,' she thought. 'We are underground, aren't we?' Funny how the strangest things didn't phase her anymore.
"I guess life with Vash does that to you," she muttered. She wished she knew where he was, and how he was. Her worry was consuming. She felt the sting of tears threatening to fall and choked in a little sob. What if these people were out to hurt Vash? What could she do with her head pounding and no way out of this little room? Warm tears flowed freely down her face now.
Suddenly a voice near the door startled Meryl. "There there dear." A stout, auburn haired woman came to her side and wrapped her arms around Meryl's shoulders, gently picking her up off the floor. "Vash? Do you mean the young man with blond hair?"
Meryl took hold of both her arms. "Yes! Do you know where he is? How is he?" Lana could feel her shaking.
"He's fine, honestly, just down the hall. And if you eat something for me, I'll take you down to see him." Meryl nodded meekly and sat down on the bed.
Lana nodded and touched the door. Meryl gasped as a keypad appeared and Lana punched buttons accompanied by a strange beeping.
"What-what the hell was- t-," Meryl choked out, backing onto the bed.
Lana, laughing, managed to say, "It's okay! I'm just calling Cal to get you something to eat." Her smile turned thoughtful. "I guess you two really are from above."
"Yeah," Meryl said weakly. "I'm Meryl Stryfe." She extended her hand to Lana.
"I'm Lana Trask," she answered, her friendly face letting even Meryl to relax.
A knock at the door caused both women to look up. Cal cautiously entered, throwing a look of ice at Meryl and handing the tray to Lana before leaving as quickly as possible.
"What's wrong with him?" Lana wondered.
Meryl scratched the side of her face embarrassedly. "We… um… we had a little run-in earlier, and I think I hurt him… a little." Lana tossed her head back and laughed again.
"Oh my! Between you and that Vash, I'll kill myself laughing!" She handed the tray to Meryl.
"How badly is that idiot injured?" Meryl asked before taking her first bite. Lana smirked, remembering the storm of tears she'd walked in on earlier.
"Not too badly. A concussion, three broken ribs, and a few cuts, none too deep, are all."
Meryl nodded. "He's been through worse. Usually he's gotten himself shot, and I have to nurse him." She lifted the bowl to her lips and drank down the soup.
"He'd be a lot better off and you'd be a lot worse, except he cushioned the fall for you." That caused Meryl to start. "He apparently put himself under you, because when we found the two of you, you were lying on top of him and he had both arms wrapped around you. It looked like you two were simply asleep; it was quite adorable actually." Meryl blushed and tipped her soup bowl up once more.
"You just have a slight concussion. We had to stitch up a pretty deep cut in the back of your head, but otherwise you're completely fine. You'll just have a bit of a headache for a few days." Meryl set down the soup bowl.
"Thank you for the soup Trask-san. Can we go see Vash now?"
Lana laughed again. "Please, call me Lana. Shouldn't you change clothes first? Yours are covered in blood."
Meryl looked down at herself. "Vash's blood," she guessed.
"Yes," Lana said with a nod, "but there's plenty of your own on the back. Put this on." She offered Meryl a darker-yellow dress, made of cotton.
Meryl smiled. "Thank you."
Lana helped her out of her dirty clothes and went to get them washed while Meryl cleaned herself up. "You can get a bath later," she'd said as she left. Meryl slipped the dress on; it fit perfectly. The sleeves reached a little past her elbows and the skirt hung below her knees. Meryl hadn't worn something so… feminine since Milly's wedding.
Lana came in, breaking into Meryl's thoughts. "Ready to go?" she asked cheerily.
Meryl nodded and followed her out into the hall. The walls were metallic, and every so often, they'd pass a door. Very few people passed them, and those who did looked at Meryl strangely. The men wore long tunics over their pants, and the girls wore dresses, many the same length as Meryl's or longer, in bright colors. The atmosphere projected a clean feeling, and a calming humming sound that Meryl hadn't noticed earlier hung in the air. Suddenly, they came to a huge room, revealing many stories of metal rooms and corridors much like the one they had just traveled through. Staircases connected the levels, and many people traversed them freely, few staring long at Meryl.
"Where… where is this place? What is this place?" Meryl asked, amazed.
"This is the city of Bri," Lana explained, holding in her giggles. "We're an underground town, cut off from the world above. We live on what you people call 'Lost Technology', and we very rarely have visitors, needless to say."
"Who knew such a place existed?" Meryl breathed, trying to take it all in while following Lana to a doorway.
"Here we are!" Lana announced. "I'll let you go in alone. Be back in a bit!" She waved and left Meryl.
Meryl watched her walk away and took a deep breath, her hand on the knob. She prayed Vash was conscious.
The door creaked forebodingly as she lightly pushed on the door. The room was dark, but Meryl could sense it was about the same size as the room she had been in. Then her nose caught the smell. Immediately she knew it as Vash's, that indescribable scent that made her heart skip a beat (stop that!!!).
Suddenly, the lights flicked on and Meryl was momentarily stunned. Vash sat on a low bed with his hand on the light switch. He was bare-chested, clad only in his white boxers. His scars stood out starkly under the light, as did his artificial arm, and he looked shocked, like he'd seen a ghost.
Meryl took a slight step forward. "I… I'm glad you're all right," she said, amazed at the almost emotional tone her voice had taken on. "I… I…"
Vash stood up.
Before she could react, he had grabbed her wrist, tightly but not enough to hurt, and pulled her into himself. Ignoring the pain in his broken ribs, he clutched her tightly, one arm around her tiny waist, his other hand wrapped in her hair, which now fell beyond her shoulders.
"Meryl," he breathed, taking his time and squeezing her tighter. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried. So worried." He buried his face in her hair, taking in the scent.
In spite of her shock, and in spite of her usual emotional restraints, Meryl smiled. "I was worried about you too Vash." Her arms seemed to move by themselves as she wrapped them around him. Her hands rested gently on his warm back.
Without warning, Vash sat down on the bed with a little sigh of pain, taking Meryl with him. The result was her basically sitting in his lap, their arms still tangled up in a hug.
"Are… you okay?" Meryl asked tentatively.
"Better now that I know you're okay," Vash answered. He wasn't going to let go just yet. "Maybe I can get some rest now, now that you're around. I won't have nightmares." Meryl gasped slightly as he lay back on the bed, forcing her to lie back as well. Now their legs were entangled as well, giving Meryl a feeling of closeness she'd never had before.
"Having a little déjà vu?" Vash asked, knowing they were both thinking back to the campfire.
"I don't think we'll fall through the earth this time Tongari," Meryl said, a little bit of the edge returning to her voice. Vash saw she was trying to resurrect her barriers, and did what he had to do: he kissed her on the cheek, a light peck.
Then he kissed her other cheek.
Then he kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose.
"Are you sure… you're alright?" Meryl asked again nervously, unaware that she was snuggling closer to him as her barriers slowly fell away once more.
"Yeah. My head hurts a little, but…" His eyelids drooped. "Nothing a little rest won't cure. Promise you'll stay?" He sounded like a child.
"…Yes."
"Good." His eyes shut, and he was asleep.
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Late that night, Rigel finally returned. Wolfwood heard him shut and lock his door over Milly's light snoring.
"Damn kid," he muttered.
The next morning, Rigel seemed gloomy and depressed.
"What's the matter?" Milly asked, sitting down beside him and giving him a pat on the shoulder.
Rigel gave her a grateful smile. "The group from Rayne hasn't arrived yet. And if they don't show up within the next couple of days, the talks will go all to hell." He slammed his fist on the table. "Dammit! Doesn't Arrowood know that without him we are totally screwed?"
"Don't think that way!" Milly cried. "You shouldn't depend on someone else for everything! You have to do things for yourself, get things going on your own!" She put on a maternal smile. "If I learned anything from my middle-little brother it's this: Never depend on anyone else to start everything. Believe in yourself, and get moving!"
"That's great advice," Rigel muttered with his head in his hands, "but who the hell is gonna listen to a 20 year-old kid?"
"He's got you there, honey," Wolfwood said. Milly rewarded him with a scowl. "This is never gonna work," Wolfwood continued snidely. "But let's get off the subject. We've got a letter from Vash and Meryl honey!"
Milly's mood cleared considerably, and her face lit up with an excited smile. "Really?"
"Yep. Here you go. They had to forward it from Pete's." Milly tore into the envelope, addressed in Meryl's neat handwriting.
"Meryl and who?" Rigel asked him, confused.
"Vash-san and Meryl-sempai are our friends," Milly explained. "I work with sempai, and Vash-san is under our 24-hour surveillance. Although he really doesn't need it anymore, so he's become more like a part of the family."
Rigel looked shocked. "You don't mean Vash the Stamp-"
"Listen to this!" Milly interrupted.
"Dear Milly and Wolfwood,
I hope this letter finds you two, and if not, I'm having it sent on the hotel in Calis. Are you enjoying your honeymoon? We've been working (or at least I have). Vash and I haven't been able to find Knives, and you know that spells trouble, so we're off to find him. Also, there was a plant explosion in Elian, and guess who got called to the scene. Vash tagged along, in hopes of finding if Knives was connected in any way, but it was just one of those rebel factions against the use of plants. We've had no news of Knives since he stole out of Sand after the wedding, and I think Vash is getting a little edgy. He's acting strange at least.
We've decided to head for a little town known as Rayne, thinking it's as good as any other place to star searching for Knives, and the idea of living things cultivated with lost technology appeals to both of us. We've heard that the area is beyond lush, and is actually wooded. From there, we're headed north, maybe even towards Calis.
Well, have fun and take care of yourself Milly! Be sure to eat right, and Wolfwood, please don't let her strain herself.
Missing you,
Meryl
"Isn't Rayne where that Arrowood guy is supposed to be from?" Milly asked as Wolfwood shook the envelope, and then picked up another piece of paper off the floor.
"Yeah," Rigel said thoughtfully. "I'd heard about the forest. It's almost a miracle. They also offer the technology, as well as friendship in these types of conferences."
"Look at this," Wolfwood said with a smirk. He held up the paper. A little doodle of Vash and Meryl, obviously done by Vash himself, covered half the page. The cartoon Meryl was bashing the cartoon Vash over the head, but he continued to give his "love-and-peace" sign. Below was a scribbled note:
Big Girl and Wolfwood,
Just wanted to drop you a note! Me and Meryl are heading out to find Knives, just in case. If Wolfwood was brought back, who knows if Knives' other lackeys were given new life? We're headed north right now, most likely detouring to the town of Rayne.
Meryl is a little pissed off at me (as usual), but maybe her attitude will change when get to Rayne; I hear it's so beautiful, you forget about everything. Also, traveling with her will be fun, and something I've never done before (without her and the big girl forcing themselves on me). Who knows? We might even get to the point where she'll stop hitting me, at least not so hard.
VASH
"I guess Vash-san can dream, huh?" Milly giggled.
"Yeah. But it really makes me think: how many other people were revived when I was?" Wolfwood mused.
"I…" Milly frowned. "I really don't want to think about the whole thing, darling."
"What… what are you people talking about?!" Rigel exclaimed.
"You tell him, darling," Milly said, leaning back. "Meryl-sempai says I have to rest and eat right. And pudding is just the thing!" She held up her spoon as Wolfwood groaned.
"Well, I guess the whole thing starts with that idiot gunman Vash, better known to me as Tongari…"
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"Achoo!" His own sneezing woke Vash up. He rubbed his eyes and blinked around the room, forgetting where he was.
"Oh," he muttered, grabbing his head. "I'm in Bri, I'm injured, and my head hurts like hell." He grabbed for the pain pills and the water on his bedside table and gulped them down.
Then he remembered.
"Meryl?" he called out, painfully swinging his legs out of the bed. "Meryl?! Where'd you go?" Vash placed a hand on his ribs before attempting to stand. Gritting his teeth, he heaved himself up.
'Yep, definitely worse than yesterday,' he thought with a grimace. Vash took a tentative step, his concern mounting as pain rippled up his side and he felt stitched tear in his skin.
"Vash!!! What the hell do you think you're doing, you idiot?!?!" Vash looked up to see an incensed Meryl in the doorway.
"Just… looking for you," Vash grunted, still holding his side. The pain had dulled to an ache, but it was still torture.
"Well, I guess it's okay. You need to go get a bath anyways," Meryl conceded. She moved across the room, grabbing a robe out of the closet.
"C'mon," she said. "We're going a little ways down the hall, so you have to put something on." She stood on her toes and held out an arm of the robe towards him.
"Alright." Vash obliged, and then Meryl helped him with the other arm. She moved in front of him and drew the soft material up over his shoulders. With delicate hands, mindful of his ribs and cuts, she pulled the two sides together and knotted the belt neatly.
"Now you're decent." Meryl grabbed a towel. "Do you need help?" Vash nodded and she placed herself under his left arm.
"It hurts worse than it did," Vash admitted.
"Don't whine," Meryl scolded him. "You're just stiff. It'll work out before we get to the bathroom."
"If you say so."
Meryl helped him to shuffle into the hallway, where they met Lana.
"Oh, up and about already are we?" she exclaimed cheerily. "You are a good nurse Meryl!"
Meryl shook her head. "No, he's just tough-skinned." She grinned up at Vash, who gave her a nice scowl.
Lana laughed. "Do you need any help, Vash? I can have Cal or his brother Hal down here if you want."
"No, no, that's okay," Vash said with a meek wave of his hands. "I'll be okay."
"Alright; Meryl, you take good care of h-" Lana stopped mid-sentence, staring down the hallway in awe. Meryl and Vash's heads whipped around to see what she was staring at.
A group of well-dressed gentlemen paraded down the hall. Each wore a different sort of formal suit, and each held his head high, very sure of themselves; most likely, they were leaders of some sort, Vash thought. As they approached, Lana gasped.
In their midst walked a young woman, around 19 or 20. She was beautiful, with long golden hair cascading down her back and sapphire-blue eyes. She wore a long violet ball gown, and walked with an unnatural sort of grace. The girl radiated strength and determination.
Lana bowed as the group passed by, and the girl gave her a wistful smile. When her gaze landed on Vash and Meryl, her eyes widened slightly, as though surprised. She quickly regained the smile though, before turning her head forward once more and following the gentlemen down the hallway.
"Who were those people?" Meryl asked Lana.
Lana took out a handkerchief and wiped her brow before answering. "They were ambassadors, here to try to talk us into duplicating and sharing technology, as well as cooperating with the cities above. And if anyone can talk those geezers into it, it'll be that young woman we just saw."
"Who was she?" Vash wondered. She had looked almost familiar to him.
"She's Oriana Arrowood, from the town of Rayne. The townis trying to create links between all the cities of Gunsmoke. I never thought I'd live to see it, but if Oriana is the driving force behind it, there's no doubt in my mind that it can be done." She gestured at the girl's retreating back. "She's joined so many cities together already, speaking about the need for unity, and backing it up by sharing Rayne's flora-growing technology with those who accept the proposal. She's a strong young woman, in more ways than one. Would you guess that she's survived several attempts on her life? I hear she's handy with a gun."
Lana glanced down the hallway once more. "Enough about that. Go get him cleaned up; I have to see if there's anything I can for the conference." She hurried off.
Well? Worth the wait? I'm beginning the next chapter ASAP, and I'll get it up as soon as I can. Here are my reviewer replies (I love you guys!):
Anime-fangirl1: Here you go! I hope I'm not too late!!! Thanx.
Moonmage: That was… brief. But thank you nonetheless.
Neptune Butterfly: A regular reader! (If I can call you that, considering my sporadic updates…) I'm glad my fluffy helped you out of your bad mood… I was a little depressed when I wrote this, but I feel better! Come on back now, ya hear? (As they say where I'm from!)
Vashluver1: I'm very sorry I didn't answer reviewers last time; I was too freakin' tired. I felt like hell, and just couldn't do it! But I'm answering now, and I want to thank you for reviewing. Also, school does suck.
Saraki: I can and I did! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Just kidding. See, SEE? It's so cruel! I should stop that….. (thanks)
Elf3748: Once again, the evil cliffie! As for the K/M scenes, that's how I meant them to be portrayed. I think that if Knives had gotten over his hate for humans and Rem had lived, he and Vash would have viewed her as a mother or a big sister, and I guess I kinda infused those thoughts into my story without realizing it. I'm not much for the K/M pairing, but I never do like alternate pairings much I'm afraid. Thanks for reading my bag of crap.
The nadja: Thank you much; another fluffaholic? Once again, I'm shocked to think that anyone believes that this comes even close to the greatness that is Trigun. The gods are smiling down on me, I guess. I'm glad you like it!
Pyrotess: Need I say more? The next chapter will elaborate a little, to help you understand even better. Thanks for dropping by!
Snwbunny: You junkie. Playing, playing! I'm happy you enjoy my story, and I promise to get on uploading chapters quicker!
Orion Kohaishu: You're still here?!?!? I'd thought for certain I'd scare you off quick. You're just here for the cookie, aren't you?! (gives a cookie) Hee hee. Keep on reading.
HazelEyed Freak: Yes Master! I will update…. But you'd have to wring me dry to get 5o bucks out of me… you can try if you want….
To reiterate, I will be posting again soon, and the story should be over in 5-10 chapters, probably near the lower end of that. Thanks to everyone who read, and please review; I live to please you!!! Love you guys.