A/N: Ok, peoples! After a looooooooong wait for you guys and a looooooooong period of writer's block (and lack of ideas for this fanfic), I've finally gotten my ideas and thoughts together and typed up this chappie! GO ME! ((:eye twitch: w0w...u l3ft teh fnafic sitttng 4 a l0000ng tyme...))Yeah; I know, DV. ANYWAYS! Here's my replies to you wonderful reviewers!
fujisti stytghi: Sankuu! I'm glad you like it! And I don't want to spoil anything, so you'll just have to wait and see for yourself!
animestlkr: :gives a box of tissues: Now now, don't cry! (And he's Yasuhiro Nightow's poor Vash!)
WolfbanesHybrid: :sweatdrop: Um...I was serious about the "I-FREAKIN-DEAS" thing at the end. And yep, the plot bunnies are comin'; don't worry!
Leia: :blushes: Aww...it wasn't that perfect! Yeah; I had lotsa fun typing that part. Anyways, arigato (thank you) for commenting!
trigirl48: FINALLY! SOMEONE ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THE "I-FREAKIN-DEAS" THING AND GAVE ME AN IDEA! Arigato gozaimasu (thank you very much) for the idea! Don't worry; I've got plenty of ideas for upcoming chappies!
FireChibi: :grin: Not necisarily, no...you'll just have to wait and see!
Tongari0104721: Yeah, I know it's a big difference...my bad. :sweatdrop: Anyway, thanks for the help! Don't worry, I won't discontinue it!
Ok, here's a little heads-up for those of you who have weak stomachs: there's throwing up later in this chapter, and I'm pretty sure that the majority of you know who's doing the vomiting. And this chappie starts off in Wolfwood's point of view. On another note, y'all know the rule: No flames, no claims, flames'll be used on Vicious, me no own, you no sue. Now, ONWARD TO CHAPPIE TWOOOO!
Chapter II
Morning came swiftly, finding me sprawled out on my bed, blankets kicked off (as usual). I was awakened by the sound of heavy breathing, and glanced over at Vash's bed. To my surprise, there he was on the floor beside his bed, doing his routine morning exercises.
"Um...Spikey?"
"Yeah?"
"You sure you're well enough to do that?"
Vash stared at me blankly, "What d'you mean 'well enough?' "
"I mean, aren't you still sick?"
"What're you talking about? I'm fine!" Vash replied in confusion.
"Don't you even remember being sick last night?"
"...I was?"
"Yes, in fact, you were, Vash; quit playing stupid."
"I'm not playing stupid! I don't know what you're talking about!"
Just as I opened my mouth to snap back at him, I noticed the look of pure confusion on his face, and abruptly closed it with a, "Never mind...but do you remember anything about last night?"
"No; why?"
"...no reason..." He probably doesn't even remember that kiss...
With that, Vash sat up and padded off to the bathroom, coming back shortly afterward with a towel draped around his shoulders. He sat down on his bed and, wiping sweat from his face, said, "We'd better move on before we get held back...and before the girls find out that we're leaving; I don't want to drag them into trouble, too."
I nodded groggily, stretching like a cat before swinging my legs over the side of my bed. In no time, both of us were up and dressed, but just as we were about to go, Millie and Meryl appeared in our doorway, packed and ready to go.
'Damn those thin walls; they must've overheard us,' I cursed mentally.
Without further ado, we trudged outside to find out that we had missed the bus, and set out to travel those few iles between this town and the next on foot. Just as we left, I cought a satellite report filtering out of a bar's open window:
"...local engineers were astounded late last night when the supposedly 'dead' plants awoke, and all other plants that were striken with the virus instantly revived themselves...unable to explain the amazing recovery..."
--------(shift of POV)--------
(flashback)
The first time it happened, I lost 'conciousness' and had more or less of a 'seizure.' All those doctors had flooded into my room, and the immence flow of thoughts buffeted my mind like hurricane winds. They were all fascinated by me. I didn't know why; they just were. Perhaps it was the fact that I had been born 'asleep' that intrigued them. Or maybe it was because I didn't have to eat or exercise like they did; I ate by absorbing nutrients through my skin, and I exercised by thinking of running and jumping and walking. Or maybe it was because Mama and Papa left me. Anyway, they always wanted to conduct experaments on me; however, I didn't allow it. Each time they approached me with a scalpel, I blocked out their thoughts from mine and made them drop their vile instruments on the floor. It took me 3 years to perfect this ability, and it took them those same 3 years to come to the realization that no matter how hard they tried, they would never be able to touch me. When they all came to the same realization, they left me in a dark room, suspended in a large tank of blue liquid.
They forgot about me, and for a year, I lay dormant in that dark room. No one visited me, save the occasional nurse. From those nurses, however, I learned, and by the time I was 4 years of age, I knew more than a human man who was 5 times older than me.
In that year of seclusion, I gathered information of the 'outside world' from the minds of the nurses that visited me. I learned of the binary suns, the vast desert landscape, and of the many moons. I didn't like the landscape I learned of, but one day, I learned of the landscapes that one elderly nurse had read about in a book. These landscapes were on a planet named 'Earth.' With these new images fresh in my mind, I began to create my own world. When I started building it, it was nothing but a vast expance of darkness with me floating in the center of it all. In time, I completed it, and learned how to make its landscape change to a different one. My world's sky was dark navy-black, and floating across it were dark, whispy violet clouds; there were 5 moons, and little pinpricks of light called 'stars' dotting the dark sky. I could make grassy fields, change them to white sandy beaches with water gently lapping the shore, then make them into a vast savannah plain with bulging stout baobab trees here and there, and there were several more landscapes I could mention, but won't take the time to now.
Also, during the time I was shut off from the rest of the world, I became more and more aware of the strange powers I posessed. I learned how to do more than just make people drop things; in time, I learned how to cause unnatural occurrences in places several iles away. I tested these powers on the doctors who once tormented me; the tables were turned, and it was I who was conducting experaments on them. For one doctor, I made his house catch fire, killing him and his family in the inferno. For another, I made him gruesomly kill himself. For yet another, I created an unidentified virus in him, eventually making him die from a benign brain tumor.
That all changedthe day whenOnii-chan came to take me away from that terrible hospital.
When he entered my room, I became frightened, and thinking he was a doctor, sent a shockwave of pain at him; I don't know how, but he evaded it. I began to panic as he came closer to my glass prison, and screamed frantically at him in my mind. Then, he sent a mental picture to me, and appeared in the world in my mind.
I ran through a forest as fast as my legs could carry me, and, feeling helpless, I stopped, crouched down beside an oak tree, curled into a ball, and began to cry in frustration and fear. He said quietly, "It's alright, Aislinn; I'm not here to hurt you."
"Please, leave me alone! I don't want you here! Just go away!"
"Aislinn..."
I looked up at him, blinking back tears. His face was like that of a young adult, devoid of wrinkles, and his eyes were an astounding shade of icy blue. His hair was short, brushed back and spiked up, light, and blonde with a darker blonde blaze in the front. He knelt down in front of me and extended a hand. I tried to move away from him, but I was trapped between him and the oak tree.
"No...please don't touch me!"
"It's alright; I'm not another doctor. I'm not going to hurt you; I promise."
I cringed as I felt his hand brush against my tear-dampened cheek, but slowly relaxed as he wiped my tears away. As my sobs softened, I murmured, "How do you know my name?"
"I've been watching you for a long time now; you're a very special girl."
"You're not...going to experament on me, are you?"
"No; as I said, I'm not going to hurt you."
"Then...why're you here?"
"I came to take you away from this place, and I want to know if you'd like to help me."
"H-Help you...with what?"
(end of flashback)
That was a couple months ago. I don't live in the hospital any more; I now live with Onii-chan. I live in a different tank full of blue fluid, but this fluid is essential to me; it supplies me with nutrients.
Meanwhile in the world in my mind, I ran across sand dunes, Onii-chan following behind me. My long white-blonde hair and white dress flowed behind me in the wind as I ran. As we came to the beach, Onii-chan said, "I have a question about last night, Aislinn."
"Yes, ani?"
"You didn't really 'kill' the Plants, did you?"
"No, I didn't; don't worry. I only made them 'sleep' until I found out that your brother was leaving the town." I came to where the waves met the shore, and raised my hands, creating a tidal wave. Onii-chan wasn't fazed at all; he had witnessed me doing this before. The tidal wave crashed down upon us, but we weren't thrown back, nor did we suffocate; instead, we walked along the ocean floor, watching as various species of marine life swam around us. As I ran my hand over the smooth skin of a passing dolphin, I continued, "And don't worry; I didn't do much to your brother."
"I hope you didn't use too much of your hate and anger on him."
"Actually, that was only a little taste of it. I could've done worse to him, but I decided that just a little bit of hate was enough for then."
"And you'll use more next time?"
"Right. And a bit more after that, and so on."
"As long as you don't kill him..."
"I won't. I'll follow your wishes: to make him feel the pain and suffering of the consiquences of his actions. And to give him a taste of the sinners that make up mankind." I scowled as I thought of those stupid doctors and of how Mama and Papa abandoned me.
Then, a multi-colored fish approached us. My scowl quickly changed to a smile as I reached up to touch him; however, the fish was swimming too high for me to reach. Seeing this, Onii-chan picked me up, lifting me to the fish. I put up my index finger, giggling as the fish came closer and 'kissed' it. Onii-chan smiled and said, "Someday, Aislinn, you'll get to see real animals."
"But if I see real animals, then there'll be real people. And the people will become interested in me and try to dissect me like those doctors."
"I'll die before I allow someone to hurt you."
"...I don't want you to die, Onii-chan."
"Then I won't. And by the way, what do you have planned for my brother today, Aislinn?"
"You'll see. You'll see, Onii-chan."
--------(shift of POV: Wolfwood's POV)--------
We continued to trudge through the desert, and though we had been walking for about two hours now, we still hadn't cought sight of the next town on the horizon. The suns were steadily getting worse as their rays beat down on our backs, and I mused that it was only a matter of time until we all ran out of water, shrivelled up, and died from dehydration.
"This is all your fault." Meryl grumbled at Vash and I.
"Our fault! How the hell is it our fault!" I snapped back.
"If you two hadn't slept in, we wouldn't have missed the bus!"
"We weren't planning on travelling with you anyway!"
The day dragged on with arguements and the occasional game to take the edge off our boredom. We tried "I Spy"...
"Ok, I spy with my little eye..."
"Sand."
"Oh! You got it again, Sempai! How're you so good at this game?"
"Because sand, rocks, the sky, and the suns are pretty much the only things I can spy."
...then we tried, "Rock, Paper, Scissors," but that game lost interest pretty quickly. We tried telling jokes, but it was a matter of time until we ran out of jokes to tell. Then, we gave up altogether on games and travelled on in silence.
As the day wore on, I reflected upon the past day's turn of events. What made Vash so sick? Did he get it from the plants? Was it just a coincidence that he was sick the same time the plants were? Did he really forget all that happened last night? I wished I knew the answers to these questions.
While I mulled over these several answerless questions, I failed to realize that something wasn't right. The suns were getting worse, and it was slowly nearing the afternoon, the hottest time of day. I was yanked out of my train of thought when Millie remarked, "Um...Sempai? Are you alright?"
I glanced up at the girls, my eyes trailing down to the shortest of the two. As she turned to reply, I realized that Meryl's face was flushed red, sweat gleamed on her face, and she looked exhausted.
"Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me!"
"But you're sweating so much, Sempai; it's not normal!"
"Um...it's nothing, really! I'm fine! It's just a little hot out here, that's all..."
The taller girl rested a hand on Meryl's forehead and replied, "But you're not ok; you're burning up!"
"Millie, I said I'm fine!" Meryl grumbled, brushing the other girl's hand away. It was in a matter of time that she began to lag behind the rest of us, staggering and breathing heavily. She was even too tired to protest when Millie wrapped her arm around her partner's shoulders, half-supporting her and half-helping her to walk. A little after this, Millie broke the silence with, "Vash-san? Are you feeling ok?"
With that, I turned to look over at Vash; he was looking as sick as Meryl, if not worse. Beads of sweat trickled sluggishly down his face, his face was almost the color of his coat, and he was breathing heavily, his half-lidded eyes fixed on the ground. Vash lethargically turned his head to the tall girl, smiled weakly, and replied, "Yeah; don't worry 'bout me. I'm peachy-keen!" However, in a matter of minutes, he proved himself wrong.
Vash froze and hunched over slightly, a moan slipping from his lips as his hand travelled to his stomach. A second later, he gagged and fell on all fours, vomiting violently in the sand. I almost gagged myself when I saw him throw up, but that notorious reflex was quickly stifled when blood suddenly splattered into the mess that was once the outlaw's breakfast. Pushing aside my disgust, I approached Vash and knelt down beside him, rubbing his back and telling him that it was going to be alright, though I wasn't sure if that was true or not. Vash nodded shakily, and after a minute or two more, the wave of sickness passed, and I was finally able to help him up to his feet. As I kicked clean sand over the soiled sand, Vash glanced over at Millie and moaned miserably, "No, Millie; I'm not ok."
After this brief interlude, we continued on, me holding one of Vash's arms around my shoulder and holding a strap connected to my cross with one hand, and my other arm wrapped around Vash's waist, keeping him from falling. For a long time, Vash was silent, and I payed no attention to this at first.
When he went limp, I was almost certain that something was wrong.
At first, I thought Vash had just fallen asleep, and kept walking. Then I cought a glimps of his face; his eyes were closed as if he were asleep, however, I noticed that his face was an unnatural shade of pale blue. I strained my ears to listen for the sound of his breathing. I didn't hear anything but the desert wind, the muted crunch of sand beneath our feet, and my own heartbeat. My breath cought in my throat when I realized what was wrong with him.
"Hold on," I called back to the girls, coming to a stop.
"What is it, Wolfwood-san?" Millie replied.
"Something's wrong..."
"What...?"
"Something's wrong with Vash."
With that, I gently lie Vash down on the ground before me and knelt down beside him. I leaned down and pressed my ear to his chest; his heartbeat was faint and fluttering, but I didn't feel his chest rise or fall.
"He isn't breathing," I murmured, half to myself and half to the girls.
Then it hit me. Vash had been throwing up earlier, right? And there was blood in there too, right? I knew what happened: as Vash was throwing up, his throat became inflamed and narrowed. Later, the blood started clotting in his throat, eventually causing him to pass out from lack of oxygen.
I didn't care that Millie and Meryl were watching, nor how awkward they might have thought it was. I knew what had to be done, and I was going to help Vash no matter what. With that, I reached over and tilted Vash's head back a bit, and with no further ado, pressed my mouth against his, literally breathing into him. I paused after three breaths and searched for signs of him breathing on his own. My first attempt at reviving him failed, and before I met his mouth with mine once again, I hissed, "C'mon, Spikey; breathe already!"
For several minutes, I tried over and over again to get him to breathe, and was eventually rewarded with a series of forceful hacks from Vash, coughing up dried blood. However, Vash didn't wake up. I tried to shake him awake, but that didn't work either. I began to panic; I knew that if I didn't get Vash to a hospital within an hour, he'd go into a coma. I turned to Millie, about to tell her what was going on. I didn't even have to open my mouth; she nodded, immediatly understanding the urgency of the situation. With that, I gathered the unconcious Vash in my arms (Millie gotmy Cross for me; there was no way I would be able to carry it), and we set off at a sprint (Meryl somehow finding the strength to run), keeping an eye out for signs of a town in the distance.
As I ran, I glanced down at Vash, who, if one didn't know better, looked as if he was sleeping.
"Hang in there, Vash..."
((wtf did j00 du 2 me!)) --U No, not to you, DV. To Vash in the fanfic. ((same diff.)) Not really. ((...char torturer.)) Moose. ((st0p m00sin' meh!)) :sigh: BTW, "Onii-chan" and "ani" both mean "big brother" in Japanese. Waaaah...I'm such a bad fangirl...but that's the way the story goes...now don't kill me, fellow Vash fangirls! And leave nice reviews!
:hides in a bomb shelter: