CHAPTER THREE: INTO ISOLATION (continued2)

Upon arriving at Vanessa's cave home, it was night, and all were weary from the journey.

Vanessa led Vash into the cave's narrow entrance, through a passageway that wound strangely for a moment, until reaching the main chamber. This first main chamber of the cave was dark, and Vanessa asked Vash to stay put as she scurried deeper into the cave. Vash stood on the slippery stone, breathing in an unfamiliar cool, musty air as he heard her climb onto something and wipe at surfaces that sounded like glass. After a time, a soft light began to glow from the rear of the chamber. The moonlight was reflected from the mirrors she had cleaned, coming from a tiny crack in the roof of the cave.

Vash looked up to see a huge tarp fixed to the ceiling, forming a canopy onto which the constantly dripping water was caught. This water ran from the tarp edges and dripped around the foot-high wooden platform in the center of the chamber. Atop the platform, Vanessa lifted a tarp from the various supplies and containers piled onto it. Vash helped her set these things aside, and with everything piled away, she took out an armful of woven mats. "I'll lay these out; you start unloading the cart. We'll need to set up the beds before we can bring him in."

Vash nodded, and began to carry the various cloths and food bags into the cave. He unrolled foam mats and placed them at the edges of the platform. Meeting Vanessa at the cart, they carefully picked up Knives, still wrapped in his bed sheets.

Knives cursed them hoarsely as they carried him into the cave and lay him onto a mat.

"Do you need anything?" Vanessa asked, as she tucked him in for the night.

Knives ran a hand lazily through her hair. "I want to sleep. Will you be beside me as I do?"

Vanessa shivered and stood. "No, everyone sleeps separately here." She took the food bags deeper into the cave, where the pool of cool water and odd fish was. She stocked the food in a secure cabinet by a carving table as Vash squatted by the pond, amazed at the sight. "Fish…How deep is this?"

Vanessa shrugged. "Really deep. But the water's salty, so I filter it through this," she added, gesturing towards a large homemade water filtration device.

Vash followed Vanessa outside the cave. They hitched the tomas to a post and rolled the cart to the cave edge.

Vanessa rubbed her hands together. "Done. But I'm not really sleepy."

"Me neither."

"Oh, you should see the view from up there," Vanessa said, pointing up to the cave top. They climbed up to the flat platform of rock. Vash lay on the cool rock and stared up with his arms cushioning his head, exhausted. Vanessa lay away from him, and sighed. "Pretty, huh?"

"Yep."

Vanessa paused meditatively. "I feel like I have a family now. A really dysfunctional family."

Vash wanted to chuckle, but couldn't. "A real one."

"Hey Vash? How serious is Knives about…" Vanessa struggled for the right words. "How set is he in wanting to expand the family?"

"I don't know," Vash replied, frowning. "But don't worry, I won't let him…"

"Knives has told you what he knows about our species, right? So from what he knows, we can reproduce…" She tried to speak in a medical fashion out of modesty. "Have either of you tried to have children? With humans?"

Vash blushed. "Gosh…no. I love little kids, but a guy like me would make a terrible dad…having to leave all the time so people won't get suspicious of me, when I don't age and all…Have you…?"

"No, no," Vanessa answered quickly. "Who knows what a half-human half-plant would turn out like…"

"We don't even know if us plant children can have kids between us," Vash offered.

"I'm pretty sure we can. Human women have a way of knowing if they can have children; I know I can by the same method. But don't tell Knives, okay?" Vanessa requested, rising and holding her arms close about her. "I don't want him to think that raping me would make him a father."

"I…I won't…" Vash stammered, standing and moving towards her. "I'm sorry…" he tried, lifting his arms to encircle her in a comforting hug.

She pushed him away gently, and moved to climb back down. "We need to rest now."

The next day, Vanessa prepared meals of fish and rice, with dried fruit for dessert, and began to fill the washtub as the men finished their breakfast. This was a large, deep, metal basin, in which a grown adult could fit with enough water to bathe in. Vash helped her carry the bucketfuls of water from the cave pond, and once it was full they waited for the sun to heat the cool water, laying out a large woven mat and towels.

"It'd take all day if we refill it each time; we'll have to share the bathwater," Vanessa reasoned. "Does that sound nasty to you?"

Vash shook his head. "It's okay. You go first."

Vanessa smiled. "Thanks. Go sit inside with Knives; I'll get you when I'm done. In the meantime, could you gather all the dirty sheets and such in that big empty basket? I usually do the wash in the bathwater, too." She looked up to Vash questioningly. "That's not disgusting, is it?"

Vash laughed and shook his head again. "No, we're not that dirty, are we?" He left for the cave and brushed aside his brother's various disturbing comments as he worked.

Vanessa entered the cave later, hair wet, wearing a long, tan sundress as she waited for her usual purple dress to dry.

"Now will you keep me company?" Knives asked her, grinning, as he sat on the platform.

She took the basket from Vash and walked with him outside the cave, calling behind her, "No, I've got work to do."

Vash helped her wash some of the cloths before she left to wring and hang them on a clothesline around the corner. When she was safely out of sight, Vash undressed and bathed. The water was still cool and salty, stinging his old wounds.

After he had finished and changed, Vanessa tossed the remaining cloths into the basin and washed these as well. Vash went into the cave to retrieve his brother. They hobbled along together, Knives dangling from Vash's shoulder much like a rag doll.

"Use your damn legs," Vash muttered.

"They're full of bullet holes thanks to you," Knives replied tragically. He gazed disgustedly at the approaching washtub. "So primitive. And dirty water? You must be joking."

"Wanna take a cold bath instead?" Vash grumbled. He pulled the stinky clothing from his brother as Knives sat on the mat, unyielding. He again lifted his brother on his shoulder and dropped him into the water.

"AAAH!" Knives yelled through gritted teeth. "That…that hurts!" he added, as the salt stung his wounds.

"The salt makes wounds heal faster," Vanessa called from around the corner.

Knives relaxed and took on a more refined countenance. He washed himself, his brother sitting away from him.

Vash was amazed at Knives' growing regard for Vanessa.

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