|
--------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER NINE: FRUITLESS DESIGNS (cont3) Waking suddenly from a most pleasant dream, Knives found that, to his dismay, Vanessa was summoning his angel arm. He quickly willed the knives into feathers to prevent serious damage. However, the power of her formation in his arm was overwhelming, holding him to the effort against his wishes. He couldn't resist the pull, as he fell into memories long past. His life literally flashed before his eyes in the instant. Rem smiled happily all the time. At Vash, and at Knives, but most sweetly at Vash. Knives was ashamed of his brother's immaturity in all things, and annoyed by Rem's flawed courses of logic, but he still enjoyed the serene life they'd found on this ship. That is, until he and Vash wandered into the Tessla files. In horror, they had hidden from Rem, and only after drama did they return to her arms. But Knives was only acting as if he forgave her. The insult was too dire and deep to ever be forgiven. Watching the SEEDS fall like rain, he argued and battled his brother. Still overwhelmed with anger, he had let Vash storm off with a newly blackened eye. But this was a move he came to regret. At first, he was glad to be rid of his obnoxious brother. But loneliness and curiosity drove him to employ humans for the first time. Once in a while, some human would stumble upon his isolated ship wreckage, but instead of killing them like usual, he decided to keep a few. He would frighten the Hell out of them and send them off to locate Vash. The few that returned were of little help, since once Knives traveled to the said location Vash was usually long gone. Through simple coincidence, Knives found that Vash was searching for the same scientist Knives needed for plant expertise. There, in July, Knives forced Vash to angel arm. And he was heartbroken when Vash turned the cannon on him. Most of his body unusable, Knives forced humans to help him into a plant for healing. All this time, Knives stewed in pure angst. It was during this healing that Legato and his infamous Gung-Ho Guns were dispatched against Vash. But after the Fifth Moon incident, Knives' heart had softened. He was frustrated with his brother's pacifist mentality, and chose to cause him 'ultimate suffering' rather than death. Over these trying years, Vash's philosophy scarcely held out. In the end, Knives succumbed in a fight against Vash. Just barely. Then began the captivity. Knives knew his brother enjoyed watching him slowly surrender to the infection. But Vanessa wandered in, and everything changed. Despite his disgust against humanity, he found her intriguing. And when he'd found she was a plant child, he had tripped over himself in the excitement. Immediately, he had begun to plan out their children's births alongside the destruction of the human race. But getting her cooperation was more complicated than he'd hoped. After seeing her scars and overreacting to them, he began to ponder her angel weapon abilities, given the circumstances. Assuming his actions led them to leave the town, he was taken happily to Vanessa's cave. Surely there she would bent to his will. But she did not. And he was sure that after she realized her angel weapon's potential she would agree to join him. But after the blood loss and tears, he came to find a side of himself that could force her into no more. Knives decided on a more passive stance. Though she insisted on using her tricks against him, he allowed it. He found only a little shame in crying to his brother, since it was making Vanessa closer to him. This sort of gentle affection was a welcomed comfort, albeit foreign. She would hold him for hours as they spoke, and even let him flip through that intriguing book of hers while they sat. Thoroughly studying each of her books, he discovered how to interpret the markings and designs she had written into the pages of her book. But this, like most things, he kept to himself. Her book could be useful later, and so long as she refrained from using it to weaken him, he would allow her to keep it. Knives began to grow confident in himself and his relationship with Vanessa. He had reluctantly allowed them to journey to March and intermingle with the disgusting human pests. All was tolerated in hopes of Vanessa finally consummating their relationship. Why wouldn't she want to perpetuate the race? Against all logic and duty, she rejected his advances. In frustration, he had her agree to bear his children when humans are gone from Gunsmoke. All seemed right again, and Knives was happy to await the day. After all, he had lived for 150 years, and this wait would surely be less than a year. He could feasibly accomplish both his goal to rid himself of the human race and create more plant children. But when he had come to the sickening realization that Vanessa's attachment to Vash could jeopardize his own chances at fatherhood, he had to stop the charade. He promptly burned the book and took Vanessa into the desert. After working out his anger on that puny village, he gained the patience to forgive Vanessa. Since then, he had been wandering with her. They had to avoid Vash. It was for Vanessa's own good. And she couldn't know Knives' plans for the rescue ships, lest she come to harm in their defense. As quickly as it had begun, the memories ceased. Knives' formation fell back into his skin, and he found himself sweating and panting from the effort once more. Using his angel arm energy drained him physically each time, but the only permanent injury was the addition of a few black hairs to his preexistent collection. However, knowing that Vanessa had brought it this time…It was completely unexpected on his part. He snapped from his stupor to the equaled sounds of fatigue from beside him. He turned, arm still pinned beneath her, and checked her for injury. Struggling through blurred eyes, he attempted to focus on her delicate form. Impatiently, he reached up with his free hand and yanked the tent material away. There. More light. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the additional illumination of five moons. Her face was turned away and still nestled into his hand. It felt warm. Strangely warm. And sticky. Carefully, he pulled his hand from her face, and felt the chill of air against moist skin. His heart skipped several beats and a gasp of horror escaped from deep within his chest. Atop the depressing pile of melancholy memories he was newly reminded of, he could add this new one. Everywhere his hand and arm had touched her was warm and wet. Vanessa's face was covered in blood. And he could feel more of the same against the full length of his left arm. |
||||
NEXT SECTION: http://hometown.aol.com/artchick12/cornered1.html
HOMEPAGE: http://hometown.aol.com/artchick12/myhomepage/index.html