Ah, time for another installment! Knives is finally going to wake up, let's just hope that he doesn't remember the paper avalanche...
Rise of the Silver Stars
Chapter 4: Awakening
"He'll be aware soon. Get ready."
He hadn't moved anything but his lips to say that, the rest of him remaining so still you could mistake him for a statue. If you looked just close enough, though, you could see the quivers of too-tense muscles, an occasional bead of sweat roll down, or a subtle movement of something under the skin that was just wrong- for a human. She had to give herself a mental slap to stop watching Vash, and instead focus on Knives. Or rather, focus on not focusing on Knives. Vash had given them both a few lessons on protecting themselves from Knives. They weren't in the traditional realm of self-defense, concerned with limbs, blades, and bullets, but in an altogether newer and more frightening realm. Vash alone could handle Knives easily enough on the physical plane, but on the mental plane it was every being for themselves.
The very first time he had given her a lesson, she had nearly ended up strangling him out of fear. Even his 'harmless attack' hurt on that level- A primeval terror gripped her and when she regained her senses, she had one hand constricting around his throat. The outcome had been a draw, even though she had a stranglehold on him, her other hand was doing the same to her neck. Visions of a soft-spoken yellow eyed demon haunted her afterwards, even though she had been spared ever being under his control. If it had been anyone other than Vash who entered her mind, she would have killed them at the first chance she got. It hadn't been much, but being attacked on the physical plane seemed to lose all significance after that one experience.
She did get better- with Vash giving her detailed plans on exactly what he was doing, she figured out what the signs were that another mind was trying to probe hers, and to establish some basic defenses to keep intruders out. Imagining a wall actually did the job fairly well once the intruder was in, and letting her attention wander all over was quite good at preventing any entrance at all- Vash said it was like being in a hallway of locked doors, with different ones always flicking open every time she focused on something. Remain focused on something, and he was able to get in. If she focused on Vash, he said it was like opening a door right next to him- the prefect invitation. Oddly, yet not of much surprise, was that Milly was far more difficult to get a fix on. Well, more like completely impossible. Vash hadn't even been able to find the entrance until one of them mentioned pudding, and right after he did get in he said it was like she had a sand steamer's hull around her and all he had to get through was a wet noodle. Being thickheaded and scatterbrained did have some attractive qualities on this level.
It hadn't been all bad either. After two days of lessons, she found that their dreams started to overlap. It had been the first time she had ever been in a place so green and full of life. It had also been the first time she had been in a place so full of destruction. Memories of the SEEDS ship and July swirled around in his dreams and nightmares. They also saw how each perceived the other, without any of the bounds placed by etiquette or common sense. There were some things uncovered that were terrible and hurting, but what else was there was joyous beyond all description. Before, she would have given her life for him. Now, she would cling to life with unbridled ferocity just to get back to him, even clawing through hell if need be. There was also one other effect that emerged during one of their nightly rendezvous...
She almost giggled right then and there at the memory, but a feeling ran down her spine, signaling that it was time. "Let's see if all that pays off now..." There was a nice cup of water on the bedside table. She wasn't very thirsty. Maybe some of those sandwiches? They were salmon, his favorite. He had on that red coat again, and his old gun. He had retrieved them a while back. He also had that other gun, similar to his but a dull ruddy brown, nearly black. Maybe it had belonged to the man in the bed, with the piercing blue eyes. Blue like the sky, on the clearest days when you looked straight up...
¤ ¤ ¤
His dear brother was waiting. Even in the healing state, he had enough perception to know when he was around, but that was about it. He didn't really expect to have the luck to emerge when his brother would be absent, but emerging would give him considerably more resources to work with. It was a fair trade. The final cycles of the healing state expired, and he could awaken at any time. He would play it quietly to start with- information was top priority.
He emerged and took over the simple task of breathing, taking care that there was absolutely no interruption. Taking advantage of the awakened senses, he smelled that his brother had company. Humans. How demeaning if Vash assumed that meeting humans would influence him in any way. He knew all he needed to know about humans from his Gung-Ho Guns, though his brother was incredibly thickheaded and kept missing their perfect lessons on the nature of humanity. He'd toy with these two, perhaps he could use them for another object lesson on the wretchedness of that pathetic species. Extending his mind out, he began to probe them, only to grow increasingly annoyed. Their minds were slipping away time and time again. Either their minds were too disorganized to allow them any semblance of thought, or...
He let his eyes snap open. There was his brother, looking just as he did during their scuffle, both of their weapons trained at his head when they should have been pointed at those two things that flanked him. He was even letting one of the spiders touch the arm he still had. Disgusting. "So, dear brother, I see you've taught your pets some dangerous tricks..."
¤ ¤ ¤
"Don't notice it, Meryl..."
Hoping that his message made it, even with the substantial benefit of physical contact, he refocused on Knives. There was that smug look again. He was expecting a response, some tirade on the worth of humanity or whatnot that would do a grand total of nothing to his opinions. Instead, he just pulled back the hammers on both guns, noting how Knives' eyes widened a fraction.
"Here's the deal, Knives. I want you to make me a promise."
"A promise? Anything for you, brother."
"I want you to travel around with me for a few months. During that time, I want you to promise that you'll just watch and listen. No fighting, no killing, no mind games."
Knives' grin inverted itself. "You want me to journey around humans without being able to protect myself? They're far too vicious."
"I'll be all the protection you'll need. I'll kill if I have to."
"And should I refuse?"
"You hear what I said. I'll kill if I have to." He nudged the gun barrels to make the point crystal clear.
Knives stared back at him for nearly a minute, their gazes matched in intensity.
"Very well. However, I refuse to have those things in the room while I sleep."
Meryl's grip on his arm let up. Knives had withdrawn his mental probes for the time being. Now, they had one more matter to attend to. He nodded to Milly.
"Mr. Knives?"
Knives crossed his arms over his chest, not moving his gaze from an invisible point in the air over the bed.
"Could you tell me anything about what happened to Wolfwood?"
Knives shifted his gaze back up to meet his eye, giving him a 'Do I have to?' look. "Just answer the question."
He turned to Milly, plastering a cheery expression on his face that was so fake that it made the malice underlying it blaze all the brighter. The movement was so fast that Milly made a little 'eep' noise.
"He did what all of you creatures do- betray and destroy. I had finally rewarded his service with a name and a place in the Gung-Ho Guns, and he threw it all away. Worse, he caused his own teacher, Evergreen the Chapel, to rebel against me. Legato had to force Chapel to carry out my orders, then he had the gall to actually try and harm me! Thus, I crushed him like the worthless spider he was. It was such a nice name too- Nicholas D. Wolfwood, the Ringer of the Black Funeral Bell. Almost a whole breath of air wasted."
Knives settled back, his smug look back in place. Milly had her hands balled up in fists as her eyes threatened to spill over. She started to hyperventilate. Meryl moved over to her side, and rested her hand on Milly's shoulder. At the touch, Milly jumped up and stalked out of the room, only to pause at the doorway and turn back to Knives, fury and sadness conflicting for space in her expression.
"You shouldn't say such mean things! Nicholas was a wonderful man. I'm never going to give you any pudding!"
She whirled around and slammed the door behind her. A moment later, it opened slightly. "I'm sorry Mr. Vash, but he deserves it." Then the door slammed shut again.
That had gone somewhat better than he had expected. Nearly anyone else would have suggested something highly creative, involving plucked-out eyeballs, boiling water, salt, vultures, and a multitude of sharp objects. Then again, no pudding was probably about as nasty a threat as Milly could muster. There wasn't enough room in her for anything nastier with that heart of hers. "Wolfwood, you got a saint..." Then he noticed Meryl about to go into one of her rants, and ushered her out of the room, closing the door behind them.
¤ ¤ ¤
Well, looks like his brother had some skills. He was fairly sure the implied death threat was a gamble, but the doubt would not be expunged. Bluff or not, his brother had managed to get a promise out of him, and he had no intention of breaking it. He'd let Vash handle things his way for a time, hopefully with his own perspective there to expose the real motivations of the humans Vash would finally realize the truth. His dear brother was just a bit slow to catch on. However, if push came to shove, he wasn't about to let any human cause further harm to his brother, even if he had to break the promise. It was for his brother's own good, after all.
At least he had the sense to make sure that the humans he kept were suitably harmless. The large one had no intelligence, with a distinct possibility of mental handicap. That one would be unlikely to pose any danger above a foot being accidentally stepped on. The other one appeared to be somewhat stunted in growth, undoubtedly due to neglect from incompetent parents, and would pose no physical danger without firearms. Unfortunately, she did carry a substantial arsenal. That one would require watching.
Information and immediate action plan established, he extended out to feel the surroundings. One... Two... Three. Good. Still just as many as before. You couldn't trust humans with anything, especially after they lost something to you. He tried to move about, but discovered that his muscles needed a little more rest. Satisfied that he would be undisturbed, his let himself slip into true sleep with only a few triggers to wake him should the humans try anything.
I half made up Wolfwood's Gung-Ho Gun name, and half got it from a line from when he was fighting against Lenovf the Puppetmaster. As to why, well, just say it out loud! It sounds pretty good, at least to my ears. As for future story directions, our players are in position. The cue arrives next chapter, and that's when the act begins...
Reviewer Responses
Sorian: Heh, guess that means I have Vash down almost perfectly.
Yma: I hope Knives lives up (or down) to expectations. It's not a nice place in his head.
Rise of the Silver Stars
Chapter 4: Awakening
"He'll be aware soon. Get ready."
He hadn't moved anything but his lips to say that, the rest of him remaining so still you could mistake him for a statue. If you looked just close enough, though, you could see the quivers of too-tense muscles, an occasional bead of sweat roll down, or a subtle movement of something under the skin that was just wrong- for a human. She had to give herself a mental slap to stop watching Vash, and instead focus on Knives. Or rather, focus on not focusing on Knives. Vash had given them both a few lessons on protecting themselves from Knives. They weren't in the traditional realm of self-defense, concerned with limbs, blades, and bullets, but in an altogether newer and more frightening realm. Vash alone could handle Knives easily enough on the physical plane, but on the mental plane it was every being for themselves.
The very first time he had given her a lesson, she had nearly ended up strangling him out of fear. Even his 'harmless attack' hurt on that level- A primeval terror gripped her and when she regained her senses, she had one hand constricting around his throat. The outcome had been a draw, even though she had a stranglehold on him, her other hand was doing the same to her neck. Visions of a soft-spoken yellow eyed demon haunted her afterwards, even though she had been spared ever being under his control. If it had been anyone other than Vash who entered her mind, she would have killed them at the first chance she got. It hadn't been much, but being attacked on the physical plane seemed to lose all significance after that one experience.
She did get better- with Vash giving her detailed plans on exactly what he was doing, she figured out what the signs were that another mind was trying to probe hers, and to establish some basic defenses to keep intruders out. Imagining a wall actually did the job fairly well once the intruder was in, and letting her attention wander all over was quite good at preventing any entrance at all- Vash said it was like being in a hallway of locked doors, with different ones always flicking open every time she focused on something. Remain focused on something, and he was able to get in. If she focused on Vash, he said it was like opening a door right next to him- the prefect invitation. Oddly, yet not of much surprise, was that Milly was far more difficult to get a fix on. Well, more like completely impossible. Vash hadn't even been able to find the entrance until one of them mentioned pudding, and right after he did get in he said it was like she had a sand steamer's hull around her and all he had to get through was a wet noodle. Being thickheaded and scatterbrained did have some attractive qualities on this level.
It hadn't been all bad either. After two days of lessons, she found that their dreams started to overlap. It had been the first time she had ever been in a place so green and full of life. It had also been the first time she had been in a place so full of destruction. Memories of the SEEDS ship and July swirled around in his dreams and nightmares. They also saw how each perceived the other, without any of the bounds placed by etiquette or common sense. There were some things uncovered that were terrible and hurting, but what else was there was joyous beyond all description. Before, she would have given her life for him. Now, she would cling to life with unbridled ferocity just to get back to him, even clawing through hell if need be. There was also one other effect that emerged during one of their nightly rendezvous...
She almost giggled right then and there at the memory, but a feeling ran down her spine, signaling that it was time. "Let's see if all that pays off now..." There was a nice cup of water on the bedside table. She wasn't very thirsty. Maybe some of those sandwiches? They were salmon, his favorite. He had on that red coat again, and his old gun. He had retrieved them a while back. He also had that other gun, similar to his but a dull ruddy brown, nearly black. Maybe it had belonged to the man in the bed, with the piercing blue eyes. Blue like the sky, on the clearest days when you looked straight up...
¤ ¤ ¤
His dear brother was waiting. Even in the healing state, he had enough perception to know when he was around, but that was about it. He didn't really expect to have the luck to emerge when his brother would be absent, but emerging would give him considerably more resources to work with. It was a fair trade. The final cycles of the healing state expired, and he could awaken at any time. He would play it quietly to start with- information was top priority.
He emerged and took over the simple task of breathing, taking care that there was absolutely no interruption. Taking advantage of the awakened senses, he smelled that his brother had company. Humans. How demeaning if Vash assumed that meeting humans would influence him in any way. He knew all he needed to know about humans from his Gung-Ho Guns, though his brother was incredibly thickheaded and kept missing their perfect lessons on the nature of humanity. He'd toy with these two, perhaps he could use them for another object lesson on the wretchedness of that pathetic species. Extending his mind out, he began to probe them, only to grow increasingly annoyed. Their minds were slipping away time and time again. Either their minds were too disorganized to allow them any semblance of thought, or...
He let his eyes snap open. There was his brother, looking just as he did during their scuffle, both of their weapons trained at his head when they should have been pointed at those two things that flanked him. He was even letting one of the spiders touch the arm he still had. Disgusting. "So, dear brother, I see you've taught your pets some dangerous tricks..."
¤ ¤ ¤
"Don't notice it, Meryl..."
Hoping that his message made it, even with the substantial benefit of physical contact, he refocused on Knives. There was that smug look again. He was expecting a response, some tirade on the worth of humanity or whatnot that would do a grand total of nothing to his opinions. Instead, he just pulled back the hammers on both guns, noting how Knives' eyes widened a fraction.
"Here's the deal, Knives. I want you to make me a promise."
"A promise? Anything for you, brother."
"I want you to travel around with me for a few months. During that time, I want you to promise that you'll just watch and listen. No fighting, no killing, no mind games."
Knives' grin inverted itself. "You want me to journey around humans without being able to protect myself? They're far too vicious."
"I'll be all the protection you'll need. I'll kill if I have to."
"And should I refuse?"
"You hear what I said. I'll kill if I have to." He nudged the gun barrels to make the point crystal clear.
Knives stared back at him for nearly a minute, their gazes matched in intensity.
"Very well. However, I refuse to have those things in the room while I sleep."
Meryl's grip on his arm let up. Knives had withdrawn his mental probes for the time being. Now, they had one more matter to attend to. He nodded to Milly.
"Mr. Knives?"
Knives crossed his arms over his chest, not moving his gaze from an invisible point in the air over the bed.
"Could you tell me anything about what happened to Wolfwood?"
Knives shifted his gaze back up to meet his eye, giving him a 'Do I have to?' look. "Just answer the question."
He turned to Milly, plastering a cheery expression on his face that was so fake that it made the malice underlying it blaze all the brighter. The movement was so fast that Milly made a little 'eep' noise.
"He did what all of you creatures do- betray and destroy. I had finally rewarded his service with a name and a place in the Gung-Ho Guns, and he threw it all away. Worse, he caused his own teacher, Evergreen the Chapel, to rebel against me. Legato had to force Chapel to carry out my orders, then he had the gall to actually try and harm me! Thus, I crushed him like the worthless spider he was. It was such a nice name too- Nicholas D. Wolfwood, the Ringer of the Black Funeral Bell. Almost a whole breath of air wasted."
Knives settled back, his smug look back in place. Milly had her hands balled up in fists as her eyes threatened to spill over. She started to hyperventilate. Meryl moved over to her side, and rested her hand on Milly's shoulder. At the touch, Milly jumped up and stalked out of the room, only to pause at the doorway and turn back to Knives, fury and sadness conflicting for space in her expression.
"You shouldn't say such mean things! Nicholas was a wonderful man. I'm never going to give you any pudding!"
She whirled around and slammed the door behind her. A moment later, it opened slightly. "I'm sorry Mr. Vash, but he deserves it." Then the door slammed shut again.
That had gone somewhat better than he had expected. Nearly anyone else would have suggested something highly creative, involving plucked-out eyeballs, boiling water, salt, vultures, and a multitude of sharp objects. Then again, no pudding was probably about as nasty a threat as Milly could muster. There wasn't enough room in her for anything nastier with that heart of hers. "Wolfwood, you got a saint..." Then he noticed Meryl about to go into one of her rants, and ushered her out of the room, closing the door behind them.
¤ ¤ ¤
Well, looks like his brother had some skills. He was fairly sure the implied death threat was a gamble, but the doubt would not be expunged. Bluff or not, his brother had managed to get a promise out of him, and he had no intention of breaking it. He'd let Vash handle things his way for a time, hopefully with his own perspective there to expose the real motivations of the humans Vash would finally realize the truth. His dear brother was just a bit slow to catch on. However, if push came to shove, he wasn't about to let any human cause further harm to his brother, even if he had to break the promise. It was for his brother's own good, after all.
At least he had the sense to make sure that the humans he kept were suitably harmless. The large one had no intelligence, with a distinct possibility of mental handicap. That one would be unlikely to pose any danger above a foot being accidentally stepped on. The other one appeared to be somewhat stunted in growth, undoubtedly due to neglect from incompetent parents, and would pose no physical danger without firearms. Unfortunately, she did carry a substantial arsenal. That one would require watching.
Information and immediate action plan established, he extended out to feel the surroundings. One... Two... Three. Good. Still just as many as before. You couldn't trust humans with anything, especially after they lost something to you. He tried to move about, but discovered that his muscles needed a little more rest. Satisfied that he would be undisturbed, his let himself slip into true sleep with only a few triggers to wake him should the humans try anything.
I half made up Wolfwood's Gung-Ho Gun name, and half got it from a line from when he was fighting against Lenovf the Puppetmaster. As to why, well, just say it out loud! It sounds pretty good, at least to my ears. As for future story directions, our players are in position. The cue arrives next chapter, and that's when the act begins...
Reviewer Responses
Sorian: Heh, guess that means I have Vash down almost perfectly.
Yma: I hope Knives lives up (or down) to expectations. It's not a nice place in his head.