Whoo, short break this time, because I'm about to end up with a long break while I move into the parent's basement. Ah, gotta love economics.
Disclaimer: Money isn't everything, but it does help to have it.
Rise of the Silver Stars
Chapter 6: Moving Out
He was surrounded by idiots. Spiders and idiots. His brother certainly took the lead this time- not only had he made a written record of his activities without any sort of encryption, but he actually made it public. He had actually gone to great lengths to insure that it would be widely disseminated into the general population! Worse still, Vash didn't leave out anything to safeguard his own brother's identity. Well, it was done, and he would just have to control the damage as best he could. Still, he would have to get Vash to halt these insanely bad schemes he would cook up in that too-little brain.
At least the small pet spider agreed with him. It was, of course, for entirely the wrong reasons, not to mention the length of time it took for her to realize that she had been compromised by that book. It had taken prompting from her larger spider organization to make her realize, and of course the first thing she was thinking of was her own unimportant issues. Job loss, indeed. There would be much graver consequences, but the idea most likely was too complex for her inferior brain. At the very least, she should remain quiet- he wasn't voicing his concerns for the whole nest of spiders to hear. He would wait until only the bare minimum were in earshot, which would probably include the two females since dear brother wasn't about to abandon them like he ought to. He thought about snapping her vocal cords, but Vash would become agitated, and he still wasn't able to confront his brother just yet. Thus, he just tuned the babblings out like the random noise they were.
¤ ¤ ¤
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?!"
"Start and I'll tell you when to stop."
"I'm sorryI'msorryI'msorry.."
Ooh boy, he'd done it now. Meryl was really angry with him this time. Things had been going great until that letter from Bernardelli arrived. It contained recall orders for Meryl but not Milly, along with specific instructions not to inform Vash the Stampede of the recall or to bring him along. Of course, between her habit of reading correspondence out loud, and since he had been right there when she opened the letter, he knew anyway. The letter made it quite clear that the company didn't approve of employees having personal relationships with disasters, no matter if they were ruggedly handsome ones like himself. Thus they were here, loading up the truck Knives had repaired to head to the nearest sand steamer route. She would take the steamer back to the head office while the rest of them would head towards Inepril City. It wasn't the best of circumstances to be parting under, but at least they'd be able to meet up again. Considering what the two of them had, he knew that if she had to choose, she would choose him over her job. Assuming he could grovel enough to work through her anger...
She finally held up her hand and he took his mouth off autopilot. She still wasn't talking to him, ever since the initial outburst when she had quite a few choice words for him, several of which he was sure weren't in any dictionary. After that, she would just turn her nose up at him and make a loud "Hmph!" whenever he tried to start a conversation. Milly would just frown at them, which was somehow worse than if she had said anything about it. It was getting to both of them, hence their latest bit of interaction. It had barely been a full day since their spat started, and Meryl was already starting to soften up. Of course, the breakfast in bed, the laundry, the foot rub, and the loading he was doing for her right now might have also played a part, but they all fell far short of the effect Milly's frowns had.
Then there was Knives. He wasn't saying a word about the book though he hung on to it at all times. There had also been the mysterious fire that burned all the other copies at the general store, and he knew Knives was somehow behind it. Unfortunately, the townsfolk didn't even suspect Knives, instead casting fearful glances at him if they dared to show up at all. He really should have specified that Knives wasn't supposed to be destroying property, but from the way Knives glared at the people he supposed that a few burned items was probably pretty good for his brother. At least the town wasn't a smoldering ruin yet, though Knives was running short of patience. It was just as well that they'd be on the move, the solitude of the desert would help replenish some of his brother's too-small reserve, and then Inepril should work wonders as the people there weren't absolutely terrified of the humanoid typhoon. Maybe Knives would finally get to see the good side of humanity.
A clanking brought his attention back to the house they had shared for the past few months. Milly was bringing out the last of their possessions, and had 'Nicholas' slung across her back. As she turned from the door, her gaze met Knives'. They both stared for a second, then Knives broke it off with a turn of the head and a 'Hmph'. Despite the somber attitude that surrounded Milly at the moment, he cracked a faint inner smile at Knives' reaction. That head turn and 'hmph' had Meryl written all over them. He'd needle Knives about that once they split up, he was picking up things from the girls even if he didn't admit it. Milly came around to the back and stowed her burden, meaning they could leave at any time. Knives started for the front, but was cut off my Meryl.
"Oh no you don't. You're riding in the back with the rest of the luggage."
Knives just growled, and brought his hand back as if to slap her out of his way. He reached up and grabbed his brothers hand.
"We'll just be catching up on old times in the back, you two can have the front."
He pulled his brother up to the truck bed. Knives glared at Meryl one more time, then hopped into the back without further delay. He climbed up after him, then the truck doors slammed and the engine started up. They were off.
¤ ¤ ¤
It had been fairly quiet. There wasn't much traffic in or out of the town besides the supply wagon, so there was little demand for his services. He enjoyed the quiet- that meant the Typhoon hadn't started to blow down the area. Yet. Still, he wasn't about to rest easy until Vash the Stampede was gone. The fire that burned all the books on him at the general store was the first destructive thing he had heard of him doing since he blew into the town, but that somehow only made it all worse. What horrible atrocities had been in those volumes that made him have to destroy them? From the stories, probably plenty. He had to suppress a shiver that crept down his back.
He heard an engine approach from the town center, and got up to the pump, ready to fill up whoever was about to leave. As the truck got closer, he could see that the Stampede's women were in it. Damn. Well, if they were going, he'd hurry them along. At least the Stampede wasn't with them. They pulled up next to the pump, and the short one just said "Fill it up." There was a hint of anger around her, so he hurried to stick the nozzle in the gastank and started the pump. It dinged every gallon as the tank filled, and he willed it to go faster. Then he noticed there was someone looking down at him from the truck bed. It wasn't the Stampede, but that was more the look he'd expect from the Stampede. Those cold blue eyes looked down at him with contempt, as if judging him unworthy of being under that gaze. He fidgeted nervously until the pump clicked off, then he read off the price without thinking.
The small girl rapped on the back window of the truck cab. "Hey Vash! The money's back there!"
Vash? "Dammitdammitdammit!" The Typhoon was with them after all, just laying down in the back! He watched in horror as the Typhoon got up and rummaged through the bags then turned to him with a wad of double dollars.
"Hey, aren't you the fellow I saw-"
He panicked. "It's free! Just take it!"
"Gee, that's awful generous of you mister. You sure?"
"Yes!"
The Typhoon thankfully turned away from him and to the other man with the cold blue eyes. "See Knives? There are plenty of generous people in the world. Start it up ladies!"
"Knives?" He gulped. Figures that the Typhoon wouldn't have just anyone in his gang, but a name like that just begged for trouble. The truck roared to life and headed off, out of town towards LR. The other girl stuck her head and an arm out and waved goodbye to him with a giant smile on her face. The Typhoon had left, and he was still breathing. His hand shook as he replaced the nozzle then staggered back into the shade of the utility shed. He had managed to survive a meeting with the Humanoid Typhoon. "Thank you God!" he proclaimed, then promptly passed out under the shed's overhang.
¤ ¤ ¤
The town slipped over the horizon, indicating that they were safe for the moment. That last spider had shown proper subservience to them. He made a note that when he was finally able to kill him, he'd make it swift and painless. But for now, he was still bound by his promise to his brother, so it permitted it to continue living. There were other matters he needed to discuss with Vash. He brought out the book.
"We need to talk."
"Have you read it? What do you think? Quite the story, isn't it?"
"You idiot!" he bellowed. "What were you thinking that possessed you to do something so irresponsible!"
"Well if you don't like it, you don't have to read it! Give a guy a break!"
He toyed with the idea of doing just that, but he didn't quite have the strength back to break any bones. Instead, he elaborated. "I don't care about reading your silly prattles. What I do care about is that you revealed to everyone just what we are! They're going to hunt us down, and you don't seem to realize just how much danger we're in!"
"Actually, I do."
"What?" "Explain."
"Some of them won't be able to leave the past behind. They'll come after us, but I'm not going to run. I'm all done with running. That's why I wrote that on the last page."
He hadn't read that far in. Wondering what new level of idiocy his brother had attained, he flipped the book open and turned to the last page.
"If anyone still feels that I have to die after knowing my story, you can find me on top of the large mountain 15 iles south of Inepril City on the fourth day of Heat. I'll be waiting."
Something between a scream and a groan escaped his throat. He yanked Vash up by the collar, pain in the limbs be dammed. "Tell me you aren't actually going to do that! Tell me!"
"Sorry brother, but as I said, I'm all done with running. Maybe they'll kill me, maybe they won't. I really don't know. But I'm going to face them. I'm tired of being hunted."
He dropped Vash. This was too much, even for him. However, as he thought about it, the possibilities began to show themselves. Perhaps his brother had finally seen some of the truth he had been trying to teach him. Rig the mountain with explosives, and he could be rid of the most dangerous portion of his pursuers. There was certainly time to set the trap- they had nearly a full month. That still didn't excuse him from the other gross faults he had made, most glaringly the true nature of the plants. The spiders would bite now, sinking their fangs into his helpless sisters. Now that the truth was out, they'd be slaughtered as the spiders reacted out of fear at the knowledge of their own inferiority. Of course, they'd then die by the masses without the ability to suck off his race's lifeblood. It wasn't how he'd planned to eliminate the pests, but they'd be gone all the same. It was similar to how he had initially planned to dispose of them with the ship drop. He'd just have to scrap his plans to save at least a fraction of his sisters. Time was on his side again. He'd make this world a paradise yet, all for just him and his brother.
I hate to say it, but writing Knives is fun. Too bad the next chapter won't be involving him- we're going to follow Meryl. Joy! /sings Gir's Doom song/
Reviewer Responses
El Hustino: I rather like to jump into the bit players, mostly because it provides a new view of the characters. It makes the world more 'real', I think.
Sorian: And after all that work, too. Poor Vash. He gets no breaks on my watch >:)
Luna-Kitsune-Blu: You sound familiar. I think the Voices mentioned you at some point. The Voices mention lots of things. (Oh, and check out my other Trigun fic, it's more 'during' if you like that, if a bit short.)
SapphireWhiteTigress: Yep, snooky woogums. I blame my semi-autonomous fingers.
Disclaimer: Money isn't everything, but it does help to have it.
Rise of the Silver Stars
Chapter 6: Moving Out
He was surrounded by idiots. Spiders and idiots. His brother certainly took the lead this time- not only had he made a written record of his activities without any sort of encryption, but he actually made it public. He had actually gone to great lengths to insure that it would be widely disseminated into the general population! Worse still, Vash didn't leave out anything to safeguard his own brother's identity. Well, it was done, and he would just have to control the damage as best he could. Still, he would have to get Vash to halt these insanely bad schemes he would cook up in that too-little brain.
At least the small pet spider agreed with him. It was, of course, for entirely the wrong reasons, not to mention the length of time it took for her to realize that she had been compromised by that book. It had taken prompting from her larger spider organization to make her realize, and of course the first thing she was thinking of was her own unimportant issues. Job loss, indeed. There would be much graver consequences, but the idea most likely was too complex for her inferior brain. At the very least, she should remain quiet- he wasn't voicing his concerns for the whole nest of spiders to hear. He would wait until only the bare minimum were in earshot, which would probably include the two females since dear brother wasn't about to abandon them like he ought to. He thought about snapping her vocal cords, but Vash would become agitated, and he still wasn't able to confront his brother just yet. Thus, he just tuned the babblings out like the random noise they were.
¤ ¤ ¤
"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?!"
"Start and I'll tell you when to stop."
"I'm sorryI'msorryI'msorry.."
Ooh boy, he'd done it now. Meryl was really angry with him this time. Things had been going great until that letter from Bernardelli arrived. It contained recall orders for Meryl but not Milly, along with specific instructions not to inform Vash the Stampede of the recall or to bring him along. Of course, between her habit of reading correspondence out loud, and since he had been right there when she opened the letter, he knew anyway. The letter made it quite clear that the company didn't approve of employees having personal relationships with disasters, no matter if they were ruggedly handsome ones like himself. Thus they were here, loading up the truck Knives had repaired to head to the nearest sand steamer route. She would take the steamer back to the head office while the rest of them would head towards Inepril City. It wasn't the best of circumstances to be parting under, but at least they'd be able to meet up again. Considering what the two of them had, he knew that if she had to choose, she would choose him over her job. Assuming he could grovel enough to work through her anger...
She finally held up her hand and he took his mouth off autopilot. She still wasn't talking to him, ever since the initial outburst when she had quite a few choice words for him, several of which he was sure weren't in any dictionary. After that, she would just turn her nose up at him and make a loud "Hmph!" whenever he tried to start a conversation. Milly would just frown at them, which was somehow worse than if she had said anything about it. It was getting to both of them, hence their latest bit of interaction. It had barely been a full day since their spat started, and Meryl was already starting to soften up. Of course, the breakfast in bed, the laundry, the foot rub, and the loading he was doing for her right now might have also played a part, but they all fell far short of the effect Milly's frowns had.
Then there was Knives. He wasn't saying a word about the book though he hung on to it at all times. There had also been the mysterious fire that burned all the other copies at the general store, and he knew Knives was somehow behind it. Unfortunately, the townsfolk didn't even suspect Knives, instead casting fearful glances at him if they dared to show up at all. He really should have specified that Knives wasn't supposed to be destroying property, but from the way Knives glared at the people he supposed that a few burned items was probably pretty good for his brother. At least the town wasn't a smoldering ruin yet, though Knives was running short of patience. It was just as well that they'd be on the move, the solitude of the desert would help replenish some of his brother's too-small reserve, and then Inepril should work wonders as the people there weren't absolutely terrified of the humanoid typhoon. Maybe Knives would finally get to see the good side of humanity.
A clanking brought his attention back to the house they had shared for the past few months. Milly was bringing out the last of their possessions, and had 'Nicholas' slung across her back. As she turned from the door, her gaze met Knives'. They both stared for a second, then Knives broke it off with a turn of the head and a 'Hmph'. Despite the somber attitude that surrounded Milly at the moment, he cracked a faint inner smile at Knives' reaction. That head turn and 'hmph' had Meryl written all over them. He'd needle Knives about that once they split up, he was picking up things from the girls even if he didn't admit it. Milly came around to the back and stowed her burden, meaning they could leave at any time. Knives started for the front, but was cut off my Meryl.
"Oh no you don't. You're riding in the back with the rest of the luggage."
Knives just growled, and brought his hand back as if to slap her out of his way. He reached up and grabbed his brothers hand.
"We'll just be catching up on old times in the back, you two can have the front."
He pulled his brother up to the truck bed. Knives glared at Meryl one more time, then hopped into the back without further delay. He climbed up after him, then the truck doors slammed and the engine started up. They were off.
¤ ¤ ¤
It had been fairly quiet. There wasn't much traffic in or out of the town besides the supply wagon, so there was little demand for his services. He enjoyed the quiet- that meant the Typhoon hadn't started to blow down the area. Yet. Still, he wasn't about to rest easy until Vash the Stampede was gone. The fire that burned all the books on him at the general store was the first destructive thing he had heard of him doing since he blew into the town, but that somehow only made it all worse. What horrible atrocities had been in those volumes that made him have to destroy them? From the stories, probably plenty. He had to suppress a shiver that crept down his back.
He heard an engine approach from the town center, and got up to the pump, ready to fill up whoever was about to leave. As the truck got closer, he could see that the Stampede's women were in it. Damn. Well, if they were going, he'd hurry them along. At least the Stampede wasn't with them. They pulled up next to the pump, and the short one just said "Fill it up." There was a hint of anger around her, so he hurried to stick the nozzle in the gastank and started the pump. It dinged every gallon as the tank filled, and he willed it to go faster. Then he noticed there was someone looking down at him from the truck bed. It wasn't the Stampede, but that was more the look he'd expect from the Stampede. Those cold blue eyes looked down at him with contempt, as if judging him unworthy of being under that gaze. He fidgeted nervously until the pump clicked off, then he read off the price without thinking.
The small girl rapped on the back window of the truck cab. "Hey Vash! The money's back there!"
Vash? "Dammitdammitdammit!" The Typhoon was with them after all, just laying down in the back! He watched in horror as the Typhoon got up and rummaged through the bags then turned to him with a wad of double dollars.
"Hey, aren't you the fellow I saw-"
He panicked. "It's free! Just take it!"
"Gee, that's awful generous of you mister. You sure?"
"Yes!"
The Typhoon thankfully turned away from him and to the other man with the cold blue eyes. "See Knives? There are plenty of generous people in the world. Start it up ladies!"
"Knives?" He gulped. Figures that the Typhoon wouldn't have just anyone in his gang, but a name like that just begged for trouble. The truck roared to life and headed off, out of town towards LR. The other girl stuck her head and an arm out and waved goodbye to him with a giant smile on her face. The Typhoon had left, and he was still breathing. His hand shook as he replaced the nozzle then staggered back into the shade of the utility shed. He had managed to survive a meeting with the Humanoid Typhoon. "Thank you God!" he proclaimed, then promptly passed out under the shed's overhang.
¤ ¤ ¤
The town slipped over the horizon, indicating that they were safe for the moment. That last spider had shown proper subservience to them. He made a note that when he was finally able to kill him, he'd make it swift and painless. But for now, he was still bound by his promise to his brother, so it permitted it to continue living. There were other matters he needed to discuss with Vash. He brought out the book.
"We need to talk."
"Have you read it? What do you think? Quite the story, isn't it?"
"You idiot!" he bellowed. "What were you thinking that possessed you to do something so irresponsible!"
"Well if you don't like it, you don't have to read it! Give a guy a break!"
He toyed with the idea of doing just that, but he didn't quite have the strength back to break any bones. Instead, he elaborated. "I don't care about reading your silly prattles. What I do care about is that you revealed to everyone just what we are! They're going to hunt us down, and you don't seem to realize just how much danger we're in!"
"Actually, I do."
"What?" "Explain."
"Some of them won't be able to leave the past behind. They'll come after us, but I'm not going to run. I'm all done with running. That's why I wrote that on the last page."
He hadn't read that far in. Wondering what new level of idiocy his brother had attained, he flipped the book open and turned to the last page.
"If anyone still feels that I have to die after knowing my story, you can find me on top of the large mountain 15 iles south of Inepril City on the fourth day of Heat. I'll be waiting."
Something between a scream and a groan escaped his throat. He yanked Vash up by the collar, pain in the limbs be dammed. "Tell me you aren't actually going to do that! Tell me!"
"Sorry brother, but as I said, I'm all done with running. Maybe they'll kill me, maybe they won't. I really don't know. But I'm going to face them. I'm tired of being hunted."
He dropped Vash. This was too much, even for him. However, as he thought about it, the possibilities began to show themselves. Perhaps his brother had finally seen some of the truth he had been trying to teach him. Rig the mountain with explosives, and he could be rid of the most dangerous portion of his pursuers. There was certainly time to set the trap- they had nearly a full month. That still didn't excuse him from the other gross faults he had made, most glaringly the true nature of the plants. The spiders would bite now, sinking their fangs into his helpless sisters. Now that the truth was out, they'd be slaughtered as the spiders reacted out of fear at the knowledge of their own inferiority. Of course, they'd then die by the masses without the ability to suck off his race's lifeblood. It wasn't how he'd planned to eliminate the pests, but they'd be gone all the same. It was similar to how he had initially planned to dispose of them with the ship drop. He'd just have to scrap his plans to save at least a fraction of his sisters. Time was on his side again. He'd make this world a paradise yet, all for just him and his brother.
I hate to say it, but writing Knives is fun. Too bad the next chapter won't be involving him- we're going to follow Meryl. Joy! /sings Gir's Doom song/
Reviewer Responses
El Hustino: I rather like to jump into the bit players, mostly because it provides a new view of the characters. It makes the world more 'real', I think.
Sorian: And after all that work, too. Poor Vash. He gets no breaks on my watch >:)
Luna-Kitsune-Blu: You sound familiar. I think the Voices mentioned you at some point. The Voices mention lots of things. (Oh, and check out my other Trigun fic, it's more 'during' if you like that, if a bit short.)
SapphireWhiteTigress: Yep, snooky woogums. I blame my semi-autonomous fingers.