Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, or any of its characters, and I do not own any characters that any of my characters may resemble in name, description, or behavior.
Chapter 4: Graveyard
Sitting, in the middle of nowhere, inside of a rather large crater, was a ship. Or, more accurately, what used to be a ship. The overall shape of the ex-ship is that of a metal teardrop, sitting nearly perpendicular with the ground. There were gaping holes in the hull, and pieces of metal seemed to be falling off everywhere. It was a good thing that the people of the city no longer lived in the ship, but rather, in a small settlement around the base.
From where they were standing, on a 'gondola' platform attached to the mid-section of the crashed ship, Vash, Alex, Meryl, Millie, and Aesculapius had an excellent view of the old ship, and could make out the remains of one word, "SEEDS" painted on its side.
An eerie quiet had fallen over the platform, broken only by the rhythmic squeak of the platform on the wire, and the equally rhythmic scrape of Vash's mechanical arm, as he scratched his back. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, Vash said "I really need to get my arm replaced. It's been starting to squeak recently, and I no longer need a gun in it. It's really lucky that it started to break down now, since we're right here."
After a couple of minutes, Aesculapius responded, quietly, "Why don't you let me give you back a natural arm? I'm sure that won't be nearly as uncomfortable as that artificial one you've got now."
"You sure you can regenerate mine? I'm not human, you know."
"I know, I've tested this solution on various types of plant and animal life, and it has worked on all of them."
"Sure. A gun-arm has proven useful in the past, but I don't think I'll need it now, since I have both of these." Vash drew both of the long colts, his silver one in his right hand, and Knives's black one in his left hand. After a couple of seconds, he quietly returned them to their holsters.
"Then it's settled. I'll aid you in the process, once we get out of the suns and somewhere stable."
Another hour passed without event, and the group finally reached the ship. Once the moving platform stopped, the group stepped onto a stationary platform, in a small depression in the hull of the ship, possibly where there used to be a brig or crew quarters. There was a large door standing in front of them
Vash walked up to the door, knocked three times, and said "It's us; we're here for our yearly visit."
A few minutes later, the door opened, and a kindly old man walked out. "Hello, you're earlier than usual. It must have been quieter than normal on the way here."
"You can say that again," Alex, trying to be nice, piped in. "Hi, I'm Alex. I've been traveling with them for a few weeks now."
"Well, hello. I would like to welcome you, for the first time, to Sky City." Doc said, with a dramatic wave of his arms. "Oh, and I remember you. Welcome back Dr. Aesculapius."
"I'm glad to be back. Actually, Vash and I will need a room for the next two days, I'm going to heal his arm," he replied.
Two days later, Vash and Aesculapius walked out of the room, Vash now having an organic left arm, to match his right. The process had, luckily, finished just in time for Millie's annual anniversary ceremony. The two rushed out of the hospital building they were in, to the graveyard, a ways away from the ship.
The graveyard was simple; it was a large plot of land, with a simple grave marker every six feet or so, usually a cross, but sometimes a six-pointed star, sometimes a five-pointed star, and sometimes a circle. There was one distinct grave, though. This one had a six-foot tall, metal cross weapon as its marker, and was slightly removed from the rest of the graves. And it had been exhumed.
Millie was standing, shocked, about ten yarz from the casket (Wolfwood was given a full religious burial, complete with a casket to hold his body. Usually, people are just buried, with no casket), staring at the tall, surprisingly pale, black-haired man dressed in a priest's outfit, who was standing right next to the coffin. Just as Vash and Aesculapius arrived, he started speaking.
"I've just come here to pay my respects to my predecessor. I regret that I did not go to his funeral, so I thought that I would give him another one." He stepped closer to the casket, revealing another giant metal cross, much like the one marking the open grave.
"Just who are you?" Millie nearly cried.
"Ah, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I am Renatas. Renatas the Reborn. I am here to complete the task that Nicholas D. Wolfwood began," Renatas announced, almost evangelically. "I am him reborn!"
Meryl rushed over to Millie, just as Millie broke out into tears. Meryl attempted to comfort Millie silently, not knowing what to say.
Meanwhile, Aesculapius had snuck over to the side of the coffin, and was rustling through his medicine bag, looking for something. Also, Alex had laid his duffel bag down, and opened it.
Vash, on the other hand, knew exactly what he wanted to say, "Nick never talked like that. How can you say that you are him?"
Renatas backed up, picked up his weapon, and walked towards Vash. He then stated flatly, "Because, Tongari, I remember everything." Vash backed up two steps, and reached for his gun.
Millie then stood up, ran towards Renatas, and punched him, as hard as she could, in the side of the head. A gun fired, and a bullet flew from the pocket he had his right hand in, towards Wolfwood's coffin.
Aesculapius had just poured a golden solution into the bullet wounds in Wolfwood's chest, and into his mouth, when the bullet penetrated his side. He fell into the open grave, dead.
Alex reached into his bag, and drew a rapier. Vash drew his long colts, and both pointed their weapons at Renatas, who moved his cross punisher in the way of both people's weapons, and aiming one of the missile launchers at Vash.
Suddenly, a hand reached out of the open coffin, and grabbed the cross marking Wolfwood's grave. It lifted the cross punisher up, and brought with it a head and torso, Wolfwood's. The machine gun barrel opened, and pointed at Renatas. Nicholas then said "Nobody aims a weapon at Vash while I'm around."
Renatas, at that point, backed away slowly. He said "This will not be the last time you see me!" and ran.
Please R&R, I'm not happy with how this chapter turned out.
