.: Chapter 7 :.

.

.

He was getting awful tired of the color beige.

The color of the desert sand, to be precise. Nothing but endless amounts of sand for iles and iles. Would it have killed this damn planet to grow a couple of trees here and there? Sure, they existed, but only in select places which boasted the proper conditions. He'd only seen a couple of them in his lifetime and he didn't think he'd ever tire of walking along the lush, padded greenery. It was remarkable. It was what he envisioned whenever he thought about his ideal paradise.

The late-afternoon suns beat down on him from overhead, mercilessly stealing the moisture from his skin. Even the breeze was too dry and stale to aid in cooling him off.

This was his least favorite time of day to be out and about, especially while dressed in black from head to toe. Whose idea had it been for priests to dress in dark colors? Wolfwood made a mental note to scorn whomever that was, for they'd obviously made no considerations for desert travelers.

He swallowed thickly as a bead of sweat slowly rolled its way down the side of his face. How long had it been since he'd passed the last city? Several hours at least, he guessed, judging by the protests his body was staging at the moment in the form of a complaining stomach and a parched throat. He'd have to make a stop again soon. Not only to rest and recharge, but also to refill the Angelina II's gas tank, which he now noticed was running so low that he was almost surprised the motorcycle was still operating.

It had been a long day. Lots of sun, countless iles, and still no word or rumor on the whereabouts of Vash the Stampede from anyone he'd asked. When he had limped by the donut stand in the city he'd last set foot in, the older woman had given him hope when she'd mentioned a man in a red jacket, however upon further investigation Wolfwood was able to deduce that the person in question was definitely not the man he was looking for.

How did the insurance girls manage this seemingly impossible feat time and again? Shouldn't it be easy to find such a walking disaster as that spiky-haired lunatic? He felt frustration welling up within his chest. Perhaps it had been a bad idea after all, leaving without Meryl and Milly. They'd had a lot more practice at tracking Vash down than Wolfwood did. Hell, most of the time they seemed able to find him without even trying. It was either dumb luck or a curse; he supposed the jury was still out on that one.

At any rate, it was too late to go back now. He'd already come this far. Wolfwood figured he might as well see it through.

He was reaching beneath the black sunglasses he wore, wiping the sweat from his brow when a flash of color caught his eye amidst the endless stretch of boring beige. Actually, he was a little surprised that he'd even seen it, given the fact that one of his eyes was closed at the moment and he hadn't even been paying much attention to his surroundings.

He was unsure of what it was initially, but since it was the first interesting thing he'd come across in who knew how many hours, Wolfwood decided to investigate. He turned the motorcycle slightly toward the right, traveling in a direct route toward the brightly colored object. It waved about like a crimson flag in the breeze, apparently having become half-buried in the surrounding sand. As he approached and slowed the bike to a crawl in order to get a better look at it, his brow furrowed in suspicion.

Something about it was familiar, somehow...

Sticking a foot out to the side, he dug his heel into the sand to help bring the bike to a complete stop near the object of interest. He was then able to lean to his right (wincing at the pain this action caused him) and grip the large piece of cloth, pulling it from its sandy entrapment.

Oh, no…

Wolfwood's eyes went wide as he stared back at it, suddenly realizing exactly why it looked so familiar. His free hand immediately traveled to his face, pushing up the sunglasses as to get a better look at the tattered piece of red cloth he held before him.

That idiot...it couldn't be...

Much of what had gone on before the fight with Chapel was just a blur to him now, but he did recall telling Vash exactly where Knives could be found. He knew that the brothers would have fought...perhaps to the death. If Vash had not been the victor, then surely...

Wolfwood clenched his fist around the piece of Vash's coat, gritting his teeth. That damned Needle Noggin never went anywhere without that obnoxiously red coat of his, even though it made him a walking target in the eyes of every bounty hunter hoping to strike it rich on this God-forsaken planet. When he'd pointed out that fact, Vash had just smiled and explained that he simply liked the color. A bullshit answer as usual, but then again, what else had he really expected to hear?

Regardless, it had always been very apparent that the coat had meant a lot to the Humanoid Typhoon...so much that Wolfwood was not entirely sure he'd willingly abandon it. This discovery, coupled with the fact that not a single soul he'd asked had heard a single thing regarding the man in question...well, that didn't exactly bode well.

An uneasy feeling crept its way toward his stomach, and the priest tried hard to shake it off.

It was too soon to just go jumping to wild conclusions. He didn't know all the facts. He refused to let himself think even for a second that there was a good reason nobody had heard any word regarding his closest friend.

Still…

Wolfwood turned to stuff the piece of the coat into the pack that carried all of his personal effects. It wouldn't do any good to think too hard about all the grim possibilities. Not until he had more information, anyway.

With that, he slid his sunglasses back over his eyes. Best to continue onward while he still had daylight on his side. Revving the motorcycle's engine, he sped off into the blistering heat, steering the bike back onto the original path toward the next town.

There was absolutely no justice left in the world if a guy like Wolfwood could miraculously survive one death-match while that peace-loving maniac had gone off and died in another.

.

oOo

.

Its size was beyond anything she ever would have imagined; especially for being buried beneath the sandy desert.

Sky figured it had to be at least the size of February, which was impressive considering it was most likely only a part of something that had once been much larger.

She'd first set foot inside it around six months ago, and even now she was certain that she could easily spend days at a time just wandering the corridors and uncovering more of the lost secrets contained within. It had become her favorite place, her new project. It was where she disappeared to whenever she was upset or needed a quiet place to think.

It was falling apart in some places and although upright, the floors were slightly off-kilter. But for the most part, the ship had remained intact and untouched for likely over 150 years, she guessed.

She'd explored much of it, but there were still areas that had gone unchecked. Particularly due to the fact that in those places, some of the security system was still up and running. The day she'd stumbled across that little surprise would forever be remembered as the day she narrowly avoided a high-powered laser beam between the eyes. After a harrowing chase down several corridors, she'd managed to hack into one of the consoles and shut the murderous cyborgs behind one of the main doors, noting to herself that from now on, the medical bay was definitely off-limits. Quite a shame, really, considering that from what little she had seen of the area as she'd been running for her life, it was largely undamaged and positively magnificent.

Since then, Sky had been working diligently at the consoles in the main control room, attempting to decipher the coding used for the security system in hopes of someday shutting it down without destroying anything invaluable in the process. So far, no such luck...although her efforts were not for nothing, as she'd managed to glean a great deal of commands and key codes that had proven to be extremely useful in exploring some of the other areas of the ship.

One such code had allowed her to gain entry to the large room that she currently stood inside; possibly her most valuable find to date. The plant before her was anchored to the high ceiling above, undamaged as far as she could tell by looking at it, and presumably fully functioning. Untouched for more than a century...it was in perfect shape save for a thin coat of dust that had settled on its outer surface over the years.

Sky couldn't help but smile as she looked up at it, knowing that someone else would have been excited by the discovery, too.

"Not too shabby, eh Dad…?"

Her father had taught her a great number of things about the energy-providing plants which could be found in cities scattered all over the planet, having worked as an engineer at February's own plant in the past. He'd shown her how to maintain them and operate the controls. He'd explained to her that it was important to minimize the energy consumed from them, as the plants were only able to support so many people for so many years and would eventually become used up...the only thing that remained unclear was when.

But Connell Dwyer had been no ordinary engineer; Sky would go so far as to say he'd been no ordinary man, in fact. He'd known things that nobody else knew. Things that most of civilization had long-since forgotten about. Things that he'd always taken great care not to mention around the wrong set of ears.

He'd told her what really provided the energy from the plants. He'd called them the "beings who exist outside of time." Genetically engineered on the planet Earth a long, long time ago, making them the most valuable of all lost technology. He had explained that they resided within the core of each plant. Most people didn't even realize that they existed, he said. Sky had immediately become fascinated by them; she would often ponder over what they looked like and if she'd ever get to see one. She wondered what they thought about, if they could even have thoughts. Connell didn't know for certain, but Sky had always liked to imagine that perhaps they could. And if they could think, then surely they could feel, and surely they felt the strain of all the work that humans were demanding of them.

That was only the beginning for her. She hadn't been satisfied with just knowing all of that. Since then, she'd felt a strong desire to put a stop to the useless consumption of energy...to the needless strain on those beings themselves...just as her father before her.

They had been a great team. Things were a lot easier back then, with the both of them working together. Connell always knew exactly what to do, where to go, how to gain the attention of others...until he'd attracted the wrong attention. Now she was alone in their endeavor, but her resolve was as strong as ever. It was about much more than preserving the plants; it was also about keeping her father alive, the only way that Sky knew how. This was what he would have wanted.

She let out a long breath, her eyes finally moving from the enormous light bulb-like structure to the large console mounted on the wall toward her right.

"Well...let's see how you're doing after all these years," she said, her voice bouncing off the walls of the mostly-empty room as she approached the screen.

It didn't take her long to gain access to the controls (she had all that fiddling around with the terminals in the main room to thank for that). Her fingers flew over the keys with practiced fluidity, and the screen soon lit up as it displayed the plant's current status. Sky exhaled a triumphant laugh as the numbers came up. As she'd thought, the energy output had been set at a bare minimum, probably ever since the ship had first crashed. It was likely that this particular plant had never been fully activated for whatever reason. An error in the system, perhaps? Sky wasn't sure, but either way it was good news as far as she was concerned.

She cycled through the options in the main directory until she found the control panel responsible for each floor of the ship.

"Sorry, but I'm going to need you to help me with something," she murmured as she entered a command that would activate the power on the second floor. Sure enough, the section that was currently displayed on the screen lit up and Sky grinned to herself. "Awesome. That should do it."

Stepping away from the main screen, Sky turned on her heel and headed out of the room. The fourth floor had been inaccessible to her ever since she'd stumbled across the ship, and none of the codes she'd tried on the door had been successful. That had been before she'd realized that the power had actually not been supplied to that floor, which explained why nothing ever happened when she'd attempted to activate the console by the main door. However, now that she had finally managed to get to the plant, she would at last be able to find out what lay behind that large heavy door.

Sky was anxious to say the least, and quickened her pace down the main hall until the large painted "4" came into view up ahead. The console's screen was now lit up and she eagerly stepped closer to it, inputting the code she had memorized and then standing back as the words "ACCESS GRANTED" flashed across the screen.

There was a loud sound of metal scraping against metal and a hiss as the door slid open, revealing a set of slate-gray stairs. She ascended cautiously, taking care not to create a disturbance. As her head peeked over the top step, she could finally see it; a very large, apparently empty room that was now lit with the same sort of ambient lighting that appeared throughout the parts of the ship that Sky had already explored, though it was dark enough that she couldn't tell exactly where the room ended.

Before she set foot into that area, however, she made sure to check for stray security bots roaming around. She'd learned during her near-death experience that they could sense vibrations created by footsteps, and also that they could be fooled by throwing a few objects to misdirect them. From the pack over her shoulder, Sky pulled out a couple of boots that she'd found in what she had assumed to be a closet full of extra work supplies. She hurled them into the room, one after the other, and waited as each boot made a satisfying 'thump' in the middle of the room.

After a minute or two of hearing nothing but the soft hum of electricity, Sky decided it was safe to proceed.

"Here goes," she said as she stepped through the doorway at the top of the stairs.

She reached for the light she'd brought with her, clicking it on and shining it carefully around the room as she walked forward. It was a small device, but quite bright and very useful. Also something she had found in that storage closet.

The further Sky ventured into the room, the more she noticed that the walls seemed to be decorated with odd capsule-like structures, one on top of the other, rows and rows of them. Her boots crunched over something just then and she glanced down, pointing the light toward the floor.

Sand?

Her brow furrowed, noting that more sand was covering the area just ahead of her, and as the light traced the path of the familiar beige grains, she began to notice mounds of it here and there, increasing in size until the floor could no longer be seen at all.

Sky made a face. "Tch. Figures..."

She shook her head as her eyes followed a sloping wall of sand that effectively blocked off the rest of the room. She knew that the ship wasn't in perfect condition, though she still couldn't help but feel disappointed after having looked forward to exploring the fourth floor for so long. As it turned out, there seemed to be nothing worth finding in that room.

With a sigh, she turned around, idly scanning the flashlight along the walls as she headed back toward the door. What weird decorations those were...they reached the ceiling, which was impressive considering how high that was. She made her way toward the wall on her left side, wanting to get a closer look at them. If that was the most interesting thing residing in the room then she may as well get a better glimpse at it, she figured.

However, there was something peculiar about the large, cylinder-shaped structures that she realized only as she drew nearer. They were all so covered in dust and desert grit that she couldn't quite tell the reason why they seemed so strange to her, so Sky reached forward and used her hand to wipe off the thick layer of dirt.

A strangled scream escaped her throat, and she stumbled backward, one hand clamping over her mouth as her wide eyes took in the sight before her.

The face stared back at her through the glass. Unmoving. Eyes closed. Wearing a blank expression, as if asleep.

A human? How...?

She realized with a start that the structures were actually not decorations at all, but pods. Did all of them contain people? Were they even alive? Surely...surely not...

Sky remained frozen in her spot for a good long moment, unable to tear her eyes away from the face in front of her, wondering if she truly was seeing this and wishing her father was there with her. He would have known what to do. Would have known exactly what this was.

It was a good two minutes before she was able to shake herself out of her shocked state. She blinked, willing herself to breathe in and out, willing her heart to slow its hammering pace. Clearly whoever was in there could not get out, as evident by the coating of undisturbed dust on the glass. She slowly approached the pod once more, and upon further inspection it was apparent that whomever was once inside was now quite dead. In fact, he was the most well-preserved corpse that Sky had ever seen. Not that she'd seen many corpses in her life, anyway.

Still...what had killed them? What were they still doing inside the pods? Connell had told her of the SEEDs ships, but hadn't everyone woken up when the ships all crashed? Shaking her head, Sky wiped the glass of another pod, and then another...all containing the same sort of preserved bodies inside.

Actually, it was really starting to creep her out.

Grimacing at the last face she'd uncovered, Sky concluded that she'd had enough exploring for one day...and that she probably could have lived without knowing what lay behind this door.

Shuddering to herself, she picked up her pace and headed for the door, locking it securely behind her and sincerely hoping that those images would stay out of her head when she went to sleep that night.

.

oOo

.

Sky breathed out a sigh of relief as she let the hot water wash over her, taking all the dirt and sweat from the day's work as it went. Sometimes she was tempted to just stand beneath the spray of water, breathing in the steam and letting it relax her. There was once a time in her life before her eyes had been opened to the real struggles of this world when she would have done just that, however that was more than ten years ago. She knew better than to needlessly waste the planet's resources. In fact, she'd managed to get her shower time down to about four minutes by turning off the water while she washed her hair. She kept trying to suggest that Olivia officially enforce a ten-minute rule on all the guests (which Sky thought was extremely generous, all things considered), but she'd had no such luck in that endeavor thus far.

As her thoughts drifted to her sister, Sky recalled their conversation earlier that day and couldn't help but wonder how the meeting with their mother had gone. She hadn't actually seen hide nor hair of Olivia since she'd returned that night, and if she were being honest, Sky wasn't exactly looking forward to running into her. She was well aware of the fact that Olivia hated visiting their mother alone. It was hard on her. Sky understood that all too well...but she had her own reasons for not wanting to go along on the visits. Reasons which included more than simply having other things to do, important as those things were.

She reached for the soap, so deep in thought that she'd almost forgotten about her self-imposed time limit.

Turning to take the bar from the plastic shelf by the shower head, Sky opened her eyes and they immediately went wide.

It...it was HUGE!

A blood-curdling scream erupted from her lungs just then and before she could think, she was stumbling backward. Her legs hit the side of the tub and she lost her balance. Arms flailing wildly, Sky grappled onto anything she could manage to hang on to at that moment, which just happened to be the shower curtain.

There was a series of 'pops' as the material, unable to support her weight, was ripped from the hooks that kept it in place. The next thing Sky knew, she was hitting the floor and becoming entangled in the shower curtain, still shrieking like a banshee.

Suddenly someone burst through the door.

"Miss Sky!" Vash shouted in alarm as he rushed over, holding his hand out. "Are you injured?! What happened? Did someone attack you?!" He certainly hoped not; he was hoping that he'd never have to draw his gun in this seemingly peaceful town.

Sky had managed to propel herself backward until she was pressed against the wall. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she looked up at Vash, one hand clutching the shower curtain to her chest. The other pointed animatedly toward the shower, where the water was still running.

"IT'S OVER THERE! KILL IT!" She shouted out, grimacing as she caught sight of the offending creature once more.

Vash blinked as he followed the direction of her hand, walking forward to peer into the shower. There was a small brown spider sitting near the soap, small enough to fit into a bottle cap but large enough to cause alarm, he supposed. The spider's multiple eyes gleamed black as its feelers moved in a somewhat hypnotic, undulating motion.

The corners of Vash's lips turned up as he gently and slowly placed one hand near the spider and urged it to crawl into his palm with his other hand. Sky looked on with wary eyes from the other side of the room where she was still huddled up against the wall.

Cupping both hands around the arachnid, he looked over at her. "Hey, it's okay. I've got him."

Vash walked over to the window with his little passenger, feeling the eight tiny legs scuttle back and forth over his palm. He opened it a crack as best as he could without setting the spider free too soon and then stuck his hands out onto the sill, opening them and watching the spider jump away into the night.

Vash pulled his hands back in and closed the window, walking back over to Sky. "It was just a little brown house spider, nothing to be afraid of, Miss Sky! In any case, I set him free so everything's fine now!" He was about to offer his hand to Sky again, then thought the better of it as he decided to wash his hands at one of the sinks first before offering the frightened woman his assistance.

"Come on, it's okay. I'm not trying to peek at you. Well, unless you let me…." He trailed off with a wink.

She stared at his hand a moment longer before finally she sighed and gave in, accepting the help and noting how easily he pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks," she said, slightly embarrassed, and then suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, crap!" as she realized that the water was still running. She quickly stepped over to the shower, gripping the faucet and turning it off. So much for her four-minute limit.

Vash averted his eyes as he remembered she actually wasn't wearing anything under that curtain, while rubbing the back of his neck. He always talked a big game, however when it really came down to it…he was very attracted to women, sure, though he just couldn't help but think none of them would ever be attracted to him. And what's more, he'd always felt undeserving of their affection.

He wasn't one of them, after all.

Sky sighed and turned back to face him, her arms crossing over her chest. He'd fallen silent for some reason, looking in another direction with a serious expression on his face.

"You know, it would've been easier to just squash him," she commented. Most people would have done just that.

Before Vash could let the dark tone his thoughts had taken consume him, he was brought back to the present as she told him squishing the spider would've been easier than freeing it. He parted his lips, looking up and taking care to gaze only at her face, making eye contact.

"Well, I know that, but I can't help but think that all life is precious, Miss Sky. Maybe he was just thirsty or wanted to take a bath, too. Is that any reason to snuff out his little life?" Vash chuckled awkwardly. "My brother always thought I was too sentimental. Maybe you do, too…"

That statement was met with raised eyebrows as a perplexed look crossed Sky's face. He was being completely serious, and for a moment she had no words for a proper reply.

"Wow, you're just full of surprises, aren't you? I mean, you know...who would've thought Vash the Stampede would turn out to be a man who couldn't even squish a spider?" She was careful to keep her voice down, lest someone else overhear the name.

Vash laughed awkwardly, averting his eyes again as he turned away from her. "Yeah, what can I say, I am an odd one!" He laughed again and waved over his shoulder. "I'll leave you to the rest of your shower now, Miss Sky. See you around! Just let me know if you find any more creatures you need me to set free."

He hurried away before she could answer, his face flushed. The look she'd given him with those bright blue eyes was something close to admiration, once she'd gotten over her initial bewilderment. Of course it wasn't as if he had the best reputation. His name would forever be stained with those huge incidents; lost July, the hole in the 5th moon...to the people who'd only heard his name and his legend, he was nothing more than a cold-blooded killer.

'Well,' he thought, somewhat bitterly, 'they aren't wrong.'

In that moment he couldn't help but think about all the countless murderers, outlaws and rapists he'd saved over the years by refusing to kill his opponents. His life would have been so much easier had he decided to just end their lives. Still…was it so wrong to believe that all those men and women weren't past hope of saving? In those times, he'd thought that maybe a little bit of mercy shown in their darkest hour would be enough to set them down a different path.

Many would beg to differ. Many would go on to continue their crimes. There was nothing he could do about it now.

Nothing to do but keep moving forward.