-pops out of the ground- Yes, I am the baxxorz!! I neglected this fic because I was concentrating on my Shaman King fic A Gift of Love, which became kinda popular. I'll try to be more faithful. I recently had an urge to watch Trigun again, so that's why I'm here. I'm glad that I have the boxed set xD
I had also lost my notebook, and since it used a chunk of the original script, I was reluctant to sit in front of my TV and take it down again. Ah well. It's holiday vacation. I owe you guys. Thanks to those who remembered the story
This story should be back in full swing once A Gift of Love is over. Unless I get a mental block, in which case you get a filler-type chapter. –shrugs-
Notes: I took some creative liberties with the script by meshing some lines from the Japanese and American versions when I thought I could make the lines just a bit better. I do credit Trigun for being one of very few dubs that I can actually put on par with the Japanese version.
You may notice a change in my writing style since the last chapter, since it was almost two years ago. -is shot- But I hope it is to your liking. I got my butt kicked by GAFF, so I had to change my evil ways. -rolls eyes-
Disclaimer: Trigun and I are not related, either by economy or blood, although that would be mega freaky.
Chapter rating: PG-13
Love is Blind – Chapter 8
Vash woke Aurora up as Knives exited the ship. Her eyes flew open in surprise as he picked her up and set her down outside. He took her hand and quickly followed Knives, who was heading for the edge of a nearby cliff. When Vash saw this, he, remembering the incident eleven years ago, stopped and turned to her.
"Stay here, don't move!" he commanded. "I'll be right back."
"Alright…" She nodded slowly.
Vash turned to leave.
"Be careful…" she called.
He raced up the cliff to Knives, who had two objects, one in each hand.
"Knives! What are--"
There was a blinding flash with a blast that blew against him, and he had to cover his eyes. He looked to Knives and saw him with a long silver gun in his right hand. Another one, which was black, was held in his left.
"Only a thirteen percent output… oh well, I guess that's as good as it's going to get for now."
"Knives… what ARE those?" Vash asked, bewildered.
His brother turned to him. "These are our new brethren. We will use them to eradicate the humans of this planet." He pointed to handle of the silver gun at Vash. "This one's yours."
Vash stared at the gun. "I…I can't do that!" he said, pushing it away.
Knives's smile faded. "YES YOU WILL."
"No, never!"
"Then why did you follow me?" Knives sneered. When Vash said nothing, he gave an evil grin. "Because you're hopeless on your own, right?" Again, Vash gave no reply. Knives started to turn. "Fine, watch me then."
"No! Don't!"
Vash lunged at his brother in an effort to try to get the destructive pieces of metal. They both fell to the ground and began rolling down the hill that had lead up to the cliff—in Aurora's direction. As they rolled, Knives lost both of the guns. They separated, a gun across from each of them. Vash quickly scrambled to the gun in front of him, but Knives reached his first. He stood as he pointed it at his brother.
"Are you still worried about that nonsense after all these years? The self-contradicting fantasy world that woman who lived and died by that same contradiction gave to you?" He sneered.
Vash pointed his own gun at him. "I won't let you kill any more!!"
His brother looked at him venomously.
"Vash!"
Vash's eyes widened as he saw Aurora run towards them, oblivious of the danger.
"AURORA DON'T!! GET BACK!!" he yelled.
But it was too late. Knives tripped her, throwing her down on the ground. She was on her hands and knees, facing Vash, with the black gun pointed at her head. Of course, she couldn't see it.
"I think you got the wrong idea somewhere, dear brother."
Aurora twisted her face in confusion. "Vash? What's going on?"
All Vash could do was stare as Knives smirked once more. He dragged the girl in front of him by her hair.
"You're supposed to aim right here."
He stuck the gun in Aurora's ear. She still looked confused. He chuckled evilly and cocked the gun. When she heard the distinctive 'click', her eyes flew wide open. As she heard another click, her pupils shrank until they were barely-visible dots. A few silent tears fell from them.
"Let's play a little Russian Roulette, shall we?" Knives said mischievously. "You have until we find out which cylinder the bullet is in to cooperate with me. Maybe I'll let the little wretch live for a few more days if you agree…What do you say?"
Vash didn't know what to do. Would he sacrifice the lives of all the humans on the planet in order to save his friend, or was it better to let her die to save the masses?
"Don't toy with her like that!" he shouted. "She's alive! A living being! The rest of the people on this planet are too! Alive! They'll all alive!" A certain sadness returned to his eyes. "I promised Rem…that we would make this land--,"
"And we will!" Knives interjected. "You and I will make this place into our very own Eden. We just need to clean this planet up a little bit, clear out the clutter."
He chuckled as he pushed the barrel of the gun against Aurora's head, nudging it to the side. It fell back into place when he placed the gun back in her ear. Her eyes were still empty and soulless, as if she was frozen by the thought of dying in such a horrible and helpless way. Her eyes wouldn't move at all. It was almost as if they were painted on.
This is wrong…
He saw Rem's smiling face in his mind.
It's wrong…
He looked at his brother's maniacal smile.
IT'S WRONG!!
A loud bang echoed throughout the canyon, and both Knives and Aurora were on the ground. Knives was grabbing his right leg as he knelt on the ground, shaking.
"My…My leg…hurts…There's so much pain…so much pain in my leg…" he said, gasping the words out. "Why does it hurt so much…?" He looked up at Vash, who could only stare at his brother, gun still in hand. "Did you just shoot me? Did you really just shoot me?"
Vash began quivering as well.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!! DID YOU REALLY SHOOT ME??"
Vash let out a cry and ran past him, taking both guns and Aurora with him.
"Vash…!!" Knives cried out to him before falling onto his stomach.
Vash didn't stop running until he could hardly see where he was going. He stopped and looked about his surroundings. There was a cave nearby, and he quickly ran inside to hide from the madness his brother had created for the three of them. He propped Aurora up against the wall, stared at her for a few moments, then thought better of it and laid her on the ground, her back still against the wall.
Her eyes hadn't changed. They were still horrible-looking and glazed over.
"Aurora?" he whispered gently patting her cheek.
Like before, her head moved when he touched it, but then just fell back into place. Like a doll.
"Don't…Don't shoot her…Please don't shoot Ruta…" she suddenly whispered, another tear falling down her cheek. "Please don't shoot Ruta…We haven't taken the groceries home yet…Her mom will be sad if she doesn't come home…"
He just stared at her. What was she talking about? Her old life back on Earth? He looked down at the gun in his hand, then clenched his fist around it. An instrument like this must have caused her pain when she was young.
"Stupid things…" he grumbled, and threw it across the cave.
It hit the wall and went off. A bullet flew past him, hitting the wall near Aurora, only inches away from her head. She flinched, then shrank into a fetal position on the floor. Vash carefully reached over to touch her hair, then took the tattered cape he was wearing and draped it over her.
She stirred and grabbed his hand, feeling it out before holding it close to her.
"Vash…" she sighed, seemingly calmed by his presence. Then she tensed. "Where's Knives?"
"He's not here," he reassured her. "And he never will be again. We're on our own now. You're safe."
She nodded slowly, as if she was reluctant to accept his words. But he breathed a sigh of relief when she closed her eyes; a sign that she was functioning again.
"I'm just glad…that we're away from those guns. I can't stand being near them. They…they think they're so great because they can fly fast and kill people in an instant. We don't need them on this new planet." Her grip on his hand became that of a vice. "I'll kill anyone who brings a gun into this world. Even if it is Knives. I won't let innocent people die here, too."
"Why do you hate guns so much?" Vash asked her. It was a stupid question. He knew the answer. He had just seen the answer. He had made himself see the answer. He had created the answer. He had shot his own brother. It was a question that he only hoped would remain rhetorical.
"Ruta…," she whispered. "Ruta never asked to die. She was so young. She probably had never seen even a picture of a gun before then. Neither had I. But that didn't matter. It never matters. Things you can't see are the things that will kill you."
There was a long pause.
"Who's Ruta?"
"Who WAS Ruta," Aurora snapped in a dark tone.
"C'mon, Aurora! You're always lagging behind!"
"Sorry!"
Ruta, a small girl about seven with short red hair, tapped her foot on the sidewalk as she waited for her friend to catch up.
"Jeez, you're always so slow."
"You run too fast!"
Ruta stuck her tongue out at her. "Not my problem." She grinned and poked Aurora's forehead. "Hehe. Let's go. We have to get there before the store closes!" She sprinted off down the sidewalk.
"OH!!" Aurora whined. "You're so mean!"
Once they got there, they grabbed a basket and began filling it with all the essentials: eggs, butter, bread, milk, cookies, popcorn…
"We don't need popcorn!" Ruta cried placing it back on the shelf.
"But I LIKE popcorn!" Aurora yelled back jumping up and down.
Ruta sighed and put it in the basket again. "Fine, but YOUR mom is paying for it."
"Yay!"
Ruta took the basket and they began making their way up to the counter when there was a scream. The two girls looked up to see a masked man and a gun.
"Listen up, all of you!" the man yelled. "All of you just shut up and do as I say! On the ground! One peep, and it's a cap in the mouth!"
The women and children around them screamed and hit the floor. Ruta did as well, but rather reluctantly. She looked up. Aurora was still standing, wide-eyed.
"Wh-What's going on?"
The man pointed the gun at her. "This is what you'd call a stick-up, little girl. Now, if you want to be able to go home to your mommy, I suggest you mimic your friend and get on the ground."
"Stick-up?" She looked around. "I don't see any sticks."
"Don't be a wise-ass!!" He grabbed her and jammed the gun in her ear and cocked it. Aurora's eyes went wide. "Heh heh. This'll teach ya…"
Suddenly, an egg hit his face. He dropped his hostage and cleared the raw yolk from his eyes. His vision cleared, he saw Ruta with the carton of eggs, reloaded and ready to fire.
"Don't prey on a little girl, you pig!" she yelled.
"You mean like this?"
There was a blast, and Ruta hit the floor, not speaking, not moving, and not seeing, though her eyes were open.
"RUTA!!" her friend cried as she ran over to her. She shook her, but she didn't move. She moved to touch the wound in her bang-covered head, but then just stared.
"Ruta!!" she cried again.
Aurora just let the events happen around her. Policemen ran in, shooting and killing the gunman. There were sirens and screaming and crying people. Ruta was carried away on a stretcher covered in cloth. Aurora just sat on the ground staring at the pool of blood before her.
It was her fault. Her friend died saving her. Ruta was gone. It was all her fault.
"If I ever see another gun again, I'll use it to kill the person holding it. That's a promise."
Vash nodded, knowing that she couldn't see him. He looked at the two guns on the floor of the cave. I guess I'll be the first to die, then.