Disclaimer: Trigun is sadly enough not mine, or there would have been way more episodes!
Chapter 30: Milly's POV
It had been nearly two weeks since we had left the small town on Thomas creature back, while there was four Thomas creatures, Mr. Vash rode with Meryl to avoid problems after all the hassle of the first day and his attempt to ride on his own. For a man with so much grace at times he really is a klutz too. We probably would have been farther along, but we had stopped at three different small towns for Mr. Vash to work on the plant. At each small town, our little group had stayed for a night, visited the plant and allowed Mr. Vash to upgrade it while Mr. Knives was visiting with his sisters. Sometime us girls would go with them, other times we would not. No matter what, it was still getting tiring travelling so much.
Before we had left the little town we had contacted the insurance office to let them know where to send our vacation pay, neither of us was really surprised at how annoyed our boss was with the removal of Vash the Stampede from the bounty hunters list. For some reason he just doesn't appreciate the fact that most the damage done that the insurance company had to pay for was the result of that bounty. Oh well.
There is way too much time to think, she thinks to herself as they keep on their way. Up ahead she can see something in the sky but she is not sure what it is. Before she can point it out, Mr. Knives comes to a stop, his eyes locked on the distant shape.
Knives' POV
Honing in on his sense of direction, he realizes that they are two days away from his home, and three days away from a tiny little town with a single bulb plant in it. Still lost in thought, he is surprised when he sees the creature flying in the air a head of them. Stopping his Thomas creature, he focuses his telepathy to see if he can connect, to see what it is. He almost falls off his ride when he does connect.
The other three had stopped as well, Vash giving him a concerned look before he notices the thing in the sky as well.
Shocked, he watches as it comes towards them, growing as it does so until it looks like a massive eagle above their heads. While he had not seen an eagle before in person, he remembered reading about them in the computers log. When the eagle is directly above them it drops from the sky plummeting to the ground. Just before contact its massive wings up and he can do nothing but stare as it begins to change, the sand below it swirling up.
Children, a soft voices echoes in a group wide broadcast, I greet you. Where the sand had swirled forms into the shape of a striking woman, gleaming with an inner light.
What! His mind exclaims, he had never seen anything like this. Did not know what to do, so he did what he thought was best and used his mind to make blue-eyes Thomas creature move behind him. Quicker than any human would his mind evaluates the situation and tries to determine what it is that is in front of them without any success.
Behind temper, Vash has pulled his revolver, readying in case of a problem.
Stop fretting, why would I harm two of my own? The female asks, directing her look at him.
Vash's expression is confused as he looks at the stranger. Holstering his gun he queries, "Kikyo?" his voice full of unidentified emotion.
The female smiles, turning her attention to him, That is correct little one, I greet you child of Sepheria.
Both brothers look at each other before looking back at her, it is then that he realizes that the voice belongs to his watcher. But his watcher is a bound plant, how could this thing have her voice?
It is simple, I am physically still within my bulb deep beneath the ground, my mind however is free to wander since I have nothing pulling on my power. She answers the unspoken question in a offhanded way, then she tilts her head to the side, continuing, Your sister Amber is buried within the ground requires assistance, she is a day's travel from here, in that direction, she points opposite of where the human community is. I lack a truly physical form as is needed. So I am here to ask for assistance.
Surprisingly it is blue-eyes who is the first to respond, "We'll do it, how do we get there?"
Temper nods, commenting, "Of course we will help," at almost the same time.
Both girls share a look much like when he has a private conversation with his twin. Eyes-narrow he wonders if they are linked and is slightly surprised when she answers him alone.
They are not, but they are good friends who work well together. Over the years they have developed silent ways to have rapid conversations when dealing with a potentially hostile situation where they do not want everyone to hear them. Switching to the common path she replies to the girls, follow me, before the sand that she has solidified to use as a body falls back to the ground and her bird form takes to the air.
Without another word the Kikyo flies off, and both girls turn the Thomas creatures to follow.
Do you think this is safe? He sends to his brother on the private connection.
Vash shrugs, replying, I've never seen any of them do that before. Send their mind out into the world, I wonder why more of them do not.
I think I will ask her, because I am curious as well. Can they physically leave the bulbs too? He responds curiously.
Again his twin shrugs, I don't know.
Through most of the day, and into the early evening the three of them follow the shimmering bird until shortly after dark when it finally plummets back to the ground, sand swirling to reform. As the four of them stop, the brothers share a look much like the girls do, and wait.
Meryl's POV
When the creature in the sky had first appeared she had been a bit nervous, she had never seen anything like it before, nor could she remember reading anything about it. Then it fallen out of the sky in front of her and she had felt Vash preparing his gun behind her. When the sand had begun to change she had shifted her Thomas creature in front of Milly's almost at the same time as Knives, which mildly startled her.
Children, I greet you, a soft voice echoes through her mind, reminding her of Tala, but it wasn't the same as Tala's.
Both brothers seem tense as the sand form solidifies into that of a beautiful woman. Once solid it glances at Knives even as it queries, Stop fretting, why would I harm two of my own?
The gun that she had just felt Vash ready, is slowly holstered as he murmurs, "Kikyo?" questioningly.
Her gaze turns from Knives to Vash and her as the stranger smiles, That is correct little one, I greet you child of Sepheria.
Behind her, she feels Vash get tense again, only it is a different type of tenseness. A feeling of shock and curiosity rolls off of him. For a moment she considers what the stranger says before realizing that she had identified their mother, something that Vash doesn't know. No wonder his emotions spiked like that. Trying for comfort, she lays her hand over top of the one still wrapped around her.
Inside her head she hears Kikyo's voice again, still soft as she answers the question that Meryl is sure all of them are thinking. It is simple, I am physically still within my bulb deep beneath the ground, my mind however is free to wander since I have nothing pulling on my power. Pausing, she tilts her head to the side before continuing, Your sister Amber is buried within the ground requires assistance, she is a day's travel from here, in that direction, she points to the west, I lack a truly physical form as is needed. So I am here to ask for assistance.
Milly glances over at the exact same time as Meryl, eyebrow raised in question, a slight nod is her response as they agree to help this plant out. A small flick of her wrist inquires who will speak, and a tilt of the head is her response. Moments later Milly answers Kikyo, startling Knives if his expression is anything to go by.
"We'll do it, how do we get there?" there is excitement in her voice, Milly always like to help people.
With a nod, she comments, "Of course we will help," a breath after Milly, allowing that she had given Milly the right to answer first.
Knives looks between us in shock, she is pretty sure he is trying to figure out how we did that. Smiling to herself, Meryl thinks, you might be telepathic and able to have complete conversations, but we have lots of practice having conversations without words while trying to keep track of your brother.
Follow me, Kikyo comments before the sand that she has solidified to use as a body falls back to the ground and her bird form takes to the air.
Vash wraps his other arm around her waist as she turns the Thomas creature and follows the bird. Beside her, Milly has done the same thing so it takes Knives a moment to catch up. The ride is done in silence, at least there is no verbal communication. She could not say if the brothers are talking or not since they are telepaths. However, the closer that they get to wherever Kikyo is leading them, the more she can hear the planet beneath them crying out. At one point it is so bad that Vash's hold is the only thing keeping her in her seat.
She couldn't say how happy she was to see the bird spiraling to the ground because it meant they were wherever they needed to be. As the other three dismount, she stays where she is for a moment, trying to bring the pain in her head under control.
Reach for a part of the planet that does not scream, Kikyo's voice whispers in her mind.
However, she does not know how to do that so all she can do is tolerate it as she slowly gets down. She is startled when Vash cups her face in his hands, lifting her head to look him in the eyes. The really surprising part is they are not his turquoise eyes staring at her, they are bleached out and white.
Follow my lead, Kikyo's voice directs as they fall into her mind. Slowly she shows her how to use the mental path to the earth, how to direct where it reaches at, and how to communicate with it. Several times Kikyo has her practice before she releases both her and Vash, leaving Vash shaking his head.
"That was weird," he mutters, as he lets go of her face.
The voice in her head now has words, not just feelings and sounds and as she focuses she can hear it screaming in pain because it is being poisoned. The ground is being soaked with acid as is the water below. This area had tried to grow plants but had been unable to because of the acid and that had increased the planets pain. The planet had hoped over time the acid would fade, but it was not, and now the small creature that had come with the acid was being hurt as well. That was unacceptable.
Focusing on Vash, she allows the voice to fade to the background.
"Thanks," she murmurs, glancing towards the sand form of Kikyo.
She inclines her head, You're welcome, I had not realized quite how strong the gift that was awoken was.
Knives had been looking around while Vash was under Kikyo's control. Eventually he stops, his eyes narrow as he focuses on something in the ground. After a few minutes the ground begins to shift as the sand moves. As the sand moves out of the way a pit begins to appear. Eventually the hole starts to grow and he springs backwards away from where he is opening the ground up. The movement of the sand reveals the remains of a ship, most of it shattered to smithereens yet the remains of a cracked bulb can be seen along with parts of the containment area.
As she watches, his focus seems to change from the ground which is hardening around the new hole to what's inside the hole. A moment later, he jumps landing lightly on the ships remains much to her shock. While she had seen Vash pull stunts like that regularly, this was the first time she had seen Knives do so. Not even a breath later, Vash was standing on a different part of the remains with him. Both seem to have their attention fully focused on the hole and what is within it.
Kikyo's sand form watches with interest as the two of them start to shift the metal around until the top of the bulb is completely uncovered. Inside it, there is a mostly dark colored figure. It is the first time she could remember seeing one of the plants that dark. Startled, she lets out a little gasp at the sight.
She is ill. Her energy has been poisoned and is thus her body is shutting down trying to protect her. The poison will have to be removed before she can heal, I can maintain her life, but I cannot remove the poison, that's what they are needed for. Kikyo comments as she watches the two brothers sort through things. Though I am surprised that they did not wait until morning to do this.
She chuckles, saying, "Both of them are determined to help whatever plants they come across, if they feel an urgency, then they will act faster, past that, neither have much patience."
Settling into the sand, she watches as they work most of the night, Milly eventually grabs her bedroll and goes to sleep. By the time the morning comes and the suns start to rise, she is amazed at how much of the bulb and remains of the craft they have uncovered. Shortly thereafter Vash yelps as he springs back away from the piece of metal he had stood on moments before. Now it is covered with a soft gray substance that looks like it is eating it.
"Oh my," she mutters, shocked, "Are you alright?"
He nods, frowning, "I jumped before it got to my boots. It just startled me," he replies as he looks for somewhere to return to working. "This would work better if I was as good at using the gifts as him."
Smiling, she wraps an arm around him in a small hug. "Different gifts, who's to say that your gifts would be the exact same?"
He smiles at her before his attention is called away. Back into the hole he hops and he joins his brother in finishing digging through the mess. Once they have gotten the entire top and sides of the bulb uncovered, she is startled to see the large crack running down the side of it. In it, that gray acid is slowly dripping.
If you can break the glass and remove the acid, I can maintain her life while you are doing so. She hears Kikyo broadcast, Knives nods in response, and she is sure that the two brothers are having a silent conversation about how to do it. Eventually, both of them leave the hole.
Vash comes to stand by her as he watches his brother. Knives meanwhile is focusing rather hard on the bulb, his right hand extended out. Slowly his fingers vanish as his hand becomes something like a spear with little feather sprouting off of it. After a burst of energy leaves him and slams into the bottom of the bulb just above the acid, a small hole appears, however he sways on his feet.
Milly, who she hadn't realized was up, puts a bracing hand on his shoulder asking, "Are you alright Mr. Knives?"
He nods, keeping his focus on the bulb in question.
Kikyo's sand form glows, at the same time the small darkened figure of the girl within the bulb also starts glowing in time with her. Over the next little bit Milly and her watch as the three plants work to save the fourth. The suns are well past their high point when Knives again sends his focus out, this time sealing the hole that he had placed in the bulb. Slowly, the ground beneath the bulb begins to lift, shifting the bulb out of the acid. Once it is clear of the acid in the hole, Kikyo stops glowing, as does the girl within the bulb. Both brothers sway in exhaustion.
Through the day as the brothers had worked on the bulb, she had set up a small camp, thinking that they were going to be too tired to travel when they were done. Sure enough that is the truth. So after feeding the both of them, we insist on them sleeping, Knives listens easier than Vash since he was not back to full strength anyways.