I OWN NOTHING BUT THE STORYLINE AND CHARACTERS YOU DON'T KNOW FROM THE MANGA/ANIME!
Chapter Twenty-Two
Second Chances
Everything happens for a reason, at least that's what I want to believe. If my past had not happened then I wouldn't be where I am today, yes, but I also wouldn't have her. I wouldn't change her for anything and yet by leaving her I did just that. If I could change my past, that's the only thing I would want to fix. I wouldn't have left her. I would have stayed by her side forever.
"They've been gone so long, Vash. Should we leave?"
Vash glanced at Kyri. She had curled herself up at his side, using him as a pillow. The two of them had been waiting here in this structure for Knives and Kyra for over a year now. Several times he had thought about just taking Kyri and leaving. He wanted to get Kyri away from their siblings before they could poison her mind any more than they already had over the last 15 years but he didn't know what to do. Would she really come with him? Would Knives and Kyra try to find them? Could he protect her?
"Do you want to leave, Kyri?"
"I want the four of us to be together forever."
Vash couldn't help but smile. Kyri was so...innocent; so pure. He didn't want her to lose that. He wouldn't let her lose it.
"If they don't return soon, let's go find...some people. They can find us later."
Kyri frowned for a moment before nodding, smiling as she snuggled closer to Vash. "As long as you're there, I don't mind. As long as you don't leave me, Vash."
Vash felt a blush cross his face at her words and the warmth of her body. He couldn't lie, he was very fond of the girl. She was still so pure, despite all that had happened. Kyra and Knives babied her, treating her more like a child than she really was, as if they were brainwashing her but Vash couldn't bring himself to break the spell. He wanted her to stay pure like she was, hoping that she'd never know the truth of what their siblings had done. He wanted to protect her from everything; that included their siblings. In the end, if it all came down to it, then…
A noise made them both look up some other brother and sister standing there with smiles on their faces
"Knives," Vash cried out.
"All done," The man spoke first.
"Sister!" Kyri jumped from Vash's side and wrapped her arms around Kyra's body, holding her close.
"I'm sorry it took so long, Ki," She smiled, adjusting two long packages in her hands to return her sister's hug. "It wasn't too boring with just Vash here, was it?"
"Of course not!" Kyri shook her head with a smile. "It's never boring with Vash around!"
"Good," Kyra smiled. "Now, let's go outside. I've got a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" Kyri's eyes shone. "Let's go then!"
Vash wore a frown as he followed their older siblings out of the crashed ship and up a hill. Something was telling him that this was going to be bad.
"Hey now where are you going?"
Knives smiled and a huge explosion went off ahead of them. Knives was holding something in his hands and caused the explosion; it had been a gun.
"Only a 13% output," Knives commented "That's the best we can get."
"Wha-what is that?" Vash demanded
"These are our new siblings," Knives answered. "And this will be yours." He held a gun in each hand one silver and one black.
"We have some to, Kyri." Kyra smiled holding out one of her packages to her sister.
Kyri smiled, holding the black gun blade in her hands. "For me?"
"Yep," Kira smiled at her sister in adoration. "I'll teach you how to use it; don't worry."
"Okay!"
Knives smiled too. "We will use these guns to dispose of mankind." He held out the silver revolver to his brother but Vash didn't move.
"I… I'm not gonna do that."
"Yes you will."
"Never!"
"Then why did you follow us wait until we returned?" Vash's eyes shot over to Kyri and then back to his brother. "Is it because you know you won't be able to do anything on your own?"
Kyra had caught the look and smiled again. "I know why."
Knives smirked, his thoughts mirroring Kyra's. "Just watch me; I'll show you what to do."
He turned again ready to fire off another blast but Vash dove at him, resulting in a scuffle between the two brothers as they rolled down the hill. Kyra grabbed her sister and pulled her out of the way, both just watching as guns pointed at each other.
Knives glared down at his brother. "After 15 years are you still so affected by that ridiculous nonsense that fantasy world? Created for you by the woman who lived and died by contradiction?"
Vash picked up the other gun and pointed it at him. "I won't let you kill any more people. And I won't let you drag Kyri into this anymore!"
"Sorry dear brother I think you misunderstood me. You're aiming at the wrong person."
"They're still alive. Alive. I promised her that we would make this land-"
"Exactly. We will you and I will make this land our very own Eden, with the girls' help of course. Just the four of us. You want to make Kyri happy, don't you?"
Vash glared at his brother. Knives knew he would do anything for Kyri. He was using her as a weapon, a tool against him and he didn't think it was wrong.
~It's wrong. This is wrong. Wrong!~
"Vash," Kyri said forward to try and talk to the brothers by her words were lost as a gun shot rang out.
The black revolver fell from Knives' hand and was quickly followed by a grunt as the man knelt down, clutching at the gun wound in his right thigh.
"My leg," he groaned. "My leg, it hurts. Why?"
"Knives!" Kyra shot forward, going to the other man's side.
"There's so much pain in my leg!" Knives groaned. He looked up at Vash, taking in the look of horror on his younger brother's face. "Did you shoot me? Did you actually shoot me? I can't believe this! Did you really shoot me?!"
Vash began to scream and ran down the hill, leaving Knives crying out for him. Knives couldn't follow him down the hill to the wound in his leg and Kyra stayed with him but Kyri took off after the other man. Her speed, though…it was nothing compared to his.
"Vash! Vash, wait! Don't go, Vash! Please don't go! Vash!"
Vash could hear Kyri's voice calling for him but he couldn't stop his body. He had shot his brother. He had shot Knives! He could have shot Kyra; or even Kyri! The thought of that happening, of it being Kyri that he shot, of her bleeding because of him...that's what made him run. That's what scared him the most.
And that was the last time she saw him. Vash had disappeared from her life. She got lost in the desert looking for him for days, crying out his name until she couldn't go on. Her sister found her by pure luck and returned her to where she had left Knives. With the man unable to walk, Kyra took to training her sister. Apparently in the year that she and Knives were gone, the two of them taught themselves how to use the weapons that they created. Vash had run off with both the revolvers that Knives and made, leaving only the two Gunblades for the sisters to wield. Knives couldn't spar with Kyra but her sister did. Kyri felt so weak but Knives and her sister both were there to support her, egging her on and on and on encouraging her not to give up. And as time went on, she began to see things the same way that Knives and Kyra did.
That humans were evil. Humans were the one that took Vash away, the ones that made him run. Vash left because of humans.
Vash feared the humans.
Vash wanted the humans gone.
If the humans are gone then Vash would come back.
That's what she honestly believed.
Kyra and Knives molded Kyri into the ultimate weapon. She was fast, confident and smooth. Her strength was undeniable as was her mind. Her battle tactics and techniques were all self-taught and honed. She could come to a conclusion on any battleground. At one point in time, Kyra was nervous; nervous that the weapon that she and Knives created would eventually turn on them but Knives calmed her down. He had utmost confidence in Kyri staying with them and he truly believed that.
And then it happened. It was practically thrown in their laps, waiting to finally prove to Kyri that humans were despicable.
The three of them are just passing by a city when something caught Kyri's eye, or rather her ear. It was screaming; begging. Someone begging for another to stop, crying that it hurt. Kyri left Kyra and Knives behind, and followed it to one of the largest houses in the city. The screams led her to the master bedroom and she saw it. It was a young boy, barely 10 if that, being raped by an older man. Knives and Kyra had followed her and witnessed firsthand the atrocious scene themselves. At Kyri's wish, Knives destroyed the city only to find out that the young boy had somehow survived. They soon learned that the boy had psychic powers and had been weaving metal threats into his brain for years now. For humans to do this to their own kind…it made Kyri sick.
Kyra came up with the idea for her sister to train the boy. She gave him the name Legato Bluesummers and began to help him control his newfound abilities. Legato caught on very quickly, almost as fast as Kyri had, and it was through him that they found another member to add to their happy family; Eryn. After that came Midvalley and Sylvia and so on, creating the Gun-Ho Guns. Several members knew how to fight already and beside Legato, only three others had to have any type of training, personally from the Bladed Siren herself.
Eryn the White Queen, Sylvia the Glacier, and Mai the Whisperer.
With the Gun-Ho Guns, Kyri received orders from Kyra and Knives to hunt and kill and for ten years she was with her troupe until one day something in her mind seemed to bloom. Something was calling her to the west; something told her to go alone.
It would be weird. Ever since they formed 10 years ago, not once have they been apart. It would be strange but it was a powerful feeling those telling her to move to the West. Something that she could not ignore.
Eryn and Sylvia were the ones argued with her leaving the most and it eventually took a major convincing from Legato and Midvalley both before the two women promised not to follow after Kyri.
She was fond of Eryn and Sylvia, and even of Legato and Midvalley; a lot more than she was of the others. The four of them…she accepted them as part of her family, right along with Kyra and Knives.
The sun was brutal today. It beat down on Kyri's head, her leather outfit not helping much in keeping her cool. She slightly cursed herself in taking this trip in the first place but she kept silent. Complaining now would be pointless since she had already made it halfway. She did hate how her feet sank in the sand, though. She remembered one time when she was younger when she had fallen into a sinkhole. Her sister and the brothers had to dig her out. Knives teased her about it for years afterwards.
She been traveling in the desert for days, no sign of any other life forms or towns or villages or anything of the sort. Not even scorpions or snakes and definitely not any plants. Kyri was wondering if she should have let Eryn and Sylvia come with her, but quickly shoved that thought from her mind. She had to do this alone; and she found out soon after why.
She found a man collapsed in the sand, half hidden from the world in a brown cloak. She had half a mind to just leave the poor bastard there but his hand shot out and wrapped around her ankle, a hoarse voice asking for water. She originally would have just left the man to die in the heat and dehydration, but when his hood was removed her eyes widened.
That spiky blond hair. Those bright blue eyes. She'd never forget that face.
It was Vash.
Every ounce of her soul wanted to grab the man that now sat before her but her feelings froze her instead. This was the man that had run from her, that had left her. This was the one that had betrayed her. He promised that they would always be together…
Vash gulped down the water from the canteen loudly and cried out that he was alive again.
"Hey, thanks so much for helping me. I would have died if not-" His voice faded away when he took in the stare he was being given. This woman seemed awfully familiar. "Have we…met?"
She was sitting before him but he knew that she would be about 5'9' with the right side of her black hair shaved short and the left side hanging to her shoulders. A pair of crystals hung from her ears and her blue eyes stared at him in confusion. She was dressed in a black and white leather bodysuit with straps around the Gunblade behind her.
His eyes bulged. "K-Kyri?!"
"It's good to see you again, Vash," Kyri's voice was cool but there was some other emotion in her eyes; it made him feel guilty. "Still see you kept that atrocious haircut after all these years."
"I'd have to say that yours is more atrocious than mine, Ki," Vash grinned nervously, rubbing the back of his head.. "Why cut it that way?"
Kyri lifted a hand to her hair and gave a smile. "Some fool decided to grab it and smear his blood all over it so I let Eryn cut it off. Oh," Her eyes lit up happily. "I want to introduce you to them. Eryn and Sylvia have been my students for nine years now and Mai just joined us about four years ago. Elendira doesn't talk much but I'm sure you would get along with Rai-Dei or Midvalley or-"
Vash stared at her. Kyri...had changed. She was no longer that pure, innocent woman that he had left behind all those years ago. His fears had come true. Knives and Kyra had changed her; and it was his fault. He had run, leaving Kyri on her own with their siblings. He knew what could happen, would happen, and still he left her.
"Ki, where...where are Knives and Kyra?"
Kyri's smile fell and the light in her eyes dimmed. "The two of them...I haven't seen them in almost a year." Her brow then furrowed. "Vash, where have you been?"
He almost winced; he had known that was coming. "I've been-"
~-Hiding-~
"-traveling. but what are you doing? He demanded. "They've got wanted posters of you everywhere. They're calling you the Bladed Siren! Saying that you've been killing people and-"
"That's because I have been."
Kyri's words made him freeze. "W-what? Kyri, why?"
"All the humans are, are monsters. The things they do, how they live and act, it's all disgusting. They're a low-level race that should be taken care of before things get even worse."
Vash's eyes widened. Kyri's words...she sounded just like Knives. "Have...have Kyra and Knives been telling you this? Have they been making you kill people?"
Those blue eyes of hers, they had been so bright and warm once, were now so dark and cold. Guilt hit him. He had left her with Knives and Kyra. It was his fault she had become...this.
"I've seen it with my own eyes," Kyri stared at the sand beneath them, reliving all that she had seen when she found Legato and Eryn. "Humans…the things they do to each other…it's so…so despicable." Vash watched as her eyes went wide and her hands began to grip at her hair, as if trying to fight back the images that she had seen. "What they have done to each other, what they did to Legato and Eryn, they were children, Vash! Children! And they still-"
Vash couldn't bear to hear her words anymore and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her, quietly hushing her. It was clear that Knives and Kyra had gotten ahold of her but there was still a part of her that was the same as when he left; it was just hiding. Maybe this was his chance…
"Not everyone is like that, Kyri. You've only seen the bad sides. There are good sides too, you know."
"That's hard to believe," Came her small voice. He was half expecting her to shove him away; relief passed through his body when she didn't.
Vash pulled back, determination on his face. "I'll show you." She stared into his eyes. He felt that he had a chance again. "Come with me to July. There's someone I need to talk to there. After that…after that I'll show you that not all humans are bad."
"But…but Knives told me that the humans are the ones that forced you to leave. You left us because of the humans. You left ME! Me, Vash! Me. Me. ME!"
She would have repeated it over and over again had it not been for Vash smashing his lips against hers. Her body froze on her and all she could do was stare at the blue eyes before her.
The man pulled back from her face, hos own turning red. "I-I'm sorry, but I didn't know how else to stop you," He reached forward and gripped her hands tightly. "I'm sorry for running off like I had. I know I hurt you and not a day has gone by that I haven't regretted it or thought about you. I've been hoping that I could find you again, Kyri, and that's the truth, whether you want to believe it or not." Kyri didn't move, only staring, and so he gave her a soft smile. "You've seen Knives' side for so long. Give me a chance to show you my side. Please, give the humans a second chance."
Kyri pursed her lips for a moment before her shoulders slumped. "Only for you, Vash…only for you."
Vash felt like he was flying. All these years he had feared that he would never see Kyri again and fate led them together in this desert. Of all people it had been that stopped to help him it was her. It had to be a blessing from whatever god there was; especially since she was alone.
Knives and Kyra had twisted her mind so far since the last he had seen her and he knew that was his fault. He should have taken her with him when he left all those years ago.
Vash had only known about Kyri being the Bladed Siren due to the Wanted Posters of her he had come across. He had never heard of this group that she was involved with but she was one of the most wanted people on the planet. It was said that she had completely obliterated two complete cities…were these cities connected to the companions she kept referring to? She had told him about the horrid fates they had saved Legato and Eryn from. It saddened his heart to learn that anyone could treat children like that. It really wasn't hard to hate humankind but it wasn't right to judge everyone off of the actions of a few others. It wasn't fair.
"Who is it that we're here to see, Vash?"
Vash smiled at Kyri's question as he walked down the hall. She had been quiet when they first started traveling together again but she had opened up slightly more over the last month together. He hoped to continue doing so.
"This man…he's a descendant of Rem's."
That woman's name brought back so many memories. "Rem's? Are you sure?"
"Yes. I have to…to tell him everything."
"But why? Why tell him anything at all?"
Vash gave her a smile over his shoulder. "Because it's right."
A horrible scene welcomed them the moment they opened the doors. The man that Vash had been here to see was leaned over his desk, blood pouring over onto the floor. Sitting on the desk beside him was a man in white; Knives.
He turned to his brother lifted a hand in greeting. "Hey there, Vash." Vash stared at him in shock. "Everything that you and Rem together is finally gone."
Vash glared at him. "Is that your excuse for killing?"
"You learned anything over the past hundred years? The scars carved into your body will never regenerate. Symbolic of your foolish waste energy on this human garbage."
"Regardless of how you feel about them, they are living beings. They deserve to live!"
"What's the use of growing up if the only thing that grows as you use the sentimentalism?" Knives turned to face the duo. "You're still a good for nothing pathetic wimp."
Kyri could only watch as Knives shot Vash right in front of her. Her eyes grew wide as one of his hands flew off right before her, blood splattering everywhere.
"See where your feelings have gotten you?" Knives asked as he moved closer. "They've gotten you-" his words froze as Kyri's form moved to stand between him and his brother. "Oh? What's this?"
"I... No more, Knives. Please, no more."
The man grinned at her. "I suppose our training can't get rid of all your feelings, could they? Besides, I'm not the one who is going to be doing the hurting now, am I Vash?" Knives snapped his fingers and something began to happen at the silver revolver in his brother's hand. Pieces flew off and a yellow globe electricity began to form around it.
"What…what the hell is that?!" Vash cried.
"This is our gift, brother! Now it is time to take out this worthless human garbage forever!"
Vash began to cray as his arms transformed into some kind of strange gun. Kyri stared at it in awe, unsure of what to do.
"K-Kyri, get out of here!" Vash told her. "Run! Run away!"
"But…but Vash!"
"Go! Now!"
~We're no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
I know commitments what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy~
Kyri opened her eyes at the sound of a knock on her door. She had been trying to sleep peacefully but old memories came back to her like a plague.
The group had stopped in another town, Kyri leading them to a sand steamer. She and Vash hadn't spoken since the events on the ship nearly two months ago. Wolfwood and the Insurance girls had parted ways with them, leaving only Alexia and Alexander with the two outlaws. Alexia refused to leave Kyri, making her brother stay, unhappy though he was. Kyri had told the duo to leave but they had yet to do so.
Vash tried to talk to her but she stayed silent, never looking at him. Vash carried on conversations with himself, answering and laughing alone until the twins stepped in to help him. Kyri had ignored Vash but would answer Alexander and Alexia. If Vash had wanted to ask anything then one of the twins would have to repeat the question.
"Enter." The door to the room opened and Alexia entered in her pajamas, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Can I help you?"
"Yeah," Alexia nodded. "I remember you talking about having a mission for me earlier."
Kyri sat up in her bed, sure to keep the sheet covering her. She had almost forgotten about that. "We're parting ways here."
Alexia's face scrunched up. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that in the morning, I shall be getting on a sand steamer headed for Macca City and you'll be going towards Notila."
The younger woman frowned. "And why is that?"
"The Gung-Ho Guns," Kyri answered. "Macca City was the last place Razlo and Livio were seen, though it's been a while, I might be able to pick something up," She opened her eyes and glanced at Alexia. "I want you to go and find Midvalley and Sylvia for me. The duo should be together."
Alexia gave a silent breath of relief. She feared that Kyri was trying to get rid of her. She didn't want to think about what would happen after that.
"Just find them?"
"Yes," She nodded. "Sylvia might recognize your face though, so be careful. I don't want you to fight them, just find them."
"And just what is it you plan on doing with them when I find them for you?"
"That depends on them. They can either give me what I want peacefully or they can refuse and fight me. Midvalley will be easy to convince but I'm afraid that his wife is quite the opposite."
"Sounds like she learned from her teacher." Alexia commented. It got a smirk from Kyri. She turned to leave the room. "If that's all-"
"You wish to say something else."
Alexia tightened her grip on the door knob before turning back to face the older woman. "Vash is crying." Nothing on Kyri's face moved; she just sat there with her eyes closed. "He does almost every night. I've heard him begging for forgiveness, swearing that he thought he was doing the right thing. Both of you have been through so much already, can't you just forgive him?"
"There is nothing to forgive," Came her cold answer. "The Stampede and the Bladed Siren live it two different worlds."
"I'm not talking about the Stampede and the Bladed Siren!" Alexia's voice rose. "I'm talking about Vash and Kyri! I'm talking about the duo that my brother and I met in the desert. The ones that laughed and spoke together. I'm talking about the woman that would make donuts all through the night just to see that blond man smile the next morning! I know you feel hurt, but you're not the only one that's hurting, Kyri! Vash is too and he needs you; just like you need him. If you really love him, Kyri, you'll forgive him!"
Things were silent for a moment but Kyri broke it again. "There is nothing to forgive."
Alexia gave her a glare before leaving the room, slamming the door behind her as she cursed the other woman for being stubborn.
If she had stayed for just a moment longer then maybe she would have been able to see the tears that fell.
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