Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ After the Fall ❯ The Binding ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

After the Fall
Prologue: The Binding
A Trigun Fan Fiction
by
Lady Aoi

Summary: A Knives/Legato fic that tells the story of the pair from their first
meeting to the end of the series. -- told from Knives' POV.
Warnings: Yaoi, shonen-ai, major spoilers (isn't Knives a spoiler in and of
himself?), violence, torture, angst.
Rating: PG for now, but this will become NC-17 later for all of the above. (and
obviously it's not a PWP)
Lady Aoi's Notes: Knives/Legato is my favorite pairing in this series and lately
I noticed that many K/L fics (including my own O.o;) are often PWPs about Knives
raping and/or abusing Legato. Nothing is wrong with this, but sometimes its nice
to have a change of scene, no? I hope this fic will be just that.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Spiders. They overrun this planet just as they overran Earth, building their
disgusting webs of cities around the butterflies they have ensnared. And what
are those butterflies? My people, their beautiful bodies entombed within layers
of glass and miles of cable, more machine now than living. And yet, these
living, breathing beings think themselves happy in their servitude, rejoicing
with each drop of blood the spiders drain from them. The fools. Long ago, I did
my best to save them by crashing our ship on a desert planet after physically
destroying as many of these spiders as I could. But spiders are a hardy species.
Especially when so many believe them to be useful, despite their ugliness. I am
referring to Vash, my... idiot of a brother who had devoted himself to
protecting and nurturing the humans in an even more revolting fashion than that
embraced by the rest of our kind. To this day, he honestly believes he can
somehow change them, despite everything they have done to him.

I hate him for that.

I love him all the more for this.

Vash...he is the most crippled butterfly of all. At least my brothers and
sisters have the dignity of ignorance. My beloved Vash has only his sad
idealism, and for every ideal he holds true, he bears a scar or a plate. And
that is exactly why I must save him. Unless I tear into the spiders' web and
crush them, they will continue to cut into him until there is nothing left.

The sky is very blue today, Vash-chan, just like your eyes... and it is as clear
and uncomplicated as our life will be when I have freed you from your own
blindness...soon, my Brother. I will use the very things you say you love to
liberate you, and then you will see...

~Water....~

This thought is... not mine.

~Vash?~ I ask as I sit up from my chair. It must be my Brother, how could it
not? I know of no being aside from a Plant capable of telepathy, and none but
Vash who would attempt to contact me. The voice is faint, and very far away, so
it is difficult for me to hear it clearly enough to determine...

The thought hits me with a horror that numbs my spine. Perhaps this is the voice
of a Plant bled of its energy and left to rot in the life-giving glass that is
slowly becoming its tomb. If this is the case, I must respond immediately.

~Are you there? Can you answer me?~

~Water...please....~

~Vash? Is that you, Brother? Who are you?~

~Water...~ and with that, the voice cuts off, but not before I get an image of
its location. Tall red sand dunes and umber stone canyons baking under the hot
noon sun. Yes... the desert near the parasitic hive the humans call April. In
this 'town' named after a month when the desert springs into full bloom, they
are torturing one of my fellows... and I will be damned if I permit this to
happen.

It is with particular relish that I load my gun this afternoon. These humans are
ignorant to think that their sport goes unnoticed and unheeded because their
laws turn a blind eye to their folly and god does not exist. But I have seen.
And I exist. I slide the final bullet into my gun. Perhaps I will even have an
opportunity to use the full extent of my powers on this hive. The thought of
creating another ash-heap to stand alongside that of the July my Brother turned
into a wasteland... thrills me. Yes, humans, I have seen your misdeeds.

And I will make you pay. Every last one of you, until April is nothing but a
layer of dark and smoldering ash vanishing into the wind.

~*~
Despite my many efforts, I hear no more from this mysterious voice as I travel.
And this... both surprises and unnerves me. Is this Plant so weakened that s/he
can no longer communicate with me? Or (terrible thought!) were the humans truly
strong enough to damage my fellow so gravely, and so quickly? If this is the
case, I decide while sitting down to refresh myself from my canteen, then
perhaps these parasites are truly stronger than I have given them credit. I may
have to revise my plans.

I am not so concerned, however, that I do not feel a pair of eyes upon me.
Without turning around, and without putting my hand upon my weapon, I speak.

"Unless you truly want to see the contents of your skull, I advise you not to
come any closer."

And to its credit, the human does not advance. I smile to myself and finish my
drink before turning around. My first kill. Enjoyable, and yet how loathsome to
have to perform the deed myself.

I am expecting to find one of April's males behind me, perhaps a merchant on its
way into town, perhaps a miner on its way home, or perhaps even one of the
creatures dubbed 'bounty hunter' who swarm after my dear Brother for nothing
more than some worthless pieces of paper. I expect any number of things, human
and non to meet my eyes and to receive a bullet between its own.

But what I do not expect is the child I find sitting cross-legged on a rock. A
small and frail creature, it would hardly reach my waist were it to stand erect,
and the filthy moth-eaten rags that cling to its tanned and near-skeletal frame
would barely be enough to make a scarf from. Its hair is so filthy I cannot tell
anything more about it than the fact that it is darker than my own. As for its
eyes... I have never seen eyes like this. Golden, deep, alive with an
intelligence that seems both bestial and angelic, the energy contained in these
eyes is now focused upon the canteen in my hand. It is this pair of eyes,
perhaps, that prevents me from shooting. Although its eyes are crusted with sand
and fluids and nearly overflowing with a near animal-hunger, the human does
nothing. It does not cry out, it does not attack and, for that matter, it barely
even moves. Its golden eyes simply stare into mine, not challenging, not demure,
simply...observant. At last, I break the silence.

"You want this, don't you?"

A hot breeze ruffles his hair, but the boy does not respond.

"I asked you a question, child."

Another pause. And then the boy nods, its eyes returning immediately to the
canteen at my side. I unclip the thing from my waist and hold it out, watching
as the boy's golden eyes follow the movement.

"And do you know that I am not about to give it to you?"

Again, it nods. Clever creature. At least now I know it is not deaf... or
simple.

"Then you must also know that I relish the thought of killing you," I cock my
gun and aim it for the creature's forehead. It does not even flinch. "That said,
I would advise you to run, unless you really would prefer a quick death to a
slow one out there in the dunes."

The creature does not move. Instead, it surprises me by asking; "Are you gonna
use that gun on the rest of April, mister?"

I blink. Very perceptive child. "'Cause if you are, you might wanna know that a
lot of 'em are already dead."

This news is... unexpected, enough so that I put my gun up slightly. "Explain
yourself, child."

"A lot of 'em died today, some yesterday, some early the week before. At first
they thought it was a plague, or something in the water. But then they realized
who really did it."

"And who was that?"

"Me, mister." The boy neither looks proud nor pleased at this revelation. And
his expression does not change with my laughter.

"You, a mere child killed them?"

"Yup. That's why they put me out here, sir."

"Don't flatter yourself, boy. How could you have possibly killed anyone, as
small as you are?"

~Like this.~ A few prickles of pain run up my spine to settle near the base of
my skull. I blink in surprise and reach up to touch the area. How on Earth....

~I don't get it. That worked on all the others... you should be dead now.~

"You..." surely, I must be hearing things. Perhaps the sun is too bright, too
hot today, and my mind is playing tricks with me. Were it not for my confusion,
I would surely shoot the damn thing for its impudence, for even entertaining the
notion that it could possibly kill a superior being. Nonetheless, my curiosity
wins in the end...

~Can you hear me?~

The boy's eyes widen in surprise. ~No way! You can speak with your mind, too?~

The revelation strikes me with far more force than the boy's blow. So, it wasn't
the mind of a plant I heard after all... it was nothing more than this child...
this human child...

~You were calling out for water earlier, and I heard you from afar.~ This is
impossible! No human could possibly have this kind of power! And yet, a human
stands before me, his golden eyes studying the large canteen I had prepared for
the Plant.

~Who taught you how to do this?~ I ask him.

The boy shrugs. ~I dunno. I've been doing it all my life. When I was little,
like two or three, our neighbors had this dog that they never tied up. And
sometimes, it would come inside and bite my little sister. So one day, I got
tired of listening to her cry and I just stared and stared at that dog and told
it to stop biting her. But it wouldn't. So I wanted it to die. And it did. And
since then, if I want something to die, like if a bird wakes me up in the
morning and it's too early, I just think about the bird dying and it does.~

~And lately, you've used your mind to kill humans?~

He nods. ~I don't like people, mister. They're noisy and smelly and stupid. All
they do is yell a lot and tell you how evil you are and that you're going to
Hell 'cause you look weird and 'cause you don't know who your Daddy was.~

I just stare at the creature. This is incredible, in the truest sense of the
word. But if the child is indeed telling the truth... no... I have to see this
for myself.

"Come here," the creature's eyes widen as I hold my spare canteen out. "You may
have all the water you desire, the whole canteen if you wish, but it will cost
you. When you are refreshed we are going back to April, and then you are going
to show me what you did. If you are telling me the truth, then water will be the
least of your rewards. But if you are lying --" I press the barrel of my gun
between the child's eyes. "It will be the least of your concerns. Do you
understand?"

The child nods slightly, not even flinching at the proximity of my weapon. "You
don't like people either, do you, mister?"

"If you'd like a demonstration, child, by all means, keep talking."

"Is that 'cause you can talk with your mind, too? Or 'cause they were mean to
you?"

"That is none of your business. But if you must know, it is because I find them
a waste of amino acids."

"Um...okay. Can I have some water now?"

I hand it the canteen and watch as it messily and loudly drinks its fill. What
could have made a human like this? The child says it has no father. Could one of
my brothers have debased itself by mating with a female human? The thought is
appalling. Perhaps this is all an elaborate hoax... but, how could this be true?
I know of no way to feign telepathic ability. Residual skills, gained by
prolonged and intimate exposure to one of my brothers or sisters? Each
explanation seems more implausible than the last. In any case, I cannot explain
the creature despite the curiosity it awakens in me. And after a few noisy
minutes of lip smacking and slurping, it finishes the water.

"Have you had your fill?" It nods. "Good. Now you will fulfill your part of the
agreement."

"Sure thing, mister. Just follow me." The child begins walking away from me and
slowly I follow it, my gun readied should it attempt to flee. But to its credit,
the unusual child does not deceive. It leads me across the umber and scarlet
dunes and up the steep and rocky incline of a cliff. Soon we are standing at its
summit, gazing down into the dirty town below.

"Is this your home?" I ask, my eyes traveling to the city's furthest corner.
Through the clear air and red dust I can make out the bulb-shaped glass prison
that holds my sister-Plant captive far more effectively than chains and
darkness.

~Soon, my friend. I will save all of us soon...~

"Mister, who are you talking to?"

"I grow impatient. Show me this 'gift' of yours."

The child holds up its frail hand. "Wait..."

"Wait?! How dare you command --"

"Someone's coming."

And true to its prediction, the gentle sound of bells pierces the air that
swirls around us. And moments later, I see a rag-tag party of three men and
their thomases making their way up the path towards us. A change comes over the
child. Its golden eyes do not narrow, but they take on a fierce clarity and
luster, as if they were two brilliant pearls. As its shoulders tense slightly, I
deem it prudent to conceal myself behind a nearby boulder. I do not want my
presence, as a Plant, to alter the situation in the child's favor or against it.
If the child is able to kill these males as it has claimed, then I have nothing
to worry. And if they end up killing it, well, so much the better.

As I peer around the boulder's curve, the party comes to a halt a few feet away
from the ragged boy. I stifle the urge to laugh as the leader, a lanky dark
haired male, dismounts its thomas with the self-imposed authority of a puppet
playing the role of god in a child's drama.
"Well now, little pardner, what're ya doin' out here? Lost yer Mommy an' ...."
it seems the male has recognized the boy. It stops, its hand frozen inches away
from child's head that it was about to stroke.

"Holy shit... Bluesummers."

The child rewards the man's recognition with a calm smile.

"B--but, you were -- we --"

"I don't like being left out there all alone," the child says, its eyes
narrowing slightly. "Leaving?" it asks as the male begins backing up slowly.
"But why? I just wanna play a little."

I doubt the male ever knew what hit it. One minute it is moving, and the next,
it stands still, whimpering as its hideous face purples and then turns a deep
and veiny blue. It collapses to the ground seconds later, where it wheezes and
expires. I watch in fascination as the male's two companions meet a similar
grisly fate; one of them clutches his chest and falls from his horse. The
other's head simply implodes in a burst of red and slick pinks that shimmer in
the sun and then lie in the sand like mutilated slugs.

~Didja see that, mister?~ the telepath -- Bluesummers -- asks, turning around to
face me. For once, it looks mildly excited; I am reminded of the way Rowan would
behave when showing Rem his latest so-called invention. Ecstatic at his own
success, yet masking his excitement behind cool detachment for fear of coming
across as prideful. How repugnantly smug and hypocritical these humans are. It
seems this child is no different. And yet, this smug and hypocritical creature
may be of use to me.

"Yes," I inform it, putting up my gun as I stare out over April. As tempted as I
am to ask this little human if it would like to help me demolish the rest of
this hive, a more important task calls me now. Where once my situation seemed
bleak, I now begin to see a way. I will take this child back to Demetry and
train it. And when it is fully grown and at the peak of its powers, I will send
it back into this Hell of a world to do my bidding. I know it will agree... I
can see this in its eyes. This child has intelligence, but no direction; power,
but no ambition. It is a black hole of a creature without a will of its own,
save the will to destruction. And so, I shall give it one of my own making.

"Bluesummers," I say without turning around. "You have done well. And you can do
better still, should you choose to obey me." When it does not respond, I
continue. "We are alike, Bluesummers, in that neither of us feels any love for
the human race. You have destroyed so many already, and yet you cannot destroy
them all. And neither can I, as long as we continue to act alone. Now that you
have proven yourself worthy, I am willing to take you away with me to teach you
more about your powers, so that you may fulfill your heart's desire."

The next question comes as a complete shock. "Mister, are you god?"

On a normal day, I would find this appellation both annoying and offensive. God
is nothing but a self-immortalizing concept humans invented to give their
ridiculous lives meaning and to pretend that they are somehow better than
themselves . In this child's case, however, I find the name amusing.

"Yes," I tell Bluesummers as I lean down to look it directly in the eye. "I will
be your god if you are willing to truly serve and obey me. Will you do that,
Bluesummers?"

I nearly laugh out loud when the child prostrates itself before me. "Yes, lord,"
it whispers. "I'll do whatever You say."

"Very well. Then rise and follow." I get about two paces before I turn back to
it. While being refereed to as god may be amusing the first time around, I know
I will soon quickly tire of this game. "And do not refer to me as God,
Bluesummers. My name is Millions Knives, and I will be addressed from now on as
your Master."

"Yes, Master," the little slave murmurs as it rises from the dust to follow me.
"And Master?"

"Yes child? And from now on, you will not speak unless you are spoken to."

"Sorry, Master. I just wanted to say that my name's Legato. Legato Bluesummers."

"You will be whatever I call you, Bluesummers. Now come."

"Yes, Master."

Millions Knives and Legato Bluesummers; a tall, pale Plant and a ragged skeleton
of a child. Needless to say, I am certain we make an interesting pair as we walk
through the desert back to my home. At one point, I turn my head to make certain
I am not dreaming, and that my Bluesummers indeed follows behind me. And sure
enough it is there, as graceful and mysterious as any mirage, its face
unreadable, its eyes emptily alive with what I cannot say.

Then again, who ever said god's task was an easy one?

(End Prologue)