Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Humanity: Torn Between Loving It and Hating It ❯ Burning Rage ( Chapter 2 )

The heated night was silent. The town was asleep. A few warm breezes blew around, rousing dust into the air. Houses, restaurants, bars, and stores were cast into the shadows as the night dragged on sluggishly. The moons shun brightly on the town and it's surrounding desert.

There's a movement in the shadows. It stirs again, only in another spot. The movement makes its way toward the town bar. It stops and peeks through one of the windows. It pulls out a box of matches and a bottle of alcohol.

It starts pouring some of the drink over the window and around on the ground. Then it busts the window open, stopping to make sure no one heard. After about a minute, the shadowed person tosses the bottle inside. The bottle shatters. One match is lit and is tossed inside. At once, flames started up. Another is lit and is tossed on the ground.

The figure watched as the flames rose higher before slipping back into the shadows.

~*~*~*~Inside the Bar~*~*~*~

If a newcomer were to walk into the bar, he would think there was nothing out of the ordinary. But Kale's bar was different from others. Her father had gotten this insane idea that he should connect the bar to a few bedrooms, which were hers, her father's, and an extra just incase someone was in use of it badly.

No one knew about the back bedrooms except Meryl, Milly, and Vash. Kale's father was always a kind man, always seeing the good in everyone. So, he allowed them the bedrooms the first few nights they had come into town. Meryl and Milly had the extra, Vash shared her father's bed with him, and Kale still had her room to herself.

After a while, Kale had learned that Milly had moved into town, had a two story house built a little ways away from the town with a few other homes and that Vash and Meryl were living there with her. Kale had been thrilled and just last night she had finally seen Vash The Stampede again.

Kale stirred uncomfortably. It was getting stuffy for some reason. A bit warmer, too. She started to cough and hack. She bolted upright and coughed harder, opening her eyes just a little. The room was foggy. Kale slid from the safety of her bed and, still trying to calm her coughing, went to touch the doorknob.

Before she could touch it, she felt immense heat radiating off of the handle. She snatched her hand away and her eyes widened. After realizing what was happening, Kale ran to her nightstand and pulled out crowbar. (A/N: Wow……. wish I had a nightstand like that…….)

Kale gasped as she tried to breathe. The bedroom was getting darker and stuffier. Kale put a hand over her nose and mouth and started coughing again. Her throat burned, her nose hurt, her eyes stung, and she was feeling sleepier.

"Argh!" Kale slammed the long, black tool onto the doorknob, knocking it off. She used the end of the rod to stab at the hole, knocking the other off from the other side. Kale dropped the bar and shoved open the door.

"Oh no……." Kale jumped back as flames leaped at her. She ran to her bed and dragged the quilt from it. She started whipping at the flame till she was able to pass them up. She dropped the burning quilt and charged into the bar. She was horrified at what she saw.

Fire was eating at everything. The tables, the chairs, even at the stage. She shrieked when the bottles of alcohol exploded one by one, the liquid only allowing the flames to grow bigger and hotter. Beyond the wall of fire, Kale spotted hope.

There was a trap door right at her end of the bar. She remembered her father had made it for her for every time a fight broke loose, a gang came in, shooting was roused, or when something like this would happen. It led right outside.

She dodged a piece of the roof that fell and jumped at the trap door. She placed the very tips of her fingers into the almost unnoticeable tiny grooves and lifted up the four-board cover. Kale quickly slid into the dark, cool ground and slid the cover over her. She then proceeded to crawl through the average sized tunnel.

The soil was damp and cool against her knees and palms. She remembered she had to use the tunnel many times, but not once had anyone ever noticed it. She was glad for that, too. Every now and then Kale would use it when a fight broke out and she couldn't do a thing, but get out of the way.

Kale came to a dead end and pressed up against the cover above. She took a deep breath of fresh night air and opened her eyes. She looked straight up at the sky and smiled a little. It was beautiful. She climbed out and put the cover back on. She knew she had her back the bar, but she was afraid of turning around.

After about a few minutes, Kale took a breath, held it, and slowly turned. Her mouth made a silent "O" and she covered her mouth, her eyes blurring with tears. The bar, her home, her only memories of her father, was engulfed in the mighty flames.

"No," she whispered, not believing what was happening in front of her. She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed.

"NO!!!" She fell to her knees as she allowed the tears to fall freely. Shouts and sirens were heard in the distance and Kale looked over her shoulder to see two water trucks speeding over. Concerned townspeople running were after them in only their pajamas.

"Miss, are you alright?" A man asked. She shook her head and buried her face in her hands. The man helped her up and walked her to a nearby house. The man knocked on the door and an elderly lady answered it. Kale heard him ask the elderly lady if she had a phone. She nodded and pulled Kale into the house.

"There's a phone in the kitchen, hun. Feel free to call your family." Then she walked outside. Kale choked. What family? Kale thought bitterly.

Kale walked into cool kitchen and switched on a light. She saw the phone on the counter and walked over to pick up the receiver.

~*~*~*~At Milly's~*~*~*~

**RING**

Silence.

**RING**

More Silence.

**RING**

You guessed it. Silence.

**RING*

"Grr, Vash! You better answer the damn phone or I'll smother you with my pillow!" Meryl screeched. Vash yelped and fell to the floor. He groaned and groped blindly for the phone. He gripped the receiver and pulled it down to him.

"Mmm, hello?" Vash said, still half asleep. There was a moment of silence then a small, shaky voice replied.

"Vash? It's me." He straightened a little and rubbed his eyes.

"Kale? Hey, what's up?" Another pause. Vash noticed there were noises in the back ground. Men shouting to one another and things crashing.

"I-it's the bar, Vash. The bar is on fire! The whole thing!" Kale cried into the phone. Vash jumped to his feet, his face hard and serious.

"What do you mean? How did it happen?! Are you alright?!!" Vash nearly shouted.

"I-I'm fine. I was able to get out through the trap door without a scratch, but-but the bar! My home!! It's gone!! I have no idea how it happened! I just woke to it and that was all. After the fire is out I won't have anywhere to go though! What am I supposed to do?? Everything I have or need is inside!" Kale started to cry.

"Don't worry," he whispered, "I'll be right over. We'll sort things then. Just stay out of trouble, `kay?" He heard Kale sniff and laugh a little.

"Yeah, whatever ya say, Vash." Then she hung up. Vash placed the phone down and ran to the closet, pulling out a loose shirt. Meryl groaned and sat up. She watched as the blonde idiot hopped around, trying to get a pair of jeans on.

"Mmm, what the hell are doing, Vash? It's," she looked at the clock, "three fourteen in the morning!" Vash turned to her, his eyes set to determination. He walked over and grabbed the boots on his side of the bed and sat down, slipping one on then the other.

"Kale's bar was caught on fire. She needs my help, Meryl. You know as well as I do that her father made the bar into their home. Now she won't have anything after the fire is out. I'm going down there to reassure her that everything will be alright."

Vash felt movement, but he ignored it as he finished fixing up his boots. When he got up and turned, he saw Meryl dressed in her usual white uniform. His mouth opened and was about to ask when she beat it to him with her ready reply.

"I'm going with you. Kale is just as much of a friend to me as she is to you and Milly. I think she would prefer some female aid more than a man's anyway." She smirked at the last part of her sentence. Vash laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh, all right. Say, should we bring Milly along?" Meryl was about to say no when a small, cherry voice from the doorway said, "I'm coming!" Meryl spun around to see her tall, always happy, partner dressed and ready to go.

"Milly I thought--" Meryl started. Milly smiled, her eyes closing as she did so.

"I was asleep, when that darn phone of yours kept ringing. I was going to come in and answer it for you when Mr. Vash picked it up. Yes, I heard the whole conversation, Mr. Vash! So, are we leaving or what?" Vash walked past Milly and into the hall.

"Just once sec, girls. I want to see if Knives is awake." He walked down the hall and stopped at the last bedroom. Slowly he turned the doorknob and opened the door a crack. He peeked into the darkened room.

"Knives?" At first, he though his brother was asleep so he started to close the door when Knives' deep voice destroyed the silence in the room.

"What is it?" He asked, annoyance evident in his tone. Vash opened the door wider and stuck half his body in.

"Kale, the girl we met yesterday, is in need. It seems something happened while she was sleeping and the bar caught on fire. The girls and I are going down there to help out."

"Why? It's just a bar. There are a few more in town."

"True, but her father made back bedrooms a long time ago and so Kale has lost her home as well. She's scared. I know she is."

"Why do you care for the humans? There are nothing to us." Vash frowned.

"Wrong, they seemed to be nothing to you, but they mean a lot to me. I wish you could see that no two `humans' are a like. Sure, some are cold hearted, but others are caring and try to help others. On any other day I would show you what I see in these people, to get you to see what I see, but I have to go." With that, Vash closed the door.

Knives laid there on top of the covers, his arms crossed loosely over his naked chest. He only wore a pair of loose, light blue pajama bottoms to bed cause Vash usual forced him to. After a while, he had just given up and started wearing them on a daily basis, switching out with the pair of gray and white ones.

Knives sighed and reached over the bed, pulling out the drawer. He picked up the thick, black leather journal and white pen beside it. He undid the two buckles then opened it. After flipping past about half the journal, he uncapped the pen and started writing on the next fresh page.

~*~*~ What does Vash see in these weak beings? What does he see in them that I don't? He thinks them nice, kind, and intelligent. I see nothing but the opposite. Why would he put such garbage above himself? He would rather shoot me, his very own brother, to keep them safe! It's an outrage I tell you!

I bet he would kill me before ever killing a filthy human. Legato was human, yes, but he was only fulfilling my orders and that was to get Vash to kill him. I wanted Vash to see things my way! Because he was such a stubborn ass, I had to make him suffer.

And now, after two years, I am sitting here, writing my thoughts out while that moron is doing the very thing that I hate. Helping a human. Not just any human though. That female I had written about earlier! (A/N: Dun worry. You'll see that entry soon enough! ^^)

It disgusts me to no end that I am of the same blood to that donut-loving idiot! Why couldn't he just see things my way? Or better yet, why couldn't he have been someone else's brother? Why did he have to be mine? It's your entire fault, Rem. You made him the way he is today! You made him a whiney wimp who has nothing else better to do but to chase human females around.

He put so much faith in you. He literally worshiped you! I have no regrets when you died. I am quite pleased that you're gone. You always talked about how no one had the right to take the life of another. Well, you had no right in telling my brother lies, leading him to believe what you believed, making him see the goodness in others when there couldn't possibly be any!

You were always in my way. At first, I will admit, that I did admire you. You were strong willed, courageous, always stuck to one path, assuming it was right, and very protective of us.

But then things started to change. It was when Vash attacked me when I crushed that spider. He was furious with me and I was clueless as to why. It was just a spider. I was saving the butterfly. You can't save both, even when he insisted that it was possible.

One would end up dying and I figured the spider should go because it would eat the butterfly. I put the spider out of its misery because if I saved the butterfly without killing the spider, the spider would end up dying of starvation and would perish slowly. I did the spider a favor. Couldn't he see that? Even if the spider did eat the butterfly, what if it was to never find another meal? It would surly die then.

It's the same things between humans and us. Without the Plants, the humans will die. But if the humans keep using the Plants without giving just a little help, the Plants will die and soon after, so will the humans.

It makes perfect sense. If Vash would see my way of thinking, one species will live, but if he keeps following the path you had set for him, Rem, both will perish! Then where will be? I refuse to become something Vash is, Rem! ~*~*~

~*~*~*~In Town~*~*~*~

"Kale!" Kale looked up from the steps of the house the elderly woman had let her stay in. She saw Vash run up to her. She quickly stood and fell into his warm, tender embrace. She cried against his chest as he patted her hair.

"I-I'm sorry I even called you. I wasn't thinking." She choked out. Vash rocked her gently.

"It's ok. I'm glad you called." He stepped back and turned her over to Meryl and Milly and they both embraced her. Vash watched with sad eyes as men battled the flames tirelessly. It took about half an hour just the get the flames out. Now men were stepping through the burnt rubble, trying to find just what caused the tragedy.

"Miss! I think we found something!" One of the men shouted. Kale ran over quickly and looked at what some of the men were standing over. There was a blackened spot just beside where the side of the building was. A man then pulled her around and pointed at some of the glass right were the window should have been.

Kale crouched low and started pushing some of the glass around. There was clear glass, which was evident that it was part of the window and there was dark green glass. Kale's eyes narrowed and she looked around slowly. She found what she was looking for.

About two feet away was the neck of bottle. She got up and went over. She picked it up and examined it. It wasn't once of her drinks. If it were it would have been on the shelf and not on the floor. Her father had taught her to always clean the bar thoroughly and she did. She never once saw a broken bottle on the floor afterwards.

"Kale?" She heard Vash call. She stood up and held out the piece of glass to him. He took it and looked at it closely.

"Someone did this and it wasn't an accident." She stated softly.

"Do you have any ideas who did it?" Meryl asked. Kale shook her head, her eyes quivering slightly.

"I don't know who would hate me. I don't know if my father had any enemies. But I do know that I think this person was out to burn me alive, but I guess that they didn't take into perspective of the trap door that we had. I was lucky that we even had one. If my father hadn't put one there I certainly wouldn't have made it out alive."

"Well, we're grateful for your father then. Now, what do we do about you?" Milly said. Kale looked at the woman, puzzled.

"Pardon?"

"Well, we all know that you lived here. Now you have no place to go, right?"

"Yeah, that's right." Kale said, her voice shaking some. Milly smiled and clapped her hands together.

"Then it's all settled!" The brown haired woman went over and hugged Kale.

"What? What's settled?" Kale asked when Milly put her at arm's length.

"You can move in into my home! We have plenty of food and room! Though we only have 3 rooms, we can sort things out between us!" Kale blushed slightly.

"Oh, Milly. I'd love to take up your offer but I can't--" Milly waved her index finger in her face.

"Nonsense! Your father allowed us to stay here before I decided to move and live here. It's only fair that I return the favor to his little girl! Besides, I don't trust some of the people here anyway. I mean, what if the person decides to burn down a hotel or some apartment that you're staying at?"

"What if that person decides to burn down your house? I can't do it, Milly. It isn't right. That means I will be putting your lives in danger!" Kale looked like she was going to cry again. Milly smiled.

"I'm willing to take the risk. How `bout you two?" Meryl and Vash grinned at each other then at Milly. They nodded together.

"There! See! You're coming with us and that's final! No if, ands or buts! Now come along. The car is over here." Kale was about to protest again when Milly grabbed her wrist and tugged her away. Meryl laughed. She felt the warmth drape over her shoulder and she glanced up to see Vash smiling down at her.

Meryl blushed and started walking after Milly and Kale with Vash keeping her linked to him with is arm.

+++++++++++++++++++

Yay! ^^ Update! XD Hope you enjoyed this one. I was going to keep going, but I decided to cut it off there and make what was left, another chpt. I hope I got Knives IC and I have no idea what I was saying when he started writing in his journal. ^^U I am SO hoping that it made sense to you people!! If not, jus ignore it. Laterz!