Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Hunting Two ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 7 )

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April Fools

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It was a three day trip to April City and the small jeep was already nearing the end of its second day. Millions Knives was driving, Vash the Stampede sat next to him, his thoughts elsewhere. Meryl Stryfe sat in the back with her eyes closed, but her mind wide awake; accompanied by a softly humming Milly Thompson stroking a black cat that had stowed away.

Knives' attention was on more things than the driving task at hand. Since the four of them left Seed City, he had been trying to reach the Plant in April. The closer they got, the stronger his connection was. The Plant was scared; he could feel it in every inch of his mind. Too much power was being drawn from her to keep the city running. The Plant was reaching out to him, desperately holding on. Knives growled in frustration and pushed harder on the pedal.

Vash suddenly stirred next to him. He sat up straight and looked around, his eyes narrowed.

“What?” Knives asked, taking his eyes off the road.

“Do you feel that?” Vash whispered.

Knives sighed inwardly, the only thing he could feel was the Plant's pain, but Vash was right, the air did feel unusual.

“Yes,” he replied finally.

Vash looked in the mirror on his side. There was nothing but a small cloud of dust rising in the distance. He turned around and inspected it.

“Knives, stop the car.”

Meryl opened her eyes at the sound of the outlaw's voice and sat up alert. Knives looked in the rear view mirror, wondering why his brother wanted him to stop. He narrowed his eyes and saw what Vash saw. Immediately he stopped.

“It's following us,” Knives said, turning around.

“What is it?” asked Meryl, looking back.

“Worms. They're headed this way,” Vash answered, peering at the cloud.

“Then why did we stop?”

“Because we can't out run them, they're moving too fast.”

“So we're just going to sit here?”

The only answer the insurance agent received was silence. She growled in frustration and turned around.

The group sat quietly in the vehicle, watching the dust cloud get bigger and bigger. It didn't seem to pose a threat directly at them, but the scene made the brothers uneasy.

Then the cloud of dust began to fade away to nothing, but Vash and Knives could still sense the giant sand eaters.

“Where did they go?” Milly whispered.

“Underground,” Knives answered, alerting all of his senses.

It was quiet now. The hot wind lifted grains of sand around them, but there was no sign of life. Knives and Vash moved for their guns.

A low rumble echoed around the jeep. Meryl caught Milly's eye, she felt it too. She looked at Vash and his brother, their eyes narrowed and their faces hard as stone. Something was definitely wrong. As fast as it had come, the rumbling vanished. Then the ground began to shake.

The cat in Milly's lap hissed as the jeep vibrated aggressively. The four of them held onto the vehicle as the ground trembled more and more violently.

“What's going on?” Meryl cried over the growl.

“They're below us,” Vash yelled back.

Every alarm in Knives' head was going off, screaming in his ear. Whatever these worms were doing, they were doing out of fear. And whatever was scaring them, was making its way into his mind too. His eyes began to blur and his head thumped in pain. He heard Meryl cry something and Vash respond back, but he couldn't understand what they said. The pain flooded his mind, taking over him. Knives clutched his head tightly.

 

This situation was all too familiar for Vash the Stampede and as he recalled it didn't end the way he would have liked. The last time he dealt with worms, they were being controlled through a high frequency device by one of the Gun Ho Guns. But as far as Vash knew all the Gun Ho Guns were dead. And these worms didn't have a pattern in they're behavior.

Suddenly the ground ripped apart as a giant worm shot into the sky. The jeep almost capsized into the sand.

“Vash we have to move!” Meryl Stryfe yelled hold on to dear life.

“No point, they're following us. They're spooked about something and…”

“Mr. Knives!” Milly screamed.

Vash looked down at his brother. He was curled into a ball, his head in his lap and his fingers ghost white. He was rocking back and forth slowly, trembling.

“Knives!”

Millions didn't respond. Another worm burst out of the ground almost toppling the vehicle again. The Stampede's heart raced; maybe he thought wrong, may the worms were attacking them, maybe they were in danger. He needed his brother.

“Knives!” Vash yelled and this time he got through to him.

Knives slowly lifted his head and looked up. His face was paler than usual and his eyes were unfocused.

“Knives…?” Vash began.

“I'm… I'm okay…” Knives said dryly, trying to sound convincing.

“What happed, Knives?” Meryl asked.

“Do you really think this is a good time for that?” Knives spat grabbing his gun.

Meryl glared at him and grabbed her derringers, “What now? If we don't do something soon, we'll be…”

“Mr. Cat, come back!”

The cat in Milly's arms landed on the ground. Before anyone could stop her, Milly Thompson jumped out the car and ran after the black fur ball.

“Milly! Get back here!” Meryl screamed.

Meryl's cries went to deaf ears as tall girl chased the cat. Knives growled in irritation watching her put her life in danger for a cat.

“Damn woman,” he cursed and jumped after her into the cage of worms.

“Knives what are you…?”

Without warning, a sand eater broke through the ground throwing the insurance agent into the air.

“MILLY!”

Meryl watched in horror as her friend fell to the ground and lay still. Meryl moved to get out of the car, but Vash caught her wrist.

“Vash, let go! I have to help her!”

Vash said nothing. Meryl struggled against unbeatable odds to free herself. Inevitable as it was, she had to try. Eventually she gave up and watched helplessly as more of the sand worms shot up form the ground.

Knives, Vash called out, Knives, where are you? His brother didn't respond; Vash couldn't even feel his presence. His stomach lurched. The Stampede knew his brother could take care of himself, but that didn't stop him from worrying.

“Vash?”

Meryl's voice snapped the Humanoid Typhoon out of his trance. He looked at her, worry bright on her face. He had to figure out what was causing the worms to act this way. Vash closed his eyes and tried to reach the worms, hoping to find… something, anything to help him—.

It stopped. Everything around them was still and quiet. The sand eaters were frozen in their tracks. Vash got through only to find himself in a world of confusion and fear. His attempts at any contact with the worms were shot down. Defeated, he began to draw away from the worms' mind when something caught his ears. It was hazy, but it was music. He felt the outside world rumble, the giants were retreating back underground, he was going to loose his connection soon. Vash concentrated hard on the fading music, but he only heard fuzzy bits. Before long, he lost the connection completely.

Vash opened his eyes just as the dust cleared. He saw his brother on the ground on his knees hovering over a bleeding insurance agent. He looked up at him, his eyes dark,

“She's not breathing.”

 

A day's trip to April city was cut in half. Knives' foot was pressed hard against the pedal, not even Vash dared to say anything. Milly lay in the back seat of the car; Meryl had managed to get her to breath, but she was still unconscious. Her arm was broken in several places and she was bruised all over. The cat Milly risked her life to save was nuzzled up against her neck, purring. Knives blew past the gates of the city ignoring the rude commentary of its residences. He was driving blind, he didn't know where the hospital was, but he wasn't in the mood to stop and ask for directions. Fortunately, Meryl spotted it quickly.

Meryl, Knives and Vash with Milly in his arms, rushed inside.

“Please,” Meryl begged to a passing nurse, “you have to help us.”

“Sorry, but there are people before you,” he said hotly, throwing her a look.

Meryl stepped back astonished. She looked around and saw no one, just a small boy with a band-aid on his knee and his mother reading a book. She heard a sharp gasp and turned back to the nurse. Her eyes widened, Knives' face was centimeters form the nurses', a fist full of his shirt. His eyes were narrowed and dangerous,

“I'm sure you can make an exception for her,” he growled. The hairs on the back of Meryl's neck stood on end.

The nurse nodded fiercely, his eyes wide and in shock. Meryl sighed, she was sure Milly wasn't going to be the only one who was going into the emergency room. The nurse called to for a stretcher, his voice cracking horribly. Knives shoved him violently aside and the nurse scrambled away.

Carefully controlled, Knives took Milly for Vash and placed her on the stretcher, just as the doctor came rushing towards them through a pair of swinging doors.

“What is going on?” he demanded.

Before Knives had a chance to rip his head off, Meryl answered,

“We were attacked by sand worms.”

“Attacked?”

“Yes, please help her.” Vash pleaded.

“Yes, of course,” her placed two fingers on Milly's neck, “Her heart rate is fast, her breathing is rigid, she has several broken bones…Why wasn't she brought to my attention immediately?”

“I'm sorry sir,” the young nurse said.

Knives shot the cowering man a glare.

“Don't apologize, get her inside!” the doctor yelled and followed Milly and the nurses through the swinging doors.

“Wait,” Meryl called after them “sir! Is she…” But she was only talking to two flapping doors.

“She'll be okay,” she heard Vash say as her eyes blurred. Meryl nodded her head slowly and wiped her eyes.

However, Vash wasn't talking to her.

-

He panicked. He saw her put her life in danger for a cat and he panicked. Millions Knives does NOT panic.

Knives excused himself, telling Vash and Meryl that he was going to look for a place for them to stay. He just couldn't say in that hospital anymore. They were there was almost two hours and no one was telling them anything. He was even considering barging into the operating room to get some answers. But, instead, he got up and left.

The events played over and over in his head, and every time he pictured her jumping into the wall of worms his stomach dropped. He cursed himself for it, and he cursed her...

She was a human. And he was a plant. That was it. That is as far as it can go. He scolded himself for get dragged into Vash's insane delusions.

But the knot in his belly only tightened.

He held her unconscious form in his arms, with the same knot and he was ready to kill to get her back.

Knives sat down on a nearby fountain and dropped his face into his hands. What the hell was this? He was supposed to be in control. Why the hell did he… did he care? She was only human!

He wanted to break something… or someone. He wanted this to go away. He actually wanted to hate humans again. He wanted…

Knives

Knives cleared his head, Yes?

The doc said Milly's okay. She has a few broken bones in her arm and a small concussion. She's sleeping now, but she'll be awake tomorrow.

The knot in Knives' stomach grew, but he sighed softly with relief, Good. There was no reply from Vash for a while, then he finally said, Do you want to see her? Knives stayed quiet for a second then said, No, I still have to find a place for us to stay.

Okay, just tell me when you find one.

I will, Vash.

 

Knives had found an inn for them to spend the night close to the hospital. They were going to do what they came here to do once they spoke to Milly. The short Insurance Agent was already in bed and Millions and The Typhoon took their time down at the bar. Chatter and smoke intoxicated the run-down saloon, but everyone was having a good time, everyone except them, of course.

Vash watched Knives.

Vash watched Knives nurse the same glass of whiskey for the past hour. He was thinking. He was thinking seriously. He had that face, his chess face, when he was weighing his next move. Knives only thought this hard when was either playing chess or when something was bothering him. Of course his brother would never admit it, so Vash didn't bother to ask. However, Vash could probably guess and be right.

Although the outlaw couldn't read his mind, he at least wanted to know what his brother was feeling. But Knives had blocked him off completely, making his feeling about the subject matter very clear. Vash sighed softly, he didn't have to make this so difficult.

A low growl came from Knives. Vash looked up to find him glaring angrily at the glass. Finally Vash said,

“It's okay, brother.”

Knives looked at him, “What?”

“It's okay,” Vash repeated softly.

“What are you talking about?” Knives spat, irritated.

Vash smiled lightly and took a sip form his drink like nothing was ever said.

Knives waited, but his brother gave no explanation for his statement. He growled frustrated, he didn't have time for this.

He threw back his head, with the glass of whiskey at his lips and slammed it down. Knives pushed back his chair and walked out the bar, leaving the trail of drooling women behind.

Vash watched him go, a small smile tugged his lips. He turned back around to his drink. It really was okay.

-

“Vash, no,” she scolded.

“But…but…but…” he whimpered.

“`But' all you want, they're Milly's.”

“But they're chocolate covered! With sprinkles!”

Ms. Stryfe, Mr. Stampede and Mr. Knives crossed the dusty streets of April and made their way into the hospital. Milly had awoken only minutes ago and Meryl wanted to surprise her with a tasty gift. However, the Humanoid was not making it easy.

“No, Vash!” Meryl spat in frustration, “You've already had ten.”

“Actually, Stryfe, he had twelve,” Knives corrected casually.

“Twelve! I knew it! You lied to me!”

Vash cringed at the shrill tone. He shot his brother a dirty look,

“Traitor.”

Knives smiled back, sweet and sarcastic.

“Only for my pleasure, brother.”

They opened the doors to a bustling waiting room. People were filling out stacks of information, mothers were trying to control their rowdy children and nurses and doctors were swinging from patient to patient. The young nurse, who had been so helpful the pervious day, came running up to them, calling their name.

“Ms. Thompson is awake, and doing very well ma'am,” he said steadily, making sure to avoid eye contact with Knives, “I've been told to take you to her when you arrived, ma'am.”

“Well, thank you.”

He bowed slightly, turned around and began to walk quickly through the swinging doors. With silent looks exchanged, the three of them followed.

 

Milly was laying comfortably in her bed with right her arm in a cast. White gauze was wrapped around her head and several band aids covered her face and neck. Meryl knocked lightly as they entered the room.

“Sempai! Mr. Vash! Mr. Knives!”

“Hello Milly, how are you felling?” Meryl asked, hugging her friend tightly.

“Fine, thank you. And look who I found,” Milly said pointing to the other side of the bed.

Meryl peered over to find the black cat that caused all this trouble, keeping itself busy with a bowl of milk.

“I found him sleeping on my bed last night,” Milly explained as the cat jumped into her arms, licking his furry lips, “The nurse wanted to throw him out, but I insisted he stay.”

Knives raised an eyebrow, why the hell would she still want to keep that stupid creature? It almost got them killed!

She's just that kind of person Knives.

Knives turned around to see Vash smiling at Milly as if he said nothing. Suddenly he lunged forward grabbing the donut box out of Meryl's hands.

“Well since you feeling better,” Vash said boldly, keeping the box high above the small woman, “I guess you won't be needing these.”

“Give them back you blonde moron!” Meryl yelled jumping.

She stopped and glared hotly at him, then she took the heel of her boots and landed them perfectly on his toes.

He screamed… like a little girl.

Meryl caught the box carefully as Vash crumpled to his toes.

“Next time, Mr. Stampede, listen to me,” Meryl stated and turned to Milly, “Here you go Milly, thought you might like these. We tried to find some pudding for you but no one has any.”

“That's okay, these are fine. Thank you,” Milly said opening the box.

Forgetting the immense pain in his foot, Vash jumped to the side of the bed. His eyes glazed, his mouth watering, his hands aching to reach out and grab one.

“Would you like one Mr.Vash?” Milly asked taking a bit.

Vash gasped, “Really?”

“Milly no! Don't give him one!”

“Well, I can't eat all of these by myself Sempai.”

Before Meryl could say anything else, Vash latched onto Milly,

“Oh, thank you, thank you! You are an angel descended form Heaven!” he then looked at Meryl, “You, on the other hand…”

Meryl growled.

“Sorry.”

 

After their goodbyes, the trio split up to find information. Meryl set out to find the city mayor and the brother's went to find the remaining plant.

Meryl didn't have such a hard time finding the mayor since the only mansion in all of April was owned by him. As she approached the mansion gates, two meaty guards stepped in her way. One was tall, well tanned, with eyes like peas and the other had a beard and a O-S-E-R tattooed on his forehead. Merytl eyed the tattoo holding back a smile.

“State your business,” the one with the missing L growled.

Meryl bit her lip, “I'm Meryl Stryfe of the Bernadelli Insurance Agency and I'm here to discuss the recent tragedies that have taken place.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Well, no… but…”

“Then you ain't seein' the Mayor.”

Meryl steamed, “Excuse me, but this is very important! And by not letting me through, you are in direct violation of rule 625 of the Bernadelli Code which states--”

“Look, lady, we don't care what we are in violation of, if you don't got an appointment, you ain't seein' the Mayor.”

Meryl ran her hand through her hair, he was starting to give her a headache,

“Look, Sir, I don't have time--”

“Let her in.”

Meryl turned around at the sound of the voice. It was a young man, maybe twenty years old. His hair was dark just like his suit. He stood tall, with his hands jammed in his pockets. He reminded Meryl a little bit of someone she had once knew.

“Arian,” the pea eyed one began.

“Let her in, if she wants to see the Mayor, she can. I doubt he's doing anything worthwhile anyway.”

The two men looked at each other for a moment before opening the metal gates. Meryl raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Uh, thank you.”

Hesitantly, she walked in. The young man followed, Meryl peered at him.

“I also have business with the Mayor,” he said bluntly.

Meryl stared at him then turned away, this was going to be an interesting day.

 

The Plant was calling for them since before they arrived at the city, and finally they could answer her. The power plant in which she was held was almost deserted; nobody wanted to be near in case it blows up as well, so getting to her was not a problem.

She was waiting for them. Her hands pressed up against the glass, her wings drooping and her eyes tired but eager.

“Hi, there,” Vash said softly, placing his hand on the glass against hers'.

The plant glowed lightly, Vash smiled.

“Do you know who killed your sister?”

The plant looked into his eyes. Then slowly she turned to Knives. He pressed his hand against the glass absentmindedly. He closed his eyes, Vash waited.

The plant opened up her mind to allow Knives to search any corner he needed to. However, this wasn't as easy as Knives had hoped. There was so much he had to dig through, fear, anger, confusion, exhaustion and above all pain, pain of loosing the other plant. But he kept going, pushing further, that was when he heard it; the faint sound, the music, the same music that he heard during the attack. His head began to throb, he could feel himself grow warm, but he refused to let go, he had to find out what was causing this. He dug deeper, to catch the music, to memorize it but the pain was getting stronger. Suddenly the plant began pulling away. Then a voice echoed, almost angelically, I'm coming for you my pets, I'm coming for you. Knives, Knives, Knives.

“KNIVES!”

Knives opened his eyes, trembling. He was on his knees, sweating and out of breath.

“Knives?”

The older plant looked up wide eyed at his brother, then at the plant. She was at the other side of the bulb, curled up into a ball, looking at him.

“What happened?” Vash demanded.

“Let's go,”

“What? No, Knives. We have to find out what happened.”

“She's not going to be able to help us now,” Knives said walking away, “I wouldn't either if I were her,” he muttered.

Vash looked at the plant. He tried to reach her, but she completely blocked him out. He sighed and followed his brother.

 

Meryl and Arian were ushered into a finely decorated room. The walls were trimmed with gold and furniture adorned with silks. It was a life full of luxury unlike the city outside these walls.

“The Mayor will be with you shortly,” said a man with his nose pointed to the ceiling and dressed cleanly in black and white, “would you like anything to drink while you wait?”

“Water, thank you.” Meryl said taking a seat.

“And the usual for you, master Adrian?”

“No thank you, I won't be staying long.”

The butler gave a small, impassive nod and left the room. Within a few minutes he returned with an elegant glass of water resting on a silver tray. He offered the tray to Meryl.

“Thank you,” Meryl said, taking the glass.

Just then a man entered the room. He was tall, well built and he had an air of power to him. He walked up to Meryl and held out his hand,

“Ms. Stryfe, I presume?” he said shaking Meryl's hand.

“Hello.”

“And Arian,” he said grimly.

“Hello,” replied back just as grimly, “father.”

Meryl was taken aback, father?

The Mayor cleared his throat loudly.

“Sorry,” Arian said through clenched teeth, “Hello, Mr. Mayor.”

“Better. Now, I believe Ms. Stryfe and I have some important things to discuss, I'll talk with you later. Wait in the library for me.”

Arian glared openly at the man, “Yes, sir,” he spat and left the room.

Meryl watched him go, now it made sense, why the guards let her in, why the butler called him master. She also understood why he seemed so cold she was standing right next to the source

“So shall we get down to business, then?” the Mayor asked taking a seat.

“Uh, yes, of course.”

-

It was already dark in the city of October; he stars were outshined by the twin moons in the sky, but not a soul bared go outside. The city seemed deserted and the silence was so loud it was deafening.

However one man was standing at the plant bulb, his face covered in the shadow of his hood, staring at the plant, a cruel smile on his face. The plant was mesmerized. She hovered lightly, in a trance and glowed faintly.

“You'll sing for me won't you?” he whispered softly.

The plant glowed brighter and pressed her hands against the glass.

“Of course, you will my angel,” he said caressing the glass where her face was.

Then the man took something form his pocket, a card, the Jack of Hearts, and placed it on the ground. He looked at the plant once more and kissed the glass.

“Sing, my angel,”

And as he left the city, the plant did just that.