Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Intellect and Sentiment ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

Trigun Fanfic

Trigun © Yasuhiro Nightow * Shonen Gaho-sha * Tokuma Shoten * JVC * Pioneer Entertainment (USA) Inc.

The following fan fiction was written by me (Chiruken) and is intended for the sole purpose of shared entertainment and not intended for publication or sale.

--Intellect and Sentiment-

By Chiruken

Prologue

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Knives' blue eyes narrowed with contempt, face flushing with indignation as his mouth tightened into a thin stubborn line as he was subjected, once again, to another of his brother's useless prattling lectures. His nostrils contracted reflexively as the diatribe continued, becoming a seemingly endless stream of idiotic rubbish expounding on the supposed virtues of humanity. As the ceaseless declamation droned on into apparent eternity he raised his eyebrows superciliously and held up his hand in a dismissive gesture, mouth quirked in annoyance. "Enough." He growled out in a voice as cold as death, icy tones dripping with spite as he sat straighter against the pillows propped behind his back and regarded his twin with a frigid stare. "Those mammalian vertebrates are nothing more than hominoid, biophagous organisms spreading their parasitic genes across the universe to devour everything in their sight." He spoke with bitter resentment, ice blue eyes darkening with old, remembered pain. "Why can't you see the truth, brother?" He asked softly with a pained expression, tone suddenly and uncharacteristically subdued. "Their numbers grow, continue to increase, spreading out like an unstoppable cancer, choking out all other life forms, assimilating them and using them until nothing is left. Are you so blinded by that woman's false words and ideals that you can't see the truth?" He turned his head slowly to stare sightlessly at the ugly, nondescript wall to his right, brows furrowed deeply, hands bunching into tight, white-knuckled fists against the rough material of the dark blanket pooled at his waist and covering his long legs. His fists convulsed with barely suppressed rage, his nails digging painfully into his palms, lips pursed with muted fury as he turned a withering stare back to his brother. "You are a fool, Vash." He stated bluntly, speaking with brutal detachment. "Those pathetic primates, those humans you love so much, have cut and hacked away at your body to the point where even you can't regenerate and heal the scars they've carved into you. They try their damnedest to kill you, maim you, hurt you, and still you insist that humanity isn't a bunch of useless, scavenging, egocentric bastards." He threw his hand outward to encompass the world, and the humans, at large. "They are lower organisms with minute intellectual abilities that do nothing more than express innate animal behaviors…vestigial primitive behavior! They are self-aware, barely sentient beings, intent on conquering the universe and defying the will of their own creator! They plunder, rape, and pillage, killing every planet they come across, destroying life in the process and leaving a wake of destruction behind when they leave. If you want or need proof, look at what they did to their home planet. Earth is nothing more than a husk, a lump of sod floating in space as it orbits around its sun, barren, devoid of all life and all possibility of supporting life. Your humans did that and will do it again, over and over until nothing is left. I refuse to become yet another victim of their insatiable greed and thirst for destruction!"

Vash studied him with a reproachful expression, green eyes taking on a wounded look that Knives recognized all too easily, having seen it many times throughout their long lives. He hated seeing his brother so sad, so full of pain, yet there was nothing to be done. Their views, their beliefs, were too different, each too stubborn and set to objectively see the other's point of view. He hated the rift that had grown between them, an unbridgeable gap that tore them ever further apart, yet he knew that as long as humans continued to exist nothing could be done to mend their deteriorating relationship. Vash looked away, face drawn, shoulders slumping as his chin sunk dejectedly into his chest, and shook his head slowly in commiseration. "You're wrong, Knives…so terribly wrong." The hitch in his quavering voice evidence of how deep his sorrow went. "You can't judge an entire race for the crimes of a few, yet that's what you're doing. You've set yourself up in the position of judge, jury and executioner all rolled into one neat little package of psychotic, homicidal tendencies. Yes, we're stronger, faster and we do have higher intellect, but that doesn't make us superior beings. We live, breathe, eat, drink and perform all the same basic functions as the humans. We are just as capable of destruction, brother, as you should know." He turned his gaze back and looked over him piercingly, expression implacable as his shoulders straightened. "You're just as flawed as the rest of us, Knives. You aren't perfect, all-knowing, all-seeing. You are a god. You are impulsive…and don't try to deny it. You're the one who triggered my Angel Arm in July City in a fit of temper that nearly cost you your life. You lack a conscience, or at least you don't display normal feelings of guilt, and have a complete disregard for others. You don't stop to think about what the consequences of your actions will be. You have delusions of grandeur, but you know what? You aren't greater, more powerful or more important than everyone else. Your misanthropy has gone on long enough. It's time to wake up to reality. The humans are here to stay and there's nothing you can do about it. Humanity will persevere and grow stronger no matter what you do to them. There is no possible way you could kill them all. More will come and you know it. People are a lot stronger and smarter than you give them credit for, Knives." He gave burst to a forced mocking laugh. "All you're doing by constantly threatening them, Knives, is settling yourself up for defeat. People can be pushed only so far before they fight back. And when they do, whom do you think will suffer? Huh? Take a wild guess, brother. You know the answer to this, I know you do." He gesticulated furiously, an edge of impatience creeping into his voice when Knives only stared at him blankly, incomprehension evident in his narrowed blue gaze. Vash jumped to his feet, green eyes blazing murderously as his up 'til now dormant temper burst free, a muscle twitching at his jaw as his teeth gritted, lips curling with disgust. "The Plant, you homicidal jackass!" He spit the words out with contempt.

Knives' eyes widened in alarm, the blood draining from his face, leaving him ashen, expression stricken. "No." He whispered hoarsely, shaking his head emphatically in denial. "They…they wouldn't do that." He struggled to control the quavering in his unsteady voice as uncertainty rush him from all sides, blind-siding him and leaving him with the sensation of a trapdoor suddenly opening in his belly. "They need the Plants, Vash." His voice rose, becoming high and hysterical as the truth behind his brother's words hit him with all the force of a full-blown sandstorm. "They need the Plants to survive!" His breath came raw in his throat as a sickening wave of terror welled up within him, coursing over him, and he felt a cold fist closing over his heart. "They wouldn't destroy their only means of survival!" He could feel his pulse roaring in his ears, his skin growing clammy as nauseating spurts of adrenaline coursed through his veins, the onset of a full-blown panic attack rushing at him, threatening to push him over the edge and into the spiraling abyss of paralyzed shock.

"Wouldn't they?" In contrast to his increasingly hysterical reaction, Vash appeared impassive, undisturbed and coldly calm. "You said it yourself, Knives. Humans rely on innate animal behaviors. What do you think their primitive instincts will tell them to do? It's simple, really. It would be a knee-jerk response to being threatened, brother." He paused, green gaze dark with pain. "They would eliminate the threat. Just like any other species would react to the imminent destruction of their kind. Just like you." He finished with a pointed look in his direction. "You see? Humans aren't all that different from us after all. In the end, when it comes right down to it, all they want is to live peacefully…just like you and me." He sighed and shook his head tiredly, looking for all the world far older than his appearance could be credited for, much closer to his actual age. "I'm tired of fighting, Knives. I just want to rest, to live peacefully. Can't you just try to be a little more open-minded about humanity?" He pressed his fingers against his temple with a slight grimace of pain. "I'm not asking for much, just an honest effort to try and understand, that's all." He slowly crossed the short distance to the door and paused, his hand on the doorknob. "I don't expect you to love them like I do, but I'd settle for tolerance at this point." He pulled the door open and stepped through, pulling it closed quietly behind him without waiting for a reply.

Knives was left alone in the semi-dark room, stranded by the injuries inflicted by his brother during their last battle. He'd thought that Vash was going to kill him, had half-expected it even. Yet though he'd held the gun steadily aimed at his head, the gaping maw of the muzzle pointed directly between his eyes, Vash hadn't pulled the trigger to fire the last shot that would end it all and bring peace and security to the humans he'd vowed to protect. Instead, he'd tended to the wounds he'd inflicted, spoke of survival, and carried him, slung over his shoulder in a complete disregard to his own injuries, across the endless desert to a town inhabited by humans to nurse him back to health.

Through his fear and growing uncertainty he felt wonder at his brother's seemingly incomprehensible actions. Vash, despite his immense power, as of yet untapped, and strength, had always been, in Knives' opinion, the weaker of the two. He'd steadfastly refused to embrace the true nature of his existence, denying the abilities he'd been born with, choosing instead to live as a human by embracing their weaknesses as his own. So why was he, Knives, now left with the impression that somehow along the way, through the years they'd spent living apart with very different goals, Vash had become even stronger through his denial of his true strength? He found it all very confusing an extremely frightening. He was left, now, with no choice but to doubt his own previous convictions. Vash's words had left him shaken and terrified for his sisters still trapped in their bulbs, their life forces being sucked from their tortured bodies ruthlessly. He found himself in an untenable position, caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If he continued in his quest to eradicate humanity to free his sisters, they could very well die as a result of his actions. Yet if he ignored their plight, they would also die. Either way, he knew he'd be consumed by the guilt his brother believed him incapable of feeling.

He closed his eyes, making a concerted effort to force his emotions back under rigid control. He couldn't allow himself to go to pieces, to give in to the rising panic threatening to engulf his consciousness and drown out his ability to reason. He knew there was a way out of the corner he was backed into. He just had to think, to reason his way through the conflicting emotions roiling through his mind. He had to calm himself and think things through. After all, his greatest asset, his true strength, wasn't physical power. No, it was his intellect and his ability to assimilate information and produce intelligent and informed decisions based on such.

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