Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Life Thereafter ❯ Streak ( Chapter 19 )

Disclaimer: How I wish I owned Trigun. Sadly, I own it not.

 

A/N: Heh…hehe…AHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I shocked you guys into reviewing last time! WAHAHAHA!

-gets whacked with a frying pan-

Ahem, sorry about that. I just got a real kick out of some of those reviews. Anyway, here's another chapter for you. I do believe it should clear up the meaning of the dream sequences. Enjoy!

Oh, and check out the new pic in my profile by Abo! It's AWESOME! XD

 

 

Streak

 

“What...what are you doing?” she whispered hoarsely.

Knives smiled sardonically.

“I am going to have my way with you.”

Those words repeated themselves over and over within the confines of Meryl's mind. Each time they replayed, she flinched and squeezed her eyes shut, disgust and revulsion washing over her at the implications behind Knives's statement. She told herself again and again that he did not mean it, that he would not really do it, that she was reading too much into it. It was all to no avail.

He's really going to rape me, Meryl realized in horror.

She opened her eyes and stared up at Knives, the sardonic grin on his face still in place. The way he was looking at her made Meryl shiver slightly. It was some kind of lust smoldering in his arctic blue eyes, but whether or not it was for her blood or her flesh, she could not tell.

“So, human, no witty comebacks, no clever repartee?” Knives mocked. “I expected more from my brother's favorite pet.”

Despite her less than comfortable situation, Meryl glared up at him. “What more is there to say, Knives? It's obvious what you intend to do.”

Knives's lips twisted further upward. “Well, aren't you a perceptive little spider? Such an odd specimen.”

Meryl gritted her teeth at him. “Well? Get on with it! I suppose you've done this to other women before so go ahead!”

His brow furrowed. “Women? What about them? They are vile, disgusting human vermin. Why would I, a superior being, have any dealings with them?”

“You just said that you were going to have your way with me!”

“Indeed I did,” Knives said, his grin fading slightly.

They stared at each other for several moments. Meryl began to fidget, her eyes shifting nervously from Knives face to his body, which was way to close to her to be natural. Plus, it did not help in the least that his warm breath was blowing in her face, making the entire experience even more unnerving than it already was.

Finally, in the midst of her anxious squirming, Meryl caught a glimpse of the look on Knives's face. At first, he had been frowning, apparently in thought. Now though, his face was contorted in fury. If Meryl had been able to, she would have sunk into the earth itself.

“You…you…” he raged.

Meryl got the feeling that he was about to explode as a few flecks of spittle landed on her cheeks. She wanted to wipe it away, but she was in no position to do so at the moment, seeing how Knives seemed about ready to rip her head off any second now. On second thought, he did not look like he was about to kill her; he probably was, judging by his appearance although Meryl was at a loss why, besides the fact that she was “human vermin.”

“How dare you insinuate that I would do that with one of your kind!” Knives snarled. “I would not defile myself with any of you disgusting parasites!”

He jerked his face away from hers and wrapped his iron fingers around her writs, causing Meryl to bite her tongue to keep from crying out in pain. He flipped her over roughly and pinned them behind her back so hard that she felt like her arms were about to be torn out of their sockets.

Her face in the dirt, Meryl managed to turn her head sideways, eyes wide with fright as she saw a flash of feathery blades to her left, as well as a sadistically pleased Knives, who look gave the impression of a man about to experience the most enjoyable thing that had happened to him in a long time. That did not comfort Meryl at all.

Leaning forward, Knives hissed in her ear, “So, tell me human, which do you prefer? Long and painful or short and painful?”

“Bastard!” Meryl fumed through clenched teeth, her fury beginning to overcome her fear at being in this position.

Knives smirked. “I see you have chosen the former. Well,” he continued maliciously, “let us begin, shall we?”

Meryl's senses screamed at her in pain as she felt a blade cut into her flesh. Biting back a scream, she struggled against Knives but found herself unable to move. Warm blood was gushing from the wound, soaking through her clothing. Again the blade traced a jagged line into her. This time, she was unable to hold back her shriek of agony.

Vash, help me…

Knives slapped her back with the flat of his blade with a resounding “smack.” “You must not pass out now,” Knives sneered. “The fun is just beginning.”

Tears rolled down Meryl's cheeks as her body went limp, her vision growing dark.

Vash, help me!

 

 

Dream Sequence (continued)

 

Vash followed the path of the stream, pushing bushes and brambles aside as he ducked under tree limbs. Every now and then he was unlucky enough to get a particularly limber branch thwack him in the face, the leaves stinging his cheeks. Vash would rub them, “hmph” at the offending foliage, and continue on his way.

After forcing a rather large mass of tangled vines aside, Vash entered a clearing. A padded carpet of green muffled his footsteps as he wandered into this place of solitude, looking around, somewhat awed at the rich and luscious appearance of this place, tucked away in the forest. And yet, it was because of the river that this place even existed at all. Vash wondered briefly what would happen if the river dried up before turning his attention to the center of this small, secluded island amidst the trees.

It was a lake. That was the only word Vash could think of to describe it. Of course, phrases like “glowing white water coming out” also would have been well placed since that was what was happening. Scratching his head, Vash walked up to the pool of glimmering liquid, crouched down, and stared at it, thinking.

It was fairly obvious that this lake was the source of the river that fed this land, country, or whatever it was called. If logic served him correctly, this lake was also a spring because the shining water had to come from somewhere. That was reasonable enough, no matter how odd it might seem for any kind of fluid to radiate light.

Vash frowned slightly. There was something wrong here. He still could not put his finger on it, but something was most definitely out of place. Somehow, Vash knew it had something to do with the black void he had witnessed the last time he had been here. It had looked like the vacuum had been diverting the river away from its true course. Also, because the spring could not replace the stream's contents as fast as it was being drained away, the land was deteriorating.

He sat down hard on the ground, folding his arms over his chest, a petulant look on his face. It irritated Vash that he could not decipher this puzzle. This was the second time he had been here, and he could not figure it out. Of course, he knew it was all a dream (What else could it be?), but that did not help him make sense of any of this.

Vash glared at the waters in the lake, swirling sluggishly about. Then, in a rather immature fashion, Vash swiped at the lake with his right fist, the glowering look on his face suddenly shifting to one of alarm as he lost his balance and fell in, warmth exuding from the liquid itself. In his surprise, Vash accidentally breathed in some of the stuff. He choked out of reflex and blinked in astonishment when he discovered the liquid was breathable.

This is really weird…

Another thing Vash had not been expecting was the strength of the current, no matter how slow it was. He poked his head above the water, realizing that he was not even wet. However, he was dragged back under soon enough, which was not such a terrible thing since he had no fear of drowning. Somewhat intrigued, Vash began to move his arms in what he thought could be a swimming motion as he propelled himself forward with his feet towards the bottom of the spring.

Vash huffed a bit, his muscles straining against the sluggish, yet powerful current. He was nearing the base when he caught a glimpse of something. It was small hole, perhaps one or two yarz in diameter. Vash squinted, and he was able to make out a glowing substance coming out of the opening. It looked like the source of this lake, but the amount that actually came out of the gap was not even close to the quantity that Vash had seen streaming into the void. In that moment, he felt a growing sense of dread, for some reason he could not yet fathom.

Suddenly, a quick burst from the lake's outlet blew Vash back into the upper levels of the water. His head ripped through the surface, and Vash abruptly found himself to be dragged along by the current, unexpectedly swift and powerful. He swept quickly down the river, unimpeded by obstacles such as stone (since there were none), for which he was most grateful.

The scenery whipped by, gradually becoming more and more desolate as the lush green shifted to a rust color. Vash, recognizing where he was going, began to struggle against the current, but to no avail.

A few minutes later, the vacuum came into view, a yawning black hole that had increased in size since his last visit. It had to be perhaps two or three times larger than the outlet in the lake.

As he was nearing the void, black tendrils reached out once again, clutching at his right arm, which promptly began to grow feathers, but this time, it was much worse as his arm began to sprout…

Wings, Vash thought, horror-stricken.

He screamed as he was drawn into the black hole, consumed in utter darkness where silence of thought and mind ruled. He looked about hopelessly, shivering slightly from the cold. Hugging himself, Vash frantically searched for some way out. To his desolation, there was none.

It was then, when he was at the peak of his despair, when he heard a voice, faint, yet there.

`Vas…elp…e…'

Vash stopped moving, listening intently to the sound, this time a bit louder and clearer.

`Vash, help me!'

 

End Dream Sequence

 

Vash's eyes snapped open, and he sat straight up in bed, shaking violently, his body covered in a cold sweat.

“Meryl…”

His eyes flickered back and forth rapidly, taking in all of the equipment and the stretcher he was lying on. However, it was not the room that disturbed him (He assumed that they had finally reached Knives's fortress.), rather, it was his own arm. Gaping at it, Vash was horrified as he saw that the wings had not gone away. They were still there, ruffling and crackling with energy as if they had a life of their own. He shuddered, looking away.

Vash eased himself off the padded surface. As he set his feet on the ground, it truly hit him how weak he really was. Vash shivered from the cold, even though his arm seemed to be radiating an unquenchable heat. He was, however, grateful that he was still wearing some clothes, although they were different from the ones he had been wearing the last time he woke up. Vash felt a bit disturbed when it hit him that he had no idea how long he had been out.

What if it's too late?

He gritted his teeth. No matter how difficult this was going to be, Vash knew he had to find Meryl, and he needed to find her now. Disregarding the lack of strength he possessed, Vash stood up, grasping the stretcher for support. Without waiting to see how steady his legs were, Vash went for the door, but he stumbled and fell to his knees.

Vash hissed between his teeth in exasperation, as well as pain, before pushing himself roughly to his feet. Oddly enough, the winged arm helped to support him, feathery tendrils acting as some bizarre sort of crutch. Trying very hard not to look at them, Vash staggered out of the medical bay, panting and staying close to the wall for support. He saw the empty truck and inferred which way the vehicle had come from.

Choosing his path, Vash leaned heavily against the wall, sweat leaking into his eyes, causing them to burn. He pressed his cool, prosthetic arm against his forehead before continuing on, a hard look of determination on his face.

A few minutes later, a bright flash of sunlight caused Vash to raise his left arm above his head, trying to shield his eyes. When they finally adjusted, it took only a moment for Vash to make a quick sweep of the area, taking in the large Plant bulb in the center of a grassy clearing. However, he also saw something else, and it nearly made his heart stop.

Knives was standing over the prone form of Meryl, who was cut and bleeding in multiple places, while his brother grinned on insanely, blood dripping slowly off of Knives's Angel Blades.

Vash's gaze jerked back and forth between Meryl and Knives. His heart rate was rising, and it felt like his brain was throbbing violently. His vision shifted from in-focus to completely out of focus every few seconds. Collapsing to his knees, Vash watched as Meryl was changing.

She did not look like Meryl anymore. Long black hair and shoulder-length black hair flickered on and off, as did the color of her (whoever “her” was) eyes, sometimes violet and other times brown.

Finally, the image came fully into focus. Vash gasped, confronted by a ghost whom he had thought to be dead over a century ago. But no, she was there! Right there!

No…no…he won't take her from me again! He won't!

“KNIIIVES!!!” Vash roared. “Get away from her!”

 

 

Knives stared down with disgust at the creature lying on the ground before him. Just a few messy incisions and she had passed out. Such a disappointment. Of course, he had not stopped there. No, he had continued in the assumption that the pain would cause her to awaken, but it had not.

When he had finished effectively reducing her clothing to bloody shreds, Knives had stood, looking down his nose at the human in repugnance. This was what his brother had come to treasure? This thing, a member of a race of lower life forms that was little better than intelligent animals, had stolen Vash's affection? It was enough to make Knives's blood boil.

He glared at the female a few more moments. I have waited to long to do this, he thought, ready to land the killing blow, but before he could do anything, Knives felt a prickling feeling on his face the same moment his Angels Blades began to writhe, as if with a mind of their own while he tried to keep them under control.

“KNIIIVES!!!”

Knives jerked his head around, only to be greeted by the sight of Vash, who, if truth were to be told, looked like shit. He was drawn and pale, but Knives watched his brother warily, increasingly aware of how much he and his brother's Angel Arm, which was also going haywire, were “resonating,” a term Knives had discovered in his database. The scientific description had been nothing compared to this, Knives knew even as he was using all his willpower to keep his bladed arm in check.

Vash charged at Knives, his eyes glowing a cold blue and a face of that of the devil, as Knives stood his ground, completely unafraid. Knives took off a few moments later, clashing with Vash, feathers flying everywhere as blade and wing ripped and tore at each other.

Knives leapt away, faintly out of breath, not so much from the actual battle, but from the strain of controlling his Angel Blades. The resonation was becoming worse every time they made contact. Also, Knives was sporting a few cuts and bruises from Vash, who was in the same situation yet more worn looking as he slumped forward a little.

“Brother, I did not expect to see you up and about. You should be in bad,” Knives said, still watching Vash closely.

Vash straightened, glaring at Knives. “I won't let you hurt her! You won't take her from me again!”

Again?

Knives frowned. “I have taken nothing from you.”

“Yes, you have,” Vash shouted, “but I won't let you do it anymore! You won't take Rem away from me again!”

Knives bristled at that. “You fool! That fool of a woman is dead! Don't mention that name again!”

At this point, Vash's eyes became wild, a crazed look in them. “No! She's there! Right there!” he insisted, his voice becoming higher and higher in volume as he indicated the bleeding human on the ground.

At this Knives openly stared at his brother. It was like that scene he had witnessed in the puny female's mind when his brother had called her “Rem.” It was as if Vash had lost his mind. It was bad enough that Vash had clung to her ideals, but now he was having hallucinations of her, too?

“Vash, that is not Rem,” Knives growled.

Vash ignored him and charged once again, and Knives dug his feet firmly into the ground, preparing himself for the collision. He was caught by surprise when a long, sinewy wing whipped around, aiming for his head. Knives managed to block it mostly with his Angel Blades, but he could feel as his feet dragging in the dirt.

Knives snarled and struck out at Vash, shredding feathers and wings alike as his brother's cried of pain echoed across the room. Trying to get past the tendrils whipping all around, Knives pushed forward, only to be thrown back, not by Vash, but by the discomfort of resonation.

I am incapable of getting close to him, damn it!

Knives gritted his teeth, forcing Vash back until finally, he tripped and fell heavily to the ground. Feeling winded, Knives took deep breaths as he stared down at Vash, who was struggling to push himself to his feet and failing miserably. A muffled moan reached Knives's ears and he peered closer. What he saw outraged him.

Vash was protecting the female vermin with his Angel Arm! She moaned again, stirring slightly as her eyes flickered open, finding Vash.

 

“Vash…what are you doing here?”

“I'm…sorry…Rem,” Vash gasped, coughing and hacking violently. “I couldn't save you, then, but I will now!”

After that, Knives could come to only one conclusion: Vash had lost complete control of his Angel Arm. Wings and feathers whipped about, finally converging into one massive cannon aimed straight at Knives. Knives's eyes widened, for the first time somewhat concerned, but more than that, pissed off.

“Again? Are you going to fire that thing at me again? VASH?” Knives roared.

Yet, it was becoming more and more apparent that Vash could not, in fact, hear him. Vash's face was slack, the only distinctive features being the small feather sprouting on his cheeks and his eyes, which were blank and glowing dully as energy pulsated and expanded within the core of the Angel Arm cannon.

“Vash, NO! Don't!” the female screamed in Vash's ear, just as the gathering power was about to fire.

Vash began to twitch, at first a little, until convulsions wracked his entire body. He gasped, clutching at his right arm with his prosthetic one, trying to get himself back under control. Finally, Vash collapsed, breathing heavily as he hoarsely whispered, “I'm sorry” to the human, to Knives's irritation.

However, there were more pressing matters to attend to. Knives noticed immediately that while most of the feathers had retracted, Vash's condition was worse. The wings had remained.

Knives towered over the two of them, one his brother in flesh but not in mind, and the other a worthless spider, covered in her own blood, who deserved extermination. In that one moment, Knives felt such a strong urge to do away with her that he almost could not stand it. Yet, it was at that moment when he saw something that made him draw in his breath sharply.

He crouched next to Vash, hardly aware of the human shrinking back from him as he approached. Knives turned Vash over slightly, conscious of the resonation between them but not caring.

Vash's once completely blond hair now contained a streak of black at the base of his neck.

Knives realized then what he should have known long ago, that the Angel Arms in their pure forms were more powerful but brought with them a terrible price. He flashbacked to the Last Run on his sister, her shriveled and bloody corpse, all black.

It cannot be…

But it was. Knives was sure of it now. He lifted his gaze and met that of the human's, who promptly flinched. Then, she seemed to notice something different about Knives's demeanor. Her eyes were questioning, asking why.

Knives rose to his feet slowly, lifting Vash into his arms, trying to ignore the discomfort caused by their close proximity. The woman stared up at him, confused.

“Aren't…aren't you going to kill me?” she asked, her voice quivering.

“No. But do not mistake your good fortune,” Knives said curtly.

“I don't understand.”

He glared at her. “Vash's deterioration is gaining speed, and it would appear that keeping you alive is in his best interest, no matter how much I dislike it.”

She paled. “Deterioration?”

“Time is running out for Vash. I must find a cure, and I must find it now,” Knives ground out before turning his back and walking back to the medical bay with Vash in tow, not bothering to help the petite human he was leaving behind.

 

 

That was harsh!

Knives: Tcch, I am not going to help a human.

You should have!

Knives: Never!

-smacks him upside the head- That's mean!

Knives: Don't touch me!

Don't touch you, eh? -grins-

Knives: …Stay away!

-grin widens- Well, I'm off to play with Knivesey-poo, so review please. XD