Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ The Demon Within ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

The Demon Within
Prologue

Rated: M
By Selenity Jade

 

Disclaimer:  I don't own Trigun, though I'd happily take Vash and Knives and Wolfwood and Legato. Unfortunately, I don't make money off of it either, so I can't afford to even rent Vash and Knives and Wolfwood and Legato.

 

Notes:  This is my first Trigun fic, though not my first fic by far.  (30 something DBZ fics, 6 Sailor Moon fics, an Inuyasha fic, a Record of Lodoss War fic, a Gundam 08th MS Team fic, a Buffy fic, and an Anita Blake/Buffy crossover fic to my name so far, I've very much writing still!)  I am hopefully going to be able to get their personalities down, but I'm not perfect, so don't flip unless it's absolutely horribly OOC.  This fic takes place right after the end of the Trigun anime, which I've seen in both dubbed and subbed formats, AND I'm currently reading the manga as it comes out in the US.  It will not be a Vash/Knives fic (EW) or a Vash/Meryl fic.  No, Wolfwood will not come back from the dead, and neither will Legato, despite my incredible love of them.  This, my friends, is my first non-canon romance ever.  It will be a Knives/Meryl fic.  Yes, you heard right.  I will not bash any character, so fans of this pairing shouldn't expect me to turn Vash into more of a noodle-noggin than he already is.  And keep in mind, I did an RP with a bunch of Trigun characters for over three years, and I had Knives paired up with one of my original characters there.  I have a hard time seeing him with anyone else, but this idea will not leave my brain.    Enjoy!

 

x

 

"Vash!  You're alright!"

 

"You're back!"

 

The blond man grinned at the relieved women in front of him.  "Of course I am," he replied.  "And I brought a guest, if that's alright."

 

Meryl Stryfe blinked, and took notice of the unconscious man over Vash's shoulder.  "Is that...?"

 

He nodded.  "Yup.  This is Knives.  My brother."

 

"Your brother?" Milly asked in surprise.  "Wow, I didn't know you had a brother, Vash."

The Humanoid Typhoon grinned sheepishly.  "I didn't tell you?  Yup, he's my twin brother."

"Wow!" the tall girl exclaimed.

 

Meryl sighed.  "Is this a good idea, Vash?  After what you told me..."

And for the first time since he had met Meryl, he smiled at her.  A very real smile.  "It'll be just fine, Meryl."

 

She nodded, looking up at the spiky-haired man.  "Alright.  I'll trust you."  Then she smiled warningly at him.  "Just this once.  But if he does something, you'll pay for it!"

 

Vash laughed.  "Alright."

 

Meryl turned and started to walk to the house they rented.  "Well, come on!  Let's get him into bed and have those wounds looked after."

 

Meryl sighed softly, wringing out the bloody cloth in the sink for what had to be the millionth time.  Vash really shot his twin full of lead.  It was actually amazing that the man had survived so much damage and blood loss.

 

But if what Vash had told her was to be believed, it shouldn't have surprised her at all.  Vash had told her about himself, about his time aboard the ship before humans crashed here...  That meant that Vash and Knives had to be over a hundred and thirty years old.

 

They weren't human.

 

Vash didn't tell her what he was.  Just that he was 'found' aboard the ship with Knives.  She got the feeling that he was afraid to tell her.  Afraid of what, she wasn't so sure.  Maybe he was afraid of her reaction.  Or maybe he just didn't trust her with that information.  But no, that couldn't be it.  He had told her about his past, and he had told her that he wasn't human.  She had gotten the feeling that he hadn't told very many people about his past, his brother, himself...  It made her feel... special to be one of the few let in to his confidence.  Maybe... Maybe he did feel for her and trusted her.

 

Another part of her was scared to ask what it meant that he told her.  She hadn't been told everything after all.  She still didn't know what he was.

She wouldn't push him, though.  If he wanted to tell her, he would.  Until then...

 

She'd believe in him.  What did it matter if he wasn't human?  He cared for humans, he acted human...  Hell, he was better than most humans.  He refused to kill, even when that person was so evil that killing them was the only way to stop them.

 

The one he called Legato was the only person he had ever killed.

Meryl turned back to the bed with a sigh, and knelt beside it.  She gently cleaned the last of the blood from the oozing wound on his bare leg.  A doctor had come in to take a look at the wounded man and removed each bullet that had been lodged in his flesh.  However, the doctor was rather old and shaky, and Vash felt that having him stitch up Knives was a bad idea.  The poor blond had had enough of a fit when the trembling doctor had started to dig into the wounds to retrieve the bullets.  After the nerve-wracking ordeal, Vash had insisted that his brother would heal fine without stitching and that they would bandage and tape the wounds closed without the doctor's help.

 

Meryl wasn't sure.  She had seen Vash's scars after all.

 

She gently cleaned the blood from his leg, and then wrapped a bandage around the bare thigh.  She was thankful that Vash had been the one to undress Knives.  She knew it was silly, but it made her blush just thinking of seeing a naked man.  The strangely beautiful man was completely nude and the only thing to protect his - or rather her - modesty was a sheet draped over his groin.

 

She sighed as she leaned across the bed to grab the tape for the bandage, her hand holding the gauze to the inside of his thigh.  She glanced up at the sleeping face of Vash the Stampede's brother, and gasped as she saw blue eyes glaring at her.

 

"Who the fuck said you could touch me, vermin?"

 

Meryl gasped in shock and fright.  She had heard such horrible things about the man on the bed.  And she knew without a doubt that the man Vash called brother would kill her with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.  She could see it in his eyes.

 

"I see you're finally awake, Knives," Vash interrupted from behind her.

 

Meryl sighed softly in relief, and spoke to Knives.  "Please don't move.  I've just got to tape this last bandage and I'll be done."

 

"Better let her finish, Knives," Vash cautioned.  "She gets rather bitchy if you don't let her have her way."

 

Meryl glared at the legendary outlaw.  "Excuse me!?"

 

The blond man grinned at her before looking back at his brother.  "Knives, this is Meryl, a friend of mine.  She's been dressing your wounds after the doctor removed the bullets.  Boy, you should be glad you were unconscious through that!" Vash exclaimed with a theatrical shudder.  "It was so horrible!"

 

"I don't care.  Get the human away from me!" the weakened Knives snarled angrily.

 

Meryl flinched slightly before glaring up at the prone man.  "Oh, knock it off!"  She reached over again and snatched the tape with her free hand, and deftly retrieved a good-sized piece.

 

Knives glared at her.  "Who said you could talk to me, vermin?  You are nothing but a parasite!  You should bow before me like the disgusting beast you are!"

"Knives," Vash spoke warningly.

 

Knives glared up at his brother as Meryl finished taping the wrap on this thigh.  The angry twin's skin twitched beneath the woman's touch in revulsion.  "Just because you defeated me, brother, doesn't mean I'll turn into the sentimental fool you are!"

 

Vash smiled softly, if a bit sadly.  "I know that, Knives."

 

Meryl stood up, crossing her arms.  "All done.  Now don't go moving around too much!" she admonished the injured man with a shake of her finger.  "I don't want to have to bandage all those gunshot wounds again.  Do you hear me?"

 

Both Vash and Knives blinked in surprise at Meryl's strict orders.  The two men knew she couldn't enforce it on Knives, and he was more than capable of killing her if she so much as looked at him the wrong way.  And yet she did something no other human had ever done and survived.

 

Vash chuckled.  "Hear that, Knives?  Guess it is bed rest for you."

 

"Fuck that."

 

X

 

AN:  Yes, that is the prologue.  Shorter than my chapters of course, but you'll get more later.  Tell me what you think! 

 

In the last episode of Trigun, Vash let go of Rem's memory.  He let go of her in his heart, and decided to live for himself now.  Before he did that, I don't think he could have loved Meryl like she wanted him to.  I think that last part of the show was the most beautiful.  He was free to love and free to live as he wanted to without being haunted by her now.  He will always love Rem, of course.  She shaped who he was.  She was his mother, his big sister, his friend.  (No, people, I don't believe he was IN love with her, come on!  He was a child when she died, no matter how intelligent and mature he was).  But his love for her and his grief over not fulfilling one of her last wishes ("Take care of Knives.") didn't let him be free enough to love Meryl.  I think he had feelings for her, but it wasn't until the very end that he was willing to be with her, I think.

 

This has no bearing on my story, obviously, but it's just a random little twist of something from the anime I thought I'd share.

 

Lovies!