Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Trigun: Scattered Ashes ❯ Episode 27: Aftermath ( Prologue )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Trigun:

Scattered Ashes

*A continuation story. Takes place three years after the end of season two. Vash fought his brother and won, and he was able to let go of his past. Knives has awoken and is avoiding talking to Vash about their hundred year war, and the two are getting along just fine. But when an entire small city burns to the ground with no survivers, the Stampede must come out of hiding and protect his home once more.*

Rated: R- for violence, language, and mature themes.

*Apply all disclaimers here*

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Episode 27:

Aftermath

(Two days after episode 26)



"You win."

"What?"



The day had started out like all the others. Vash had woken up to the smell of Meryl's cooking, Milly's singing, and birds chirping. He'd stretched and yawned, and glanced over to the cot where his brother lay. Then it struck him, Knives wasn't there. His eyes traveled a few feet to a chair by the window. There was his brother, sitting in that chair, his back to him. His mouth opened to say something but Knives spoke instead.

"It's about time you woke up. Do you always sleep in this late?," His voice was mild and calm, like it always had been.

"Knives...How long have you been awake?"

"A few hours, I almost fell back asleep waiting for you. You should get an alarm clock."

Vash smiled, then it changed to a sad frown," Knives...I'm..."

"Don't say it," He cut him off," You win."

"What?"

"You win. I wont hunt the humans anymore."

His frown broke into a grin," That's, That's great."

Knives stood up and turned around, returning his smile.

"You beat me fair and square. You've proved your point."

"But why the sudden change of heart?"

"Your the only brother I have Vash, fighting you forever would be pointless. You're like the sand roach that wont be squash."

He scowled a bit at his brother's analogy, but was much too relieved to stay angry. Was his brother actually going to leave the humans at peace? He wanted with all his heart to believe it, but after the hundred year feud the sliver of doubt still remained.

"But I shot-"

Knives held up his hand," No. And don't apologize, let's just drop this line of conversation."

"But why?," Vash tossed back the covers and swung his feet over the bed.

"I already told you why, I lost."

He gestured to the bandaged bullet wounds on his body," I provoked you to do this, I didn't give a you choice. No big deal"

"How could you forgive it that easily?"

Knives walked around the chair and stood in front of him.

"Do you even understand *why* I decided to kill them all?"

Vash frowned," Well I..I always thought it was because of Steve. Because of what he did to us. Now I'm not really sure."

"Do you forgive him for what he did Vash?"

Vash's eyes widened. Why would Knives ask him that?

"He...He made a mistake, you can't blame him for being afraid of us."

Knives bent at the waist and brought his face close to his.

"He should have left us alone, he had no right to abuse us. That idiot deserved it."

Vash frowned.

"You're wrong, Knives," He whispered.

"Am I Vash? If I had allowed him to continue beating us do you actually believe he would have stopped on his own? Or perhaps he would have taken it further. Do you think he *wouldn't* have eventually killed us both?"

He looked at him in shock," We could have told Rem, or even Joey. Killing him wasn't the only solution."

"No Vash..."

He reached up and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder," Knives..."

"NO!"

He shoved his hand off and took a few steps back. Vash gasped, then lowered his gaze to the floor. The room was silent except for Knives's harsh breathing.

Knives sighed," Look at us, we're fighting again. We've been fighting...ever since we saw that...that butterfly."

Vash looked up at him. He was staring blankly at the wall, hugging himself.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Do you remember the last thing Rem said to me before she died?"

Knives shook his head.

"She said 'Vash, take care of Knives'. That's...why I stayed with you for so long."

He smiled bitterly," That was why...because *she* told you to?"

"And because I didn't want you to be alone."

Vash got up slowly, but didn't move any closer to him.

His brother seemed distant," I was waiting for you to pull that trigger. I was waiting for you to give me the same thing you gave Legato. But you never did."

Vash made an incoherent gasping sound.

Knives continued," I'd actually hoped I would never wake up."

"How can you say that?"

Knives laughed," I wanted you to hate me."

"What?"

"Did you really think I would have taken all those years just to kill off the humans on this planet? I could have destroyed the entire population in a day if I wanted to."

"That's why you did all those things, because you wanted me hate you?," He asked.

"My true intentions were never for you just to suffer. If I hurt you enough you might have just killed me. Or so I thought."

Vash had a sour taste in his throat. Was he hearing things? Did Knives just admit to him the whole war was because he wanted to die?

"I would never kill you," He whispered.

Knives lowered his head," I know that, I was hoping I could change your mind...But," He shrugged and smiled," Oh well, can't win them all."

Vash sighed.

"Hmm?," He turned his gaze to the door," Hi there, you can open the door if you want."

Outside Meryl and Milly had their ears pressed to the door. They both jumped back at the sound of Vash's brother calling to them.

The door opened and they backed up, ready to run.

"Hi," Knives said.

"Uh..."Meryl laughed nervously," Hi...Sorry, we were getting worried when we heard the yelling. We apologize for eves dropping."

She looked at Milly for her to agree. The tall woman's face was blank as she gazed at Knives, then at Vash, then back again.

"Wow, you two even sound alike," She said in amazement.

Meryl sweat dropped, she wished Milly wouldn't open her mouth at awkward moments.

"Do you think so?"

The brunette nodded," Definitely."

Knives sniffed the air," Is that food I smell?"

"Err...why yes, it is...," She tried to sound friendly, but her voice came out a little high pitched.

"Good, I'm starved. May I have some?"

"Of course. Milly, would you?"

She smiled cheerfully," Coming right up. Follow me, it's right down stairs."

"Thank you."

Knives and Milly walked off and disappeared around a corner. Vash was still in the middle of the room with a confused expression on his face.

"Vash?," She called.

He didn't answer.

"Uh, Vash?"

"Wha-?," He stared a her as if he'd forgotten she was there," Oh, sorry."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm fine" He smiled.

"Oh, ok then," Meryl's eyes darted around nervously," Breakfast is ready if you want some."

"Thanks."

Meryl nodded," I'll just...go back down stairs."

The smile faded off Vash's face after she left. He had every right not to trust his brother at all. He was still shocked from the conversation they had. What could have driven Knives enough to want to end his own life? And why was he being so friendly to Meryl and Milly, was it an act? Vash silently hoped it wasn't, but wouldn't have been surprised at all if his brother was plotting something. He sighed and changed his clothes, then left the room and joined the others in the kitchen.

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(Three years later)

A scream cut through the dead afternoon air. A man and child walking down the dirt road turned their heads in the direction of the house it came from. Inside a very distressed Vash searched frantically for something. He dropped to all fours and looked under the small couch.

"Where'd he go?!"

He picked up the couch cushions and looked underneath those.

"Meryl and Milly are going to flip!"

He ran around the room searching in every possible space.

"I'm dead!"

Vash hurried into the kitchen, panting. Knives sat at the table reading a book and drinking coffee.

"What are you screaming for?"

Vash flailed his arms around," I can't find Richard!"

"Under the table."

"Huh?"

Vash stopped and squatted down. Just as Knives said a small boy around two or three was happily playing with plastic building blocks. The toddler glanced up at him and smiled.

"Oh, there you are," He said in relief," Almost gave me a heart attack for a second."

Knives quietly set the book down and folded his hands together.

"You do this same routine every day. One would think you'd learn to take him with you when you leave the room, or put him in a place he can't crawl away from."

Vash gave an embarrassed laugh.

Knives sighed," I'm afraid for any children you happen to father in the future."

"Hey, that's not very nice."

The sound of the door swinging open caught their attentions.

"Hello, I'm back!"

"We're in the kitchen!," Vash called.

Milly hurried in carrying three full grocery bags. She walked to the counter and set them down.

"I got everything I needed. Thanks for watching him for me."

"You're welcome," Knives said.

Vash frowned at him.

Milly bent down and looked under the table," Hey you, did you miss Mommy?"

The little boy squealed and held out his arms to her. She picked him up, and tossed him in the air, then caught him. The boy laughed, then she set him down and he went back to his toy.

Vash smiled," He reminds me so much of you, well personality wise anyway."

"Really?"

She walked to the groceries and pulled out a stack of letters from one.

"Here, the mail came," Milly said handing Vash half of it.

He sorted through them," Wow they all replied pretty quickly."

He picked one out," Hey, Lina finally wrote back to me."

Vash sat down at the table, opened it and began to read to himself.

"Dear 'Eriks', My Grandmother and I are doing great. Picking up drifters as usual, Grandma doesn't know when to quit. We still don't have a sheriff, but everyone in the city owns guns so we're ok. We managed to rebuild most of it, even after the fire by Bob's hardware store. Don't worry we're all fine, and we hope that you are too," He paused," P.S. When the hell are you coming to visit, it's been three years, exclamation point, exclamation point, exclamation point. Bring all of your friends, we have plenty of room. Your friend, Lina."

He reached into the envelope and pulled out several photographs.

"Hey, she sent pictures!"

Vash looked through them," Wow, Lina's really changed since I last saw her."

He showed them to Knives. Lina had grown her reddish hair out to her shoulders.

"Are you going to show these to Meryl?," He asked.

Clueless as usual he said," Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

Knives sighed and put his face in his hand," Vash!"

"What?"

He shook his head," Nothing..."

Vash shrugged and continued to look at the photos.

Milly was busy taking things out of the bags and putting them inside the cupboards. Then she left and went into the living room, taking Richard with her.

"Maybe I *should* go visit her, I'd be really nice to see them again. I went back to Inapril a couple of months ago," He leaned back in his chair.

"I just hope Meryl doesn't react the way she did the last time."

"Before or after the explosion?"

Vash grinned," After."

"You guys!"

Milly ran back into the kitchen holding a radio.

"You have to listen to this. It's terrible!"

She plugged it into a wall outlet and switched it on. A woman was broadcasting the news.

"...and no survivors were recovered from the wreckage of ash that was left behind. The Calvary concluded the fire was most likely an accident. There was no trace of gunpowder..."

"Isn't it awful?!," Milly cried," The entire town caught fire last night, no one was able to get out in time."

Vash frowned," No survivors..."

"It's very peculiar that no one managed to escape the fire. There must have been at least a few who made it out safely."

Milly shook her head," No, the Calvary searched a ten ile radius around it. They didn't find a single soul, it's really a shame."

He narrowed his eyes," Unless every person in the town was already injured or dead before or during the fire it's impossible no one noticed it. Someone would have warned the rest of them."

Vash looked at him," You're saying it was deliberate?"

"Possibly, there are humans who enjoy setting fire to things."

"But why would a pyro want to kill people?," Milly asked," I thought they just liked burning matches and paper."

"There's something else..."

Vash and Milly looked at Knives waiting for him to finish but he trailed off and his eyes fogged over.

Knives sees a flash of a red eye. A little girl in a mirror, wearing a white dress, with her back to him. Then the girl started to turn around.

"Knives!"

He was brought back to reality when Vash called his name.

"Something else? What did you mean by that?"

He shook his head," Nothing. I was just remembering a dream I had once..."

"It seemed more like nightmare from the look on your face," Milly said.

Vash opened his mouth to speak but stopped when the front door slammed followed by Meryl yelling.

"Milly! Milly, get your things packed we're on another field assignment!"

Meryl stomped into the kitchen with a very annoyed expression.

"Why? What happened?"

"This!"

She shoved a typed sheet of paper in front of her. Milly took it and read it to herself.

"Wow, that many claims happened in the past month?"

"It's all from fire damage, and what's more insane is *who* they're claiming caused it!," She fumed while grinding her teeth together.

"Ohmigosh, the Black Widow?"

"Who?"

"A legend, kind of like you," She pointed to Vash," Except *her* legend is a silly ghost story created to scare misbehaving children."

"My oldest brother told me this story when I was little," Milly began," He said she lived some thirty years ago in a small town just outside of Boston. She was married, but had no children, so she always played with the town's kids. They really loved her, and she loved them. But the man she was married to didn't want kids, and didn't like them at all. In the one my brother told me it said he was abused as a child, but it's always different each time someone tells it. She spent so much time with the town's kids he became jealous and said she couldn't be around them anymore. So he kept her inside the house when he was home, and told her not to leave when he was gone. But of course she didn't want to stay away from them, she waited until he left then went to see them. But one day he came home early from work and she wasn't there so he became angry-"

"Typical. Evil husband, innocent wife. Husband does a horrible act in a jealous rage and the wife kills him, then kills herself." Meryl added.

"But that's not how it went Meryl. The husband waited until she came back and set her on fire with the rest of the alcohol he was drinking. She died then the husband died mysteriously three days later. It said he spontaneously combusted. But the town believed she came back and took her revenge on him."

"Like I said a silly ghost story. But now our boss wants us to find her. We can't find someone who doesn't exist!"

"What did this person do to get a name like that?," Vash asked.

Meryl shrugged," Nothing too major, just fire damage on random buildings, but there were over 250 occurrences. This 'Black Widow' needs to be stopped."

"Oh, look. It says here this person has an eighteen million bounty for their capture," Milly pointed out.

"That's our other problem, she's the biggest price out there right now. Every two-bit hunter's going to be after her."

"This is odd, an entire town burns down and an unknown arsonist is singeing buildings left and right. That's an obvious connection if I've even seen one," Knives said.

"Yes, I heard about that, very unfortunate. If this person did cause that fire it means they're more dangerous than we first thought."

Vash nodded in agreement.

Milly read more of the paper," It says the last fire was in Kasted City, and it was only a week ago. Maybe the person's still there."

"Kasted City? So that's the fire Lina mentioned..." Vash stood up.

Knives put a hand on his brother's shoulder," Well, it appears that you'll get to see your friend for sure now."

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One building away and on the roof, two people listened. One man dressed in black, and one young girl wearing all white.

"They're going to start looking for her, should I do something?"

The girl says nothing out loud but the man still hears a response.

"Are you sure?"

There was silence and the girl turned her head to look at him. Then the man said," Alright, you're the boss..."

The man pulled a cigarette from his coat and lit it. He then raised his head and blew a long line of smoke out into the air.

"And here begins the true test of courage," He whispered," How will you handle *this* one, Vash the Stampede?"

(Author's note: How was it? Should I keep writing?)