Howdy again! Sorry it's taken me so long to get up a new chapter to this
trilogy, I'd been having quite the stupor. If you've never read any of my
stories before, please check out "Free Like Them" and "Finding Home" before
reading "Fermentation" because this is of course a three-part story! It's
manga based for the most part, some original characters, mostly I borrow
Knives and Vash from Nightow (for as long as I may!). If you're not
familiar with Trigun Maximum then there might be spoilers. Just be warned,
however I think I cover most of the bases so you should be all set! I hope
you like it! Feel free to review or drop me a line at my website if you
like what I've done! More chapters to come!
PS – if you've read this already, just know that it's been edited, so please read it again if you get confused!
Chapter 1
Lost & Found
The desert planet fell under two categories, rock and sand. Under the surface of the planet lay water, buried deep beneath the stone and dirt, far down where it took miners weeks to break into the deposits. But it was water, real water, like back on Earth. The humans found comfort in their discoveries and cities grew as wells were dug around the towering plants where once ships crashed into desolation. Forty-six years passed since the Big Fall and now, and there were first and second-generation children living here on this planet, a place where once nothing but a few measly creatures made their home.
A great catastrophe occurred all those years ago, and even though it was labeled with a name, it still didn't quite cover the amount of damage or the lives that were lost during a few days' span as a huge fleet of ships crashed upon this lonely planet. Most people who were alive during those days were dead now, the desert planet was not very kind upon the older generation. Many of them sought to bring back the old days and hoped beyond hope that someday Earth would come to retrieve them. After a time, the younger generations turned their attention to surviving and making the most of where they were. This was a new planet, a second Earth, but no one named the planet for one unspoken reason; man was not meant to live here, and thus man would not always live here, and had no ownership rights.
Although man did not believe he owned the planet, there was one being who believed he did. He had chosen this place to land, chosen this dusty planet to make his own paradise with the help of his brother and sisters. He gave himself a second name, Millions, after the number he had slaughtered. Then he gave the planet a name; Gunsmoke. His brother didn't take kindly to either name, and refused to use them. "Knives... Could you wait up?"
"I'm always waiting, Vash." He stopped his walk and took a breath. Knives stood on a rocky outcropping that spread over vast sand dunes. He could feel the suns on his head and the breeze through his hair even as his brother came to stand beside him. The breeze failed to cool, nothing was as cold as space, and for this he was thankful. He never did like space. This place would become a paradise for him and his sibling, even as the green-eyed skinny man next to him huffed from the climb.
"Looks like we've come to a dead-end again, eh Knives?" Vash said, hands on his thighs as he tried to catch his breath. "Probably have to turn around."
"We're going to keep going," Knives responded, his eyes squinting in the bright light. "This expanse is the only place we haven't checked recently." He eyed his brother curiously; the last time they avoided coming this way as well.
Vash looked up at him and made to clutch his stomach. "We haven't eaten in weeks Knives... Don't you think we should at least go back to the last town for supplies?"
Frowning, Knives started down the cliff. "No, we are not going back to those humans. Don't you remember what the last group did to you?"
His brother lowered his eyes and followed behind Knives. "They were desperate, that's all... I don't blame them..." Vash just barely managed to avoid Knives' arm as it swung in his direction. He stumbled backwards and slid down the hill a few feet before managing to upright himself again to sit on his butt. Knives stood above him sneering. "I... I don't Knives. They had their reasons. I just don't see why you had to... To do that."
Knives looked down at his hands, remembering the blood that covered them just a few weeks before. "They tried to use you Vash, just like they use our sisters every day. Don't you understand? No one should use any sentient being for his own use. Or did you want to be stuck in a laboratory and be torn apart like Tessla was?"
Vash winced at the name of their older sister. It might have been nearly a half-century since her death, but Knives never forgot to bring her up when times called for justice. Why was Vash so eager to forgive these beings? It took a week for his brother to be well enough after the last fight to start moving again. If he hadn't gotten involved in the humans' affairs than he wouldn't have had to run in and save Vash from being chopped up in tiny pieces. He should have known better than to offer to save the plant in front of the humans... It was a battle of wills, save his kind and the humans or sacrifice both? Knives told Vash to let them alone, but he wouldn't listen. The humans very nearly killed him this time. Knives walked through the rocks and extended a hand to his brother. "Here, take it," Vash complied and Knives pulled him to his feet again. "We don't need supplies if we find the ship, Vash. I have a feeling we'll see it this time, I can almost taste it now..."
"I was afraid you might say that," Vash responded. He shook his head, "I'm just worried about the sandworms. Do you think they'll just ignore us?"
From beneath his cloak, Knives produced his newest toy, a machete. They'd tried to kill Vash with it and he had used it on those stinking pieces of garbage. He liked the feel of a blade. Even as a child he liked the cold steel, the way it sliced through skin and bone, and the pain it inflicted. "If they don't, I'll kill them." He continued down the rocks and into the deep sand. The suns were sinking toward the horizon as the two men passed into the dunes.
"There it is." Knives' mouth split into a grin as his eyes focused on an object over the next dune. They'd been in the Dead Sea of Sand as he called it for over a week, and Vash looked skinnier than before. He didn't understand his brother's condition. They didn't need food or water. They were power sources on their own. So why did Vash seem to be suffering from the same afflictions a human would? Knives sighed, at least they were near a ship now, and it wouldn't be long before they solved the food problem. "We'll be there by sunset."
Vash just nodded beside him. He'd also become quieter. His brother hardly said a word now that they were in the deep sands. The sandworms left them alone, but there was nothing in this desert, nothing living, but two free plants searching for a ship from their childhood. Finally Vash said, "I wonder which one it will be?"
"Judging by the distance and direction from the majority of the ships, I'd say this is one of the leading craft." Knives dashed down the hill of sand and started climbing the next one, listening to his shoes whistling through the loose grains. Vash followed behind like a ghost. Only the sound of shifting sand and a slight breeze broke the silence of this place. Knives was always amazed at how quiet it was. The ship had always been noisy, a humming of electricity at all times coupled with turning motors and circulating air. This planet was so quiet, as long as they weren't near the noisy humans. The humans were worse than the ship had been.
They continued on through the rest of the day until the ship arose above them in its splendor. It was huge, much bigger than some of the other ships that they came across in the past. On its side read "SEEDS" followed by a word that Knives never thought he'd see, "Number One". He stopped walking, his mouth dropping open as he stared at this fallen hunk of metal. Vash stopped beside him and he choked, falling to his knees. They'd both seen it burn up in the atmosphere from the escape pod. But no... most of it survived, and it was here that it landed, the mother ship, where they'd grown up with Rem.
"It couldn't be..." Knives whispered and started forward only to find Vash clutching his pant leg. "Vash, what are you..." He stopped to see tears running down his brother's face turning dust into mud down his cheeks. Knives frowned, glancing over his shoulder to the ship and then back again. What was he doing? They were home the only home either of them had known in nearly fifty years, so why was Vash crying? He's always crying! Why does he do this?
"Don't... We can't..." Vash croaked below him. "That... Rem... We can't use that ship." He clutched at Knives with both hands now, pulling him to the ground beside him. Eye to eye the brothers stared at each other in silence until finally Knives broke the connection and looked up at the ship. Vash sputtered; "I don't want to go in there... Not again."
Knives shrugged Vash off of him. "It's home Vash. I thought you'd want to go home." His eyes focused on the ship and he stood. Starting to walk again, he raised his hands to the beautiful remains of their home in space. "Don't you want to know what happened to them all?"
"Rem's dead..."
"Not Rem, you idiot... The plants." He kept walking even as Vash scrambled behind him, putting hands on him, trying to stop him, blubbering non-sense as Knives continued to push him away. Soon they stood within the ship's shadow. "I'm going in Vash."
"She's dead, don't you remember Knives!" Vash screamed behind him. "Please... Let's just leave this graveyard alone..." Knives turned on his brother and his hands formed into fists. If he kept talking... This was everything he'd been dreaming of for years now! To find this one ship, the key to their survival on the planet, only to have his brother tell him he can't have it... No! Knives couldn't stand to think that Vash would stop him from realizing his dream... And yet he kept talking. "There's only one plant left in there! She isn't powerful enough to fuel your plans Knives... Leave the ship alone. Haven't you done enough? You've destroyed everything, why can't you just leave one thing alone?"
"I won't be bossed around by you!" Knives threw himself at Vash and they wrestled in the sand. Pinning his brother into the ground, Knives clutched Vash's collar and slammed him down, again and again until Vash's head started to bleed. "You can feel her? You can feel our sister! You've known this ship was here the whole time! Didn't you? That's why you made sure that we never came into the sand! You knew all of this time!" He punched Vash and his brother started to cry harder, unable to speak through his tears. "You bastard!" How dare his brother betray him! This was the worst thing that Vash could hide from him... To know all of this time, how long had it been since they'd been through here because of Vash's begging... Kept saying he was afraid of the sandworms, but the truth was he was keeping Knives away from realizing his goal, all this time! "You're not my brother... My brother would not betray me! He would not keep secrets from me!"
Pulling away, Knives stood again and rubbed his fist. Vash continued to cry, his cheek red and head bleeding. "If you'd told me before we could have avoided all of this... Don't you understand? We could have been free of these miserable humans a long time ago!" He kicked sand at Vash and turned to go into the ship. It didn't matter what he said. Even one of their sisters could make the difference. He'd make a weapon and destroy the humans once and for all and then he'd gather the others and create paradise. Knives could do it, and he would, soon, very soon.
One glance behind, and Knives knew Vash wasn't following him immediately into their old home. The angle that the ship fell allowed easy entrance into the hull. Only two portions remained here, just the cold sleep chamber and the plant chamber. It was upright, just as he remembered it. If what Vash said was correct however, out of all of their sisters, only one still survived... It was like before, when he had woken the plant in New Orlando. Vash swore he did not know how he did it, but now Knives wondered how many secrets Vash was keeping from him. Knives knew how much Vash hated the plants, how he hated his own existence as one of them. It would only be right that he'd lie about it. How many other lies did Vash tell him? Knives growled to himself and slid his fingers down the length of the machete that swung at his side. The blade was sharp and cut his finger with ease. He looked at his hand for a moment and smiled at the color. Wiping the blood off on his suit, he walked through the familiar territory of his childhood.
Knives climbed into the plant chamber and looked around at his old home. He'd been locked out of this place, and he hated Rem for it. How he missed talking to them! But why could Vash hear them now and not him? Had he not been the one who discovered that they could speak to the plants? They never responded, but the connection was enough. Knives searched the dark interior; so many bulbs were broken and black. But there... Off to one side was a glass globe still intact. He ran over to it and placed his hands against the cool glass. Sister...Wake up.
Footsteps behind him and Vash came to stand next to him. "Have you ever been able to hear them?" His eyes focused again on the intact bulb and Knives looked at it watching as she formed into her beautiful angelic shape. What was going on? Could Vash talk to them in words? Did that mean... No... I'm not more like a human than he is! Damn it, I won't accept that! I'll try harder... I'll find a way to be more like them. I've just been away from my own kind too long. He stared at the globe, thinking as hard as he could, urging her to come to him, but those cold empty eyes were on Vash, forever on him, as if Knives didn't exist at all. Knives sunk down onto his knees. Vash sat down next to him and pointed to the door at the far end of the room. "Look, it's open. I know you said you'd get in there again, now is your chance." Knives turned to look at where his brother pointed.
"Mother..." Knives scrambled to his feet. She died long ago, but he had to see her... What remained of her... This place... It was a graveyard just as Vash said... Full of ghosts... Knives started to hate this place. Especially now that he knew his brother could talk to them. Why hadn't he noticed the signs so long ago when Vash mentioned that she was tired? Knives knew she was dying, but never felt what she felt... He dug his thumb into the finger he'd cut, feeling the blood oozing over his fingers. He was starting to hate himself... This body he had to inhabit. How he hated to be like the humans! There had to be a way to reverse the change... Had to be a way to become less like the humans and become more like his sisters... His glorious sisters, his glorious mother... Why had his mother made him like this? Damn her! Why did she... But she was dead, wasn't she? No use crying over it. He stumbled to the doorway between rooms, where the door hung broken, the lock unusable after the crash. He had to see for himself. He entered the doorway and into the darkness.
Vash watched Knives disappear into the laboratory. Then his eyes focused on the plant behind the glass. Her words, feelings, emotions, came to him through the glass even without touching her. He closed his eyes thinking he'd block it out, but the feeling that passed over him was of overwhelming joy; someone had come to save her children. Vash's eyes opened and widened as he looked at her. This was new. "Children?" The word came to his lips unbidden, and his green eyes fell on the plant. "You have children?"
Suddenly Vash was on his feet again, and his eyes scanned the base of the glass. Were there others like he and Knives? Had more plants been born? But even as he pressed up against the glass the feeling washed over him that the plant was speaking of a different kind of child. Sleeping children. Vash turned in the direction of the sleep chamber. There were sleepers here still? Alive? Could it be? But what would Knives do if there were?
His feet couldn't move fast enough as he stumbled through the debris and remains of the ship. Even in the dark he knew the way, knew how to get where the sleepers were in the gigantic chamber... When he pressed against the glass that separated the viewing room from the Cold Sleep Chamber his breath froze in his throat. They were all here! All of them! "You're... Alive?" Vash dashed from the viewing room into the cold chamber, ignoring the sudden change from hot desert to the freezer. Goose bumps rose on his skin as he stumbled through the containers. All the readings were normal. They were all here... The little girl he and Knives watched... The crew... William Conrad... "Rem?" Vash ran down the line to where her pod was.
It felt as if his heart stopped beating as he came upon Rem's pod. It was frozen over, ice coating the outside, and he pressed his hands against the ice. "Rem? Did you make it..." The ice melted under his hands and he hurried to clear it away... If she had enough time... Would she return? Did she survive too? How many years had he hoped to find her, hoped to know that she was okay... Somewhere out there, his mother, his only provider, the only person he'd ever loved besides his brother. As the ice melted away, his heart seemed to freeze instead. The pod was completely empty. Vash sunk to his knees. She didn't make it to the pods. She hadn't survived. The only one on the ship that hadn't... She gave her life to save all of these people... The only one... Tears rolled down his face again. And he knew it would be a long time before he could make them stop again.
Knives pressed his hands on the cold empty glass. Their mother was gone. He closed his eyes and slumped to his knees. He'd been careless. The anger he felt toward Rem for hiding her away grew in him, spurned his hatred for the humans. When he and Vash found Tessla, it made him all that much more angry. He killed the humans, but in doing so, killed his sisters as well. It was foolish of him not to plan things out better.
Now only one remained. She'd have to do, if only he could hear her voice! He let his fingers slip from the glass and he opened his eyes to look at the dust that remained there. Why was it that Vash could hear his sister and he could not? They were twins, so why did their powers come to them differently now that they were adults? He brushed the dust that mingled in the blood on his fingers off and climbed to his feet.
Turning from the room, Knives went back into the larger chamber to find his brother missing. The plant returned in on herself and couldn't be seen behind the dark glass. He ignored her. If she didn't want to talk to him then he wouldn't talk to her! Frowning, Knives went to the only other place his brother ever had any interest in on the ship. The Cold Sleep Chamber was exactly as he remembered. Everything was precisely as they left it, except for a bit more dust in places and the occasional overflow from a sleep pod.
He looked down from the observation room and saw his brother on the floor in tears. Knives sighed. When Vash wasn't thinking he was crying. He was growing tired of the never-ending cycle. Would he really be happier with these? Maybe... Knives shook his head; to allow Vash to go live with the humans was not an option. He hadn't seen Vash as happy as he was with those people... But to just let him go, let him forget everything that he was and everything he could be... Vash was special, and as his big brother, Knives would not forgive the humans that sought to use him for their own purposes. He was the only one who had any right to use Vash.
If he spent enough time studying his sister in private, than perhaps he could find a way to be more like them. Once Vash was in full use of his powers, he doubted his brother would ever want to return to the humans. The key was Tessla, but that part of the ship was gone, Knives knew that the moment he saw what remained of the ship. Plants had a power-core, a 'seed' within them... But no one on this planet knew anything about the plants. They were worthless garbage, even these sleepers, if he couldn't use them to his advantage, then what was the point of their survival?
Walking down into the cold chamber, Knives came to Vash and kneeled next to him. "Are you okay Vash?"
His brother looked up at him with a tear-stained face and sniffed. "Yeah... I'm sorry Knives, I didn't mean to cry again." Vash wiped his eyes and started to get to his feet. "It's just that she really didn't make it. All of the others are here, but she didn't make it into a pod before the explosion." He stood and Knives followed him to look into the empty pod. Vash set his fingers on the glass again and wrote Rem's name in the frost before letting out a sigh. "So you saw..."
"Yes, I saw." Knives said slowly, taking in the chamber around them and all of the sleeping people. "And these humans, even though they're asleep, they're using our sister. It's selfish of them." He turned, a plan forming. It would be simple to just turn off the power and let the humans rot in their glass coffins. "They have no right to live like this..." Then he and Vash could use the last remaining plant to...
"You can't," Vash said beside him. "I know what you're thinking, Knives, but let's just leave them to sleep. Maybe someday there will be ships from Earth and they'll rescue these people and take them to a new home. They'll never have to know what happened!" He took Knives by the hand and dragged him through the room. Knives didn't try to stop him, curious of their destination, but realizing where they were going before they reached the sleeping girl they'd watched so many times in the past. "This girl... Do you remember her Knives? We always wanted to become friends with her, didn't we? Would you kill her just because she wanted..."
"Shut up Vash!" Knives snapped, pulling away from the pod. The girl... He'd had a crush on her as a child, and to see her now, like this, peacefully the same, as she'd been a half-century before... How could she be so peaceful on his planet? Humans weren't welcome here; they were insects to be squashed below his feet... Knives swung back to the pod and started to press buttons. "Damn it," his eyes narrowed. "I don't care about them... I'll kill her now and prove it."
"You don't? Really?" Vash grabbed Knives by the shoulders and forced him to look at the girl again. Knives was surprised at his brother's strength, at this moment, he couldn't turn away, his eyes locked on that sweet face, the dark locks of hair that fell around her eyes... She hadn't felt anything he had. She hadn't felt the pain, the suffering... This girl was still locked in a peaceful dream of a better tomorrow, and he couldn't look away from her, couldn't close his eyes to that little face...
Knives shuttered, "Let me go Vash... They don't deserve to live, none of them."
"I won't. Not until you promise me that you aren't going to hurt this girl or any of the others. We'll find another plant... Just leave this place alone. Let them sleep forever in this desert... A graveyard, think of it as that." Vash squeezed Knives' shoulders until they ached.
"But they aren't dead Vash. She's alive, they all are. But our sisters are not. How can you justify it?"
"You killed both," Vash hissed. "How can you justify that?" His fingers dug into Knives' arms. "Look at her and tell me that you never felt anything for her! You know her name... I'm sure you do, even after all of these years. Tell me you could just kill her for your own selfish purposes. She's done nothing, nothing. Tell me her name and tell me you'll kill her, but if you do... You'll have to wake her up and look her in the eyes to do it."
Vash shoved Knives into the glass harder. When had his brother become this strong? Where was this fire before? When they fought the humans, why didn't he use this strength? No... Only now... He really cared for them, didn't he? Why did he care about her... This girl... Knives closed his eyes, not wanting to look at that lovely little girl... She was like... Like that other one... Knives frowned. No, he hadn't loved that girl, he had no feelings for her, and he would have killed her if Vash hadn't intervened. But this girl, the girl in the glass, he opened his eyes to look at her. "Marissa Gray," he whispered. Vash's grip loosened. "The little brat is Marissa..."
His brother let go and Knives turned on him. "Now wake her up," Vash said, his eyes sad. "Press the rest of the buttons and wake her up before you kill her with that knife." He pointed at the keypad, urging him to do what he claimed he wanted to do. "Tell me you never once thought of a time where the two of you could be friends. Tell me that you could just kill her so easily."
"I..." Knives growled and turned, punching the keypad. "I'm going to. I will kill her." The Cold Sleep pod stirred to life and both men looked at it, watching as the top opened. Steam rose around them as mechanical arms flared to life at the pod's sides. They held syringes, liquids to revive the sleeping dead. Knives watched the process in silence. Vash stood beside him, and for once Knives felt like... No, he would never be afraid of Vash. This... This wasn't his brother, this was someone else. Where had this change of character come from? How had he not noticed the change? Was it all of these months, even years that Vash had remained silent and thinking? Had he kept it hidden this entire time?
Marissa's eyes fluttered open suddenly. Knives took in a shuddered breath. Her eyes were violet. There had been pictures of all of the sleepers, but he didn't realize her eyes could be so... He took a step back. "Hello," the little girl croaked out. Vash leaned forward and gave her a hand. She sat up slowly and shivered. "It's very cold in here."
Vash nodded, "Yes, it is. But it is also very hot outside. Do you think you can walk?" Marissa looked from Vash to Knives. "Where are we? Are we at Second Earth?"
"Gunsmoke," Knives grunted. Vash cast him a dark glance and he frowned. "It doesn't have another name." He extended a hand to the little girl and shuttered as she took his hand. The brothers pulled her up and out of the pod and onto the cold floor. She did a little dance before Vash picked her up in his arms. Knives couldn't look at her, only toward the door where they'd come in.
Smiling, Vash said, "Let's get you out of here."
"I... My name is Marissa," she said, shivering in his arms. "What's yours?"
"Vash," his brother said, and then nodded over his shoulder, "and that's my brother..."
"Millions," Knives growled as they walked out of the chamber and into the warmer interior of the ship.
"Are you twins? You look alike."
"Yes, we are," Vash responded. "Are you warmer now?"
Marissa nodded, "Yes. You were right it is hot out here. But I like it." She pulled at his sleeve and he let her down onto the ground. Her bright eyes scanned the room, and slowly fell down the hallway to where the ship was broken open. "What... What happened?"
"Let's go outside," Vash said slowly in response, taking her away from Knives into the sunlight. "There is something my brother wants to tell you." He cast a long angry glance over his shoulder to Knives. "Isn't that right?" Vash pushed Marissa down the hallway leaving Knives in the darkened hull, his fingers playing over the handle of the machete.
When he was alone, Knives took the knife from his belt and looked at it. He could remember the feel of it cutting through flesh and bone... Wanted to feel this sensation again... It was power, and he was god of this planet. It was his decision for who lived and who died. With a nod, he followed his brother and the girl out into the sunshine. Marissa stood in awe of the planet, her mouth hanging open, violet eyes wide. "It's a desert! Wow, I've never seen a desert," she turned on Knives. Then her eyes fell on his machete and her little face squeezed into confusion. "What is that?"
Looking at that face... Those eyes... Knives felt his fingers clutch the handle tightly. "A machete, have you ever seen one before?"
Marissa shook her head slowly, "It looks like a big knife... What are you going to do with it?"
Vash set a hand on her shoulder and looked at Knives, all the light had gone out of his eyes. A frown formed on his face, it wasn't his brother... Not the same Vash as before, this man, where had he come from? Vash was a coward, a weakling, but this Vash, he was strong, powerful. Knives could feel it in the air, a feeling hung between them; I will kill you with my bare hands if you so much as touch her.
His fingers loosened around the knife as he looked from Vash to Marissa. They were both staring at him, those human eyes digging deep into his soul... No, killing someone like this... Before he never looked them in the eyes, before he didn't know as much... He knew Marissa from her files, what she was, who she was... Vash knew, didn't he? He knew I wouldn't be able to kill her like this... He... He couldn't. No... Why couldn't he do this? It should be easy. He'd done it so many times before, killed so many over these years, but this girl, this one little being... The knife dropped from his hand into the sand. "Nothing, I just found it a moment ago. I... We're going to have to get out of here and get you into town." He couldn't look at Vash, but his brother had a proud look on his face. Vash knew... Hadn't he? How had he known that he couldn't do this... Couldn't... Why couldn't he kill this girl? Knives turned his back on them. "We should go get our supplies..."
"Stay here for a moment, Marissa," Vash said to the little girl. "Enjoy the sunshine. It gets cold at night so you need to conserve your heat. We'll be right back." He jogged over to Knives as they went back into the ship. "You can't do it can you? You can't kill her! I knew it..." Knives turned to face him with all the wrath he'd ever felt for the human race, but then his eyes caught sight of Marissa and he couldn't speak.
After a time, he growled. "She's another damn pain in the ass, just like that other girl was. I shouldn't have woken her." Vash was smiling. Knives turned again to the ship. "It's going to take us over a week to get her to the town and another week to get back here..." His eyes narrowed, "No, we won't come back here. I don't want to see this place again." Vash was still smiling and Knives turned on him. "I only do this for you! This is the only favor that I'll do for you... But you'll have to do something for me in return." He pressed his hand into Vash's chest, "You can hear them. You heard our sister. There are others out in the desert, aren't there?"
Slowly Vash nodded. "I'll take you to the others once the girl is safe."
Knives turned, "Let's go then." He grunted, "Besides, I don't know if turning off the pods would wake them up anyway... I've seen it happen before and I don't want any more of that garbage walking around." He knew that Vash was smiling behind him even without seeing it. "And wipe that grin off your face. It looks stupid."
"Thank you Knives," Vash replied.
"Whatever."
PS – if you've read this already, just know that it's been edited, so please read it again if you get confused!
Chapter 1
Lost & Found
The desert planet fell under two categories, rock and sand. Under the surface of the planet lay water, buried deep beneath the stone and dirt, far down where it took miners weeks to break into the deposits. But it was water, real water, like back on Earth. The humans found comfort in their discoveries and cities grew as wells were dug around the towering plants where once ships crashed into desolation. Forty-six years passed since the Big Fall and now, and there were first and second-generation children living here on this planet, a place where once nothing but a few measly creatures made their home.
A great catastrophe occurred all those years ago, and even though it was labeled with a name, it still didn't quite cover the amount of damage or the lives that were lost during a few days' span as a huge fleet of ships crashed upon this lonely planet. Most people who were alive during those days were dead now, the desert planet was not very kind upon the older generation. Many of them sought to bring back the old days and hoped beyond hope that someday Earth would come to retrieve them. After a time, the younger generations turned their attention to surviving and making the most of where they were. This was a new planet, a second Earth, but no one named the planet for one unspoken reason; man was not meant to live here, and thus man would not always live here, and had no ownership rights.
Although man did not believe he owned the planet, there was one being who believed he did. He had chosen this place to land, chosen this dusty planet to make his own paradise with the help of his brother and sisters. He gave himself a second name, Millions, after the number he had slaughtered. Then he gave the planet a name; Gunsmoke. His brother didn't take kindly to either name, and refused to use them. "Knives... Could you wait up?"
"I'm always waiting, Vash." He stopped his walk and took a breath. Knives stood on a rocky outcropping that spread over vast sand dunes. He could feel the suns on his head and the breeze through his hair even as his brother came to stand beside him. The breeze failed to cool, nothing was as cold as space, and for this he was thankful. He never did like space. This place would become a paradise for him and his sibling, even as the green-eyed skinny man next to him huffed from the climb.
"Looks like we've come to a dead-end again, eh Knives?" Vash said, hands on his thighs as he tried to catch his breath. "Probably have to turn around."
"We're going to keep going," Knives responded, his eyes squinting in the bright light. "This expanse is the only place we haven't checked recently." He eyed his brother curiously; the last time they avoided coming this way as well.
Vash looked up at him and made to clutch his stomach. "We haven't eaten in weeks Knives... Don't you think we should at least go back to the last town for supplies?"
Frowning, Knives started down the cliff. "No, we are not going back to those humans. Don't you remember what the last group did to you?"
His brother lowered his eyes and followed behind Knives. "They were desperate, that's all... I don't blame them..." Vash just barely managed to avoid Knives' arm as it swung in his direction. He stumbled backwards and slid down the hill a few feet before managing to upright himself again to sit on his butt. Knives stood above him sneering. "I... I don't Knives. They had their reasons. I just don't see why you had to... To do that."
Knives looked down at his hands, remembering the blood that covered them just a few weeks before. "They tried to use you Vash, just like they use our sisters every day. Don't you understand? No one should use any sentient being for his own use. Or did you want to be stuck in a laboratory and be torn apart like Tessla was?"
Vash winced at the name of their older sister. It might have been nearly a half-century since her death, but Knives never forgot to bring her up when times called for justice. Why was Vash so eager to forgive these beings? It took a week for his brother to be well enough after the last fight to start moving again. If he hadn't gotten involved in the humans' affairs than he wouldn't have had to run in and save Vash from being chopped up in tiny pieces. He should have known better than to offer to save the plant in front of the humans... It was a battle of wills, save his kind and the humans or sacrifice both? Knives told Vash to let them alone, but he wouldn't listen. The humans very nearly killed him this time. Knives walked through the rocks and extended a hand to his brother. "Here, take it," Vash complied and Knives pulled him to his feet again. "We don't need supplies if we find the ship, Vash. I have a feeling we'll see it this time, I can almost taste it now..."
"I was afraid you might say that," Vash responded. He shook his head, "I'm just worried about the sandworms. Do you think they'll just ignore us?"
From beneath his cloak, Knives produced his newest toy, a machete. They'd tried to kill Vash with it and he had used it on those stinking pieces of garbage. He liked the feel of a blade. Even as a child he liked the cold steel, the way it sliced through skin and bone, and the pain it inflicted. "If they don't, I'll kill them." He continued down the rocks and into the deep sand. The suns were sinking toward the horizon as the two men passed into the dunes.
"There it is." Knives' mouth split into a grin as his eyes focused on an object over the next dune. They'd been in the Dead Sea of Sand as he called it for over a week, and Vash looked skinnier than before. He didn't understand his brother's condition. They didn't need food or water. They were power sources on their own. So why did Vash seem to be suffering from the same afflictions a human would? Knives sighed, at least they were near a ship now, and it wouldn't be long before they solved the food problem. "We'll be there by sunset."
Vash just nodded beside him. He'd also become quieter. His brother hardly said a word now that they were in the deep sands. The sandworms left them alone, but there was nothing in this desert, nothing living, but two free plants searching for a ship from their childhood. Finally Vash said, "I wonder which one it will be?"
"Judging by the distance and direction from the majority of the ships, I'd say this is one of the leading craft." Knives dashed down the hill of sand and started climbing the next one, listening to his shoes whistling through the loose grains. Vash followed behind like a ghost. Only the sound of shifting sand and a slight breeze broke the silence of this place. Knives was always amazed at how quiet it was. The ship had always been noisy, a humming of electricity at all times coupled with turning motors and circulating air. This planet was so quiet, as long as they weren't near the noisy humans. The humans were worse than the ship had been.
They continued on through the rest of the day until the ship arose above them in its splendor. It was huge, much bigger than some of the other ships that they came across in the past. On its side read "SEEDS" followed by a word that Knives never thought he'd see, "Number One". He stopped walking, his mouth dropping open as he stared at this fallen hunk of metal. Vash stopped beside him and he choked, falling to his knees. They'd both seen it burn up in the atmosphere from the escape pod. But no... most of it survived, and it was here that it landed, the mother ship, where they'd grown up with Rem.
"It couldn't be..." Knives whispered and started forward only to find Vash clutching his pant leg. "Vash, what are you..." He stopped to see tears running down his brother's face turning dust into mud down his cheeks. Knives frowned, glancing over his shoulder to the ship and then back again. What was he doing? They were home the only home either of them had known in nearly fifty years, so why was Vash crying? He's always crying! Why does he do this?
"Don't... We can't..." Vash croaked below him. "That... Rem... We can't use that ship." He clutched at Knives with both hands now, pulling him to the ground beside him. Eye to eye the brothers stared at each other in silence until finally Knives broke the connection and looked up at the ship. Vash sputtered; "I don't want to go in there... Not again."
Knives shrugged Vash off of him. "It's home Vash. I thought you'd want to go home." His eyes focused on the ship and he stood. Starting to walk again, he raised his hands to the beautiful remains of their home in space. "Don't you want to know what happened to them all?"
"Rem's dead..."
"Not Rem, you idiot... The plants." He kept walking even as Vash scrambled behind him, putting hands on him, trying to stop him, blubbering non-sense as Knives continued to push him away. Soon they stood within the ship's shadow. "I'm going in Vash."
"She's dead, don't you remember Knives!" Vash screamed behind him. "Please... Let's just leave this graveyard alone..." Knives turned on his brother and his hands formed into fists. If he kept talking... This was everything he'd been dreaming of for years now! To find this one ship, the key to their survival on the planet, only to have his brother tell him he can't have it... No! Knives couldn't stand to think that Vash would stop him from realizing his dream... And yet he kept talking. "There's only one plant left in there! She isn't powerful enough to fuel your plans Knives... Leave the ship alone. Haven't you done enough? You've destroyed everything, why can't you just leave one thing alone?"
"I won't be bossed around by you!" Knives threw himself at Vash and they wrestled in the sand. Pinning his brother into the ground, Knives clutched Vash's collar and slammed him down, again and again until Vash's head started to bleed. "You can feel her? You can feel our sister! You've known this ship was here the whole time! Didn't you? That's why you made sure that we never came into the sand! You knew all of this time!" He punched Vash and his brother started to cry harder, unable to speak through his tears. "You bastard!" How dare his brother betray him! This was the worst thing that Vash could hide from him... To know all of this time, how long had it been since they'd been through here because of Vash's begging... Kept saying he was afraid of the sandworms, but the truth was he was keeping Knives away from realizing his goal, all this time! "You're not my brother... My brother would not betray me! He would not keep secrets from me!"
Pulling away, Knives stood again and rubbed his fist. Vash continued to cry, his cheek red and head bleeding. "If you'd told me before we could have avoided all of this... Don't you understand? We could have been free of these miserable humans a long time ago!" He kicked sand at Vash and turned to go into the ship. It didn't matter what he said. Even one of their sisters could make the difference. He'd make a weapon and destroy the humans once and for all and then he'd gather the others and create paradise. Knives could do it, and he would, soon, very soon.
One glance behind, and Knives knew Vash wasn't following him immediately into their old home. The angle that the ship fell allowed easy entrance into the hull. Only two portions remained here, just the cold sleep chamber and the plant chamber. It was upright, just as he remembered it. If what Vash said was correct however, out of all of their sisters, only one still survived... It was like before, when he had woken the plant in New Orlando. Vash swore he did not know how he did it, but now Knives wondered how many secrets Vash was keeping from him. Knives knew how much Vash hated the plants, how he hated his own existence as one of them. It would only be right that he'd lie about it. How many other lies did Vash tell him? Knives growled to himself and slid his fingers down the length of the machete that swung at his side. The blade was sharp and cut his finger with ease. He looked at his hand for a moment and smiled at the color. Wiping the blood off on his suit, he walked through the familiar territory of his childhood.
Knives climbed into the plant chamber and looked around at his old home. He'd been locked out of this place, and he hated Rem for it. How he missed talking to them! But why could Vash hear them now and not him? Had he not been the one who discovered that they could speak to the plants? They never responded, but the connection was enough. Knives searched the dark interior; so many bulbs were broken and black. But there... Off to one side was a glass globe still intact. He ran over to it and placed his hands against the cool glass. Sister...Wake up.
Footsteps behind him and Vash came to stand next to him. "Have you ever been able to hear them?" His eyes focused again on the intact bulb and Knives looked at it watching as she formed into her beautiful angelic shape. What was going on? Could Vash talk to them in words? Did that mean... No... I'm not more like a human than he is! Damn it, I won't accept that! I'll try harder... I'll find a way to be more like them. I've just been away from my own kind too long. He stared at the globe, thinking as hard as he could, urging her to come to him, but those cold empty eyes were on Vash, forever on him, as if Knives didn't exist at all. Knives sunk down onto his knees. Vash sat down next to him and pointed to the door at the far end of the room. "Look, it's open. I know you said you'd get in there again, now is your chance." Knives turned to look at where his brother pointed.
"Mother..." Knives scrambled to his feet. She died long ago, but he had to see her... What remained of her... This place... It was a graveyard just as Vash said... Full of ghosts... Knives started to hate this place. Especially now that he knew his brother could talk to them. Why hadn't he noticed the signs so long ago when Vash mentioned that she was tired? Knives knew she was dying, but never felt what she felt... He dug his thumb into the finger he'd cut, feeling the blood oozing over his fingers. He was starting to hate himself... This body he had to inhabit. How he hated to be like the humans! There had to be a way to reverse the change... Had to be a way to become less like the humans and become more like his sisters... His glorious sisters, his glorious mother... Why had his mother made him like this? Damn her! Why did she... But she was dead, wasn't she? No use crying over it. He stumbled to the doorway between rooms, where the door hung broken, the lock unusable after the crash. He had to see for himself. He entered the doorway and into the darkness.
Vash watched Knives disappear into the laboratory. Then his eyes focused on the plant behind the glass. Her words, feelings, emotions, came to him through the glass even without touching her. He closed his eyes thinking he'd block it out, but the feeling that passed over him was of overwhelming joy; someone had come to save her children. Vash's eyes opened and widened as he looked at her. This was new. "Children?" The word came to his lips unbidden, and his green eyes fell on the plant. "You have children?"
Suddenly Vash was on his feet again, and his eyes scanned the base of the glass. Were there others like he and Knives? Had more plants been born? But even as he pressed up against the glass the feeling washed over him that the plant was speaking of a different kind of child. Sleeping children. Vash turned in the direction of the sleep chamber. There were sleepers here still? Alive? Could it be? But what would Knives do if there were?
His feet couldn't move fast enough as he stumbled through the debris and remains of the ship. Even in the dark he knew the way, knew how to get where the sleepers were in the gigantic chamber... When he pressed against the glass that separated the viewing room from the Cold Sleep Chamber his breath froze in his throat. They were all here! All of them! "You're... Alive?" Vash dashed from the viewing room into the cold chamber, ignoring the sudden change from hot desert to the freezer. Goose bumps rose on his skin as he stumbled through the containers. All the readings were normal. They were all here... The little girl he and Knives watched... The crew... William Conrad... "Rem?" Vash ran down the line to where her pod was.
It felt as if his heart stopped beating as he came upon Rem's pod. It was frozen over, ice coating the outside, and he pressed his hands against the ice. "Rem? Did you make it..." The ice melted under his hands and he hurried to clear it away... If she had enough time... Would she return? Did she survive too? How many years had he hoped to find her, hoped to know that she was okay... Somewhere out there, his mother, his only provider, the only person he'd ever loved besides his brother. As the ice melted away, his heart seemed to freeze instead. The pod was completely empty. Vash sunk to his knees. She didn't make it to the pods. She hadn't survived. The only one on the ship that hadn't... She gave her life to save all of these people... The only one... Tears rolled down his face again. And he knew it would be a long time before he could make them stop again.
Knives pressed his hands on the cold empty glass. Their mother was gone. He closed his eyes and slumped to his knees. He'd been careless. The anger he felt toward Rem for hiding her away grew in him, spurned his hatred for the humans. When he and Vash found Tessla, it made him all that much more angry. He killed the humans, but in doing so, killed his sisters as well. It was foolish of him not to plan things out better.
Now only one remained. She'd have to do, if only he could hear her voice! He let his fingers slip from the glass and he opened his eyes to look at the dust that remained there. Why was it that Vash could hear his sister and he could not? They were twins, so why did their powers come to them differently now that they were adults? He brushed the dust that mingled in the blood on his fingers off and climbed to his feet.
Turning from the room, Knives went back into the larger chamber to find his brother missing. The plant returned in on herself and couldn't be seen behind the dark glass. He ignored her. If she didn't want to talk to him then he wouldn't talk to her! Frowning, Knives went to the only other place his brother ever had any interest in on the ship. The Cold Sleep Chamber was exactly as he remembered. Everything was precisely as they left it, except for a bit more dust in places and the occasional overflow from a sleep pod.
He looked down from the observation room and saw his brother on the floor in tears. Knives sighed. When Vash wasn't thinking he was crying. He was growing tired of the never-ending cycle. Would he really be happier with these? Maybe... Knives shook his head; to allow Vash to go live with the humans was not an option. He hadn't seen Vash as happy as he was with those people... But to just let him go, let him forget everything that he was and everything he could be... Vash was special, and as his big brother, Knives would not forgive the humans that sought to use him for their own purposes. He was the only one who had any right to use Vash.
If he spent enough time studying his sister in private, than perhaps he could find a way to be more like them. Once Vash was in full use of his powers, he doubted his brother would ever want to return to the humans. The key was Tessla, but that part of the ship was gone, Knives knew that the moment he saw what remained of the ship. Plants had a power-core, a 'seed' within them... But no one on this planet knew anything about the plants. They were worthless garbage, even these sleepers, if he couldn't use them to his advantage, then what was the point of their survival?
Walking down into the cold chamber, Knives came to Vash and kneeled next to him. "Are you okay Vash?"
His brother looked up at him with a tear-stained face and sniffed. "Yeah... I'm sorry Knives, I didn't mean to cry again." Vash wiped his eyes and started to get to his feet. "It's just that she really didn't make it. All of the others are here, but she didn't make it into a pod before the explosion." He stood and Knives followed him to look into the empty pod. Vash set his fingers on the glass again and wrote Rem's name in the frost before letting out a sigh. "So you saw..."
"Yes, I saw." Knives said slowly, taking in the chamber around them and all of the sleeping people. "And these humans, even though they're asleep, they're using our sister. It's selfish of them." He turned, a plan forming. It would be simple to just turn off the power and let the humans rot in their glass coffins. "They have no right to live like this..." Then he and Vash could use the last remaining plant to...
"You can't," Vash said beside him. "I know what you're thinking, Knives, but let's just leave them to sleep. Maybe someday there will be ships from Earth and they'll rescue these people and take them to a new home. They'll never have to know what happened!" He took Knives by the hand and dragged him through the room. Knives didn't try to stop him, curious of their destination, but realizing where they were going before they reached the sleeping girl they'd watched so many times in the past. "This girl... Do you remember her Knives? We always wanted to become friends with her, didn't we? Would you kill her just because she wanted..."
"Shut up Vash!" Knives snapped, pulling away from the pod. The girl... He'd had a crush on her as a child, and to see her now, like this, peacefully the same, as she'd been a half-century before... How could she be so peaceful on his planet? Humans weren't welcome here; they were insects to be squashed below his feet... Knives swung back to the pod and started to press buttons. "Damn it," his eyes narrowed. "I don't care about them... I'll kill her now and prove it."
"You don't? Really?" Vash grabbed Knives by the shoulders and forced him to look at the girl again. Knives was surprised at his brother's strength, at this moment, he couldn't turn away, his eyes locked on that sweet face, the dark locks of hair that fell around her eyes... She hadn't felt anything he had. She hadn't felt the pain, the suffering... This girl was still locked in a peaceful dream of a better tomorrow, and he couldn't look away from her, couldn't close his eyes to that little face...
Knives shuttered, "Let me go Vash... They don't deserve to live, none of them."
"I won't. Not until you promise me that you aren't going to hurt this girl or any of the others. We'll find another plant... Just leave this place alone. Let them sleep forever in this desert... A graveyard, think of it as that." Vash squeezed Knives' shoulders until they ached.
"But they aren't dead Vash. She's alive, they all are. But our sisters are not. How can you justify it?"
"You killed both," Vash hissed. "How can you justify that?" His fingers dug into Knives' arms. "Look at her and tell me that you never felt anything for her! You know her name... I'm sure you do, even after all of these years. Tell me you could just kill her for your own selfish purposes. She's done nothing, nothing. Tell me her name and tell me you'll kill her, but if you do... You'll have to wake her up and look her in the eyes to do it."
Vash shoved Knives into the glass harder. When had his brother become this strong? Where was this fire before? When they fought the humans, why didn't he use this strength? No... Only now... He really cared for them, didn't he? Why did he care about her... This girl... Knives closed his eyes, not wanting to look at that lovely little girl... She was like... Like that other one... Knives frowned. No, he hadn't loved that girl, he had no feelings for her, and he would have killed her if Vash hadn't intervened. But this girl, the girl in the glass, he opened his eyes to look at her. "Marissa Gray," he whispered. Vash's grip loosened. "The little brat is Marissa..."
His brother let go and Knives turned on him. "Now wake her up," Vash said, his eyes sad. "Press the rest of the buttons and wake her up before you kill her with that knife." He pointed at the keypad, urging him to do what he claimed he wanted to do. "Tell me you never once thought of a time where the two of you could be friends. Tell me that you could just kill her so easily."
"I..." Knives growled and turned, punching the keypad. "I'm going to. I will kill her." The Cold Sleep pod stirred to life and both men looked at it, watching as the top opened. Steam rose around them as mechanical arms flared to life at the pod's sides. They held syringes, liquids to revive the sleeping dead. Knives watched the process in silence. Vash stood beside him, and for once Knives felt like... No, he would never be afraid of Vash. This... This wasn't his brother, this was someone else. Where had this change of character come from? How had he not noticed the change? Was it all of these months, even years that Vash had remained silent and thinking? Had he kept it hidden this entire time?
Marissa's eyes fluttered open suddenly. Knives took in a shuddered breath. Her eyes were violet. There had been pictures of all of the sleepers, but he didn't realize her eyes could be so... He took a step back. "Hello," the little girl croaked out. Vash leaned forward and gave her a hand. She sat up slowly and shivered. "It's very cold in here."
Vash nodded, "Yes, it is. But it is also very hot outside. Do you think you can walk?" Marissa looked from Vash to Knives. "Where are we? Are we at Second Earth?"
"Gunsmoke," Knives grunted. Vash cast him a dark glance and he frowned. "It doesn't have another name." He extended a hand to the little girl and shuttered as she took his hand. The brothers pulled her up and out of the pod and onto the cold floor. She did a little dance before Vash picked her up in his arms. Knives couldn't look at her, only toward the door where they'd come in.
Smiling, Vash said, "Let's get you out of here."
"I... My name is Marissa," she said, shivering in his arms. "What's yours?"
"Vash," his brother said, and then nodded over his shoulder, "and that's my brother..."
"Millions," Knives growled as they walked out of the chamber and into the warmer interior of the ship.
"Are you twins? You look alike."
"Yes, we are," Vash responded. "Are you warmer now?"
Marissa nodded, "Yes. You were right it is hot out here. But I like it." She pulled at his sleeve and he let her down onto the ground. Her bright eyes scanned the room, and slowly fell down the hallway to where the ship was broken open. "What... What happened?"
"Let's go outside," Vash said slowly in response, taking her away from Knives into the sunlight. "There is something my brother wants to tell you." He cast a long angry glance over his shoulder to Knives. "Isn't that right?" Vash pushed Marissa down the hallway leaving Knives in the darkened hull, his fingers playing over the handle of the machete.
When he was alone, Knives took the knife from his belt and looked at it. He could remember the feel of it cutting through flesh and bone... Wanted to feel this sensation again... It was power, and he was god of this planet. It was his decision for who lived and who died. With a nod, he followed his brother and the girl out into the sunshine. Marissa stood in awe of the planet, her mouth hanging open, violet eyes wide. "It's a desert! Wow, I've never seen a desert," she turned on Knives. Then her eyes fell on his machete and her little face squeezed into confusion. "What is that?"
Looking at that face... Those eyes... Knives felt his fingers clutch the handle tightly. "A machete, have you ever seen one before?"
Marissa shook her head slowly, "It looks like a big knife... What are you going to do with it?"
Vash set a hand on her shoulder and looked at Knives, all the light had gone out of his eyes. A frown formed on his face, it wasn't his brother... Not the same Vash as before, this man, where had he come from? Vash was a coward, a weakling, but this Vash, he was strong, powerful. Knives could feel it in the air, a feeling hung between them; I will kill you with my bare hands if you so much as touch her.
His fingers loosened around the knife as he looked from Vash to Marissa. They were both staring at him, those human eyes digging deep into his soul... No, killing someone like this... Before he never looked them in the eyes, before he didn't know as much... He knew Marissa from her files, what she was, who she was... Vash knew, didn't he? He knew I wouldn't be able to kill her like this... He... He couldn't. No... Why couldn't he do this? It should be easy. He'd done it so many times before, killed so many over these years, but this girl, this one little being... The knife dropped from his hand into the sand. "Nothing, I just found it a moment ago. I... We're going to have to get out of here and get you into town." He couldn't look at Vash, but his brother had a proud look on his face. Vash knew... Hadn't he? How had he known that he couldn't do this... Couldn't... Why couldn't he kill this girl? Knives turned his back on them. "We should go get our supplies..."
"Stay here for a moment, Marissa," Vash said to the little girl. "Enjoy the sunshine. It gets cold at night so you need to conserve your heat. We'll be right back." He jogged over to Knives as they went back into the ship. "You can't do it can you? You can't kill her! I knew it..." Knives turned to face him with all the wrath he'd ever felt for the human race, but then his eyes caught sight of Marissa and he couldn't speak.
After a time, he growled. "She's another damn pain in the ass, just like that other girl was. I shouldn't have woken her." Vash was smiling. Knives turned again to the ship. "It's going to take us over a week to get her to the town and another week to get back here..." His eyes narrowed, "No, we won't come back here. I don't want to see this place again." Vash was still smiling and Knives turned on him. "I only do this for you! This is the only favor that I'll do for you... But you'll have to do something for me in return." He pressed his hand into Vash's chest, "You can hear them. You heard our sister. There are others out in the desert, aren't there?"
Slowly Vash nodded. "I'll take you to the others once the girl is safe."
Knives turned, "Let's go then." He grunted, "Besides, I don't know if turning off the pods would wake them up anyway... I've seen it happen before and I don't want any more of that garbage walking around." He knew that Vash was smiling behind him even without seeing it. "And wipe that grin off your face. It looks stupid."
"Thank you Knives," Vash replied.
"Whatever."