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Earth to Earth	By : Ravenclaw42 Category: +S to Z > Trigun Views: 2957 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 14
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Author's Note: YET AGAIN AFF.net won't let me post my whole chapter on one page. *sigh* Just remember, these aren't supposed to be two-part chapters. If the end of this page doesn't feel like a real ending, that's because it isn't. Just keep reading.

Title credit goes to Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by Professor James Loewen.

Earth to Earth

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Chapter Thirteen: Lies My Teacher Told Me

Part II

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�You�re late.�

�Hey! Right where I left you, huh? Did you sleep?�

�Doesn�t matter. I�m awake now. And you�re late.�

Vash flumped down in the sand, tugging at his sweat-stained shirt collar. �Sorry, I nosed around town a little bit. I�ve talked to an old friend of mine there, and he�s going to put us up for the night.�

�Three nails,� Knives murmured under his breath.

�What was that?� Vash asked distractedly, busily digging through the packs and switching items between them.

�Nothing,� Knives said quietly. He was slowly beginning to learn the body language of unobtrusiveness, creating a mask of invisibility to keep Vash unconcerned about him and, therefore, out of his thoughts. He didn�t know exactly why, but he didn�t want Vash to know that he was beginning to remember. Not yet anyway.

Maybe it was because of that distance that appeared in Vash�s eyes whenever Knives said anything about the past. Maybe it was because, all of a sudden, Knives would once again be faced with that forbidden link, that impossible standard of perfection. Maybe it was because, for the first time in what felt like eternity, she (whoever she was) was truly dead -- and Knives wanted her to stay that way.

�Vash,� Knives said suddenly.

�Hm-mm?� Vash shook a canteen to see if it was empty, found that it was, and shoved it to the bottom of his own pack, transferring a full one to Knives�.

�How old am I -- are we?�

Vash faltered, hands clenching convulsively around the neck of Knives� duffel. �Why?� he asked after a moment. �Do you feel... old?�

Knives looked out at the empty horizon with its pre-sunset haze, all salmon and pale orange and blurry. �No,� he said softly. �I feel too young. I feel like nothing is behind me, and everything�s ahead.�

Vash relaxed visibly, even going so far as to smile at Knives� words. �We�re not that old, Knives,� he said in a reassuring tone. �Compared to the planet we�re hardly more than infants, y�know? And it�s good to look forward to what�s ahead -- it�s good not to worry to much about the past. Your ticket to the future is always blank.�

Knives just nodded, knowing Vash would never really give him a straight answer -- not on this, and not on any other topic he chose to question. He hadn�t really expected one this time, which was why he had chosen his words so carefully. But what Knives didn�t tell Vash was that the nothingness behind him was not so much a starting line as it was the edge of a cliff; and Knives felt that if he wasn�t careful, he would lose his balance and fall back into the terrible void.

All he felt was vertigo. Vertigo and disconcertion... and something else he couldn�t remember.

-------

The walk to town was comparatively short, but it had the illusion of length. The suns set quickly, making time seem like it was passing at an inordinate rate; hours of daylight gone in mere moments.

Plus, there was the illusion of never quite reaching their destination -- as soon as the city of New Oregon was in sight on the horizon, Vash turned to the side and started walking around it to the north. Knives followed without question, although his low mood and the pain in his legs and abdomen were not improved any by the sight of untouchable shelter and comfort in the near distance.

Right about when the larger of the two suns sank into the earth, a line of billowing dust not far to the north caught Knives� eye. He caught up with Vash in a couple of long, painful strides, nudged his brother�s shoulder and pointed.

Vash nodded. �That should be the caravan passing by. We�re coming down to the city from that direction -- it�ll be easier to get in that way.� It was only a half-truth, of course, but Vash didn�t feel like elaborating and Knives didn�t question him.

Actually, Vash was becoming more and more concerned about Knives� apparent lack of curiosity. He never opposed Vash, never argued any point, never pushed when Vash didn�t feel like talking. He wasn�t at all like the straightforward Knives of the past, who had always been prowling for more information, manipulating and seducing and even torturing to get people to talk. Vash supposed he should be grateful that Knives hadn�t remembered any of that... that he had changed into someone much calmer, more lucid and accepting. But still -- it was eerie and Vash didn�t like it, didn�t like it at all.

I�ve lost my enemy, but I�ve lost my brother as well, Vash thought, glancing over his shoulder at the injured man struggling along behind him. Is this really what I wanted?

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Max was waiting for them just as he�d promised, holding one of his prized pure-bred tomases by a halter. Ever since he�d won New Oregon�s 10th annual tomas derby, he�d kept on breeding the pack animals as a hobby on the side of his forecasting job. He�d always liked the creatures -- he liked to relate them to Vash, in fact, saying that both Plant and beast were bird-brained and too useful for their own good. That was usually right before he warned Vash (yet again) about being taken advantage of.

Knives was fascinated by the tomas, who sank under the weight of his and Vash�s packs without complaint. He tried to touch it, but the beast shied away at the scent of him, sensing that he wasn�t fully human. Its eyes rolled back towards Max, wide enough to show a rim of white around the edges.

�There, boy,� Max crooned, moving up to the beast�s neck and patting it reassuringly. �No enemies here.�

Knives didn�t miss the barely-audible note of sarcasm in the man�s voice.

Max�s �girls� turned out to be a sister, a friendly old dog, and half a dozen female tomases grazing in a well-tended patch of grass out back. The house itself was stone with wood trim, just like all the others in town. Knives found it entirely alien, having seen nothing outside the metal walls of the ship -- he couldn�t keep his eyes off things, head swinging around unconsciously to catch a glimpse of whatever strange things were behind him, above him, off to the sides.

The tomases cawed loudly and trotted away from him as he and Vash drew near, but the long-haired mutt ambled towards them without a care in the world, favoring her back leg when she walked. She acknowledged Max, then sniffed at Vash before moving on to Knives, who she promptly tried to jump on.

Knives� eyes widened in an expression of helpless panic that made Vash snort with barely-suppressed laughter. He covered it up quickly when Knives gave him an accusing glare.

Max didn�t bother hiding his amusement. �Lacey, down girl. Lacey! Aw, she doesn�t mean any harm by it... she likes you, that�s all. Pet her and she�ll get down. Mind you, she�ll never leave you alone again neither. Oy, Sophie!�

Max�s older sister came out of the house wiping floury hands on her jeans, and called a greeting with a smile. Max and Vash went on ahead to talk to her, but Knives lagged behind, feeling awkward and left-out. He gave Sophie a vague, mechanical smile when she waved at him, but he didn�t feel it. These were people he didn�t know -- Vash�s friends, always Vash�s friends, people Vash knew and Knives never would. It had been the same back at the ship. It had been the same back at the other ship, even, the first ship -- the unattainable link and the standard of perfection.

There was no way to get to Vash without going through a middleman, Knives decided. That was entirely what was wrong with this picture. Always had been.

A soft whining from somewhere around his knee made Knives look down. The dog -- Lacey? -- was staring up at him with big brown doe-eyes and a sad expression, if dogs had facial expressions. Knives had never seen a dog, or at least didn�t remember seeing any, but for some reason the animal�s inhuman appearance didn�t bother him at all. In fact, he felt instantly more comfortable around this animal than he had around most humans.

Hesitantly, Knives reached down and laid a hand on Lacey�s brown-furred head. It was surprisingly soft. She nuzzled her damp nose up between his fingers, trying to get him to scratch properly. He stroked a hand down her neck and back to feel more of the unbelievably soft fur, and her jaw immediately fell open in a tongue-lolling grin.

�Knives!� Vash and the others were standing on the porch -- Knives looked up and saw that it was Vash who�d called him. Vash beckoned for Knives to come join them.

Knives hesitated, giving Lacey a questioning look as if to ask Do you mind if I go? Lacey just grinned at him.

Just then, Sophie whistled. �Laaaacey, come on girl,� she called. �Dinner, Lacey.�

The dog gave Knives one last lick on the hand and galloped off to the house to eat her own dinner and then, hopefully, to beg lots of underhanded scraps off everyone else.

Knives walked up the the porch and dutifully met people, shaking hands and saying little. He watched his brother to see what to do, ate Sophie�s homemade stew in silence, paid little attention to the niceties that were said. Sophie seemed nice. A lot like a grown-up version of Jessica, actually, right down to the braids. Knives risked smiling at her and found that she immediately took it as a sign to engage him in conversation. He gave mostly monosyllabic answers to her questions and she backed off soon enough, going back to Vash.

The man named Max remained almost as quiet as Knives. The Plant looked over at him from time to time but could never quite catch Max staring at him, though Knives could feel the man�s eyes boring into him whenever Knives wasn�t looking.

As soon as she�d finished with her own dinner, Lacey the mutt came over and settled quite comfortably on Knives� feet. He stroked her absently through most of dinner and the small talk afterwards, finding (as so many other house guests in the world had found before him) that being the one guest to entertain the family pet was the perfect excuse for ignoring everyone else. It also kept his hands occupied, which was more than a little comforting.

Because of his preoccupation with Lacey and his own thoughts, Knives didn�t notice so much when Sophie left with the dishes or when Vash went to help her. Alone with Max and the dog, Knives finally sensed the quiet in the room and looked up.

Max was looking at him. Finally, Knives could meet the man�s eyes and not feel so spyed-on. Knives sat up straighter, not sure what was about to happen but at least knowing that he could handle it better now than he could have earlier in the day.

�So,� said Max. �You�re Knives. I�ve heard a lot about you.�

�Funny,� Knives replied. �I haven�t heard a lot about me.�

Max�s face broke into a grin -- not a particularly friendly grin, but it was better than the stern blankness of his expression before. �I like that,� he said, crossing his arms over his chest. �I definitely like that. So Vash tells me you can�t remember anything.�

Oh, I remember, Knives though idly. Seconds at a time and never enough, but I do remember. �Not a thing,� he said aloud, tonelessly.

Max leaned forward, elbows on knees, and gave Knives a serious I�ve-got-something-to-say look. �Look, kid. I don�t know what you know, or how well you know your brother, but he�s in serious trouble in this town. I didn�t want to tell him earlier because he never listens to me, not really. But if you two go out anywhere and I�m not with you, you keep an eye out. Watch out for him, he needs the extra set of eyes. What he really needs is to avoid trouble in the first place instead of trying to find a bloodless way out of it; I want you to do that for him, if you can.�

Knives put an unconscious hand to his stomach as sympathetic pain flared up at the idea of Vash getting hurt. �I will,� he said softly.

Max looked relieved. �Okay. Okay. Thanks for that, at least.� He leaned back in his seat. �You just be careful yourself, kid.�

Knives raised an eyebrow in question.

�Never know what could happen in a place like this,� Max said enigmatically.

Vash came back from the kitchen at that point, hands in pockets and a stupid grin plastered on his face for old times� sakes. �Are you trying to scare him, Max? Thought you only saved that for Halloween.�

Max snorted. �I�m always scary, Vash. It�s nearly ten. You leaving early tomorrow?�

Vash nodded. �Tryin� to get started earlier so we can get a lot of distance covered before noon.�

�Then go to bed,� Max said with finality, and promptly left to talk to Sophie in the kitchen.

Vash nodded to the hall door to his left. �You get the guest bed, I get the couch.�

�Why?�

�Because I said so,� Vash replied cheekily. �C�mon, I�ll show you around first.�

Knives got up to follow Vash, giving Lacey one last apologetic glance. She pouted up at him from the floor.

Halfway down the dark hallway to the guest bedroom, Knives spoke up. �Vash?�

�Hm?�

�How do you know Max?�

Vash didn�t falter this time; he was learning to hide his deer-in-the-headlights panic whenever Knives asked delicate questions. Of course it would be madness to tell Knives that Max was the grand-nephew of a man Knives had killed over fifty years ago. Vash couldn�t say that, obviously.

�He�s an old friend of the ship people,� Vash said mildly. It was the truth; Max had even lived on the ship for a year once, studying weather patterns. �Don�t worry, Knives, they�re nice people. It�s not a bad town. You�ll fit in fine.�

But Knives remembered Max�s fervent warning only a few minutes ago, and knew that Vash was lying.

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�Truth is a whisper and only a choice

Nobody hears above this noise

Always a risk when you try and believe

I know there's so much more than me

I got caught in the ruse of the world

It's just a promise no one ever keeps

And now it's changing while we sleep

And no one here can see

You know all I am...

Can you teach me to believe in something?�

--Goo Goo Dolls, �Truth Is A Whisper�

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Earth to Earth

Earth to Earth--------Chapter Thirteen: Lies My Teacher Told MePart II--------

Earth to Earth

--------

Chapter Thirteen: Lies My Teacher Told Me

Part II

--------