He couldn't leave Octovern without a final visit with his sisters. With their sisters -- it was the habit of a lifetime to think of himself as somehow important, somehow necessary, but this wasn't his world, and they weren't his sisters. That responsibility was shared now, too, with the potentially dozens of copies of himself covering the planet.
The plants in Octovern had been, for the most part, very proud of their efforts. From their perspective, bringing him and the others to this world had succeeded -- this world's Vash had lived, had succeeded in his quest, and now there were so many more Red Brothers to keep the people of the world safe.
They hadn't answered when he'd asked about the worlds they'd all left behind.
Already new bulbs were being brought in, the plants being rehomed and sent around the planet to the places they'd do the most good. There was some sorrow in their songs as they told him this, because they weren't being sent back to their same towns, with their same partners. Some plants who had been alone since the Fall, who feared being isolated that way again, had even merged with another of their sisters so completely that he couldn't tell they were ever two separate beings.
He wanted to join in their celebrations of those unions, but all he could think of was the desperation in Knives's face on the ark as he'd threatened to do something similar. Loneliness really was the cruelest punishment someone could inflict on another, wasn't it? It made him even more certain that the decision he'd made on the road to Octovern was the right one.
It gave him plenty to think about as he walked to the next town, hopeful that here, at least, he might be able to find a meal, or possibly even a room, before the long walk back to July.
The last thing he was expecting was to sense a plant just outside of town, and in great distress.
At first he'd been worried that it was one of their sisters from the ark, who had somehow become separated from the rest and was suffering out here all alone. But as he approached, that concern quickly faded into joy.
Wolfwood. And another Vash, possibly the one he'd met in December? The other Vash was in pain, though, screaming his grief in a way that even Vash, with his limited abilities to hear others, could sense.
"Hello!" he called, while still some distance away, not wanting to sneak up on either of them. Not when they were in such a state. "What's wrong?"
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The plants in Octovern had been, for the most part, very proud of their efforts. From their perspective, bringing him and the others to this world had succeeded -- this world's Vash had lived, had succeeded in his quest, and now there were so many more Red Brothers to keep the people of the world safe.
They hadn't answered when he'd asked about the worlds they'd all left behind.
Already new bulbs were being brought in, the plants being rehomed and sent around the planet to the places they'd do the most good. There was some sorrow in their songs as they told him this, because they weren't being sent back to their same towns, with their same partners. Some plants who had been alone since the Fall, who feared being isolated that way again, had even merged with another of their sisters so completely that he couldn't tell they were ever two separate beings.
He wanted to join in their celebrations of those unions, but all he could think of was the desperation in Knives's face on the ark as he'd threatened to do something similar. Loneliness really was the cruelest punishment someone could inflict on another, wasn't it? It made him even more certain that the decision he'd made on the road to Octovern was the right one.
It gave him plenty to think about as he walked to the next town, hopeful that here, at least, he might be able to find a meal, or possibly even a room, before the long walk back to July.
The last thing he was expecting was to sense a plant just outside of town, and in great distress.
At first he'd been worried that it was one of their sisters from the ark, who had somehow become separated from the rest and was suffering out here all alone. But as he approached, that concern quickly faded into joy.
Wolfwood. And another Vash, possibly the one he'd met in December? The other Vash was in pain, though, screaming his grief in a way that even Vash, with his limited abilities to hear others, could sense.
"Hello!" he called, while still some distance away, not wanting to sneak up on either of them. Not when they were in such a state. "What's wrong?"