nomans_land | In and around Octovern -- later

0. A message on Radio Plant
It's not heard, exactly, telepathy doesn't work with the ears. It sounds like Knives - one of them anyway, threaded with a weariness he can't hide like this, and echoed with the feminine reverberation and power of a sister plant. He doesn't have the power to do it himself, but whether she's just signal boosting or if he'd taken the step to merge with her the way he did so many others ... is unknown.

Every plant will hear it, if all goes well. Including the very one Vash had headed out to try to confront..

Vash the Stampede, one of you, has decided to go to Octovern and reignite the conflict with my younger self in spite of it being quiet these past weeks. I know there's at least three more of you out there; I would appreciate it [irony etches that 'voice' briefly]if you could collectively make sure this doesn't go the way it did in the past. If I have to come out there myself, I'm going to make it everyone's problem.

So let's make sure it doesn't go that far. I am certain that together, all of you can find a way to resolve this with no further pointless misery for our own kind.

1. Just outside Octovern
The sour-faced young Wolfwood who picked Vash up only a few hours into his hike to Octovern hadn't been in the mood to talk. He was heading for December, he said, and didn't want to hear anything from any fucking Vash about why he shouldn't go there. Vash had tried to explain to him that Melanie and the kids weren't there anymore – they'd been taken away by Brad to the ship days ago, but Wolfwood didn't want to hear it. He needed to see the place for himself, and Vash, on a similar mission, couldn't argue the point. So Wolfwood drove in silence, and Vash was able to close his eyes and get some real sleep – only occasionally interrupted by strange dreams, including one where his brother tried to warn him about heading for Octovern! Aren't dreams strange? – for the first time in what felt like weeks.

The cliffs around the city – and the remnants of the ship that had crashed there – made for an excellent vista point, so that's where Vash headed first. From the top of the cliffs he could see the whole city, and clear signs of a fight that had to have happened several days ago, perhaps longer. There's scorch marks on the cliff face, craters around the city, military vehicles mixed in with the refugee vans and trucks... but the city itself seems pretty peaceful. It looks like Knives was right -- the fighting is already over.

2. Main St and Market, downtown Octovern
Given the state of the rest of the planet, walking into Octovern is a delightful surprise. There's people here, more people in one place than anywhere else on Noman's right now. Refugees and locals, crew from the Earth ships and local military police, they're all mingled together in one big, bustling town. The streets are full of vendors, cars, people, all talking and shopping and arguing and laughing as though the terror of the last year never happened.

There's some excitement at the end of the block, though, raised voices and a lot of movement... and then, startling the crowd, sudden gunfire! Out of the crowd comes a single man, wearing a red coat and with spiked up black hair with a blond streak, running as fast as he can, and behind him? Behind him are a lot of people – bounty hunters, a couple local feds, people waving guns and autograph books, a whole mob of folks, all hot in pursuit, all yelling: “It's Vash the Stampede!

Help?

3. Out in the desert, heading back to July
He's escaped the mob, but given how many people are looking for him now, it seems best to take the long way back, and avoid any additional attention. His brother, this world's Knives, and this world's Vash, have both vanished. The war is over, the plants have been rescued, the Earth leaders are meeting with local government... and he's not needed at all. It's a relief – of course it is! – but he's spent so long dedicated to this fight that he's not really sure to do with himself now that it's over.

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That message he hears in his mind is... concerning. Luckily he wasn't that Vash.

...he doesn't think he's that Vash?

Pretty sure. Yeah, it couldn't be him. Probably. Hopefully...

He's been trying to keep a low profile while wandering around the big city. Wearing a cloak to hide his red coat with a hood that can hide his hair. He could leave the coat at home, but that doesn't feel right so he keeps it hidden.

Hearing someone scream his name has Vash jumping in terror. "What?! No! I'm not--" Huh, no one seems to be looking at him? It takes him a little while to figure out what is happening and it's still so strange to see another him with so much more black hair them himself running around. His own hair is still mostly blonde with just a large strip towards the back of his neck.

It seems this other him might need help. Vash does the only thing he can think of. Ripping away his clock and letting out a wild bray of laughter. "Him? Don't make me laugh! I'm the real Vash the Stampede! Notice my blonde hair! Clearly I'm the real one! EEP!" Vash yelps as someone decides to take a shot at him before he takes off running. Hopefully taking enough of the crowd's attention to help out the other him.

He was smart to cover up his coat! This Vash would have been smart to do the same, but seeing that the fighting was over, he foolishly thought he'd be fine.

Really, the next generation of determination red coats should be reversible, so they can enjoy the benefits of bulletproofing while staying somewhat incognito? Getting chased through town like this is exhausting!

Vash doesn't see the other Vash -- he's too busy running for his life! -- but enough of his pursuers do. Hey, wait, there's two of 'em! he hears one exceptionally loud person shout, and it's only then that he risks a glance behind. And how about that! There is another him here! Slightly younger, if the hair is an accurate measure, and selflessly putting himself in harm's way to draw off some of the crowd!

Thanks will have to come later. For now, Vash veers off down a side street, hoping to split the crowd even further. He's never been as strong (or as comfortable) using plantspeak as some of his other alternates, but even he can hear the murmurs of their sister plants as a steady buzz low in the back of his mind -- there's so many of them here! Using that baseline as a place to start, Vash thinks west as loudly and clearly as he can -- lose your tail then meet me west of here, Vash? And good luck!

West. Comes the simple confirmation. This other Vash doesn't seem any better (or comfortable) at plantspeak than his double. Enough to get the message that he heard and understood, but no more chatter past that.

It takes close to an hour and there is still shouting in the more eastern parts of the city, but eventually a younger Vash eventually comes puffing along. "Oh man, they're rather persistent still." He did not miss this in the slightest. Smoothing out his coat as he tries to pay attention to that part of his mind that lets him know when another Plant is nearby. He just needs to try to focus on the one that sort of feels oddly like himself instead of his sister. "Come out, come out, wherever you are?"

If they'd spent their childhoods talking with the plants that survived the Fall like some Vashes did, instead of tagging around after their brother, they might have gotten better at it! Either way, it'll be something to practice, thinks this Vash, as he crouches behind one of the larger boulders off the side of the road, waiting until the shouting in the distance dies back. How useful, to be able to talk to each other without radios, and to know when one of their ever-growing family is nearby!

Finally the coast is clear, except for the other version of himself. The other Vash feels like a bright spot in Vash's mind, a little spark in the dark bobbing ever closer. Vash thinks a greeting to that spark before emerging, just so the inevitable gravel crunching underfoot as he approaches won't sounds like an ambush. "Thanks for your help!"

It's thanks to this other Vash that he got away unscathed -- there's no fresh holes in his coat, bullet or otherwise, and he didn't have to use any of his dwindling energy reserves, either. His hair is mostly black at this point, with just an off-center streak of gold remaining. "I hope you didn't have any trouble getting away?"

"No problem. I sort of got the sense you probably would have done the same for me if our situations were reversed." He says with a wink. It was still strange talking to someone with his same face, but it was starting to become a little more normal.

Probably says a lot about his life.

"A little trouble." He decides to admit with a small chuckle. "I've gotten a bit rusty. I haven't had a bounty for a few years now, but no damage taken. I just feel I should have been able to shake them a lot sooner."

They've always adapted well!

"A few years?" He'd expect to hear something like that from a version of himself with solid black hair, but this Vash doesn't seem to have burned through his energy quite that far yet. How did he manage to avoid being hunted down all this time? "You'll have to tell me your secret!"

Any objection to having this conversation walking, other Vash? It's just that the residents of Octovern might still be looking for them, and Vash doesn't really want to be taken into custody today. Or any day, for that matter! "For me, even after the big bounty was called off a few years ago, it turns out that there were still plenty of people who wanted a piece of me, ah ha ha ha!"

Literally, in some cases. This planet has grown some strange folks

"Ah, yeah, well, that you see?" Hm, how does one explain what has happened to him as he walks alongside his counterpart. "The best way I found to do that is to kinda, sort of... be randomly taken to a whole new universe from out of nowhere without any rhyme or reason or explanation to why and how?" He shrugs as if that explains it all. "I've sort of been on a different planet and in a different city for some time now."

"A different planet?" Vash's eyes really couldn't get any wider! In a different universe, even? "Wow! You're officially the furthest traveled Vash I've met so far!"

So far the strangest thing he'd experienced was about a year ago, when he'd briefly met a younger version of their brother. And now there's so many versions of them, old and young, those who have survived the upcoming fight with their brother and those who aren't there yet, even at least one version where so many of the events of their lives seem to have happened in a different order. But another planet? Vash is all but wiggling like a kid on Christmas morning.

"Where were you? Was it a green planet? How big was the city? Were the people nice? How was the food? How did you get there?"

"Yeah? You think so?" He laughs shyly and rubs at the back of his head. "I mean, I guess, unless there is another Vash from another universe then I guess I am? Not so sure if that's a good thing to be or not."

Oh shoot, here come the questions. There were many things about the city he has been living in for the past five years he doesn't really like to talk about. "It had a lot of people, actually. Not a lot of green because it was a big city sort of like the major cities around here." As he avoids bringing up July or Augusta. "But the parks in the city were so green! Some of my favorite places to visit in the city. They even had an ocean! But, uh, there was sort of a sea monster in it? So swimming was sort of advised against."

He continues to talk pretty quickly after that in an effort of glossing over the fact that he just said a sea monster. "The people there were SUPER friendly!" They were not. "The food? Was simply amazing! And plentiful! No need for Plants at all!" That part was at least true. "As for how I got there? I don't really know. I just sort of woke up at one point, was compelled to pick a door, then: boom. New city, new world." He thought he had been dreaming when he fell asleep in his brother's cell only to wake up in a whole new world.

In and around Octovern -- later

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