nomans_land | Near July, before all the chaos

Near July, before all the chaos

Nai's missing, the smashed-up city that Rem had put her house next to keeps changing, there's people nearby, human people, more and more of them all the time, gathering... it's been an eventful few days for a tiny plant!

It's not healthy to sit inside all day, hunched over the radio, waiting desperately for any sign of his brother, and so Vash is out wandering the dunes and cliffs near the station, a small two-way radio clipped to his belt that lets him keep listening to the radio inside, just in case Nai is able to call again. Some of his day is taken up training, working on focusing his plant powers to summon feathers that sprout in tiny downy tufts all along both his arms. Some of his day is just walking, exploring and re-exploring the space around the station, finding holes, bugs, interesting rocks. Some of his day is lying flat on a cliff, watching the human refugees below as they gather around the ever-changing city of July. Sometimes he finds a quiet space where nobody can see him, and cries for awhile. Sometimes, when Rem's been out late working hard, he's inside the station, cleaning and cooking and helping out as best he can. And, late at night when he can't sleep, he climbs up on the nearby ledge and watches the stars.

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That's leaving out some massive important details but when it boils down to it that's definitely the truth: worms ate it. And he watched it happen, rotting beside him in the dust. He's not disregarding the people around him there's just nothing that stands out as a threat right now, they're not interesting the way their adult versions were. Nobody's going to look at a wanted poster and then decide that grown man must be this sixteen year old, or that twelve year old. Not even humans made those kind of logic jumps.

It's safety, after a fashion, and he's been abusing it for a few months. "Uhhhh, that sounds like philosophy, and it's not really my favorite, but I bet we share a name." Hey it's a different topic and one he's happy to pounce on. If he ever figured out that telepathy thing maybe it'd be easier to hold a conversation, but for now this'll have to do! And then he doesn't have to try to hide the image of rotting people in the desert from a mind too young to see it. "...Where's home?"

It's almost automatic, the glance skyward. Ship five was home. Ship five burned and fell, and almost everyone in it died. "... I mean where exactly, not in the vague way of 'home is where the heart is' or stuff like that. One of the outskirt towns?"

It's not philosophy, it's physics! ...But Vash didn't pay attention to those lessons either, so it's a moot point.

He follows Vash's look up at the sky, and immediately wishes he hadn't. That's not home anymore. "July." Home is supposed to be a vast humming city-ship, full of corridors to explore, plenty to eat, cool days and warm nights, with an eternity of stars streaking by outside every window, and a family that was his entire world.

But he's too big to cry about things like that anymore. He's two! He's practically grown. With a shake of his head, he slaps on a big grin -- he's got a new brother now! His family here gets bigger every day, and that's something to celebrate! A brother who might be the coolest person Vash has ever met. Look at all the weapons he's got! "There's lots of us there, but mostly it's me, and my brother, and, um. Mom." No names, just titles. "They're both, uh, away right now, so I've gotta get back before they return or they're gonna be worried."

Vash is eighty and still cries at the drop of a hat, it's going to be a long time before that habit's outgrown. "Isn't July a giant smoking crater courtesy of certain famous outlaws who shall not be named?" He can speak a little frivolously of it because it happened a long time before he arrived, and it hasn't happened to him yet. It's an abstract, like talking about ancient wars, and something he's pretty sure he'll never have to do himself. If it becomes possible, he'll just never go there!

...Is this little version of himself living in a crater.

Honestly, his own lifestyle of whatever bit of shelter he could find was better than that.

Further explanations! Knives is around, and he accepts that without so much as a blink, given little Vash's general good mood it had to be from before everything he knew burned out of the sky, so Knives was probably still okay too, or at least young enough to not be able to dice up towns. Probably. Maybe. He should find out just in case and try to ward off disaster if he can. There's somehow a more important bit tacked onto that, and his quick, easy stride slows. Stops.

A detached part of his mind pointed out that it's possible but not likely that this was implying the plant they were born from. The rest of him is certain otherwise. "Rem?" Hey guess who doesn't know that 'don't use names' thing. "Is she.." Away right now. "Is she really just 'away'?" The question is a breathy sort of squeak, as if it's a struggle to actually speak it.

...Oh. Vash smiles gently, and nods. Hey, should they sit? He's got all these noodles and he can't possibly eat them all himself!

(He could eat two bowls by himself, but it's polite to share.)

"She's alive." He's from a world where the ships crashed and she died, isn't he? "We're all from different places and times, I think, so she's not from my world, but..." But she's still Rem. "She's got a shuttle pod that's a house now, and there's room for you too, if you wanna come?"

He had accepted her loss, more or less, a long time ago. It still hurt, he still imagined her in his dreams, unchanged from childhood, but he accepted that even if she'd survived by now time would have caught up to her, and there was no going back. With multiples of people turning up, and sometimes people just being teleported around, it made sense that Rem could also turn up but he'd never allowed himself to think it.

There's room for you too, and shock and breathtaking joy that crosses his face war with the sudden surge of guilt that follows, his remaining hand creeping briefly towards the stump of his arm. "I.. I don't think that's a good idea." He doesn't deserve it, not when so many have died because of him. Not when he shot his own brother, and even now isn't sure he wasn't aiming to kill.

But oh how wonderful it would be to pretend otherwise, that the happy days he still remembered could come back, that Rem was somehow alive and ..

... and Knives, maybe, was not. Because of him. How could he go back alone, like nothing had happened? "But I'm glad, I really really am, I'm glad she's here. And that you have her, you and Knives both." It's obvious he's already even at this age learning to bury things quickly, dropping his arm and taking a brief steadying breath and then locking into place a smile that he didn't feel. "I bet we can get you back there in a couple days."

So that's what it looks like when he shoves his feelings down and puts on a smile, huh? Okay. Vash considers Vash for a moment, then reaches over and smacks him on his remaining arm.

"Stop that! Whatever you're thinkin', stop it!" He didn't miss the grip on that missing arm, and he's certainly made the connection already between this Vash's missing arm and the Vash back at the station house with the pretty green hand. Whatever happened there, they don't want to tell him and that's fine, but there's no way it's a good reason to stay away from Rem! She's Rem. She'll forgive anything. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to, but if you want to, an' you're just being stupid, then stop it."

He already said what happened to it! It's just not the full story, but it wasn't a lie! There's a muttered 'ow' with no actual pain attached to it when swatted, it didn't have to hurt for it to be an ow. "It's not stupid, okay? It isn't. It's just.. more complicated than just wanting something. Sometimes even if you want something you don't deserve it, and stealing it isn't always the right thing either.."

Stealing is sometimes fine, apparently. "And besides if she yells for you I won't know it's not me and I'll answer instead, it'll be weird." It is in fact, entirely excuses, and it's pretty obvious, but he can at least sulk about it in the shadow of the abandoned wagon. A good place for smaller!Vash to eat his noodles too.

Good! Shade is good, thanks. He plops down into the dust to unwrap his meal before it gets too much colder. Even warm it smells divine.

He's not going to talk with his mouth full, because both Rems taught him some manners, so he inhales a big slurp of noodles before speaking. They taste even better than the smell, oh man! Spicy and salty and savory, with big chunks of vegetables. He could eat three bowls! But after one bite he holds out the bowl to Vash. Here.

"It is too stupid!" Don't think just 'cause you're older he's gonna defer to you, other Vash. "It's not stealing if you're invited, dummy. And what's deserving got to do with anything?" The grown Vash had felt bad about helping his brother crash the ships (although he really hadn't helped at all), so is that what this one's upset about too? "We're your family. You don't have to be deserving to have a family."

Although it is monumentally tempting, he waves the offer off. He still has food stored away, he .. ALWAYS has food stored away, and he had a breakfast at least, and who knows how much his little brother's had til now. "Enjoy it while you can, dust gets into everything. I had something today." The one food nobody fights over: worms! All his assorted weapons weren't really for humans at all, it's for hunting. The one thing he's not at all lacking in his diet is protein, at least.

He missed fruit. He missed donuts, though those still stuck in his mind as a source of incredible nausea, maybe eating them right after being hungry so long really had been a terrible idea..

Juice. Noodles. A vegetable! It wasn't as upsetting as this relentless prodding about family, but it's still upsetting in another way. "It's.. look, it's hard to talk about, okay? But I can't. I'm doing alright here." For a given meaning of alright, being that he doesn't starve to death, or freeze at night, but he's hardly clean and anything like security simply didn't happen. "It's enough to know that she's out there, and that you have her still."

They can fight about family, or they can fight about food. He picks family.

Another mouthful of noodles disappears with a slurp, and he pops a chunk of bok choi in after it, scowling as he chews.

"Okay So where's your house?" If he's doing just fine then surely he's got a place to live, right? It must be pretty great if he doesn't want to come take advantage of a shuttle, with water from a well and a bed, and... okay, they eat a lot of worm too, that part's the same. "Where's your shoes?"

One more bite, and he fake coughs, holding out the bowl again. "This is too spicy for me. You eat it."

"Barefoot is a choice," is the immediate, defensive answer as he likewise plops in the dust. "A lot of things need two hands and I only have one. You can usually get away with using a foot instead, toes are pretty dexterous with some practice." He wiggles the aforementioned, rather dirty toes. There's no keeping them clean around here, the ground's .. well, the ground, and dirty feet are par the course like countless other street urchins. It took him a while to build up enough toughness on his soles so hot stones didn't burn him, likewise the suns, but he's getting there!

Houses are irrelevant, and he glosses over it like it's not even a question. "It wasn't too spicy for you a minute ago, eat it. I have a whole worm I'm working on, it's huge." Immediately, he points. "And don't tell me they taste terrible, it's all in how you cook them and which bits you eat! Raw is gross, don't eat them raw."

Jerk.

Another slurp of noodles disappears down the hatch. Don't think he didn't notice that they jumped right over houses to focus on shoes, buddy. "I wasn't gonna say that! We eat worms all the time!" It can't be avoided, really. They're all over, pretty easy to kill, and they're just animals, like tomas are. Big brother said something about them being people too, but he's not right about everything. "It gets boring though. You've gotta have other things too." He holds up the bowl, but doesn't offer it again. "Like vegetables."

And, since Rem's not here to say it... "When's the last time you ate a vegetable, huh?"

Vash's eyes narrow at the vegetable challenge.

"Maybe six or seven years."

They really weren't on his priority list for pretty much .... ever, really. "Anyway I do eat other things, when I want to. There's this shop about, uh, twenty minutes that way, if you stop in around four in the afternoon you can usually get a free salmon sandwich, with mayo and a piece of cheese." With enough begging and sad eyes, which he had zero problem applying whenever necessary. At this point the shopkeep is aware he's another stray and it is a tribute to the spirit of human generosity that it's allowed anyway. "But worms are easier, and nobody fights you over them. The hard part is finding a place to store them so they don't spoil or turn into beef jerky. ...Worm jerky."

It's easy to just blatantly dodge anything he doesn't really want to linger on. But veggies at least, nobody liked those. Not even people who said they did.

Sorry, he stopped listening early on in that little speech. Six or seven years? "That's not healthy!" Look, he likes being dirty and eating junk food as much as the next plant, but at a certain point you have to eat vegetables and take a bath!

Vash fishes a big chunk of bok choi out of his noodles, and pokes the chopsticks in other Vash's face. "Eat it." Seven years of worm, and the occasional sandwich. It's decided -- he's going to make this Vash get him home, and then he's going to sit on him until he's clean and eats a well balanced meal. Nai'll help, he's sure. Heck, Rem'll help. "it's good for you."

It's pushed aside and back towards the smaller of the two. Not so roughly where the noodles are likely to go flying, but he's out-stubborned most things, isn't as easily won over by adorable children as older people are, and he's not about to change his mind. "I'll worry about my health. You worry about yours. What else are you going to eat all the way to July? At least I have other things." It hasn't killed him yet!

He's not entirely sure pretty much any diet would kill him honestly. Food's food. "If you knock it off I'll give you a meat piece, then you can have some protein too. It's not a fast trip all the way out to the third city you know."

Can he out-stubborn himself though? Vash is undeterred, and that piece of choi is still in play. "I don't want worm. Eat it, an' I'll stop asking!"

Other Vash needs an arm, he's decided. He won't have to be barefoot if he's got two arms. Where did the other Vashes get theirs? Knives might know. One of the Vashes will certainly be able to tell him, but he doesn't know where any of them are, and just shouting into the void with mindspeak seems like a good way to attract Earth plant attention. It'll have to wait until they get to July.

"Keep asking and I'll leave until it's all gone," he shoots right back, bristling; he might actually do it! Or ... at least make good on pretending he is, leaving this little sibling all by himself out here was not really something he intended to do. It might be terribly tempting, incredibly so just to have a different flavor, but ... well, it really is a long way. And he did actually have other food he can eat, whenever he wanted it.

Smaller Vash did not. He only had one canteen, too. "I have food, and you don't. Not eating a vegetable today isn't going to suddenly kill me tomorrow! It hasn't even done any harm yet! If you don't want it all now save it for later, July's like ... a two week walk if we can't find anyone heading that way." ... "I guess I could try to drive."

He could steal a car, totes.

He's about to throw the damn bit of greenery at his other self when Vash drops the bomb about the distance they have to travel.

"Two weeks?" That's so long! That's so far! He drops the bite of choi back into his bowl, still stunned by the news. "I walked two days once, and my feet almost fell off."

No, it's true -- ask his biggest brother. He needed bandages and everything! Vash looks around at the humans, specifically at the ones at the edge of the city wall, where various vehicles were being loaded and unloaded. If they can't get a ride...

"Can you drive?" Are they going to steal a car?

"Sand's kind of hard to travel through." It's why he hasn't gotten very far himself! Staying in Octovern wasn't ideal, but it was better than getting lost in the dunes between ruins. A glance down to his brother's feet, shoes and all. He seemed intact right now, so no reason to make that worse. "And we'd have to take a lot of supplies."

Lots and lots of worm meat, and detours for hunting. Ideally a ride would be found and skip all of that.

He pauses, brows furrowing, at the idea of whether or not he can even drive. "I've never tried," he ventures after a long, looong moment, "But how hard could it be really? One pedal means go, the other means stop, and I'm pretty sure I don't need two hands for that.."

It doesn't seem that hard, really! "My brother rode in a car once." It seems like ages ago, now. "He said there's pedals, you're right about that, plus there's a big switch that you use to pick what you want it to do, to go forward or backward."

They're going to steal a car. Vash's heart is already beating fast with excitement as he packs the remaining noodles back up securely. "I don't know what they use for power though, if it's batteries or what." At least one of the vehicles idling by the edge of the city is belching black smoke from its rear, and since nobody seems too worried about that, maybe it's intentional? Vash drops his voice a little, to make sure they're not overheard -- not that anyone's listening in. "We shouldn't get one that runs on fire. Batteries are better."

He hauls himself awkwardly back off the ground. In time it'll become a more graceful thing but even now there's the urge to reach with an arm he doesn't have for better balance. "We'll see what the upper neighborhood has."

It's important, the difference. "These people out here.. they're like us. Just trying to get by, doing the best they can with what they have, trying to make a life for themselves." Humans can be terrible. But not all of them, and a lot of them just wanted to live. "So if we're going to take something, we need to make sure it's from some asshole who's got more than their fair share. You know, like Robin Hood. ...Which means you get in more trouble if you get caught, but it's worth it." He's been caught before, but he's learning a lot about wiggling out of tight places these past few months. Lessons that'll help down the line at some point, every Vash is slippery as an eel eventually. "Just remember, we get caught? Big sad eyes. The bigger and sadder, the better." These are important life lessons, more than anything else could be.

He eels his way into the abandoned caravan through a window though, hunting for the items he'd put inside. The door doesn't really.. open anymore. Time to collect as much food as he can, because who knows when they'd be back.

They're like Robin Hood. Oh, thank you, older self, thank you thank you for making this an adventure, and not a desperate gamble to get home before disaster strikes.

"I can do sad eyes!" he agrees, watching as Vash hauls his stuff out of the broken down caravan they've been leaning against. And then, just testing out the name... "...Robin."

What? He can't call Vash Vash, and relying on mental speech only works if they both can talk that way! This is safer.

He isn't quite aware of exactly how desperate things are for his smaller self, when it comes to needing to go home and why. Of course getting back to Rem was important, because she was ALIVE and the constant ridiculous thought that if he could find his brother and bring him to Rem it would miraculously fix everything kept popping up, but it's not the same urgecy as having multiple family members missing into a city that keeps blinking out of existence.

Satisfied with what he's acquired, half of which looks suspiciously like hunting tools, he wiggles back out and stuffs them in the ousted pack. "Ooo, if I'm Robin, that makes you the littlest of Johns doesn't it?" Now that he knows telepathy is even possible, part of him ... wants to experiment with it.

The rest of him is certain it's a bad idea. Easier: beckoning this younger self to follow as he heads deeper into the city. Time to find the rich asshole district! "...So, um, with .. you and Rem and Knives, are you three.... .. you're happy, right? In spite of arriving at this planet."

Older him -- Robin -- has enough to deal with without having to worry about all of his problems too! He's out here all by himself, living -- as far as Vash can tell -- out of this busted up old tomas wagon, barefoot, practically feral with the amount of weapons he's got.

He's so cool!

Vash sticks out his tongue at the new name, but he's secretly thrilled. Here they go, Robin Hood and Little John!

"You shouldn't say his name," he hisses under his breath before perking up, trotting along happily at Vash's side. "But yeah! We've got a house, and a well, and there's a couple brothers coming in and out all the time with stuff so there's plenty to eat... although it's mostly worm." Ugh, he's so tired of worm. "And biggest brother is teaching us both how to fight. I'm not as good as, um, my brother yet, an' my weapon's kinda stupid, but I'm still practicing every day. And..." as he drops his voice to share a delighted secret, "biggest brother gave us both guns, so I'm learning how to shoot, too!"

He casts his smaller self a glance, one eyebrow raised. "Why not?" This hiding names thing is weird! Well no it did make a sort of sense in the don't draw the wrong kind of attention sort of way, super valuable for an adult Vash, but they're emphatically not. "Nobody's going to pay attention to what we say, we're just kids." And it's something he constantly and ruthlessly abuses every chance he gets, so long as he's sure nobody will actually get hurt.

A note is made, that there's more siblings around of the masculine sort than he thought. They're just ... the smaller Vashes, in a sea of red coats. Is that all they ever could be? "Worm gets boring but at least it's healthy and there's always more of them. ..What do you mean your weapon, anyway? Don't you mean the gun the, uh, biggest brother gave you?" He has a gun too! Not that he uses it very often, he hasn't since he shot his own brother in fact, but it was nice to have for the intimidation factor of green newbie waving a weapon around liable to shoot anyone on accident, thus scary. But this sounds secret the kind of thing Rem doesn't know yet! ...She surely did actually know, she knew everything. She.. No, don't dwell on that right now. "I guess he's gonna need a name too. Uh. Let me think, Robin Hood was a long time ago."

As crowded as Octovern is, they gain not even a second glance, unlike what might happen when they hit full growth. There's occasional roadside shops, some even with produce bare to the hot air, taking advantage of the massive amounts of sisters in the city to do things like splurge on fruit. If Vash passes a bit close to one set of shelves while they walk and jostles it, it's clearly an accident, he's obviously distracted! "Will Scarlet, Allan A'Dale.. Do you think your brother's more the .. bardy type, or the fancy dressing type?" His brother, too. A Knives that isn't killing whole towns, isn't old enough to even have caused the Fall.

A nectarine is offered, out of seemingly nowhere. "Want one?" One? How many did he have, he's only got one arm!

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Near July, before all the chaos

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