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knifesedge[There is no sudden video feed showing who's there, to warn of Knives' arrival. No chatter or questions, or an entry done deliberately for that matter. There is simply a man on the beach where there hadn't been one before, a few belongings neatly folded nearby, his journal resting on top.
All is not well.
Video does click on, silently, showing the pleasant evening sky, the sound of the sea, and ... pretty much nothing else at all, its view not wide enough to pick up on the pale, somewhat tired-looking figure sitting on the sand, watching the waves in silent fascination. He'd been disoriented when he woke, a disorientation that hadn't faded at all with the discovery of only one sun and what seemed like an honest-to-god ocean or sea about fifty feet away. No-Man's Land had no oceans. Seeing a sea for the first time had a bit of an impact. Enough to keep him right where he is, perhaps uncertain if he left it would prove to be some suns-drunk hallucination and wither away as soon as he turned his attention from it.
This wasn't an afterlife. Of that, Knives has no doubt. It was just a matter of where, then, he'd been moved to. And when. He didn't remember being knocked out, or sedated, or entering a starship of any kind. There were no stars as of yet to try to get a fix on, and the single sun was only just beginning to set. When the novelty of the ocean wore off, he'd have to begin investigating. But until then, he remains immobile, silent, the slight tug of sea breeze on the light cotton pants he wore and his short mostly-black hair the only real motion at all. He knew Vash was nearby, in a vague sense of 'nearby'; the presence of his brother was distant but familiar; wherever he'd gotten to, his twin was still there, and that was reassuring in of itself. They weren't dead, yet. He only spent long enough to be certain of it, search out the familiar sense of his brother and be sure it was him, before returning to watching the sea and the tide's gradual retreat.
If Vash hasn't found the sea yet, that would be something to show him. Later, when the novelty wore off a bit.
For those who might be inclined to leave Luceti far behind, Knives can be found on the beach, and highly unlikely to be going anywhere any time soon.]
All is not well.
Video does click on, silently, showing the pleasant evening sky, the sound of the sea, and ... pretty much nothing else at all, its view not wide enough to pick up on the pale, somewhat tired-looking figure sitting on the sand, watching the waves in silent fascination. He'd been disoriented when he woke, a disorientation that hadn't faded at all with the discovery of only one sun and what seemed like an honest-to-god ocean or sea about fifty feet away. No-Man's Land had no oceans. Seeing a sea for the first time had a bit of an impact. Enough to keep him right where he is, perhaps uncertain if he left it would prove to be some suns-drunk hallucination and wither away as soon as he turned his attention from it.
This wasn't an afterlife. Of that, Knives has no doubt. It was just a matter of where, then, he'd been moved to. And when. He didn't remember being knocked out, or sedated, or entering a starship of any kind. There were no stars as of yet to try to get a fix on, and the single sun was only just beginning to set. When the novelty of the ocean wore off, he'd have to begin investigating. But until then, he remains immobile, silent, the slight tug of sea breeze on the light cotton pants he wore and his short mostly-black hair the only real motion at all. He knew Vash was nearby, in a vague sense of 'nearby'; the presence of his brother was distant but familiar; wherever he'd gotten to, his twin was still there, and that was reassuring in of itself. They weren't dead, yet. He only spent long enough to be certain of it, search out the familiar sense of his brother and be sure it was him, before returning to watching the sea and the tide's gradual retreat.
If Vash hasn't found the sea yet, that would be something to show him. Later, when the novelty wore off a bit.
For those who might be inclined to leave Luceti far behind, Knives can be found on the beach, and highly unlikely to be going anywhere any time soon.]
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Date: 2013-05-21 05:42 am (UTC)It just doesn't keep him from plucking up a scuttling hermit crab by its shell and examining it, turning the shell over in his hands as the small crab immediately tucks itself up.]
My plans are to see how far this beach extends, after retrieving my jacket. Maybe there are tide pools.
[It's deliberate, mulish evasion of exactly what he knows Vash is asking. He's just not answering that question.]
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Date: 2013-05-21 06:00 am (UTC)When the tide goes out there will be.
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Date: 2013-05-21 06:15 am (UTC)And there is a lot to poke at on a beach. One might not think so, if they were familiar with beaches, but to someone who's only known lifeless sandy desert.. even seaweed is worth prodding at. From one such clump is pulled a completely different type of crab, which takes offense and tries to liberate itself via pinching claws. Knives simply shifts it from hand to hand to keep it busy.]
What 'plans' am I supposed to have, Vash? [He's not watching his brother directly this time, but he knows right where he is.] If you are being truthful, this is a foreign place full of foreign people and things. [Things like AN OCEAN. It swirls around his feet as a wave goes higher than expected, chilly.] Planning anything at this stage would be foolish, wouldn't it?
[Knives is no fool.]
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Date: 2013-05-21 06:44 am (UTC)[Usually Vash might have joined Knives if his exploration of the ocean, only if Knives had been anyone but himself. Bad memories of his time with brother making it hard to enjoy being at the ocean.]
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Date: 2013-05-21 06:55 am (UTC)His progress is still in the way he'd come, fairly steadily. Investigate he would, but he had things to get to.]
You can see what I'm up to. Be careful that your paranoia doesn't get you exactly what you seem to be expecting.
[And currently he is up to those pebbles. Some are in interesting colors. A cautious lick notes they're just as salty as the water, and it's flicked away, to sploosh into the water. There's no response to where he plans on living. What's wrong with the beach? What weather could this place possibly throw at him that is worse than the savagery of the desert?]
You called this place 'Luceti'.
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Date: 2013-05-21 07:01 am (UTC)The only people who know how to get in and out of it are scientists called the Malnosso. And they don't seem to have any plans on sharing this information with us anytime soon.
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Date: 2013-05-21 07:06 am (UTC)What looks like some kind of jelly fish is cautiously poked at morosely. Somehow it didn't sound like Vash meant a white picket fence.]
What sort of barrier? Are we to be prisoners, then?
[Even the idea of it draws up ugly emotions, the barest edges of promise that someone would bleed for it.] To what purpose?
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Date: 2013-05-21 07:23 am (UTC)But they do run experiments to test what they call Shifts. Which is what brings us here and places us inside this indestructible barrier.
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Date: 2013-05-21 07:40 am (UTC)What kind of ... 'experiments'..?
[It's a tangible thing, that sudden rage. It seethes off his pale frame like heatwaves, but there's no trace of it in his voice. Not even a hint. He sounds a little neutral, a little detached. It wasn't the first time his kind had been the victims of 'experiments'. He'd done his damnedest to be certain it never happened again. Even if he'd ultimately failed, hundreds of thousands paid blood price for the suffering the bulb-bound Plants had endured. Knowing he no longer had the power or resources to make them bleed for it again didn't stop the anger.]
And who are these 'Malnosso' scientists? Is that a group? A species?
[He sounds calm. He isn't.]
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Date: 2013-05-21 01:07 pm (UTC)[Vash doesn't believe false sound of calm in Knives's voice. The last time Knives was here he hadn't taken that news very well either. Who really did? It was just not every new feather was as dangerous as Knives could be.]
Sometimes it's just the surrounding areas that will change. Sometimes it's easy to figure out what's going on, other times it's not so easy. The effects don't usually last more than a week or two.
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Date: 2013-05-22 12:10 am (UTC)A slow breath follows, and the brief tightening of both fists, skin pulling taut over white knuckles. As he is, he can do nothing.]
Is there anything else I should know?
[Forced calm. Forced control. The roar of the waves was less soothing, now.]
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Date: 2013-05-22 11:55 am (UTC)At times we have to fight for them as well. We're taken against our will and teleported to battlefields. They don't force us to fight from there, but there's another group of people called the Third Party that will kill any of us on sight if given the chance.
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Date: 2013-05-22 05:55 pm (UTC)Instead he remains where he is. Not just experiments, but toy soldiers.
Eventually he heads up the beach again, spotting his own tracks above the tide line, which meant near here was where he'd awoken. His movements are somewhat stilted, but there's still no explosion of visible wrath or ranting. He collects what he'd been left with on arrival, including the journal. He was rather fond of the blue and white suit, it fit well. Though he would have to cut it up a little to make room for the small wings that didn't seem to want to go away. Thinking about that was less humiliating.]
I assume they too are under your.. [A gesture, with the hand currently holding his journal, his name printed neatly on it.] ...Protection.
[Which is to say, is Vash going to get in the way if Knives decides they all have to die? He still sounds calm and in control. He likely wouldn't be able to kill them regardless, but knowing, should he ever regain his strength through some impossible means...]
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Date: 2013-05-23 02:07 am (UTC)[Yet that isn't exactly a yes either, but also something he doesn't want to get talking into detail either with Knives.]
There's more you should know. That book, it works a bit like a communication system. [Vash takes his own journal out of his pocket. It's beaten and worn out, but it still works.] Anyone who has their own journal open can see and hear you talking with it. Anything you write in it will also show up in their own books as well.
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Date: 2013-05-23 03:22 am (UTC)This proves to be a bad idea; new feather wings are incredibly sensitive. The sharp hiss that follows marks how much it probably hurts but the jacket doesn't come back off. Boots could wait, as could different pants and shirt. He had them but it wasn't needed yet. The air wasn't cooling fast enough to suggest the bitter desert cold would ever be an issue.
Knives glances briefly towards the mountains, expressionless. So many things to kill, no ways to do it.]
Anything else?
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Date: 2013-05-23 03:32 am (UTC)[There's a pause. Debating with himself, should he warn Knives about what happens if you lose both wings? What if he went and then used that to harm others?]
Also, death isn't exactly permanent here. If you die, the Malnosso will bring you back after some time, but they always take something. You never really know what until you wake up again.
[A compromise. He decides to let Knives process that thought as he debates with himself if he should tell his brother more about the wings.]
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Date: 2013-05-23 03:58 am (UTC)It was a bitter thought.
This is the second time, however, Vash has mentioned death's impermanence. The repetition draws the black-haired plant's attention up and over, brow furrowing. And then he shakes his head.]
I don't believe it. If death was so impermanent you'd have killed me already. After all it wouldn't violate Rem's precious sensibilities if I was only going to come back.
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Date: 2013-05-23 04:14 am (UTC)[It's what he's hoping Knives will understand. That killing the people trapped here with him is pointless.
And then there's the mention of Rem. Sanji had said that name to him too before the chef left. Vash had thought he meant the Rem that worked with the Malnosso, but Knives couldn't know her. So who-] ...Rem?
[Yet there is no emotion he feels when he speaks the name. There had been a few other Rems he knew back home, but they were all humans he had met in his travels. None that Knives should have known their "sensibilities" of at least. Perhaps, was it something to do with the differences in their universes?]
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Date: 2013-05-23 04:22 am (UTC)[The response is flat and simple, a single definitive word. He didn't just think it, he knew He took no pleasure out of causing suffering even to humanity, and yet Vash took pleasure in seeing his own flesh and blood hurt. It was no real jump to figure out just how Vash would feel about killing him outright.]
Retribution.
[Another simple straightforward answer. Anything further, if there had been anything following at all, is halted fairly effectively by Vash's seeming confusion over the name Rem. It could be anything. He clarifies anyway, with a scowl of irritation. Vash knew very well who he meant.]
Rem Saverem.
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Date: 2013-05-23 04:41 am (UTC)Knives was still his brother and the good memories of what life was like before the fall just would never leave.]
Well. I wouldn't. I've never gotten any joy out of causing anyone pain or sadness, even if the pain would only last a moment. [Unlike some is what he keeps to himself.
Then there was the woman's name. He even knew her last name? Vash scrolls through his mental Rolodex of names and faces that he knew. No face came to him with that name. Yet, it was clear Knives was expecting him to know her. It couldn't have been someone he met recently, Knives was smart enough to not expect him to know someone he only met in that twenty year gap.
It seemed that this Knives was also from a different reality then his own. The last time Knives was here there were differences like this. Then perhaps Rem is another Plant? Like the Tesla he had mentioned before? How should he approach this?] Rem Saverem. [Still he felt nothing when he said the name. For now he doesn't say anymore. Weighing his options and trying to second guess how Knives would handle new information such as alternate realities.
...he had never been very good at playing chess with Knives.]
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Date: 2013-05-23 04:46 am (UTC)Neither have I. Though I doubt you'll believe me.
[It was necessary, but no more fun than it was fun to squish a bug. The bug had to be squished, but it was so messy, and hardly something enjoyable.
But there's that ... lack of recognition, that turns the other subject aside, and Knives regards his sibling once more with that steady gaze that seems to always see more than simple vision should. The lack of emotional attachment, the pain and hurt of her loss, the affection Vash had felt for her even a century and a half later, things Knives had to deal with every single time he was around his brother for long.. it was missing.]
... If people can be drawn from other times, is it always the same timeline?
[It might seem suddenly out of the blue, but what he's asking and why is probably something Vash is already thinking of himself.]
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Date: 2013-05-23 05:02 am (UTC)[Action]
Date: 2013-05-23 05:15 am (UTC)Rem Saverem was ... the woman we spent our 'childhood' being raised by. She didn't survive the Fall, and is the reason any human at all did. Even after a hundred and fifty years, my brother lived by her ideals, her dreams and her foolish contradictions. She shaped his every waking moment of every day, and nothing shook him from it; not me, not a century and a half of misery at the hands of humanity's whims. I believe he loved her more than life itself.
[For him, a speech. It doesn't last long. 'My brother', not 'you', is telling in of itself. Knives can't begin to guess what a life might be like without her in it, for some other Vash and some other Knives. Similar results, it seems, but what held Vash back, without her stupid ideals of never killing? Finally, he smiles. It's not an expression that belongs on his features, partly because it's completely genuine and partly because it's also terribly, bitterly sad. It too doesn't last, fading to neutrality again.]
I don't know you. But you remind me very much of someone I know, and have somehow once more left behind. I'll try to not assume you are him.
[It seems to close the matter for the dark haired plant, by the way Knives suddenly turns and heads for the mountains, seeming intent on leaving Vash on the beach. The idea of being trapped on some foreign world, as a prisoner, as an experiment had been possibly tolerable knowing his brother was there too.
Except he isn't, and never was. Knives only had a dim grasp of what loneliness was, but it seemed preferable to being trapped with someone who looked and sounded and in many ways acted like the Vash he knew, but wasn't.]
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Date: 2013-05-23 05:32 am (UTC)Then there's a pain, much like a tension headache, that runs through his mind. There was a picture, wasn't there? One that he had from back on the ship; a gift from the Malnosso once. Wasn't there someone in that picture? It could have been a woman. His head throbs again. No, there wasn't.
Vash doesn't move to stop Knives as the sibling starts to move off. He doesn't follow anymore either. It was much the same as the last time Knives was here. They were brothers and yet they weren't. He himself still wasn't sure how he should handle his feelings about this and it was his second time dealing with it. He'd give Knives the space to think on it on his own as well.]
On the other end of the beach, there's a teleporter that will take you closer to the village. There's free housing and food there if you need it. As long as you don't threaten the people there, they really won't care what or who you are. They'll treat you with the same respect you show them.
[The last bit of information he's willing to give for now. He turns his own back on his brother.] That's where I live, so I'm going back there now. I may not be exactly the brother you were hoping for, but we're still connected in a way, so please don't make me have to defend my new home from you.
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Date: 2013-05-23 06:08 am (UTC)Luceti was not a priority to visit. He wanted to see everything else first.. and wait til the footprints on the beach were washed away, until there were no marks of their passage on it, and he could leave his own trails unmarred by another set of footsteps.]
I fought hard and paid dearly for what peace I had at the end with my brother, Vash. I won't let your paranoia and suspicion take that away from me even if it's just a memory now.
[He glances over his shoulder, the tiny feathers on small wings ruffled up a little.]
If nothing else, believe this: It was his belief [In those idiotic mindnumbing pollyanna philosophies of Rem Saverem] and his trust, and his ability to teach it, that brought peace to that desert. Not guns, not blades. Not violence or threats or hatreds or clinging to a lifetime of suffering like a martyr. Learn how to do the same, or be stuck forever at war with your own brother if he ever comes to this place. I am no threat to this place unless I'm forced to be, because of someone you are not.
[He shouldn't bother, and he knows it. He knows it. Hindsight was 20/20, though, and if somehow ... somehow against all odds he could find a way to make some other Knives and Vash not go through the same horrific mess that he'd dragged his own brother through... the loss of human life was irrelevant.
But the plants would be spared. They would be spared, spared the pain and violence and the sickening realization of exactly who had gone astray. All he wanted was to spend what's left of his short life in peace and quiet, but now he could see it was a pointless thing to hope for. The best he could do was try to keep it from happening again.
Is this your revenge, Rem? Find a way to teach me to want peace with Vash and humanity, then make sure I can't have it?]
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Date: 2013-05-23 06:28 am (UTC)If... if there is really peace between us back home. Then I see no reason it can't continue here between the two of us. [He didn't want to stir up trouble between himself and Knives. Not here in Luceti. He just wanted it clear right at the beginning that he would tolerate no one attacking his new home.] All I want right now, is a quiet life. One where I don't have to worry if someone is going to become a target just because they treat me with a little kindness.
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Date: 2013-05-23 06:37 am (UTC)[A terrible waste of energy, that took all he had left.]
If it wasn't for them, neither myself nor my brother would have survived. It can change perspectives.
[Not by much. He still loathed humans and found them utterly repulsive but he could tolerate them.] It'll take more than 'a little kindness' to turn someone into a target.
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Date: 2013-05-23 06:49 am (UTC)It was hard to believe.]
I'm- I'm glad to hear it.
[Wolfwood. Why hadn't that peace come before- No. Thinking like that right now wasn't going to help. He squashes the thought down with effort.
His head was pounding now. Torn between old longings of brotherhood between the two of them and the painful truth of the past. Would it be fair to Wolfwood? To make peace with Knives now? What would Joey have thought? Which was the smallest sacrifice in this situation? It would be to befriend Knives, wouldn't it? Even though he had made up his mind months ago that when he was home it would have been to kill him? But, if peace with his brother was possible was it such a bad thing to want it? Even if this might not be the Knives he knew back home? Or is that a good reason to accept a peace between them?]
It's good, that there's finally peace between us where you're from.
[He says no more. Lost in his own thoughts, yet feeling as if there was something missing. Something that might have made this even just a little easier that he could not grasp.]
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Date: 2013-05-23 07:13 am (UTC)It was hard-won. I don't intend to go through it again. I wonder how you'll do, without that woman's ridiculous dreams as a guide.
[He sure as hell wasn't going to teach those poisonous delusions himself, even if it did help eventually. Bad enough one Vash was corrupted by it!
Knives didn't think of Wolfwood. Barely thought of him when the man was alive, and now that he was pushing up cacti, even less so. He did his job, that was enough. The strange attachments Vash built with humans wasn't something he shared. That Vash was so deeply shaken by their passing was evidence of how badly Rem had warped him, not some failing on Knives' part.
Surely.
He starts walking again, heading for firmer ground than loose sand.]
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Date: 2013-05-23 07:22 am (UTC)