chlorokyll | inbox (duocaeli)

[ His calm, controlled demeanor does stand in opposition to the girl's frantic stumbling backward. While Knives would have found some peace in watching the entire town turn into a frenzied panic as a result of her efforts, that's not precisely what's happening. The lack of reality here is showing, the true nature of this world brought to the forefront.

Some are taking heed of her warning and running, though. For better or worse.

Her question causes him to tilt his head to one side, the hood of his cloak shifting with the movement. So Vash hasn't found her yet. He can't even keep track of all of his precious little humans, can he? How typical. ]

I suspect he'll be here before long.

[ Or is he not inhabiting this world at the moment? It means little to Knives right now, as he's interested in making a point. ]

Most of the people you see here are not real. [ As if on cue (or perhaps because the NPC realizes that a player character needs something), a man in light armor strides over to them, looking from Knives to Meryl and then back again.

"Is there something I can help you with?"

Without any warning, Knives draws up his right hand and thrusts it toward the man. The twin blades that sprout from the back of his hand slice through the man's throat, and blood sprays out of the cleanly cut wound before his lifeless body collapses to the ground. Only a few moments later, however, the entire body vanishes, fading out of existence. ]

Death is not truly death in this place, you see. There is little point in panicking them.

[ as much as she'd like to know what he means by vash being here "before long", considering last she saw him he was basically a rooted statue in a pool of liquid, she doesn't have time to inquire about it.

because knives feels it would somehow help the situation by stabbing a man in the the throat. good going, very calming. very normal.

the way the blood sprays out of him, the way his body collapses to the ground — it's all too real for her, regardless of what this world actually is, and the look on her face is of true terror. she gasps, her hands flying to her face to try and shield herself from it (the blood and the sight), and stumbles backward onto her bottom, due to a mix of trying to step away and the sudden jello her legs have become at the sight. ]

Wh-What do you... [ mean by that?

placing a hand on the ground behind her to keep her upright, and lowing the other from her view, a bit, she looks at the man just in time to see him fade out of existence. that elicits yet another sound of shock from her, as she pushes herself back a few inches on the ground, away from where the man just was moments ago. ]

Where'd he go?! What'd you do to him?!

[ what in the hell is he talking about? she has little reason to trust him, and more reason to think he's just done something terrible to the man. ]

[ For all of that initial confidence on her part, she crumples almost instantly, like a house of cards. Knives watches impassively, his calm continuing to stand stalwart in the face of her hysteria.

This is always what humans do, of course. They scream and scrabble like vermin.

At her question he heaves out a sigh from the middle of his chest, then shakes his head. Still she doesn't understand. There does seem to be some yelling and commotion from other witnesses of the murder, but Knives doesn't expect much to come of it. If anything, this is a good way for him to test the limits of this place. ]

There, look.

[ And if Meryl does in fact look in the direction that Knives nods his head, she will see the very same man he'd just cut down walking over as if nothing ever happened, the bloody wound on his throat missing.

He steps up to them and repeats the statement from before, aimed down at Meryl this time.

"Is there something I can help you with?" ]

[ her chest rises and falls with the adrenaline pumping through her at this point, as she watches him, waiting for another move. nothing comes, of course, but he does instruct her to look off to the side, so she does, only to be met with... even more confusion and questions?

her eyes widen at the sight, watching the man like he's a dead man walking, up until he asks her the same question she heard from him before. in response, she shakes her head at him, slowly, before quickly turning her attention back to knives.

she has to push down the knot in her throat, but she responds, some renewed vigor to her voice, her mind working hard to piece things together. ]

So — what, people die here and they just... come back, like nothing happened? [ that seems to be the short of it? but— ] That still doesn't make it okay to kill them!

[ she can only imagine it hurts? and she's different from this man, right? he's one of the ones not reacting to anything — what happens when it's her, instead? she's not sure she wants to posit that question at millions knives of all people, though.

don't underestimate her — she hasn't completely crumpled yet! ]

Because they are not "people" at all.

[ If humans are little more than insects to him, then these virtual constructs are even lesser than that. There is no purpose in killing them, save perhaps for when he might need to vent his anger on something, but the fact remains: she's panicking for very little reason.

Of course, this woman still insists that what he's done is wrong. It annoys him that Vash would likely agree with her, even though he has the capacity to understand how soulless these things are, far more than she would.

Whether or not she's posited the question, he's smelled the blood in the water, and he steps toward her, his steps are methodical and menacing, as his eyes gleam from under his hood. ]

I do wonder, though... were I to kill you in here, what would happen?

[ The knives extending from his hand shine with the man's blood. However, even as he closes in on Meryl, there's some not-so-distant yelling as a group of about five guards race toward them.

"You there! What do you think you're doing?!"

And then Knives' expression twists into a cruel smile. Oh, this could be quite entertaining. ]

[ what does he mean they're not people? then what are they? they look and sound just like people, even if they're acting different, but she can't quite reason out what they'd be then. there's no point in thinking they're plants, because he wouldn't do that to one of them anyway — so, what?

there isn't much time to ponder that statement from him, though, as he's suddenly stepping toward her again, something in his eyes that wasn't there seconds ago. —ah.

fear flashes in her eyes again, battling with the willpower that's still trying to bubble to the surface, as she uses her legs to push herself backward along the ground, somewhat frantically, trying both to move away from him, but also to stand up, which isn't going overly well for her. in the meanwhile, she notices the incoming guards, and still puts it on her own shoulders to do something to keep people away, shouting: ]

S-Stop! [ another stumble, trying to use her legs. ] You can't come over here! Get away!

[ she's finally able to lift herself most of the way up, almost to a standing position, when she trips backwards again. this doesn't seem to be working out in her favor — her legs are not working properly at the sight of him striding toward her, bloody knives on full display.

her hands work to continue to push her back, but one catches on a small rock in the process, and, well — it's better than being a sitting duck. maybe it'll even buy her time? who knows, but she's sure going to throw it at him. ]

[ There isn't usually a lot of violence within the starting city, and for that reason Vash generally prefers to hang around there, meeting people or helping out with quests. That's why it comes as such a surprise to him when people start running away from the direction of the quest board. He can faintly see the shape of someone gesturing people away, and the menacing silhouette of none other than his brother.

Vash is moving before he even finishes the thought, outpacing a group of guards who apparently have the same idea. He takes in the scene in a second: the blood on Nai's blades, the movement of the guards, and -- Meryl. She's trying to keep people away from Nai.

He skids to a stop directly in front of her, his coat whipping to the side as he draws, levels his sidearm, and lets off a shot in Nai's direction.

The rock that Meryl had thrown shatters into a rain of dust more or less directly in Nai's face, and hopefully in his eyes. Vash isn't trying to hurt him, just distract him. ]

Meryl, are you okay?! [ He shoots a concerned look over his shoulder. ]

Edited 2023-05-09 14:36 (UTC)

[ While those guards may very well be this woman's only chance at surviving this encounter, still she tries to shoo them away. It feels as if his brother has rubbed off on her, or maybe this is simply how she is, he doesn't particularly care. Knives raises his arm and continues to stalk toward her, but that's when he hears a thundering gait behind him, one that he is almost certain he knows.

It gives him pause for just a moment, just long enough for Meryl to lift up the rock and toss it at him. As if that will do anything to the likes of him, but then Knives' almost sixth sense about Vash proves to be entirely accurate.

His brother appears in a flash, firing off that shot faster than any human would be able to. At first Knives expects the bullet to come for him, and he doesn't even have the time to be offended by it, reflexively lifting his arm and turning it at an angle to block the shot with his knives.

Instead, the bullet shatters the rock, and as Vash hoped, dust and detritus explode into his face and get into his eyes. The sudden sting of pain causes him to double over, his other hand shooting up to rub at his eyes as he lets out an angry snarl.

Perhaps he should have known that Vash's little friends were hands-off. Then again, that's how his brother is about the entire human race. It's enraging. ]

[ it happens so fast, she can barely register any of it until she's hearing his voice asking if she's okay, knives' snarling in the background from the dust.

vash. it's vash. knives was — right? god, she's so confused by all of this, so much happening all at once that she can't quite keep up with it, mentally. vash is here, knives is... in pain (she couldn't quite tell what happened, it was so quick)? but — ]

Vash! [ she shouts from her place on the ground, still unable to make a move to stand, but she's not thinking about that anymore now that she has vash's towering figure between her and his brother. there's exactly one thing on her mind now, and it's him.

her voice is full to the brim with relief, as first, she gets an answer out to him, somewhat breathy from the feelings overtaking her: ] Y-Yeah! [ before she can't help but exclaim, a smile on her face despite the situation: ] You're okay!

[ maybe strange for her to say, without context, but she's so, so happy. danger of the moment be damned. ]

[ Vash smiles at her, relieved that she seems to be alright, at least physically. He has no idea how she got here, but he's glad to see her anyway; he hasn't exactly missed No Man's Land, but he has thought more than once of how Meryl and Roberto would have liked this place. He'd hated knowing they'd been left behind. As much as he'd like to catch up right then and there, he doesn't think a little bit of sand is going to deter Nai for more than a few more seconds. ]

You should find some cover, Meryl. We'll catch up later -- I promise. [ Vash's gun hasn't wavered from where it's trained on Nai, but he picks up where Meryl left off shouting at the guards to stay away. He knows they're not real, and that they're just doing what they're programmed to do, but all the same; he doesn't want to see them sliced up just for that.

Whether Meryl gets up on her own or not, he keeps himself squarely between her and Nai. ]

Nai, that's enough. Whatever you were trying to do -- just let it go.

Edited 2023-05-13 01:14 (UTC)

[ Knives' eyes immediately water from all of the dust in a desperate attempt to flush it all out, his vision left blurry as a result. It takes some rubbing and a few blinks to even be able to see properly again, and by that point Vash has placed himself rather solidly in front of his little friend.

The guards that had come to apprehend him do seem to listen to Vash's pleas, holding off and watching from a distance instead of getting further involved. He ignores them, at least for now, far more interested in Vash.

Knives lets out a low, rumbling laugh in response to Vash's brave words. He stares at the gun, wondering where he even got it in this place. But it has become something of a crutch for him, hasn't it? ]

I was trying to show her that death means nothing in this place. [ He glances to the spot where he'd cut that man down earlier, then shrugs and stares right at the muzzle of Vash's firearm. Always playing cowboy, but does he truly have what it takes to pull that trigger? ] You can make the point as well as I could. Go ahead, brother. [ And with that, he starts on a slow march toward him and the girl he's shielding. He spreads his arms out to either side. ] Take your shot.

[ meryl knows, by now, not to question vash's instructions in situations like these, as much as she'd love nothing more than to help out or talk to him about everything.

so she gives a nod, the smile in her expression shifting to seriousness as she glances between him and knives. ] ... Right.

[ she twists her body to face away from the situation, moving her legs as best she can to get into a half-standing position and scurrying toward a merchant's stand run by an NPC (only a couple meters away, but it's something), tripping a little in between and needing to place her hands on the ground to keep herself from fully falling. her legs are still recovering from the shock, okay...

but she manages to get herself behind the wooden stand, the NPC turning to look at her and ask whether she's there to buy or sell — she ignores them (aside from a quick, confused glance), and keeps her eyes trained on vash and his brother, peeking out from her place behind the stand, kneeling on the ground.

please, be careful, vash. her hearts pounding out of her chest. ]

[ Vash grits his teeth when Nai starts to laugh, a low sound of irritation escaping him. He'd tried to talk to Nai when he'd first arrived, but they'd ended up going in circles. It seems like all they ever do is come back to the same point, no matter where they start. This isn't about showing Meryl anything except how to be afraid, because it's all Nai knows how to do.

If Nai paid her any real attention at all, though, he'd understand that he was wasting his time. Vash doesn't watch her move, but he can hear her get up despite her fear. Most people would have just kept running, and Vash wouldn't blame them at all, but Meryl has stuck by him from the moment they met, and apparently she doesn't plan to stop now. He's not surprised that Nai has decided to be cruel to her in particular. Unlike him, she's trusting despite her fear. ]

It'll be fine, Meryl. He's right. This place isn't real. Anyone who dies will just come back, even us. So... It'll be okay.

[ Vash shifts his grip, moving almost too quickly for anyone but Nai to perceive. There's a soft click. Silence.

The bullets from his gun rain to the ground. Vash snaps the barrel back into place and shoves the gun back into his holster. ]

You're the one who wants to make a point here, not me. You do it. If it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't matter if it's me instead of you, or them.

You don't know that for certain, do you? That we'll come back. Or that we won't lose something in the process.

[ Whether it's a level of power or a piece of equipment or perhaps even something more precious. Knives doesn't know, which means Vash likely can't be certain either. Hence why he'd wanted to test it out in the first place, as knowledge doesn't come without making sacrifices.

A fact that Conrad had understood all too well.

When Vash makes a show of expelling the bullets from his gun, Knives can't hold back on a long sigh. And his brother calls him the dramatic one.

But it seems that he's called Knives' bluff here. He's almost certain that if he cut Vash down there would be no real consequence. He would come to in the other world, perhaps, or simply start back in the town square some short distance away. And yet...

His arms fall back to his sides. ]

Of course it matters. [ Because it's Vash. ] You're not like them. Regardless of how desperately you'd like to believe you are. [ His gaze shifts to the wooden stand where he knows the girl is hiding. ] You much you want them to believe you are.

[ meryl listens to them talk, continuing to peek out to gauge the situation. vash's words essentially reiterate what knives had said earlier — that death means nothing here — and yet they're far more believable than his. the assertions that it'll be okay help, even if it's still hard to reconcile in her mind. death is death. it's difficult to think of it as anything other than something final, something that ends, and so even if logically she can believe vash, it's a lot harder to put into practice. she's still scared, the images of what knives did to him swimming in her mind endlessly.

she's quiet as a mouse behind that stand until vash empties his gun, holsters it, and then she can't help the soft: ] Vash... [ that escapes — hardly audible but stained with nervousness at the action.

and then they're continuing, meryl wondering whether she should stop this somehow, if she can, when vash offers himself up, but then knives is gazing at her hiding place and talking about how vash isn't like "them", and... she's not stupid. she knows there's something fundamentally different about vash. she knows vaguely what he is, what he's capable of, and what can happen to him. but that doesn't change the way she looks at him in the slightest — he's vash. he's a person, whether human or plant or whatever. she doesn't look at him as a species, or a typhoon, or anything else — just as himself.

and who he is at his emotional core is exactly what makes her want to follow him and believe in him.

so, meryl stands now, still mostly obscured by the wooden stand due to her height compared to the small street stall, and takes a half step out into visibility — still hidden enough to retreat behind it should things go south, but out in the open enough to try and assert herself, in knives' line of sight. the images of that room, with conrad, continue to bombard her, along with the feelings she held in there — the need to protect vash from this man. ]

N-No one has to prove anything here! [ about the whole dying thing. no one kill anyone, please. she balls her hands into fists now. ] It doesn't matter who Vash is "like". That doesn't change who he is.

[ typhoon, stampede, plant, independent, human. none of that matters to her when it comes to him. one last image of his face when he was in that pool, of the way he looked so devoid of himself, flashes for her, and she can't help herself: ] So just... leave him alone!

[ bravery, thy name is meryl. she was brave then and she can be brave now. for vash. ]

[ Vash grits his teeth. He doesn't have an answer for Nai. Whatever it is that he might have to lose in the process of dying and coming back - or not coming back - he's ready to lose it, if it means that Nai backs down and Meryl and anyone else who might be lingering nearby stays out of danger.

He flinches when Nai drops his hands, expecting a physical blow that never comes. What he gets is what he's accustomed to, now. Before the incident at Jeneora Rock, he hadn't spoken to Nai in over 150 years, and now it seems like they're only capable of having one argument, over and over. Vash's hands ball into fists at his sides. He's about to say - that doesn't make it alright to kill them for an experiment.

Meryl's voice cuts through first. Vash stares at her for a moment, standing tall despite the tremor of fear in her voice. Of all the things he might have said to Nai, this wasn't one of them - in truth, it had seemed cruel to even hope that it wouldn't matter to Meryl what he was, once she saw the real extent of it. He wouldn't blame her for turning away, like so many others had before her. It's stranger still to have someone rush to his defense over something like this. He feels something constrict in his chest for a brief moment - something bright and fierce and selfish and guilty that he can't even begin to name - before he turns back to Nai.

His brother's attention is focused entirely on Meryl. Vash can read the intent in every tense line of his body as he begins to stalk toward her.

Vash runs, closing the remaining ground between himself an Nai well before he can reach the wooden stand. He jumps, throwing all of his weight and momentum behind it. Even without his full strength, tackling Nai is like tackling a brick wall, and Vash is almost surprised that the two of them actually go down in a tangle of limbs. ]

Meryl - rope! [ That's all he manages to shout, so hopefully she can find something good enough to keep Nai restrained, even temporarily. If Vash can just pin him down -- ]

[ If the girl had known what was good for her, she would have stayed hidden. She would have stayed silent until Knives had his chat with his brother. Instead she stands to her diminutive height and dares to lecture him.

He turns his gaze on her, eyes widening with white-hot outrage. ]

Don't you dare claim to know him better than I do, you—

[ He advances on her, ready to finish what he started, but Vash is on him in an instant. Knives flings an arm out with the intention of halting the run at him, but he doesn't have the full force of his Gate, and Vash is a scrappier fighter than him in most ways. He's flung to the ground, flat on his back, and there it is again. Humans over him, every time, every way, every scenario. It doesn't matter. It never seems to. ]

Vash—

[ As his brother tries to pin him Knives fights back tooth and claw, scrabbling to seize Vash's forearms and try to shove him off. He rears one knee back and shoves it up toward Vash's gut, resulting in a clumsy brawl between them.

To think he's been reduced to this... ]

[ her breath catches in her throat in that moment when he begins coming at her — she was somewhat prepared for this sort of thing happening, mentally, but it feels like a train coming full-force at her when it actually happens. that feeling passes quick, when vash moves to tackle him to the ground, and her expression instead turns to some form of panic as she watches. ]

V-Vash!

[ rope?? he needs rope?? okay, okay, rope, rope. meryl begins spinning where she's at, jumping in place from the adrenaline, frantically looking everywhere in the vicinity to find some rope for vash to use. tiny little string holding up a sign? no, this is knives. can't use that. some random person's necklace? also no. quick, meryl. ]

Aaah, rope! Come on, rope!

[ where's!! the!! rope!!

it's after a few moments of that (what feels like an absolute eternity to her) that she spots some coiled rope held upon some sort of adventuring NPC's waist, and without even a second thought, she rushes toward it, yanks it off, and runs toward where vash and his brother are fighting, getting as close as she safely can. ]

Vash! I got it! What do you need?!

[ if he tells her to throw it to him, she will without hesitation. if he needs her help in getting him tied, she'll do that too. whatever he needs. ]

[ Vash takes the knee to his gut with a grunt, but he's pushed through worse pain in less dire circumstances and he swallows the wave of pain and nausea and gets in close enough to elbow Nai right in the face if he can.

He does his best to scrabble forward so he's practically sitting on Nai's chest and finally gets enough leverage to push his arms down above his head, burying Nai's arm blades in the dirt while Vash leans his weight against Nai's arms to keep them on the ground. He locks his legs around Nai's torso, already anticipating his brother trying to buck him off now that he can no longer reach him with kicks.

Meryl speaks up just then and Vash nods. Though he can't look away long enough to see exactly where she is, he can tell from her voice well enough. He doesn't know how he's going to get the rope around Nai exactly, but he's going to figure it out. ]

Toss it here - don't get too close! [ Just because Nai isn't trying that hard to ram one of his arm blades directly into Vash doesn't mean that he would hesitate to do it to Meryl. Vash tightens his grip on Nai's arms enough to bruise and bares his teeth. ] Just log off, Nai!

[ The fluidity and efficiency of Vash's movements are impressive, the way that he's able to use his lesser bulk to pin Knives down and keep him there. Under other circumstances, perhaps Knives would have even been pleased to see it. However, his main thought is that if Vash had taken all the time he devoted to learning how to fight like this and instead put it toward understanding how to control his Gate, perhaps things would have been different.

Or perhaps not, because he still would have needed Vash's willingness to go along with his plan, and that's never been forthcoming.

As Vash expected, Knives does try to buck him off, his pelvis lifting as he thrashes and fights. The entire situation is undignified and he wouldn't particularly care if he was fighting for something of import, but ultimately his terrorizing of the girl had been little more than a whim.

Just log off, Nai!

He lets out a low laugh at that, one that quickly grows into something more bombastic, bellowing straight from his chest. ]

You think that will be enough to be rid of me, Vash?!

[ And there's something about the idea of being tied down and restrained by his own brother, the one person who should know how much that would bother him, that settles it. All it takes it a thought about logging out and exiting the game, and he's gone, the space beneath Vash vacated.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean he's truly gone. A few moments later a loud banging starts at Vash's room's door in Domus Hosus, with Knives yelling for him to open up. ]

O-Okay!

[ just as meryl manages to toss the rope, knives disappears from existence, and the rope leaves her hand to fly right toward vash — whether he manages to catch it in all this ruckus is on him.

because meryl is very confused herself now, and for a split second she can't help but stare at the vacated space under vash, a baffled yet surprised look on her face as she takes a half step back, before she turns to look around them. did he just... teleport or something else wild? she's still not used to this whole game world thing, seeing as she hasn't actually logged off it herself yet. ]

H-Hold on a second, where'd he go?!

[ she's searching their surroundings, spinning in place with urgency as the adrenaline from the situation hasn't died down at all for her — they're still very much in danger, in her mind. ]

[ Vash is working so hard to keep Nai in place, that his sudden absence nearly overbalances him. The rope, which would have been easy for him to catch in his previous position, instead sort of lands on his head and drapes over his shoulder. He's just there on all fours blinking for a moment before all of the tension leaves his body with one long exhale and he sits back on his heels. ]

It's okay, it's okay! [ Vash shuffles over to her a little awkwardly and holds out his hands, offering to take hers if it will help her calm down. ] He's gone for now, but we don't have long. Are you okay? You just got here, didn't you?

[ He really hopes that his microphone isn't picking up Nai's full volume yelling right outside his door. In the real world, Vash mutes his the mic so he can yell back: ] Have you had a snack in the last few hours, Nai? We talked about this!

[ Shifting one's attention between online and offline is something that takes a good deal of concentration, given how immersive it is to be online. It's not so different from how it feels to be within the dimension of another's Gate in that way.

So Knives is almost surprised to receive any response from Vash. It's only to ask him if he's eaten something. Knives scowls at that, because the last thing he's interested in doing right now is eating. He doesn't feel particularly hungry either, the full limitations of this world having not quite sunk in just yet. ]

That has nothing to do with this. Just what were you planning to do after you tied me up, brother?

[ Would he have turned him into the authorities?

Either way, his banging on the door continues, but in a more concentrated way, as if he's focusing it on the lock. ]

[ meanwhile, in the online world, meryl has no idea what's going on or what vash is experiencing. what a time. ]

Y-Yeah, I just— [ got here, but— ] W-Wait, what do you mean, we "don't have long"?! [ that sounds so ominous, vash. and considering she doesn't even know where knives has gone to, that only makes her more freaked out.

where is he and when is he coming back??

she takes vash's hands, but instead of using them for any sort of calming measure, she starts tugging on them. ]

Then— we need to get out of here, don't we?! Come on!

[ Vash nearly overbalances again, flailing a little bit as Meryl half-drags him. ] Meryl -- wait wait!

[ He finally tugs her back and sits back on his heels, holding her hands in his, though his own grip is plenty loose enough for her to shake him off easily. ]

Please, listen. I know it's confusing and disorienting, but this world isn't real. If you take a second to calm down, you'll remember. Just trust me. [ He hopes she'll remember, anyway. Vash glances over his shoulder, even in the game, at something unseen. He turns back to her with a tight smile. ] Everything is fine.

[ Everything is not fine. Vash mutes his mic again and yells: ] I don't know -- timeout? I didn't think that far ahead!

[ Wait he. Didn't actually mean to say that to Nai. ]

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