Something Wicked This Way Comes

[oleaeuropaea]

Who: Vash the Stampede, Kiera, Passenger, Wolfwood, and Zahilya. Plus some others if they want
What: It's time for a homecoming. Too bad the greetings won't be so warm.
When: End of September
Where: Around the Grove
Warnings: Gore. Character Death. Possession. References to holy imagery.

[As September draws to a close, the woods seem eerily silent. It seems almost as if the birds have stopped singing. They hold their breath, fearful of a predator stalking amidst the woods. Through the brush, maybe you’ll see it — feathers that stick up like blades. Once bright white plumage has been tarnished with dirt, debris, and perhaps even blood.

But you’ll have only a second to see it. For just as soon as contact is made at the edge of the woods, the creature bursts out.

Vash the Stampede has returned to Aldric’s Grove.]

Comments

[lupusxylem]

[Well. It was going to come up eventually!

Wolfwood takes his turn to look away. Not that it matters much, given that Vash still hasn't tried to meet his eyes at all yet.]

Razlo is. Yeah.

[Livio, as of yet, has not made an appearance. It's been a bit worrying, actually, but he's been trying his best not to think too hard about it.]

[oleaeuropaea]

[He doesn't know what to make of that, honestly. It's good that the body is alive, but the fact that Livio himself hasn't returned makes him uneasy.]

It's... something, I guess.

[There isn't really much else to say. He isn't going to sugar coat it, or pretend it absolves what he's done.]

You should go be with him. He needs you. Even if Razlo acts as if he doesn't.

[lupusxylem]

Needs me? To do what, exactly? Cause all we've done is wait for you to get back.

[He knows what Vash is getting at, obviously. He just thinks what he's getting at is bullshit-]

And then what about you? You expect me to just leave you here?

[oleaeuropaea]

Why?

[He isn't trying to belittle himself, at least not primarily. He just doesn't understand why anyone would wait after everything that happened.]

You knew how far gone I was. Coming back just meant more people got hurt.

[He doesn't answer the second question. They'll only fight if Vash gets into it.]

[lupusxylem]

Yeah, that's exactly why.

[Because he needed to be ready, this time. He wasn't just going to stand by and watch as Vash tore through half the Grove.

Except...it happened anyway. Yet again, he was too late to stop most of the destruction wrought in the Independent's wake. But, at the very least, the others were spared.]

Honestly, though? I wasn't sure you were comin' back at all. Didn't seem like it, for a while.

[oleaeuropaea]

[It should make him feel warm, loved even, that Wolfwood cared so much. That anyone cared. And yet it feels like Ash on his tongue, like acid in his chest.

He feels guilty when he scoffs at Wolfwood's words, but he doesn't try to apologize for it. Nor does he mince his words, when it comes down to it.]

I wish I hadn't.

[lupusxylem]

That don't surprise me none.

[He wishes he had a cigarette. He could probably just fish one from his pocket and smoke it anyway, but Pure Vanilla would likely throw him out a window for smoking in the clinic, so he won't.

Instead, he'll occupy himself by fidgeting with the cufflink on his sleeve, one half of a wolf skull in silver given to him by Ydalir.]

Look. I need you to tell me exactly what happened. I still don't...fully get it, and I need t'know so this don't happen again. Then, if you want me to leave you alone to wallow, be my guest.

[...]

But I'd rather stay.

[oleaeuropaea]

You act like I know what happened.

[For better or for worse, Wolfwood isn't going anywhere. And though the last thing Vash wants it to rehash the horrid memories, he isn't in a position to argue. He knows it'll only upset both of them, but what other option is there?

He lays back against the bed and stares up at the ceiling blankly. He keeps his eyes wide open, though. If they close, he knows he'll see what he recalls. It's the last thing he wants.]

I thought I was cured. You saw it. All the corrupted traits were gone. I could still hear the forest, but the way it was taunted me... I thought it was angry that I got away, more than anything.

Then Livio and I were dancing, and I started losing control. I couldn't - couldn't stop myself. I knew I was out of control and so I -

[He winces. There was a brief moment of lucidity there before the Forest twisted his mind up. He recalls, vividly, the decision he'd made.]

I knew running away would make you angry. And the Forest hates you. So I used that to convince my body to run. I wanted to save people.

And then I wound up back here anyway.

[lupusxylem]

[While Vash looks at the ceiling, Wolfwood looks at him. Vash might be able to sense it even, the fact he's being watched. They still have yet to look at one another directly, and it hasn't skipped Wolfwood's notice.

So that's what happened, then. They all thought he was cured, except he wasn't, not really. It was there, still. Lurking. Waiting for the right moment to take what Vash loved the most.]

...you said you could still hear it. How long was that goin' on? Why didn't you tell anybody?

[oleaeuropaea]

I thought it would go away. Just the last little bit, right? It even acted like it was getting quieter. And -

[He bites at his lip. Guilt floods him for being so stupid, so naive. He almost doesn't want to finish speaking, but some part of him feels compelled. Wolfwood is his confessional, and here he is to bear his sins.]

We were all so happy again. I didn't want it to go away.

[Look where denial had got him in the end.]

[lupusxylem]

[Oh Vash...]

When has our happiness ever been permanent? That ain't in the cards for people like us.

[People who are cursed by fate. Vash, who will forever be dogged by the sins of his past, and Wolfwood who is destined to die young and filled with regret. That's just something they have to try to make peace with.

He sighs...and with one last long, baleful look at Vash- hoping he'll just look at him, look at him, he finally looks away for a moment, his fingers digging into his arms.]

...I get it. I do. But I wish you'd...talked to me.