Early in the morning

[cowgoesmoo]

[ Just before dawn, anyone monitoring the low-band station that Rem's transmitter is usually set to might hear the following short message from a child who is clearly trying not to panic. ]

Blades, this is Feathers-home, Feathers-home calling Blades, what's your twenty? Where are you!?

[ There's a pause of about a minute, then the message repeats three more times, and finally the transmission ends with: ]

If anyone out there knows who this is and you see my brother, tell me right away!

Comments

[dontdeserve]

Well, no, not as such.

But the sisters were working as hard as it was safe, asking them to do more just for me was...

[ Gentle shrug. ]

[cowgoesmoo]

[ Oh. Okay, that makes more sense. With a shrug Vash leans back against other Vash's chest -- no matter how annoyed he gets with his older selves sometimes, they're all still family, and there's nowhere as safe and comfortable as being with their family. ]

I need to get bigger faster than that. I can't keep Nai safe if I'm too little to do anything.

[dontdeserve]

[ Vash gets held close again, and gratefully on the older one's side, also. It feels good, for this brief time, to not be entirely alone. ]

That makes sense, but I'm not sure we can rush these things. Until then, you keep Nai's heart safe, as nobody else can do that, and we the adults will do our best to protect the rest of him. Do you think that can work?

[cowgoesmoo]

[ That's not good enough, no... but Vash is still young enough that telling adults that they're wrong is hard, at least sometimes. ]

What if you're not here?

[ Vashes tend to wander, that much he's learned already, and it sure seems to be true. What if the adults all wander off? Rem won't leave them, but Rem's only human, and she doesn't even have a gun or anything. If somebody tries to hurt his brother he has to be able to hurt them more, and harder so they stop! Big brother Knives understands that. He doesn't think this Vash does, though. This Vash is too gentle. ]

People are gonna want to hurt him when they find out who he is.

[dontdeserve]

That's something to work on. I mean, I do have to go out and get supplies, because we all need to eat - well, other than than Nai - and see Tessla, and some of the time I... or, well, obviously he, can get taken away. But maybe some of the others can help, too, when I'm not around.

Something to figure out just until you are big enough to do it yourself. All right?

[ Vash has been very good about not wandering aimlessly, especially since the little ones showed up. He still thinks he needs to go to Octovern and figure out if there is a way in which he needs to help, but there doesn't seem to be more fighting going on, and he has people who need him right here. People who don't make him run away.

He considers things for a moment. ]

I think, other than some small communities that if he ends up in, he will be able to escape, the only place that is really dangerous for him would be Octovern. Most people evacuated there, and apparently ships from Earth showed up also, and they may be on the lookout for him.

Out here, we'll make it safe enough for him and for you both. So he doesn't have to worry about you, either.

[ It goes both ways. Vash is aware.

He's totally missing the part where if one of the older Vashes get hurt, Nai will be upset or angry, too. Getting hurt has been the norm for a long time, after all. ]

[cowgoesmoo]

[ just let the big ones protect you two, big Vash says, and Vash only doesn't protest because he knows there's no point. How can he tell grown Vash here that the big Vashes are part of the problem? That they way they look at Nai with sad faces when they think he can't see them is awful. Vash has only seen it from this one Vash, but Nai told him about others, too. They maybe don't hate him, the way the humans would if they found out who he was, but they're still thinking about bad things when they look at him sometimes.

He has to get big, fast, if he's going to keep Nai safe from everybody. ]

What's he got to worry about me for? [ Just because he's little doesn't mean he needs to be taken care of! ] Nobody's gonna hurt me.

[dontdeserve]

[ That's not what Vash said, but also he's pretty sure that, once again, the little Vash is far from reasonable enough to hear the difference.

He's pretty sure he wouldn't have been, himself.

Instead, he shrugs, immediately discarding the idea of pointing out his prosthetic arm as a sign that there are people who would. That might make things complicated again.

Truth is... better. ]

You might be surprised. Or you could ask the Knives who is with Tessla about the terrans. They would go after any Independent, by the sound of it, but especially us. Vash.

One more reason to try to make sure Nai is safe and sound here as soon as possible.

[ Because he is little absolutely means he needs to be taken care of. Sorry, Vash. Though some would argue that does not change in any way as he ages. ]

[cowgoesmoo]

[ Wait, that's new information, hold on! Sure, he's been listening to the radio off and on, and he's heard about the Terran ships, but somehow he's managed to avoid hearing any familiar names so far.

If Nai -- Knives -- was responsible for the Fall, then he understands why people would be looking for him, but why would they care about Vash? ]

Why us especially? What did we do?