#plant! reader

[the-and-sign-anon]

The Third Independent: 8

Word count: 2,246

One Hundred- Fifty Years Post-Fall

The four travelers slept for nearly an entire day before waking one by one. Wolfwood was the first one up, keeping to himself and a close eye on his cross. Roberto was next, gladly accepting the food offered by Luida. Meryl came third with a million questions Brad ignored until Vash could join them. Once the man himself woke up, everyone came together to talk.

Brad scolded Vash for always ruining his arm as he gently got to work fixing it. He could hardly believe the Plant would be stupid enough to try to divert an ion cannon with nothing but brute strength.

“How are things around here?”

“Eh, same as ever. Luida’s well, the flora is growing steadily. Y/N hasn’t been around in a while though.”

“I was afraid of that.”

The stories never stopped circulating. Most people said they didn’t really believe you existed, more of a folktale than anything. Many stories were embellished or distorted over the years, but Vash had a sense for which ones were true when he heard them. As far as he could tell, you might not have visited Home since he’d last been there with you.

Vash was pulled from his thoughts with a pained wince.

“Boo hoo, you big baby.”

Vash pouted a little at his old friend. Brad still got a kick out of teasing him, even after over a century. Though, Vash supposed, it hadn’t felt like nearly that long for Brad.

“Welcome home, Vash.”

Luida popped up in the doorway with her signature warm smile. Vash couldn’t help but smile right back, his attention diverted from Brad’s work.

“It’s good to be back, although I wish I could have offered a better greeting when we got here.”

Luida waved off his concern.

“Don’t give it another thought. Your friends are safe, by the way. The town, the orphanage, and the passengers from the Humpback, too.”

Vash let out a sigh of relief. It hadn’t been easy to stop the steamer; it certainly took a toll on him, but it was worth it if no one got hurt.

“Have you heard anything from Y/N lately? Brad said they haven’t been here in a while.”

“They checked in a month or so ago. Said they were okay, that they might stop by again soon. You know how they are.”

Vash chuckled softly. He certainly did.

Before he could ask about you any further, Meryl came bounding in with the men trailing behind her.

“Vash, you’re okay!”

“Well I’m not.”

Meryl waved off Roberto as Vash offered an encouraging smile.

“Thanks for your help, Wolfwood. I couldn’t have stopped the Humpback without you.”

Wolfwood kept his eyes low as he stood at the back of the group. He wasn’t interested in pleasantries, all that mattered was that the orphanage wasn’t destroyed. If only Livio had been as lucky.

“Don’t flatter me, Needle-Noggin. Can we talk about this spaceship you just ‘forgot’ to tell us about?”

Luida stepped in to offer answers as Brad finished fixing up Vash’s arm and had him flex it a bit to test out the repairs.

“This is Ship Three, named Home. We’ve been here since the Big Fall, maintaining our original mission and taking care of whoever we can.”

“Thank you for saving us. You all seem close, have you two known Vash for long?”

Meryl just couldn’t go another minute without asking questions. Brad stood up and ran a hand over his hair. He answered with a little smirk on his face.

“Oh, not long. ‘Bout a century and a half.”

Meryl and Roberto openly balked at the answer, while Wolfwood kept a cool facade.

“You don’t look that old.”

Luida gave a good natured smile as she leaned back against the wall.

“We have cold sleep to thank. When we’re under, we don’t age a minute.”

“Got it.” Wolfwood put his cross against the wall and folded his arms over his chest. “So, it’s not eternal life.”

Brad scoffed. “Hardly. We’re only humans. We’ve just got a little help from technology.”

Meryl pursed her lips and spared Vash a glance.

“The Plants are helping too, aren’t they?”

Luida moved towards the door and beckoned her to follow.

“Let me show you something.”

While Luida took Meryl and Roberto to the dome, Vash, Brad, and Wolfwood sat in his room to talk. It wasn’t an easy conversation, but Vash stood his ground. He wouldn’t kill ever again, even his brother. When it began to feel like they were talking in circles, Vash stood up and excused himself. He needed to see the dome. He needed to think of you.

Meryl was lying on her stomach in the grass reaching at the flowers when Vash arrived. Roberto had wandered off by then looking for somewhere to smoke, prompting Luida to follow and scold him whenever he tried to light up. Vash sat at the edge of the flowerbeds and watched Meryl stare around in wonder.

Vash eventually laid down and watched the sky instead. The artificial clouds drifted across the glass, fluffy and white. The bright blue eventually turned pink, then orange, then purple. When it faded to black with twinkling stars, the door slid open and Roberto came running in.

“Roberto?”

Meryl sat up to look at her superior just in time to see him duck down while Vash got to his feet. A huge figure flew past him, rising into the air with a bizarre sort of growling sound before diving straight at Vash. Before Meryl could even call his name, the figure tackled him, both of them rolling across the grass in a mess of red fabric and what appeared to be white feathers.

Wolfwood came running in right after with his gun ready and Luida trying to grab it from him.

“Vash!”

Before Meryl had a chance to do anything in defense of her friend, she realized he was laughing. It was a wild, exuberant sound like nothing she’d heard before, even from him.

“Mayfly, hold on!” Vash practically wheezed with laughter as he flopped back in the grass with you on top of him. “Settle down!”

“No!”

You buried your face in his chest and let your feathers shed as you returned to your usual size. Meryl and the others cringed at the popping and cracking of your joints resizing themselves. Vash just ran his flesh hand down your back, smoothing out your coat and sending more feathers cascading to the grass.

“You’re cleanin’ that up, Y/N!”

You waved off Brad’s comment as you slowly sat up to get a better look at Vash.

“Perfect timing, Mayfly. Welcome home.”

“Uh… excuse me… what’s going on?”

Vash’s smile dropped just a bit as his attention turned from you to Meryl.

“Meryl, this is my Mayfly. Mayfly, these are some new friends of mine; Meryl, Roberto, and Wolfwood.”

Luida had successfully wrestled the Punisher from Wolfwood’s hands, at least enough to prevent him from shooting you. Vash could see the way your brow furrowed, eyes narrowing at Wolfwood and his gun. He was quick to tap your knee to bring your attention back to him.

“They’re friends, Mayfly. I promise.”

You studied Vash beneath you. His eyes were as beautiful as ever, though more filled with pain than the last time you’d met. His hair still looked good; he must have found someone to manage it for him. That handsome, bright face of his distracted you every time.

“Vash… what do you mean… ‘this is Mayfly?’”

“That’s the Worm Beast!”

Meryl whirled around to look at Wolfwood. He was trying again to wrestle his weapon free and aim it at you, but Luida was putting up more of a fight than he expected.

You cackled madly, shuffling back to let Vash sit up beside you in the grass.

“You humans are still calling me that, huh? I thought for sure it would’ve gotten old by now.”

Meryl looked hopelessly lost, so Vash tried to fill her in.

“Meryl, Mayfly here is like me. They’re an Independent.”

“That’s right.”

You preened as he spoke of you. While you didn’t consider yourself to be a prideful person, you had a weakness for the way Vash talked about you.

“...Huh?”

Roberto rubbed at his temples and paced around the flora, wishing he had a comfortable chair and a large drink.

You stood and shook out your coat, letting the last of your feathers fall to the grass. Then you tucked your hands in your pockets and offered your best, still deeply unsettling, grin.

“Hi there; I’m Y/N. I’m an Independent.”

“...yeah… you guys said that part…”

You tilted your head curiously at her. She seemed a little slow on the uptake.

“So what part of that confuses you?”

“I, um… we just didn’t even know… Independents… existed until yesterday when we caught Vash in the Plant room…”

Your eyes flickered over, finding Vash rubbing at the back of his neck.

“I thought you were discreet about that.”

“I thought I’d have enough time to get back out without being seen. We were kind of… stopping a sand steamer at the time.”

Your head slowly turned to stare him down, his eyes firmly set on the grass.

“You. Did. What?”

“Busted up his arm diverting an ion cannon, too.”

Brad was quick to throw the Plant under the bus.

“Vash!”

“I didn’t have a choice! Wolfwood said he would skin me alive if I didn’t!”

Wolfwood was no coward. If someone started a fight with him, he was more than ready to finish it. But the glare you spared him set every nerve in his body on fire, his brain nearly shutting down and sending no other message than ‘flee’ to his limbs.

“You harm one hair on his head and I will show you that Worm Beast is the kindest name I can be given. I will tear-”

“Mayfly, please.”

You growled, deep and low, for so long the group wondered how you could fit enough breath in your lungs to sustain it. Then Vash wrapped one hand around yours, placing the other on your shoulder, and the sound became a far more pleasant one. You were… purring almost.

“No one is hurting anyone here. This is Home and no one will die here. Wolfwood?” He set down his gun and leaned it against the wall before stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Y/N?”

You crossed your arms and huffed as you rolled your eyes.

“Fine, Dove.”

Vash’s new friends all shared a quick glance at the nickname. You just rested your head on his shoulder and closed your eyes for a few moments before stepping back and looking everyone over again. Vash just blushed a little and nuzzled into you while you were close enough.

“Hello, humans. I will warn you only this once. If Vash or my humans here are harmed because of you, I will tear you limb from limb. Understood?”

Meryl quickly nodded her head with wide eyes. Roberto nodded as well with his eyes shut tight as if fighting off a headache. Wolfwood met your stare with a challenge in his eyes; he couldn’t help it. But he raised his hands in surrender and watched you relax, your height shrinking by a few more inches until you looked almost completely natural.

“Good. Now, how did you all meet my Dove?”

Wolfwood snickered next to Luida, but she sent him a warning look and he stifled it. Meryl, ever the reporter, laid out the events of the last few weeks for you. Vash suffered multiple smacks over the head, eventually moaning dramatically and shuffling to sit behind you, his head resting atop your, his arms wrapped around your shoulders. You remained all together into the darkest hours of the night, sharing stories and getting to know each other.

By the time the sun slowly began to rise, Meryl had drifted off to sleep in the thick, soft grass. Roberto had left hours before to get sleep in a proper bed. There was no way he’d pass that up given the chance. Wolfwood had tried to remain vigilant, but eventually shuffled away to sleep as well. You and Vash, of course, curled up together in your feathers and coats to rest as one.

When you eventually blinked back to consciousness, everything was as you’d left it. Meryl was curled up on her jacket. Vash was tucked into your side, his nose nuzzled into your neck. Brad came in a few minutes later with a bag in hand.

“Told you you’re cleanin’ those up.”

You just grinned that too wide grin up at him.

“I’ll clean up once he’s awake. You wouldn’t want to disturb his sleep, would you?”

Your face told him you were joking, though there was an undercurrent in your tone that said you’d rip him apart if he tried.

“Don’t weasel out of it, alright? I expect every single feather out of this dome by the time you leave next.”

“Of course, Brad. Do you doubt my cleanliness?”

He simply rolled his eyes and dropped the bag next to you. On his way out, he wrapped his knuckles on the doorframe, startling Vash half awake.

You leveled a death glare at him as the door closed, leaving you to calm your partner and help him stretch his sore muscles. You were never letting him do something that stupid or reckless again.

[the-and-sign-anon]

The Third Independent: 6

Word count: 2,460

Series Masterlist

Seventy-One Years Post-Fall

“Are you absolutely certain everything will be okay here while I’m gone?”

“For the fiftieth time Y/N, yes. We have everything prepared, our Plants are functioning properly and are well taken care of, and I’m going back into cold sleep until one of you comes back.”

You paced back and forth relentlessly in the Plant room on Home. Luida was patiently watching you from a chair while one of the Plants drifted nearer to you and reached out slowly. Her age was beginning to show now, despite all her years in cold sleep. Her eyes were as lively and warm as ever though, which brought you some comfort. 

“I just… maybe I shouldn’t go after all.”

“You should. A change of scenery would do you some good. And we’re well protected here these days.”

“Trying to get rid of me now? I thought our relationship was stronger than that.”

Luida laughed softly and stood to join you and the Plant. 

“It’s been more than half a century. It’s time you stretch those wings of yours, for more than a short flight around Home.” Her hand landed on your shoulder and you met her gaze. “He’s been out there a long time. He hasn’t forgotten us, so neither will you. It’s not a bad thing to see what else humanity has built here.”

You heaved a sigh and let your forehead press to the cool glass. The Plant pressed her hand to where your head rested and your lines glowed in harmony. 

“It’s just- it’s been so long. I don’t know how to… how to talk to people beyond this place. It’s you or the Worms. That’s my whole life.”

“Hey.” She waited until you wrapped your arms around yourself and spun to rest your back against the glass. “There was something before the Fall, you know. Just because you can’t remember it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. You’ll be okay, Y/N. You always have been.”

Luida always knew what to say. You wished you could have picked up on that after sixty-eight years here. 

“I’ll leave tomorrow. I promise.”

“Good. And you’re welcome back any time, you know this place is home for both of you.”

“I know.” Your voice was barely a whisper, thinking of your Vash. 

He last left five years ago. You were going crazy without him these days. No amount of time spent with Luida, Brad, or the Worms could quiet the storm in your mind. The love of your life was wandering and it made your heart restless. It was time you went out on your own and saw what kept Vash away so much. 

You spent half the night awake in your room once you bid goodnight to Luida. Your bag was packed, unpacked, then repacked again. Your nest was disassembled, then spread all across the room. You just couldn’t hold still. You grabbed one more bag and painstakingly packed up the most important pieces of your nest. 

It took hours to sort through it all. You swept up dozens of your feathers, painstakingly picking out and discarding the oldest ones, before tucking the best of them into the bottom of the bag. Then came an old shirt of Vash’s, adopted into your nest after he tore too big a hole in it to mend. You tossed in a pillow, a spare blanket, and some of the few feathers Vash himself had once sprouted. He’d been horribly embarrassed about it, but you’d just helped him clean them up and then put them deep enough into your nest that he couldn’t complain or insist you remove them. 

By early morning light, you had tortured yourself enough. It was time to leave. You and Luida shared a tearful goodbye as you saddled up a toma before setting off into the desert. Trails of Worms followed you for days, always watching over you at night and guiding you away from danger. It wasn’t so bad for the first few weeks. Lonely, but that was nothing new. 

Then you reached a town. It was small, with no Plants of its own. But the people seemed… happy. There were dozens of children running through the streets shouting excitedly or helping their families tend to their homes. The adults all seemed busy with their lives, no one sparing you more than a glance unless you looked right at them. 

The problem started after you paid a visit to a saloon near the heart of the town, looking to rent a room upstairs. You hadn’t intended to cause any trouble. You just wanted to ask a simple question. But you’d forgotten how little practice you had with people aside from Brad and Luida. 

“Excuse me, sir?”

The bartender turned to face you and immediately tensed up. Your wide, unblinking eyes put him on edge. It didn’t help how your head tilted at him, at such an odd angle. 

“Uh…”

You kept staring, watching as he fumbled to set down the glass he’d been cleaning and missed the countertop, dropping it to the floor and letting it shatter. You didn’t even flinch at the sound, your head tilting the other way to an even more unnatural angle. 

“Uh- sorry, sorry. I, um…” 

He scrambled to clean up the mess as you watched, his hands shaking and nearly catching on the shards of broken glass. That would likely come out of his paycheck. 

“If this is a bad time, I can come back later-”

“No!” He seemed to startle himself that time with his abrupt answer. “I mean- no, that’s alright. What can I- what can I do for you?”

“I’d like to rent a room upstairs, if there’s one available.”

You attempted a smile, with far too sharp of teeth for comfort. Every instinct he had told him not to let you any further into the place than you’d already gotten. If you had a room here, he was sure he’d end up dead. 

“Sorry… there- there’s no space. Sorry.”

You simply shrugged in resignation and stepped back from the bar. 

“Oh, well. Thanks anyway.” 

You tossed a carefree wave over your shoulder and walked back outside. Your toma was waiting patiently for you at the post you’d tied it to. You slipped the rope free and headed for another saloon nearer to the edge of town. While you had no better luck in finding a room to stay in, you did get a very nervous agreement to let you and your toma stay in a spare stall at the stables just next door. 

You quickly assembled your little nest and calmed your toma before drifting off to sleep. Unbeknownst to you, several of the townspeople snuck past, discussing the unnerving new visitor in hushed tones. The bartenders and their patrons spread word quickly, prompting everyone to double check the locks on their doors and windows that night. 

To your disappointment, every town seemed to have a similar reception to you. You really weren’t sure what you were doing wrong. You always smiled wide, held eye contact, and spoke as kindly as you could. Every time though, you were denied room and board. People kept conversations short and hurried off as quickly as possible. After a few months, you gave up on trying to talk to people. 

When you reached new towns, you would keep to the outskirts. You found abandoned houses to nest in. Your toma needed food, so you made a note requesting help that you would hang around its neck and send it towards groups of kids. It worked pretty well most of the time and you avoided attention from the townspeople. 

Over the course of five years, you came across plenty of towns. No adults wanted to talk to you, so you tended to sleep during the day and travel around at night. The Worms would go with you, lifting your toma to ease its load as you flew alongside them. When your toma fell ill and passed, you started traveling lighter. You only really needed clothing and your nesting materials, so you left everything else behind. 

With your distance from the towns you saw, you never heard the stories that were passed around by other travelers. Tales of a figure lurking in the shadows with glowing eyes. Feathers unlike anything anyone had seen before drifting through the air. Farmers swore they’d seen someone floating in the air in their fields. No one had a name for it, but eventually everyone had heard some legend or another. 

The only real interaction you had over the five years came from the more bold children. A few would dare each other to investigate empty houses in the evening light and on occasion, they’d find you. One such occasion came three years into your travels. 

You were fast asleep in your nest when they arrived. Four boys and a girl with a point to prove. She’d begged her brother to let her play with him and his friends, but he always argued that she couldn’t keep up. She insisted she could, so they set her a challenge. 

She crept in through the front door, looking around at the dusty floors and cracked windows. Her every step creaked loudly, the walls moaning in the wind. The boys were all waiting at a distance, pushing each other around and laughing at how scared she would be when she came running back out. 

The ground floor was empty, nothing but some worn down furniture and cobwebs. She carefully ascended the stairs, creaking even louder than the floors. The sound woke you, but you remained still with your guard up. The top floor was smaller than the first, with a simple bathroom and a comfortable bedroom, where you had set up your nest. 

Her steps were slow and deliberate. As she got closer, you could hear her talking to herself, trying to ease her own nerves. 

“There’s nothing here… those stupid boys just want to scare you…”

You curled up and watched through the layers of fabric as she stepped into the room and looked around. Her eyes slowed on the pile of your nest, her body tensing for a moment. 

“It’s just blankets the people left behind. Nothing to be afraid of.”

“You’re half right.”

She screeched as you poked your head up to look at her. You shuffled up to stand, your hands raised in a placating gesture. 

“It’s okay.”

She couldn’t move. Her feet were stuck. She just kept screaming. 

“Please stop that. It’s quite loud.”

The girl ran out of breath and stared at you with tears in her eyes.

How did Vash do this? 

You hunched your shoulders a bit to lower your stature and made a conscious effort to blink more often. You kept your hands up just in case and backed up to give her a little more space. 

“It’s okay, I won't hurt you.”

You sat back down on your nest and hoped she wouldn’t just run off. 

“You… you were in the blankets…”

You shrugged in what you hoped was a carefree manner. 

“It’s my nest, I sleep in it.”

Her brow furrowed. 

“There’s a bed right there.”

She pointed dumbly at the musty old bed against the opposite wall. It likely wouldn’t have supported your weight if you’d even tried it.

“Nests are better. For me, at least.”

“So… you won’t hurt me?”

“Not so much as a hair on your head.”

She relaxed and smiled at you then. You tried to smile back and she cringed. 

“What?”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to have such sharp teeth. Or so many of them.”

Right. Brad had mentioned that before, but it had been so long since you’d thought about it. Your smile got smaller, hiding the extra teeth and their sharpness. 

“That’s better.”

“Can I stand up now? I’ve been curled up all day sleeping.”

The young girl nodded, but still watched you with a small measure of caution as you rose to your feet again. You stayed a little smaller this time. 

“So, what’s your name?”

“I’m Y/N. Are you comfortable telling me your name?”

“I’m Melody.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Melody. Are you here alone? I only ask because I doubt it’s very safe for someone your age to wander around alone. Especially this far from town. I came out here for exactly that reason.”

Melody opened her mouth to answer, then closed it and got a wicked grin on her face. You tilted your head at her in confusion.

“Actually, I have an idea.”

The boys were on edge once Melody screamed. Her brother hadn’t meant for anything bad to happen to her, he just wanted to freak her out enough to make her leave him alone. But she sounded genuinely afraid in there. 

“Uh… Cazin. Is she okay in there?”

“I- I don’t know.”

As the four boys tried to gather their courage, you slipped out of the house and crept closer with Melody watching from the window. Cazin stepped forward to go look for his sister. In the same moment he took the first step, you raised up to your full height with a sinister expression. 

“Looking for someone?”

The boys shrieked and fell backward, all four scrambling to cover themselves on the ground. Melody came out of the house to join you, laughing at her brother’s expense. When Cazin realized what had happened and turned a bitter glare on you both, you broke into an evil laugh, terrifying until you doubled over and wiped tears from your eyes. 

“It doesn’t feel nice when someone scares you on purpose, does it?”

Cazin and his friends at least had the decency to look embarrassed. They grumbled in agreement and took your offered hands to help them up. You spent the rest of the daylight playing around with the children. They all got comfortable quickly enough, even getting as far as encouraging you to stand at your full height. 

They all cringed as you popped all your joints and stood as tall as you could, but shook off the discomfort at the chance to try to climb your back. You let them hang from your arms, gave them rides on your back, and ran back to the edge of town with them as the last rays of sunlight faded. 

You bid them a sweet goodbye, but explained you needed to keep moving. Melody begged you to come back again someday, so you made a promise to do so. You hoped it could happen soon enough for her not to notice how little you would have changed in the time between. After all, those humans could only understand so much when you were so different from them.

[the-and-sign-anon]

The Third Independent: 2

Word Count: 2,618

Series Masterlist

Five Years Post-Fall

Two years passed in a flash. You grew quite attached to Luida, shadowing her most days in your first year, to the confusion of many of the citizens of Ship Three. More often than not, you would visit the Plants after sunset, then drift off to sleep on the floor with Vash on your bed. You never thought to mention how he’d often flop over in the night, one hand falling to dangle off the bed and rest on your nest. 

Brad would teach you what he knew about mechanics, which took weeks of convincing from Luida and Vash. You picked it up fairly quickly though, and it didn’t take long before he was happy to teach you new techniques and even let you handle a few projects yourself. 

You found yourself happy to live on Ship Three. It got a bit lonely when Vash would go on trips with Brad, but you would take those opportunities to visit the Worms again. You’d run off towards the sands, barefoot and grinning like mad, before disappearing into the dunes and lifting up in a cloud of Worms. Luida would occasionally spare a moment to check on you, feeling her heart nearly bursting with joy at seeing you so happy. 

When she gifted Vash his red coat, she visited your room next to give you a gift of your own. It was a lovely coat as well, an almost mesmerizing shade of green that reminded you of your beloved Worm companions. You couldn’t begin to guess where she could have gotten something like this, but you gripped it tight and thanked her profusely regardless before sitting in your room to admire it for an hour.

You were just heading for Vash’s room to show him your coat when he burst out and ran past you. 

“Vash?”

“I have to go. Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

“You don’t intend to come back… do you?”

He spared you a deeply pained look that rooted you to the spot. You were as spirited as they came and no one could ever seem to keep you still for long. Vash was the exception.

“I’m leaving a note. It’ll explain things.”

“What am I supposed to do…?”

He lunged forward to give you a crushing hug. 

“You’ll be fine. Look after them for me?”

You nodded into his shoulder and watched him go, your new coat dangling from your hand. What could have gone so wrong?

You couldn’t just stand there, so you deferred to what you always did. You ran through the halls to the front doors and launched yourself into the sands. Your coat fell to the ground just past the doors as the Worms swept up around you and fluttered excitedly. They always seemed happy to see their old companion again. 

Luida felt a jolt of fear when she found Vash’s room empty, followed by yours. Brad tried to be the optimistic one for once, suggesting you might have gone for a walk together or visited the Plant room. That hope was quickly squashed by a more thorough check of the rooms, which turned up Vash’s letter. Brad promised to search the entirety of Home for you while Luida set off to bring Vash back. 

Luida stopped at the doors when she saw your coat, slowly picking it up and shaking off the sand. She looked around at the dunes, then darted towards a swarm of Worms. She knew this probably made her look crazy, and she felt a little crazy, but she had to try. 

“Worms! I need to find Y/N! Where did they go?!”

The Worms simply kept buzzing around. 

“Please! If you can understand me at all… I need to find them.”

A few more moments. Then one Worm broke off from the swarm and landed on her shoulder. 

“They’re with your kind, aren’t they?”

The Worm hovered in front of her, then flew towards another dune. She took off to follow it, scrambling through the loose sands until she heard your voice. Vash had mentioned a song you sang, but she’d never heard it herself. From what he could describe, it always seemed to come from within you. Brad just brushed it off as a Plant thing and figured the humans would never hear it. 

Now though…

Your voice was soft, barely rising over the winds. Luida had never heard a tune quite like it before. It felt like a privilege to hear it, as if humans weren’t worthy of such a deep, hallowed song. She took care in her approach, trudging through the sands and quietly making her presence known. 

Your song stopped when she sat down beside you. Your shoulders were shaking and more than a dozen little Worms were settled on your limbs as if to comfort you. 

“He… he left. He said we Independents need to stick together.”

Luida put a hand on your shoulder. 

“We’re going to get him back. Do you think you can help me find him? Then we’ll bring him home and figure this all out together.”

You nodded firmly, drying your tears and following Luida to the toma stable. You each saddled one and took off. Your pull to Vash led the way across the dunes. Worms seemed to follow as well, creating trails of light as you rode.

It was intimidating to find the city of JuLai. While you’d grown accustomed to the people of Home, this was humanity on a much larger scale. You wrapped yourself tight in your coat and kept your head low as you approached the Plant facility. There were screams. Like you’d never heard before. 

Or… perhaps you had.

“Luida…”

You stopped and clutched your head, the screams of dozens of Plants echoing in your mind.

Luida pulled to a stop beside you and leaned over to place her hands atop yours.

“Y/N, what’s happening?”

You whimpered and shut your eyes tight. 

“They’re dying… the Plants are dying…”

The moment it stopped, your head shot up and you glared straight ahead.

“They killed them.”

You pushed forward with Luida close behind. Your toma stuttered to a stop as you leapt off it and sprinted into the facility. Luida ran to join you as Vash came into view. 

“Vash!”

He whirled around to look at you and Luida. A boy nearly identical to him stood on the catwalk, along with a man you didn’t know. There were bodies strewn about and the walls had grown dark. The Plants had died here. 

“Luida?!”

You stepped closer as the man recognized your caretaker. Vash held a gun that the other boy was pushing into his hands. 

“Vash… what’s going on?”

“Who is this?”

The strange boy turned his glare on you, then his eyes softened. Your lines flashed for a second and his did the same. 

“A third Independent.”

You both drew back as you spoke in unison. You didn’t like this. This boy… the blood splattered across his skin and clothes…

“Vash, we need to go Home. I don’t like this place…”

“We’re here to get you back, Vash.”

Luida rested her hand on your shoulder again and the boy’s expression twisted into a disgusted glare. 

“Ah. A perfect opportunity.” Vash looked terrified as the boy came closer still. “Let her be the first casualty in our crusade, brother. Show me what you can do.”

Your eyes were fixed on Vash. Your inner song echoed in his head as he thought of all his brother had already done; what he had yet to do. All he wanted in that moment was to sink into your song and disappear.

“What’s wrong? Do it already, Vash.”

“Vash…”

You nudged Luida back, keeping her safely tucked behind you. Nai wouldn’t have recognized it, but a fire lit in your eyes as Vash stared in horror at the gun in his hands. 

Nai scoffed and grabbed the weapon. 

“All this time and you’re still useless without me.”

He raised the gun to aim it at Luida. Your family. Your home.

“Stop.”

It happened in the blink of an eye. With a horrifying symphony of cracking bones and popping joints, your figure grew. You stood in a new, monstrous form, nearly eight feet tall and covered in snowy white feathers. For the first time since she’d known you, Luida remembered how much further from human you were than Vash.

Your hands had extended, forming razor sharp claws that itched to tear into Vash’s brother. Your eyes were narrowed into a glare as you took a firm step forward. You wouldn’t let him hurt her. Not like he’d hurt those men behind him. 

“Incredible. Vash… you truly found another of our kin.”

“We are not like you. Step back.”

You dropped to stand on all fours, your feathers ruffling as two sets of wings tucked into your sides. 

“You’re exactly like me, Independent. We can cleanse this world together and free our fellow Plants from these disgusting humans. They can never hurt us again!”

You growled; a low, guttural sound that set off alarm bells in Luida’s head even knowing you were only protecting her. 

Nai’s hands grew into blades, prepared to fight even his own kind to get his brother on his side. Just before he could lunge at you, Vash tackled him from behind. The twins struggled on the catwalk, the gun sliding away, before Nai planted his foot on Vash’s chest and kicked him away. 

Vash hit the railing and slumped down. You wasted no time in leaping at Nai. He evaded you, but it wasn’t as easy as it usually was. He’d never had to fight another Independent before, let alone one in such a beastly state. You swiped at him left and right, your claws catching on his blades. 

“I won’t let you hurt them!”

“And I can’t let them hurt Plants! Look at what they’ve already done!”

You swung at him again and nearly caught him, but he dropped back and snatched up the gun again, pointing it straight at your head. 

With heaving breaths from your panic, you stopped. Brad had shown you before what a gun could do. 

“Nai… stop, please…”

Vash struggled to his feet. As terrifying as the Big Fall had been, his time as a prisoner on Ship Three, the bodies at the crash site; he’d never been more afraid than watching you stare down the barrel of a gun wielded by his brother. 

“Nai, please.”

He couldn’t describe the feeling that came over him. With a start, he looked down at his left arm. There was a swirling dark space forming. 

“-Is this me?!”

You dug your nails into the metal floor, trying to keep from being sucked in as the man with Nai grabbed hold of the railing to avoid the same fate. The bodies of the people Nai had killed were sucked off the floor and straight into the black hole as Vash’s eyes filled with fear.

“What is this?! A Gate?!”

You tried to call out to Vash, to calm him and help him stop whatever was happening, but Nai moved first. He let the vortex suck him in close to his brother before swinging with one blade and slicing his brother’s arm clean off. The black hole pulled the severed arm in on itself and disappeared, leaving the facility in eerie silence. You got back to your feet and moved toward Vash, quickly trying to pull him away and shield him from his brother. 

“Stay away from him!”

“He’s my brother, you can’t take him from me!!”

You growled again and wrapped your wings around the injured Plant. Luida came to his side and tried to stop the bleeding.

“I won’t let you hurt him any further. Stay away.”

Nai desperately moved his head to catch a glimpse of his brother between the feathers protecting him. Vash’s eyes were filled with pain and fear and tears. Nai pulled back and got to his feet as the man approached him. 

“Fine. I can be patient. In a century or so, I’ll have built a world of Plants. And when I do… then you’ll understand. Both of you.”

He swept out of the facility with the man following close behind as Luida ripped up Vash’s cloak and tied it around his injured arm. You felt your feathers shed, falling to the floor around you as you shrank back down to your natural height. 

None of you spoke more than necessary as you helped Vash out to the tomas. Luida settled on one and you held Vash in place on the other. Despite his grief, it occurred to him that you held him so much more easily than he’d ever held you. 

When your battered trio returned to Home, Brad was waiting for you. You cleaned up the tomas and settled them in their stables while the adults helped Vash to the medical bay. By the time you joined them, Vash was fast asleep. You slipped back to your room, grabbed the blankets and pillows available to you, and nested on the floor just beside his cot. 

In the morning, Luida pulled you aside to talk. 

“I know there’s a lot I don’t know about Plants, and especially Independents…”

You didn’t want to try to finish her sentence. You just kept your eyes down as you fiddled with the collar of your oversized coat. 

“Y/N, what was that? At that Plant facility… you changed. Can you… do that at any time?”

You shrugged. 

“I can’t remember… but I think I’ve done it before. Maybe. It didn’t feel like something new.”

“Did… did it hurt?”

You shook your head. 

“No, it felt… I don’t know. Like I was just acting without thinking. Like instinct I guess. I just didn’t want you or Vash to get hurt.” You sighed disappointedly and curled in on yourself. “Lot of good that did.”

Luida pulled you into her arms. Even after two years, you didn’t often touch anyone. Vash was the most common one, with occasional hugs and tugging each other by the hand to look at something. Luida had only hugged you once or twice before, otherwise limiting herself to short touches on your shoulder to avoid discomfort. 

This hug felt like home. Like safety and peace. 

“It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t.”

You buried your face in her shoulder and took deep breaths to stay focused. Vash would be okay. He was alive and back home. Luida was safe and unharmed. That was all you could hope for right now. 

You went to visit Vash together. He was healing quickly, as Independents tended to do. Brad reasoned he could get working on a prosthetic for him in a few weeks if he kept going at the same pace. That offered Vash some small comfort it seemed. 

For the following several months, you rarely left his side. Vash healed from his wounds. Brad (with some help from you) built him a prosthetic arm and helped him learn to use it. You took him out on small excursions to check on surrounding Plants and interact with the Worms. He never asked about the strange form you took that fateful day, but you knew he was curious. You knew Vash himself and even Nai had never taken a form like that. 

You wanted to offer him answers, and you would when you had some to give. But that would require understanding where you came from. What ship you’d been on, who must have raised you before the Fall. What exactly happened to them when everything came crashing down. 

That wasn’t a door you were ready to open just yet.

[the-and-sign-anon]

The Third Independent: 1

Word count: 2,910

Series Masterlist

Vash the Stampede x Independent Plant! Reader

Three Years Post-Fall

You couldn’t really remember the Big Fall, but you would never forget the fear of hiding in the desert afterward. You always got a sickening feeling when you saw the humans, traveling between settlements armed to the teeth. Every instinct you had told you to run, to hide, to make sure no one and nothing could hurt you. 

For a time, that worked out. You watched from the dunes as Plants were discovered and used for their power, helping the humans scrounge up some kind of living. The Worms were your friends for a time; they seemed to enjoy the way you sat in silence most days, occasionally humming a song as old as your soul. If pressed, you could never say where it came from, but it was seared into your mind forever, so you taught it to the Worms and let the deserts of Noman’s Land sing like your people. 

The first time you allowed yourself true curiosity with the humans was when you spotted a pair riding tomas in the fading daylight. Something in you reached out, almost calling to them. For just a moment, one of the figures reacted, pulling their mount to a short stop as their head swiveled every which way. You ducked down behind the dunes, one hand over your chest as if to calm your racing heart. 

Despite your better judgment, you peeked back out at them after a minute, finding them moving once more, albeit at a slower pace. You followed for hours, brushing off the bugs that tried to shuffle you away. You’d made up your mind and you intended to find out what these humans were doing. 

As the stars lit up the sky and the desert wind grew cold, you focused in on the increasingly loud song of another Plant. How the humans had figured out how to follow one, you had no clue. But that was exactly where they were headed. You hopped along from dune to dune, ducking down whenever one of the humans looked around. Eventually, you took a chance and got close enough to catch a few words exchanged between them. 

“Kid, you’re freaking me out again. Quit doing that.”

“I’m telling you Brad, there’s something out there.”

“Yeah. Worms. And if we keep stopping every time you think you feel something, they’ll eat us.”

You scoffed softly despite yourself. The Worms just wanted food, same as anyone. Except you, which you supposed you were grateful for. Food was hard to come by out here, especially when hiding between slowly growing towns. It was a lonely existence, but not a starving one at least. 

The ‘kid’ whirled around to look in your direction and you dropped down to the sand once more. You cursed yourself for being so brazen and prayed that he’d just keep moving. After a few moments of silence, you slowly got to your feet and started moving again. If these humans were headed for a Plant, you wanted to know exactly what they intended to do with it. So you focused your mind on the voice and followed as quickly and discreetly as you could manage. 

The Plant you found was alone. There was no town, no bustling settlement. Just a few chunks of a fallen ship half buried in the sand. You crept in, your bare feet sliding silently across the unfamiliar, smooth metal. The old signs of humans felt wrong somehow, a broken reminder of what your people had been through in the Big Fall. It made your heart ache, even though you still couldn’t remember a thing about your own experience. 

When you reached the Plant, you dropped to your knees and pressed your forehead to the glass. Everything in you sang with joy at seeing one of your own kind for the first time you could actually remember. Your hands pressed to the glass as well and you couldn’t have fought off the tears if you’d tried. Your blurred vision lit up blue as your own Plant lines appeared in response to the Plant inside. 

You weren’t sure how long you’d been there when the humans arrived. Brad led the way, keeping a sharp eye out for any danger. His charge followed with a furrowed brow, trying to sort out what the strange feeling here was. He was about to mention it to Brad again when they reached you and the Plant. 

Vash was quick to grab Brad’s gun and lower it when he pointed it at you. While he usually deferred to Brad, he gave a firm shake of his head this time and stepped forward. His clunky boots gave him away as he watched your shoulders tense up. 

“If you’re here to hurt them, I won’t let you.”

He raised his hands slowly and Brad grudgingly stepped back. 

“The last thing we want is to hurt a Plant.”

You slowly rose to your feet, your lines lighting up the space around you. Vash, had he not known any better, could have sworn you were an angel. He was sure his lines never looked quite like that. He kept his hands up and offered his most well meaning smile. 

“We’re here to catalog them, then try to get them somewhere safer.”

You tilted your head and waited for him to explain. 

“They… they won’t make it much longer alone. You can hear it too, can’t you?” You nodded just slightly. “There’s a settlement nearby that could use another Plant.. and this one could clearly use some humans.”

His words rang true to you, though you weren’t entirely sure why. As far as you knew, you didn’t need humans. You’d never even been this close to them in what you could remember of your life. So why did other Plants need them?

“... You’re a Plant too… aren’t you?”

He obviously knew the answer, but he was trying to gauge if you knew it. You didn’t seem to realize he was, despite his clear connection to the other Plants. When you took half a step back and pressed your back to the glass, he motioned for Brad to give you a little extra space as he circled around to reach another side of the glass. Once he was close enough, he reached out a hand and felt his own lines begin to glow. 

Your eyes widened in surprise, shimmering with more tears as your lines grew brighter. The Worms spoke to you in their own way, telling you stories of the humans, but they’d never told you there were others like you. You’d never let yourself dream that there could be. 

“You…”

“I’m what’s called an Independent. That’s what you are, too. Why don’t you come with us? You can help us take this Plant to their new home.”

Brad tried to protest, then thought better of it. If Luida’s stray wanted to pick up his own stray, there was little he could do about that right now. 

“What will happen to them?”

“They’ll live longer than if we don’t move them. They’ll be with another Plant too, so they won’t have to be alone anymore. And the humans will take good care of them.”

You’d never allowed yourself to get too close to the humans for fear of them attacking what they wouldn’t understand, but if this other Plant- this Independent- trusted them, then maybe you could too. Just when Vash worried you might put up a fight or run off, you nodded softly and locked eyes with him. 

“I will accompany the Plant, Independent.”

He smiled sweetly and scratched the back of his neck. 

“You can just call me Vash.”

You nodded firmly and looked over to Brad.

“And the human?”

“That’s Brad. He’s safe, you can trust him.”

“I will trust you, Vash.”

With that, you helped take hold of the Plant and rig it to be pulled by the tomas. You declined the offer to ride with Vash, opting instead to run alongside the Plant itself. Dozens of bugs fluttered along with you, bobbing up and down and circling around your new companions as well. 

It took more than an hour to reach the town, but you were only a bit winded when you all arrived. Brad led the way, the tomas moving at a much slower pace as the handful of townspeople awake at such an hour parted to make space. You trailed behind, watching your surroundings with a critical eye. Vash nearly veered of course as he continuously looked back at you, taking in your bare feet and tattered clothing. Brad had to lean over and lightly smack his arm to get his attention. 

“Quit staring at them, kid. Someone might get the impression you’re interested in them.”

Vash looked at him with one brow raised. 

“I am interested in them. Since the crash, I haven’t seen another Independent. They’re the first one in five years. Who wouldn’t be interested?”

Brad chuckled despite himself and shook his head. Leave it to the plant boy to misunderstand him. He eased the tomas to a stop when they reached the plant room and dismounted. You kept a hand on the Plant as Vash removed the ropes keeping it in place and Brad talked with another man. You ignored the conversation and opted to stare at Vash instead. 

You weren’t entirely sure why you hadn’t understood immediately what he was when you first saw him. As you studied his features in the starlight and scarce lamps in town, you felt the same pull to him that you’d always felt when you neared Plants. Though he could hide it from humans, you could faintly see his Plant lines regardless of his current focus. 

His hands were calloused, a worker’s hands. You could appreciate that, finding another similarity between you. The clothing he wore looked a bit large on him; not that you were one to talk. You quickly figured you would have an easier time hiding in the sand if you had clothing to match, so you’d dug around a few crash sites in your time. It saddened you to steal from corpses, but they weren’t using anything anymore. So you’d adopted loose tan pants, a dirty -possibly once white- tank top, and a piece of rope to act as a belt when your first one wore out. 

Vash couldn’t focus properly on his work with you looking at him like that. Brad, in their earlier days together, had made comments about the Independent seeming creepy. Luida always told him Brad was just being rude for no reason, but if he looked the way you did, then Vash could understand where the man was coming from. 

Your eyes were large, almost unsettlingly so. You didn’t seem to blink as often as the humans did, allowing you to focus more intently on things that caught your interest. Like Vash. While he worked, you stood stock still, almost like a predator watching its prey. Your chest didn’t even seem to move as you breathed, not that he was observing you that closely on purpose. 

None of the humans moved to approach you, having been told firmly by Brad not to do so. He didn’t know exactly where you’d come from or how long you might have been with this Plant, so he wasn’t in the mood to risk anyone getting hurt. Vash motioned for you to follow them all inside, which you slowly did. Brad and the humans got to work preparing the Plant to be set up properly while you and Vash both placed a hand on the glass and appeared to… connect with it. He’d never quite get used to seeing that. 

By morning light, you were ready to go. You unabashedly cried when you had to say goodbye to the Plants. Brad would have been content enough to let you stay there if you were so fond of them, but Vash spared him a pleading look and invited you to join them at their ship without waiting for an answer from him. 

You thought about it at the edge of town, bugs fluttering around you as you dug one heel into the sand. With a spark of something Brad considered dangerous and Vash considered exciting, you agreed. After some convincing, you let Vash hoist you up onto his toma before settling behind you. His arms were slow to move on either side of you, extra conscious of your personal space, but you didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. 

Brad led the way back to Ship Three. It was a bit of a long journey, but he didn’t mind the silence that settled when you fell asleep. Vash was a bit panicked when it happened, trying to keep you from sliding off the toma without waking you as he wrapped his arms tighter around you. Your head rolled back and rested on one of his shoulders, leaving him as tense as he’d been in months. You stayed that way for nearly an hour before Brad brought the little troop to a stop and helped Vash rearrange you. He ended up dealing with you himself, making a simple little harness to keep you at his back so Vash could relax again. 

You slept for nearly an entire day, waking up halfway to Ship Three. When you blinked your eyes open and looked around, Brad stopped again for a short meal break. Something flashed in Vash’s eyes when you declined the food they offered, explaining that you didn’t need to eat. You were engrossed enough in talking to Brad that you missed the mourning in his gaze. 

When you finally reached the ship, Brad led the way in and straight to Luida. He grumbled at the look in her eyes, wishing he hadn’t let you come along with them if it meant her treating him like a softie. She offered you the room beside Vash’s and a cleaner set of clothes. You looked so out of place there, among metal and humans and artificial light. 

That first night, as Vash lay in his bed trying to sleep, he heard your voice. At first, it was a faint murmuring. Then it grew, slow and steady, to a song. He shot upright, his heart seizing in recognition. Vash carefully got to his feet and slipped through his door to stand in front of yours. After a moment of hesitation, he opened it, only to find your bed empty. He listened closer and turned, moving down the halls. 

You were standing in the Plant room, your hands pressed to the glass. Your lines were glowing again, making your messy hair look ethereal in his eyes. He slowly approached, feeling his own lines activate as he came within a few feet of you. When you spoke to him, the song seemed to continue, and it occurred to him later that it wasn’t coming from you, but from your very soul.

“Good evening, Independent Vash.”

“You should probably get some rest. It’s really late.”

“My sister was calling. I wanted to see her.”

You lowered to your knees, then sat cross legged. Your hands slowly withdrew from the glass, but your lines didn’t even dim. 

“How long have you been with these humans?”

“About three years. Brad and I spend a lot of time away though, finding the Plants.”

You digested that and let your eyes flicker to him for just a moment. 

“You are fond of them? The humans?”

“...I am. They help our kind live, just as much as we help them.”

“I haven’t met a live human before… I’ve always kept my distance.”

“You were on another ship, right? Do you remember which one?”

“The oldest thing I can remember is waking up in the dunes surrounded by the Worms. They taught me how to survive, helped me find a few wrecks to search for clothing. I don’t even know how I know I’m not human.”

Vash wasn’t quite sure what to do with you. You deserved to have people who loved you. You deserved a safe place to call home. But you didn’t even have childhood memories to look back on like he did. 

“We should really go to bed.”

“I don’t like my room. It’s too quiet. And empty.”

Right. You lived with the worms. Wherever you went, there were thousands of them you could connect with. It’s likely you’d never been this alone before.

Vash offered you a hand, which you took with a quizzical expression. He led you back to your rooms, then went into his without a word. Just when you were ready to turn and go back to the Plants, he returned with his blanket and pillow.

“Let’s have a sleepover. I can sleep on the floor in your room. If it helps, then we can take turns moving forward.”

You followed him into your room, completely barren and sterile. No wonder you weren’t comfortable there. To Vash’s surprise, you swiftly grabbed your blanket and pillow, then flopped down on the floor where your old clothes rested and made yourself a little nest. 

“You take the bed. I like the ground.”

You left no room for argument, instead tucking your head down and shutting your eyes. Vash tentatively walked around you and laid down on your bed. He tried to stay awake until he knew you were resting, but he drifted off quickly at the sound of your inner song.