How far is Eden?

By Yma

Over 100 years ago…

            The desert stretches out in front of them, behind them, around them. A blazing carpet of sand and rocks and wind and dust. Heat soaks the air, the suns above showing no mercy, no compassion; they paint the world in ruddy red and sickly yellow. Water exists, though precious little. He is good at finding it, however, as is his brother. They wander through the eternal sands, periodically stopping off at any oasis they find, before moving on again. They've not been long upon this world, these two children, who are even younger than they look, yet already their legs ache, their skin burns, and their lips crack.

            'Knives,' asks one, his voice unsure, a little whiney, 'where are we going?'

            'Eden,' replies the other, after giving it a few moments thought, his voice is full of authority.

            'How far is Eden?' asks the first boy, something in his tone carries a streak of bitterness, a tinge of incredulity.

            Young Knives ponders the question, considering it from every angle. How far is it to Eden? What time, what distance, what road must be taken to that Promised Land? The land of Love and Peace.

            He does not answer his brother that day. Or for many, many days after it.

            It will be a question that plagues him for the span of a century.

Truck Lode of notes:

            Sorry about these but they're probably necessary. I'll mention them all now so as to get them out of the way.

            1: Disclaimer: Trigun isn't mine; I'm just borrowing it to play with for a bit, no harm in that, right? This disclaimer applies not only to this chapter, but to all those following it. Understand? Good. Now we've got that sorted…

            2: What's this about? Well, yes, it's another Knives story, but hopefully it's one that focuses more on a psychological angle than a romantic and/or action angle. I hope this makes it original enough that people will be interested… Some of the chapters may be a little short, but they will get longer. I promise.

            3: I'm badly Dyslexic and I have no Beta reader. The result of this is that, whilst I DO use a spell checker and I DO re-read my work, I slip up too. If you notice any consistent spelling errors, let me know. Thank you. On that same line, I'm a little unsure of what the possessive of Knives is, (i.e. Knives's book vs. Knives' book) I've decided on the latter option and shall follow it throughout the story. Apologies if it's incorrect, but it seemed to be what my creative writing lecturer thought was right.

            4: All other notes shall be placed at the bottom of the page. Readers who leave reasonable reviews shall also be replied in this area. One warning, however, my replies will presume you've read the chapter they're in. I.e. A review to chapter 5 will be at the bottom of chapter 6 and will presume you've read chapter 6. Just warning you against spoilers. As ever all reviews are beloved, welcome, and begged for. If I get no reviews I will dump this story, so if you read and like, PLEASE let me know!

            5: Like the spelling, let me know of any cannon problems with this story, e.g. if I've spelt GunSmoke wrong and so forth, I'll do what I can to amend it in later chapters.

            6: Oh, and this is written in present tense. I don't know why, I just wanted to give it a go. Sorry if it bothers.

            7: This story is PG13, though there may be a couple of times when it does push slightly onto the R section, though not by much. If this bothers anyone I'll happily give warning when those sections are coming up. There's some swearing, but nothing worse than is on the actual show itself I don't think.

            Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy the story.