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Far off in the deep, dark abyss of space, the final frontier, a fleet of ships floated about. Each ship had the word "SEEDS" on their hulls. One rather large vessel leaded in front of the others. That one ship was the only one with activity, and the base for Project Seeds. It's active crew consisted of seven persons, two of whom were just young boys.
The two young twins, jackrabbits, played about while the rest of the crew gathered data on a planet that they were approaching. There was the captain, Joey, a strong tiger, and thoughtful, quite adept at logic. There was also Steve, a gorilla of a person, and Rowan, an intelligent monkey. Both were technicians, being good with their hands, they helped keep the plants in working condition. There were also two females in the crew, Mary, a mink, who both Steve and Rowan liked. And finally, there was Rem, a snow white bunny with long, black hair, the mother figure of the crew. It was Rem who the boys grew most attached to. Maybe because she was a good teacher for them, and she was willing to spend time with them as they grew. Nah! She just enjoyed having fun with them! Picnics, games, they almost lived in the recreation room. There they learned about all the little insects and arachnids and why they were inferior creatures, for they had not yet developed into humanoid-type creatures. They also learned about the life and significance of trees, as without trees and other plants, no other life could exist. But what did this mean to two young jackrabbits? Whatever it meant would not matter later on. --- "What are you doing here?! This is a restricted area!" Steve kicked at the lighter-haired jackrabbit, "Get out of here, Knives! Before I have to beat you again!" The gorilla gave the boy a smirk, almost challenging him to retaliate. Knives hopped out of Steve's reach. Was Rem the only nice member of the crew? He limped out of the room and out of Steve's view. All of the crew members had looked upon him and his brother with fear at one point or another. Except for Rem. "She must be some freak of nature..or a really good actor." His brow furrowed more than one of his age should. "I hate them. They're not like you or me, Vash.." --- Back on the main deck Rowan sat at a screen, involved in his work, monkey tail curled around his chair in concentration. "What's up, Rowan??" Mary popped up behind him as silently as any member of the weasel family can. "AHH! Don't break my concentration, Mary!" Rowan didn't even look at her, "I've almost got this finished..." "You're on level 35 of Pong?" Mary raised a brow, "Rowan, you need a life." --- Later that evening the crew sat down for dinner. The twins donning new haircuts, making it easier to tell them apart. Knives with a short, choppy haircut, and Vash with a spikey do. Rem said Vash's new hairstyle reminded her of her dead boyfriend. Kind of creepy if you ask me. To this day, no one is sure just how Vash's hair can stand up like a porcupine's. The usual foods and beverages were laid out on the table. Vash devoured a bunch of carrot-flavoured donuts, while Knives enjoyed a mug of coffee, dipping his own donut in it to absorb the liquid. They all chatted, about what was to come in the future, whether this planet they found was suitable for all the people that the SEEDS ships carried around in chrono freeze. Rem wanted more than anything for the planet to have flowers, red flowers, like the geraniums she loved so much. Steve sat away from the group, glaring at the twins any chance he got. He detested the monsters. They had grown so much in one year, were learning how to do all the technical jobs he could do, and they probably had a bigger vocabulary. He scoffed at them, "How can you eat with those freaks?" The large gorilla chugged down a beer, slowly losing grasp on his concept of reality. "C'mon, Mary, let's ditch these guys and have some fun!" "I don't think so, Steve." Mary didn't even look at Steve. Her bottle-bushy tail shook as her eyes gave off a hint of fear. Rowan's gazed pierced at the larger primate. Knives watched it all carefully. "Ah, fine then! But don't say I didn't warn you. Those two will be the death of us yet." And with that, Steve retreated to his room. "Why must Steve be so mean like that, Rem?" Vash peered about at his mother-figure, searching for an answer. Knives replied first. "He's scared." He smiled. --- Everything else that followed seemed to happen too fast for Vash to handle. He noticed his brother had disappeared, but didn't give it much thought as he was spending time with his favorite person. Rem as usual was teaching Vash more and more about the world and people he was so curious about. And then something more curious happened. Steve was being accused of rape. There was no means for a trial, no matter how much Rem protested. It was Rowan and Mary against Steve. Two against one. The crew could not have this trouble if it was to function properly. So Steve was sent to be frozen. Later on, while Rem was trying to explain everything to Vash and Knives on the way to the galley for some carrot-flavoured donuts, their attention was grabbed by a not-so-comforting sound. A gun had been fired in a nearby airlock. That's when everything went way too fast for Vash to grasp. Mary laid dead at Rowan's feet, her fur matted with splotches of blood. Rowan held out the gun, still in an offensive mode, his pupils dialated, his voice trembling, explaining some sick and twisted form of justice that twirled about in his mind. Vash didn't understand. Everyone was so happy a few hours ago! What was going on? And then Rowan aimed at the boys, the two jackrabbits too petrified to move. Rem blocked the way, her ears straight up, determination showing in all parts of her character as she confronted Rowan. Joey called out on the intercom, trying to figure out what was going on. In a panic, and in fear that Rowan would harm Rem, he opened the airlock. It was the last choice he'd ever make. Knives would see to that. Upon the ships instructions mysteriously being set for a destination of the planet they had been researching on, the three long-eared mammals made a run for the escape pods. But something was still wrong. Rem could sense it. The twins were sent off in the escape pod, while Rem went back to check on Joey. It was the last time Vash ever saw Rem. But he would never, never forget her. And he would never, everforget the tragedy that was spawned by his own brother. Knives. |