Tempest Wind (Vash x F!Reader)

Ray of Hope

You had promised to hold on, that's all that matters to Vash. If you keep fighting, he will find a solution, he will save you. On that night, he kept you lucid for as long as he could, even at the expense of his sleep, but in the end, you still slipped away. On occasions when you are with him again, he cherishes those times and does everything he can to prolong them. Life seems so normal and so simple in those moments, if only they could last forever. Vash spends as much time in towns and settlements as he can, part of it is because it's convenient for gearing up; there are also moments of action for you, the adrenaline wakes your brain; and all in all, it provides you with more mental stimuli than the empty desert.

Vash looks over to your sleeping figure in the bed. You had fallen asleep at the table, your head slipped off your hand it was resting on, hitting the table with a thump. If you were anybody else, this would have made him laugh and think it was adorable, but in your case, it brought fourth chills. He had come over to you and gently picked you up to carry you into bed. Luckily, you had already changed out of your travel clothes, so all that was left to do was tuck you in. You seem so peaceful laying there, but Vash's heart grows heavy.

He has his little radio on the table, his mind is too filled with worry to sleep. His nightmares have grown even more frequent than before. It is all a bit too much, and tonight he has decided to occupy himself by listening to the radio, not daring to fall asleep before he absolutely has to. He turns the dial of the radio slowly, searching for different channels, most of it is static, occasionally he comes across religious propaganda, other times there is music.

As he keeps scrolling through the channels, he comes across one playing decent music, but he still almost moved on before the male voice caught his attention after the melodies died down:

Good evening. You're listening to November Public Broadcasting Satellite News...

He removes his hand. In his mind, it is good to keep up with what's overall happening, but his mind wanders off again when there's nothing really new that is being reported. Just more robberies of different kinds, some escaped inmates, and overall, a ton of new bounties. He is barely listening by the end of it, but then...

Next up, the weather forecast for the Seven Cities. A large sandstorm has been observed to move east from Witches End, with the current trajectory barely missing the Seventh City, September. The intensity of the storm is approximated at about a six, citizens in the affected areas are advised to take precautions, and the warning goes out to a larger area as the storm seems to be moving erratically. We will keep you updated on the progression of it. Since large scale Plant failures are to be expected during the storm, the November City government asks anyone in the danger zone to stay indoors, avoid travel, and keep a 3 day stockpile of food and water on hand.

The idea hit him like a truck. How did he not think about this before? He feels so stupid. He had been too consumed with your condition, feeling like he had to do everything himself, thinking the burdens of the world are his alone. It appears like his luck has changed, not only did he receive a ray of hope, but if what he suspects is true, then Home is heading towards him.

Vash's head is racing as he tries to piece together a plan. He can't be absolutely sure that the storm is indeed Home; he has a bit of trouble believing they would come this close to a large settlement, possibly troubling the little towns and villages around September, but perhaps they have a reason for that. He rushes over to his coat and takes out his little radio transmitter. He tinkers around with it a bit, connecting it to the radio and moving dials, trying to catch anything that would alert him to the third ship heading this way. Despite his efforts, he didn't pick anything up, his call was not returned, but all hope is not lost considering you are on the far northern side of September. Vash avoided the large town itself and instead circled it, moving from village to village with you.