Alright, so this is my very first Saiyuki fic. I hope it goes pretty far, although the time I can spend on it will probably be at odd hours of the night. Oh well. At least I get time to do it. I'm thinking I already know the pairing, and one of my OTHER fics gives the pairing quite clearly in the intro. So look elsewhere. XD
"We cannot banish dangers, but we can banish fears. We must not demean life by standing in awe of death."
-David Sarnoff
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Summer heat. Why was it always summer here? Well, whenever he decided to awaken to the seasons, that is. Sanzo leaned back into the stiff car seat, his neck's uncomfortable twitching telling him he had stayed in one position too long. Perhaps to feign sleep again, to keep the others from asking him petty questions and bothering him. They always bickered in quieter tones when he pretended to sleep, as if knowing, within the deep of their animal instincts, that to awaken the priest was to die a horrible death.
It seemed ironic that his companions were all demons. What the gods had in store for them he couldn't even fathom. But he knew that having others on this journey with him, regardless of his own complaints, was a safer gamble than going India alone. And he wasn't a gambler, not in the physical sense of the word, no.
The dust flung itself across their path, the desert sands offering no shade or comfort. Hakyruu's wheels rumbled over the rough and uneven ground, and even Gojyo and Goku quieted down after ten minutes of over-exertion. There was no way they were going to sweat themselves into a coma over some stupid, childish argument... as of right now, of course.
Sanzo opened one eye, the sliver of deep purple barely visible in the sand-washed air. Hakkai was gently talking, his soothing voice barely audible over the loud engine of the dragon-turned-vehicle. The red-haired kappa hung over his seat, curtains of crimson framing and covering his angular face. He was listening and responding to Hakkai's voice, but about what he couldn't decipher.
Goku sat in the back, obviously not content over staring at his usual back-seat compatriate's rear for such a long time. However, the heat seemed to even cast it's spell over the energetic little monkey, and his uttering of "I'm hungry," had long ceased to trickle through the air.
Sanzo closed his eye again, the dust squirming through his long, soft lashes and brushing harshly at the parts of his eye he didn't want touched. If they didn't get out of this desert soon, they'd have to stop for the night out here. And where there was flat, open spaces, there were surely enemies watching.
"Sanzo." The voice was soft, almost hesitant. Hakkai hazarded a glance at him, green eyes lidded from the sun. "I don't think there's any town to stop at nearby, not within a couple hundred miles. The sun will be setting sooner than we think, and I'm guessing we'll have to stop out here tonight. Of course, if that's alright with you."
"I don't care. Make up your own decisions, I'm not spending any quality time with you three regardless of where we stop."
"It's not that, it's just that-" Hakkai was easily drowned out as Gojyo spoke up, his voice hoarse from the lack of water and incessant smoking.
"We need water, Sanzo, and we're in a bind tonight unless we get it." A satisfied look on his face, the man collapsed back into the seat next to Goku, waiting for the monk to retaliate with his stinging tongue as was the norm in the party.
Sanzo opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it with an audible sigh. They needed water. The supplies were dangerously low, even though he had been keeping the rations at a stiff minimum since the last encounter with a stream. The desert was stretching endlessly on before them, and the heat stroked the scarred brown horizon with it's hissing breath.
A small bead of sweat rolled lazily down Hakkai's brow as he once again tore his eyes off the ground and looked at the priest, a pleading look seeping into the gaze like ground-water into a cavern. "It's up to you, Sanzo."
"We'll stop as soon as the sun starts to set. I'm certainly not going to exert myself to try to get to an unreachable goal, so we'll have to make due with the water we have tonight. Tomorrow is going to be early, so if any of you assholes decide you want to stay up, you'll be left behind." This left a very real threat hanging in the air like a guillotine, and the rest of the group silently nodded their consent at the plan. The town that apparently rested just over the horizon would have to wait until tomorrow.
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Later that night
Camping in darkness. What a fun little escapade this was turning out to be. Hakkai stared at his hands, wiggling the tips slightly and making a small ball of light bounce from palm to palm. Chi wasn't meant to be used like this, he should be conserving his energy for whatever dark forces lurked in the shadows. But distracted thoughts came with a sleepless night, and exhaustion. And the cold.
It was upon Sazo's instructions that they had gone about their nightly routine sans the fire that usually graced the center of their campsite. Now, as the sun had set an hour ago, the winds had picked up, and all the heat that had made them sweat during the day was sucked out of the air like a straw sucking up the last of a drink at the bottom of the glass. Hakkai was glad for his long-sleeved garments. Gojyo sat dejectedly in the farthest reaches of the camping ground, arms wrapped around his thin chest. He was muttering audibly from around the token cigarette clamped in his mouth, red eyes half-lidded and staring across at Sanzo, who seemed perfectly comfortable in his heavy priest robes.
Hakkai had to smile. The kappa was always one for a good word-sparring. "Gojyo?"
"Yeah." The word wasn't even a response to his question. The red hair fell like a curtain and bunched around the man's neck as he raised his head, eyebrow raised. His hair was a torch in the gloom, even with the dark desert surrounding them.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fucking cold, what do you think? We have no fire, and the water is reaching it's last legs. This sucks." He emphasized the word so much, his cigarette fell to his lap. He yelped and stood quickly, stamping the offending smoldering stick into oblivion in the desert dust. "Like I said," he glared at Hakkai, anger radiating from him in waves, "this is a waste of time. We should be going through the night and finding the town, and getting our fucking supplies!" The kappa waved a hand into the horizon, although Hakkai was sure the town lay in the other direction. Ah well... best not to bother the man when he was worked up. He didn't want the shakujou too far up anyone's rear.
"Now Gojyo, we all know that Hakyru needs his sleep and rest. He's just a little dragon." The creature was currently curled around Hakkai's neck like a living scarf.
"Yeah, I know. It's just.. I feel, I dunno..." Gojyo looked uncomfortable, awkward, if only for a moment. He crossed the short distance between them, and slung his arm over Hakkai's shoulder. Hakyru mewed irritably at the invasion, and turned away. "I feel uneasy about this. We're in the middle of the desert, the middle of nowhere. If we get attacked, and need to retreat, where are we going to retreat to?" His voice was low, and Hakkai could feel the red hair brushing his shoulder. He didn't want the wrath of Sanzo clashing over his head, not tonight.
"We can fight most opponents off, I'm sure of it. Don't worry Gojyo, it doesn't suit you." Hakkai chuckled to himself, but it felt empty, even to him. They were, in the daintiest sense, fucked, if they couldn't defend themselves. They had Goku, and they knew that they could remove his diadem in order to get the upper hand. But no-one wanted to do it. The gods were there, but did they sleep? The Merciful Goddess, for all of her merciful nature (or his, Hakkai had never really figured out which one to use,) didn't seem the type to exert herself. The diadem would need to be replaced, and that would risk everyone's lives.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Who's first watch tonight?" The question was louder, directed at Goku and Sanzo on the other side of the camp-ground. Sanzo didn't even turn his shaggy gold head, but the purple eyes flicked to the kappa and both brows slit the violet in half as he glared.
"The idiot who just asked the question. Gojyo, if I wake up and there are demons in this camp, I will shoot you first instead of them."
"Whatever, priest-man. You'll not be doing watch tonight, I assume? After all, your delicate condition could be upset-"
A bullet pierced through the air, a fraction of an inch above the base of Gojyo's antennae-like hair.
"God-DAMN man, are you always uptight?" Gojyo had yelped fitfully when the bullet sang past his head, and an uncontrollable tremor ran through his form. The long staff of his shakujou lit up the air for a moment as he summoned it, and then fell into the kappa's hands. He used it to support his weight, and then he walked off a few hundred feet and slumped to the ground. A distant click, and a light from his cigarette.
Hakkai sighed, and then entered the camp-ground. Sleeping on the ground. If he reached old age, he would definitely have back problems. With a gentle kick, he rolled out his sleeping bag, and then sat cross-legged on the springy mattress. Goku was already asleep, or feigning it. He might be excruciatingly obvious about everything he did, but he knew how to pretend. Hakkai thought he saw a golden eye beneath the mass of brown hair when they were talking about guard-durty, but he could have been mistaken.
Sanzo sat only a few feet away, back hunched and chest resting on his drawn-up knees. He looked angry. He always did. So nothing was out of the ordinary, save Gojyo, who's cigarette in the distance gave siganl where he was. The glint of the shakujou, leaning crooked in the air like a false moon, shivering. Hakkai felt a pang of guilt. He was cold. Blood is thicker than water. They were both demons, and the kappa had saved his life. But he wouldn't accept any help, he almost never did. Thick-headed, stubborn. Hakkai smiled, and lay back on his sleeping bag. Hakyru slithered into his shirt, seeking the warmth of his skin. He turned his head slightly, looking at Sanzo one last time. He hadn't moved from his position, and probably wouldn't.
"Get your sleep, Hakkai. We're in for a rough night." The murmered words were barely audible, but Sanzo's voice, unspeakably and unusually gentle, left Hakkai feeling as cold as the moon in the sky. How the priest knew, he had no idea. But he didn't doubt the words, not for a moment. He turned over, and stared into the enveloping darkness. A long night.
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Hope you guys like so far! I had trouble getting the first couple of paragraphs right, and I wanted WAY more talking than in the other stories I've done. Can you tell what's going to happen?