I don't own Saiyuki or any of its characters. I only own the male youkai in this chapter, the village, and the unnamed girl.

I'm rewritting this story totally. The OC in the first version was just too much of a Sue and the story wasn't going anywhere so I'm redoing everything. Now I know where I'm going, my writing has gotten much better, and the OC won't be following the Sanzo part around. This story won't foucs on the OC, but instead will be like the "Detour Arc" or the "Kami-sama Arc". It will focus more on the Sanzo party, their troubles, past lives, and how they get to another Sutra (or not). The OC will only be more of a background character. There are no pairings. (Well Gojyo's always hitting on some woman soo...) This is to take place during the Reload manga, right after the meeting of Hazel and Gat.

I really hope that my loyal reviewers, midnightwanderer254, i love athrun, and Icy AngelWings will like this story a lot better then the one before, seeing how everything is a lot better.

Enjoy!

The night had started just like any other night; the Sanzo Ikkou had gotten a hotel room, ate at a local bar, and were walking back to the hotel when a group of youkai attacked. Nothing out of the usual.

"Five!" Goku counted as he knocked down a youkai. "How are you comin' along Kappa?"

"Shut it Monkey!" Gojyo yelled back as he too took down a youkai.

The group began fighting once more until four youkai remained. Gojyo, Hakkai, Goku, and Sanzo moved into a small group with Sanzo standing in the front. Sanzo pointed his banishing gun at the four youkai, and fired three times until three youkai fell. The leftover youkai began to back away when it fell and tripped over a root from a tree.

"You!" the youkai yelled. "You are…youkai…What are you doing? You're supposed to be on our side!"

Sanzo's right eyebrow twitched. "Don't group me up with them."

Goku grinned. "I'm on my own side!" he said with pride.

"Bastards!" the youkai screamed.

"Who sent you?" Sanzo growled.

"What?" the youkai asked.

"Who sent you?" Sanzo repeated with another twitch of his eyebrow; he hated repeating himself for anyone, let alone a youkai. "We haven't encountered youkai before that have powers like yours."

"There's a village," the youkai began, "a village a few miles away just west of here! The people there sent me! They sent me to kill all four of you!"

"A village?" Hakkai asked as he blinked. "There wasn't a village on the map…"

While Hakkai spoke, the youkai focused his eyes on the ground underneath Gojyo. The nearby shadows began to gather around Gojyo's feet, right where the youkai's eyes were alerted to. The shadows tried to move towards Sanzo but for some reason they just wouldn't move.

"Dammit," the youkai whispered. "He's better then nothing."

"What?" Sanzo narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you blabbering about?"

The youkai smiled. "Go to hell you pigs!!"

The shadows underneath Gojyo rose from the floor and began to crawl up his legs. Gojyo swung his arms out in all directions but the shadows wouldn't recede no matter what the red head did. Goku turned towards Gojyo and began to swing his Nyoi-bo towards the shadows to help Gojyo.

"Son of a bitch!" Gojyo yelled. "What the hell is goin' on?!"

"Just hold on!" Goku swung his weapon once more.

Hakkai reached out and tried to pull Gojyo out of the shadows but as he did so, the shadows rose over Gojyo's head and engulfed him completely. With his body covered in darkness, the shadows dragged Gojyo's body to the floor where a pool of shadows sat waiting.

"I'll see you in Hell!" the youkai screamed with a loud laugh following.

"Gojyo!" Hakkai called. "Gojyo!"

Goku bent down to the spot where Gojyo had once been. "Gojyo? Gojyo!"

"Dammit," Sanzo hissed as he turned back to the youkai. "What the hell did you do?"

The youkai grinned. "I sent him to Hell!! Haha! You'll never find that poor pig!"

Sanzo rolled his eyes and fired his gun. A bullet left the chamber and ripped through the youkai's head. The youkai fell back on the ground as blood began to gather around its head. Sanzo lowered his gun and turned back to the group.

"We're heading out," Sanzo said.

"What about Gojyo?" Goku asked as he stood.

Sanzo began walking back towards the hotel. "We're going to pick his sorry ass up."

Goku cocked his right eyebrow. "You know where he is?"

Hakkai sighed. "Are we going to get any sleep tonight?"

"Let's get going, we're in a hurry," Sanzo ordered.

When Gojyo managed to open his eyes again, he saw nothing but mud underneath him. The sound of someone walking towards him came to him after a few moments of hearing nothing. He tried to move his arms to push himself up but he couldn't move. He couldn't move anything but his eyelids.

The sound of someone walking stopped and before Gojyo could do or think of something else, his eyelids closed once more.

What the hell? He thought.

"Hey Kappa!! Wake up!!"

Gojyo opened his eyes and saw a ceiling above him that he had never seen before. He blinked a few times before his eyes focused on a ceiling fan whirling around just above the top of the bed.

Whatever had happened with that youkai left large cuts up and down his body. Just as he came to, the pain from the injuries began to overtake his sense of confusion. He groaned out from the pain and gripped the white sheets underneath him. As he moved, Gojyo could feel that his chest had been wrapped in bandages, as well as his neck.

"Monkey? Hakkai?" Gojyo groaned. "Sanzo?"

"So you're awake now," a deep female voice said.

Even with the injuries he had, Gojyo turned his head to his right. There, sitting in a chair in front of an easel was a young woman. Her long legs stretched out in front of her as she pushed against the easel and rested on the two back legs of the wooden chair. Her brown hair was tied back into a bun with one strand hanging down near the right side of her face. Her eyes were a light brown color or appeared to be from where Gojyo was lying. She was wearing a white tank top and black pants that clung to her thin legs.

"Where am I?" Gojyo asked.

"The Village of the Gods," the woman answered. "I found you outside yesterday. Your wounds are bad; the town doctor says he hasn't seen someone with injuries as bad as yours in years."

"Shit." Gojyo turned attention back to the ceiling.

"Huh."

Gojyo let out a long, tired sigh. He began to close his eyes to rest when he heard the woman get up from her chair. His ears picked up on her footsteps but as she drew closer, Gojyo noticed a long pause between placing one foot down, and then a clank noise against the wooden flooring. What if she were walking over to get a weapon?

Fearing the worst, Gojyo sat up and turned to the woman, ready to fight. But the minute she began walking towards him, he noticed that she was walking with a cane underneath her right hand. She took a step with her left leg, leaned on the cane, and moved forward with her left leg again.

She noticed his staring. "What?" she asked innocently.

Gojyo looked to his left. "Nothing," he muttered.

"Hurry up and lay back down," she barked. "You've got a really bad fever and I don't want to take you back to the doctor if you injure yourself again."

Gojyo opened his mouth to answer back when his fever got the best of him. He blanked out again and fell forward. The woman sighed, and limped over to the kitchen to get a cold cloth for Gojyo's forehead.

"Are we there yet?" Goku whined. "We've been driving all night!"

It was true; ever since the youkai attack Hakkai had been driving to the west towards this unnamed village. The youkai said that the village was only a few miles away but Hakkai hadn't seen any kind of life on the dirt road he was taking. No signs, people, or even livestock.

"To tell the truth," Hakkai began as Sanzo slept, "this village the youkai was talking about isn't even on the map. I think I'm heading in the right direction but—"

"Just keep driving," Sanzo muttered in his sleep.

Goku shuttered. "That creeps me out! How can Sanzo hear us in his sleep?"

"A skill he acquired when dealing with you and Gojyo's fights," Hakkai said with a slight laugh.

"Gojyo." Goku sighed as he fell back into the empty backseat. "Do ya really think he's at this village?"

"If he's not," Hakkai chuckled, "I fear that we may have to leave him wherever he is."

Goku blinked. "Are you serious Hakkai?"

Hakkai grinned. "Perhaps."

To be honest, Hakkai was worried out of his mind. He couldn't stand the fact that he didn't know what was happening to someone he cared for and was angry at himself for letting anything happen to Gojyo. And Hakkai knew that deep down he wouldn't let Sanzo continue the journey without Gojyo in hand.

Suddenly, over a hill appeared a large village lined with a stone wall. Hakkai stopped the jeep once they came over the hill to stare in awe of the size of the village. Hundreds of small homes lined each side of a large temple that stood in the middle of the village. Thousands of trees guard the barrier around the village that made the village itself appear to be a forest of some kind. From where the jeep was at the current moment, Hakkai guessed that it might take a few more hours to reach.

"Is…is that it?" Goku asked.

Hakkai took in a deep breath. "I hope so."

"Good," Goku groaned. "I'm starvin'!

A new, hot pain woke Gojyo. His eyes fluttered open because of the pain but the minute he came to, an overall heat consumed his body. He groaned and kicked the blankets away from his body.

"Shit," he moaned. "Why's it so damn hot in here?"

"So I can see that your fever is still high," the woman said.

Gojyo turned his head and saw her fumbling with something on the floor. Gojyo didn't bother to bend over to look; the throbbing in his head was bad enough without him moving around. He closed his eyes again and felt something cold against his forehead.

"The injury on your right arm is infected," she said. "That is what's giving you such a high fever. Hopefully the medicine I gave you will kick in soon."

"Medicine?" Gojyo repeated.

She stood. "Just relax. If your fever hasn't broken by tonight, you're going back to the doctor."

"I've gotta go to the bathroom," Gojyo said as he sat up.

"Huh…good luck," she said.

The woman stepped away from the bed and Gojyo stood. For the first time he saw the remainder of the house he had been in for a day. Across from the bed was a large living room with nothing but an easel in the middle of it, and kitchen wear against the far wall. He could see stairs off to his left, with a door by the stairs that he assumed was the bathroom.

"That's the bathroom right?" he asked, pointing his index finger to the small door.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Don't faint; I don't think I can carry you."

Gojyo stepped away from the strange woman and over to the bathroom. He went in, closed the door, and looked at the mirror in front of the small sink. He was a mess. His hair stuck out at every possible angle, he had bags underneath both of his eyes along with cuts and scabs. The cuts on his stomach and chest didn't bother him much; the pain that had once come from them was had dissipated.

"Shit," he muttered with a slight chuckle.

He moved his right hand up to his face to touch one of the circles underneath his eye when he felt a sharp pain coming from his wrist. The pain reminded him that the woman said he had an injury there. He stared at the bandages around his wrist for a few seconds, and then he began to remove them.

I'm startin' to act like that freakin' Monkey. He thought. I gotta touch everything and take everythin' apart.

Every inch of bandage that Gojyo removed reveled more and more of the bloody mess that had once been his wrist. The bandage gathered on the floor until it dropped off of his wrist entirely. The injury traveled across the front of his wrist to each corner while the top of it moved to the middle of his palm. Hardened blood, torn skin, and puss covered the wound, mixing with a white substance Gojyo figured to be medicine.

"Dammit," he whispered. "What did that asshole do to me?"

A knock on the door tore Gojyo's attention away from his wound.

"What?" he asked.

"You alright?" the woman said.

"Fine."

"Good."

He listened for the sound of her cane hitting the floor to fade as he wrapped his hand back up. Once he finished wrapping his wrist and hand, he went to the bathroom and walked out.

If Hakkai were here dammit he'd be able to heal me. Gojyo stepped into the living room to find that the woman had disappeared. Great now she's gone.

The heat from his fever flared up and made the room spin. Gojyo stumbled away from the bathroom and began traveling over to the bed when something caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the painting the woman had been working on but what caught his attention was that it was a panting of Goku.

"Goku?" Gojyo asked out loud.

His attention away from the bed, Gojyo walked over to the easel and studied the picture that looked like Goku. All of the features Goku had were there: the brown, wild hair, youkai limiter, and bright yellow eyes. The strange thing about the painting was that Goku had cuffs around his wrists and ankles and a sad yet impatient look on his face.

How could she paint something…like this? Gojyo asked himself. She can't know Goku or the others…unless they've finally come to town to look for me.

The room swirled again. Gojyo took that as a warning and turned back to the bed he had been sleeping in. He stumbled one more time before he made it back to the bed with a heavy grunt. It was too hot for covers so Gojyo crawled on top of them.

"Shit it's hot."

Hours later, Hakkai, Sanzo, and Goku arrived within the village. They stopped beside the village gates, stepped out of the jeep and waited for it to transform back to Hakuryu. With the little dragon in hand, they entered the village.

"We should start looking for Gojyo," Hakkai said. "We don't know if he's been injured."

"What about a hotel room?" Sanzo asked.

"Food!" Goku cheered. "Come on Sanzo I'm starving!"

"I know." Sanzo's eyebrow twitched. "You complained the whole way down here about it."

Hakkai's stomach growled. "Maybe we should stop for something to eat. We haven't eaten in a while."

"What about the idiot?" Sanzo crossed his arms.

Hakkai smiled. "We could get something for him as well. He might be hungry when we find him."

"Yes!" Goku jumped. "Come on! Let's get something good!!"

Goku ran down the streets made of cobblestone and over to a store with pastries displayed in the window. He moved his face against the glass as the smell of baked goods entered his nose.

"This place!" Goku said as he pointed to the store. "Hurry up you guys!"

"We're coming!" Hakkai answered. The smile faded from his face as he turned to Sanzo. "Sanzo, what if Gojyo isn't in this village? Do you really plan on leaving him behind?"

Sanzo turned his head to the right, away from Hakkai. "We have an obligation to someone else. The only reason we came here is because those youkai came from this village…Gojyo just might happen to be here."

"But Sanzo," Hakkai blinked, "that doesn't reall—"

The sound of breaking glass cut the conversation short. Hakkai and Sanzo looked over towards Goku to make sure that he hadn't caused the trouble but instead of seeing Goku in trouble, they saw the woman who had been taking care of Gojyo standing beside Goku. The glass bottle she had been holding was now in thousands of pieces beside Goku's feet while both of her hands covered her mouth.

"Goku," she whispered.

"Somethin' wrong?" Goku asked back in a whisper.

Sanzo, Hakkai, and Goku weren't the only ones the smashing glass had attracted. People who had been walking by stopped at the noise and stared at the group in awe. As Goku began to step forward to talk to the woman, a man from the crowd of watchers took a step forward.

"A Sanzo Priest!" the man cheered. "A real Sanzo Priest has come to The Village of the Gods! We are blessed!"

The watchers cheered and began moving in towards Sanzo and Hakkai to praise Sanzo. Goku turned around, confused at what was going on between the strange woman in front of him and the group of people when the crowd parted and Sanzo stepped forward.

"How do you know Goku?" Sanzo asked the woman.

"Please Lord Sanzo!" a man said. "Don't speak to her, she's not worthy of your attention."

That caught Hakkai's attention. "Why not?" he inquired.

"She's nothing more then a crippled human with a dishonorable family name," another man said. "Now please, Lord Sanzo, allow us to find you and your servants a room within the Temple of the Gods."

Sanzo ignored the talking man. "I'm not asking about who she is, I want to know how you," he looked towards her, "know Goku."

"I—" she began.

"Lord Sanzo," a woman interrupted, "she is a keeper of youkai. She brought home a red head half-breed yesterday; she's not worth speaking to."

"Gojyo!" Goku said with a grin crossing his face. "She found Gojyo!"

"That's his name?" she whispered.

"He has scars on the side of his face and shoulder length hair?" Hakkai stepped forward.

She nodded. "Yes. Come back to my house, he's there."

Sanzo closed his eyes. "Fine. We're going."

A male villager stepped forward. "But Lord Sanzo I—"

Instead of waiting for the villager to finish, Sanzo stepped over to the young woman along with Hakkai. She turned around and began limping back to her house while Sanzo, Hakkai, and Goku followed her. The villagers stood, watching the Sanzo Priest move further and further away in both anger and shame.

The woman led the trio back to her place. She allowed them into her house where Gojyo lay, sleeping on the bed with his mouth wide open. Goku walked over to the right side of the bed, rose his right fist, and slammed it down into Gojyo's sleeping face. Gojyo's face moved to the side and he sat up.

"What the hell…oh." He stopped speaking at the sight of Sanzo and Hakkai. "It's 'bout time you showed up!"

"Lay back down!" the woman warned. "You're still injured."

Hakkai strolled over to Gojyo's side. "Where are you injured?"

Gojyo moved his right hand to Hakkai. "Tore the shit outta my right wrist. Dunno what I did to it, I woke up and it was like that."

"I'll take care of it."

As Hakkai healed Gojyo's wrist, Sanzo studied the living room while the woman washed her hands in the kitchen. The first thing Sanzo's eyes caught was the painting of Goku Gojyo had been looking at. Sanzo stood in front of it; Goku, wondering what Sanzo was doing, stepped up beside him.

"Wow…this." Goku's eyes widened but before he could do or say anything else, a terrible pain stuck his head. He fell backwards onto the wooden floor, out cold.

"Now that makes that the second time today," the woman said. "What the hell is going on around here?"

Sanzo narrowed his eyes towards her. "Who are you and how do you know Goku?"

She sighed. "It's a long story but…"

"Hurry up then," Sanzo hissed.

The woman made her way over to the chair in the middle of the room and sat down. "This village is called The Village of the Gods because five hundred years ago four Gods came down here and blessed it. Years later the visit and blessing of the Gods became a legend and my family kept the legend by telling the story and drawing images of the Gods. One of the Gods happens to look and have the same name as Goku," she explained.

"Same name and looks?" Hakkai repeated as he placed a pillow underneath Goku's head. "Could—"

"I doubt it," she cut in. "I doubt a God would come back to a village that doesn't believe in them."

"Why don't they believe?" Hakkai asked.

The woman closed her eyes. "The local Sanzo Priest threw out the legend before he disappeared a few years ago. Since then no one has believed in the legend of the Gods and my family name was spit on."

Sanzo perked. "Is there a Sutra here?"

"Yes." The woman nodded. "The Uten Sutra is hidden somewhere in the village. Our Sanzo Priest left it before he vanished after the youkai began to act up."

"Now we have something else to get in this town," Sanzo said as he turned away from the woman. "We'd better move out."

"But Sanzo," Hakkai protested, "Goku's out cold."

Sanzo rolled his eyes. "Fine. Do you have any extra beds?"

"I have six beds upstairs you four can use," the woman answered.

Hakkai stood and bowed. "Thank you for the beds."

"You'll be staying here for awhile ya know," she said in a serious tone.

"Why?" Sanzo growled.

"Because," she chuckled, "once youkai and Holy Beings enter this village they can never leave."

R&R please!