Notes:  I started this a long time ago and then put it down.  I'm trying again.  I know where it's going, but the journey should be interesting.  Feedback is always-always welcome, and thank you.  ^_^

Disclaimer: Minekura Kazuya owns all that is her bishy Saiyuki.

Warnings:  Language.

Situation Normal - Day 1

It was all Gojou's fault.  The kappa knew he had to go to the bathroom, and used it to torment him as they kept driving through the woods.  Sanzo didn't want to stop at all.  "We want to reach the town by nightfall," the monk had stated, giving a sour look to both riders in the back.  "No stopping.  You have to piss- hold it.  You wanna eat- wait.  We're getting there before dark.  I am not staying outside tonight."

"Ahhhhh...did poor bouzu have a rough time sleeping last night?" Gojou flicked his ashes off the back of the jeep as they rolled along the road.  "I'll tell ya one thing.  I slept just fine.  Hell, I could go for another re-laxing night under the stars.  How 'bout you, saru." 

Goku was ready with a retort, but Sanzo beat him to the punch.

"I'll tell you what's rough.  Smelling your gassy ass as you fart and snore all night long.  Notice that no one was near you this morning?  That's because you kept polluting the air.  Enjoy your stars tonight.  They're the closest things you'll sleep next to."

"Listen you droopy-eyed son of a-"

"Women of the night, douse out those fires!" Sanzo waved his cigarette in the air, "Gojou's a'comin' and he had beans for dinner."

Gojou turned in his seat, finger pointing at Sanzo accusingly, "Now, if we're talking about night-time habits, let's talk about yours, monk-boy."

Sanzo eyed Gojou's finger warily, "If you're expecting me to pull that, you got another thing coming."

"Excuse," Hakkai broke the love-fest.  "Does this forest look funny to you?"

"What?"  Everyone turned towards him. 

"We just keep going and going.  That farmer we talked to said it would take about three hours to drive through, but it's been about five so far, and we haven't stopped at all."  Hakkai shifted his eyes to the others as he kept driving.

Sanzo sat back and began surveying their surroundings.  They had been driving for a long time, but the scenery hadn't really changed at all since they entered the forest.  Tall pines lined the road, and almost completely blocked their view of the sides.  It was like they were glued together, back to front.  Trying to peer through the branches, all he could see of the forest was darkness. 

"Keep going."  He turned to face the road on coming.  "The end is probably near.  Perhaps it just takes longer to get through than expected."

"Sanzoooooooo..." 

"What?"  The monk kept his back to Goku.

"I really have to go."

"I told you.  We're not stopping until we get there."

"But-" 

"Just shut up and hold it.  We'll be out soon."

"But I can't.  I really have to gooooo...."

"Stop thinking about it.  Go to sleep."

"Now there's a good idea, saru.  Sleep.  Dream.  Forget all about the fact that you have a bladder full of water, just sloshing around, ready to pour out, burst through and flow, till the last drops fall."  Gojou licked his lips, giving Sanzo a sideways glance, and then returned to his torture. 

"Ugh...."  Goku twisted his legs up.  "Gojou, shut up!"

"Seriously.  Seriously."  The half-youkai lifted his hands up.  "What helps me out is thinking about things that have nothing to do with water, or streams, or rivers.  No picturing waterfalls, or lakes, or even baths.  Nothing wet.  Nothing to remind you that more than anything, you just want to release yourself.  Feel the warmth come out, and just..." and he leaned forward, breathing this last word like a sigh, dragging it out, "emptyyyyyy..."

"Gojou!"  Goku had scrunched up in a ball, crossing his arms and legs.  He looked up to the monk, who still hadn't turned around.  "Please...Sanzo...can we stop...just a sec...I'm gonna die..."

Sanzo sighed and waved his hand.  Hakkai interpreted the signal quickly and stopped the jeep.  Goku immediately hopped out and then began weaving though the trees. 

"Don't go far!" the monk yelled.  "We're leaving in five minutes!"

"Gotcha!"  Goku called back, his voice already muffled through the trees.

Gojou started to get out, but was stopped by Sanzo who was holding his gun steadily at the half-youkai's head.

"What the fuck?" Gojou tried to slide by the monk, but Sanzo remained unmoved, his gun still pointing straight at him. 

"I'd like to see you put all your recommendations to the test." he stated, cocking the gun.  Then turning to Hakkai, he raised an eyebrow, "Did I ever tell you the time I fought off a whole gang of youkai in a bathhouse?"

Hakkai just shook his head.  He didn't like where this was going.

"Ambushed me.  Wanted the whole, "eat the Sanzo, be the Sanzo" bullshit.  Stupid as hell, but real resilient.  Starting jumping into the baths, knives out.  Water went everywhere."

"You asshole."  Gojou moved to the far side of the jeep.

"Dripping off the walls, the ceilings.  Youkai sliding all over the place.  And me, I'm just sitting there in the bath, feeling the warm waves just lap up against me."

Gojou turned away, looking more and more uncomfortable.

"But I still had my sponge, see.  So slowly I squeeze it out," and using one hand, he mimicked the motion, squeezing the air, "letting the water just fall and hit the tiles-"

"If you excuse me," Hakkai stepped out of the jeep.  "I'll be right back." 

"Five minutes!"  Sanzo called out after him.

"Understood."  Hakkai turned his head and nodded before he disappeared amongst the trees.

"Hey, what the- why can't I go?"  Gojou started to get up.

"Sit down." Sanzo nodded towards him.  "I haven't finished yet."

"Bastard."

"Soak in it."

Gojou looked out to the sides, to the trees, to the sky, anything to ignore his own screaming need as the monk faced him, gun still pointing, and continued to relate his battle.

"And then, I turned on the taps..."

----- 

With a content sigh, Goku turned away from the trees and began heading back.  Gojou was right.  Nothing did feel better than just...emptyyyyyyyy....  He savored that last word, and then laughing, he jogged forward.  "For once, I feel better with nothing in me."  But a second later, he felt the familiar pangs that seem to follow him throughout the day.  His stomach was grumbling.  "Damn."  He slowed to a walk.  "Spoke too soon.  Wonder if Sanzo will have anything to eat...or maybe..."  He turned to look around, but nothing around him screamed, "Eat me!"  No berries, nuts, or even a tasty-looking pine cone.  Just trees, everywhere he turned.  He realized then that for going only twenty feet off the road, it was taking a long time to get back. 

"Sanzo!"  He called out, and then cupping his hands, "Hakkai!!"  He turned and called again, "Ero-gappa!"  Nothing.  After his last call died down, all he heard was the wind bristling through the trees, and his own breathing, which to his surprise, had suddenly quickened.   

"This isn't good." He turned in a small circle, noticing that he was now completely surrounded.  "This is not good."  Repeating the statement didn't make him feel any better though.  He cupped his hands to his mouth again.

"Sanzo!  Hakkai!  Gojou!  Jippu!  Anyonnnnnneeee!"  He drew out the last word, hoping the longer it lasted in the air, the better chance someone would respond.  He perked his ears up, but received no answer.  Turning again, he scratched his head, "What's going

on-" 

It was then that he saw the wall. 

------

Sanzo tapped his gun on the dashboard, hitting a random pattern of sounds that almost sounded familiar, but not quite.  He was alone, having let Gojou dart out into the woods after the half-youkai threatened to drop his pants and piss all over his seat. 

"Five minutes!"  He yelled, but Gojou was already gone.  He sat, listening as the other's crashing sounds diminished and then all he could hear was the wind rustling through the trees.  Gazing absently at the forest that lined the road, he silently agreed with what Hakkai had said earlier.  Everything did look the same.  Every tree was like an exact match to the others- in shape, size, and squinting closely, in the way that the branches stretched out.  It was eerie, and not at all natural.  Neither was the quiet that seemed to fill the air.  There were no sounds of birds or animals.  Nor, he noted, were they any sounds of his companions.  It had definitely been more than five minutes for Goku, but the monkey was no where to be seen. 

"Bakazaru," he grumbled, changing positions in his seat.  He suddenly realized he had to go too, but he wasn't leaving until someone came back.  He closed his eyes, and sitting there with his head resting against his seat, he could hear the distant cracking of branches.  "Idiots" he muttered to himself.  Sanzo let out a sigh and leaning back, tried to forget his own throbbing bladder.   

-----

Goku stared at the wall for a second, turned to look around, and then stared at it again.  Everything else was still the same.  Same trees, same ground, but now this wall...  Slowly, he stepped around some trees so he could get a closer look.    

But he didn't know what to think about what he was looking at.  There was no foliage around the wall, just bare ground.  It wasn't that big, and he counted as he walked around it, about 10 paces long each way, two in width.  Reaching up, he could just touch the top, and he felt the smooth stone beneath his fingers.  It was probably taller than Gojou but not by much.  An idea popped in his head, and he tried pushing the wall with all his strength, but it didn't budge.  It was solid, and definitely stuck.  But what was it doing there, and where did it come from in the first place?  "And where," Goku thought aloud, "is everyone else?"

But all those questions made his head hurt, especially thinking about how mad Sanzo was probably right then since he was supposed to be back about some five minutes ago. 

"Well, Wall," Goku tapped it with his fingers. "Can't stay and chat.  I gotta find me a road."  He turned and paused, staring out in the woods, which he noticed, had gotten a shade darker, and listened.  No sounds.  He could only hear himself, his footfalls, his voice, his breathing.  He switched modes, and closing his eyes, started sniffing the air, trying to pick anything up, and finally, he found something- a bare trace of cigarette smoke. 

"High Lites."   Goku smiled, "That's Gojou's brand."  His fist playfully pounded the wall.  "Home free."  He dashed out, nose first, trying to hold the trace that would at the very least, lead to Gojou.  He slowed down and closed his eyes again and concentrated, and the scent seemed to grow stronger.  He opened his eyes and saw that the trees were thinning out ahead.  With one last leap, he jumped out of the thicket, arms in the air.

"I'm back!" 

But there was no one there to welcome him.  Well, no one but the wall. 

-----

Hakkai felt at a loss.  He had been wandering for some time, but every tree looked the same.  He didn't really understand how he could have gotten lost when he only walked about fifteen or so paces from the jeep.  He even remembered that he could still hear Sanzo telling Gojou about his bathhouse brawl, and Gojou finally screaming that if the monk didn't let him leave, that he would just go right there.  He smiled, remembering the noise the other had made as he dashed through the woods, cursing the whole way, followed by Sanzo yelling "Five minutes!"  But then, everything just seemed to stop, and he couldn't hear anything beyond the wind in the trees.  Having finished, he turned and walked back, but after going about twenty-five paces, and then five more, he knew that something was definitely off. 

He had tried calling out, but there were no answers.  There were no sounds at all, besides his own walking.  Scanning the scenery, he began digging through his pockets, finally pulling out a handkerchief.  With a hard pull to the side, he tore off a piece and tied it to a low hanging branch of one of the trees.  Then slowly he began to make his way further through the forest. 

-----

"Bright idea, Gojou.  Climb a tree.  See what's going on." 

He cursed under his breath as he made his way through the trees, rubbing his sore backside as he walked.  Not finding any suitable climbing tree, he opted for just one that looked like it might hold his weight, but all he ended up with was a ton of scratches and a bruised ass.  Before he fell, he caught a glimpse of the top of the forest canopy, but all he could see were endless tree tops.  And the memory of that sight, plus the situation that led him to climb that fucking tree in the first place made him curse more as he wandered.  Where the fuck was he?  And where was everyone else?  He had been pissed at the monk, but he hadn't gone that far off the road…

"If he drove off without me..." but he shook his head at that theory.  That wasn't Sanzo's style, not to mention he couldn't see Hakkai leaving anyone behind.

"Hakkai..." Gojou had seen the small cloth tie on one of the trees.  It was because of that which had spurred him to become Gojou the Squirrel.  See where he was.  See where they might be.            

Thinking about the others, he started getting a twinge in the pit of his stomach.  Maybe something had happened to them.  He pushed that quickly out of his mind.  What could have happened in two minutes and wouldn't he have heard something, anything?  The fact was he hadn't heard anything since he'd left to take a leak.  Bouzu got his "Five minutes!" out and he thought he heard Hakkai laughing in the distance, but then...nothing.  No sounds of fighting, or Jippu driving off.  Nothing. 

By why leave a sign if nothing is wrong?  He brushed his hand through his hair out of frustration.  He didn't know what they had stepped in, but he didn't like the smell of things so far. 

"Looks like I went over your five minutes, Bouzu."  Gojou snorted and kept moving on.  He barely made ten feet before he hit a wall.  Literally. 

-----

Goku leaned against the wall, holding his chest, and out of breath from running.  Five times he had run into the woods, and five times he hit a wall.  He went in what he thought were different directions, but no matter where he started from, he ended up back here.  He thought at first he had hit a different wall, but his own footprints littered the ground, tossing that idea out.  He shook his head, finally catching his breath, and slid down the wall to sit on the ground.  Somehow he was going in a circle, but he didn't know how it was happening. 

"Geeeeeeez..." his voice cracked.  "I'm sooooooooooo hungry..." He felt hungry enough to start gnawing on branches, but he had done that once, and had come away with a few splinters, and a bruised head from Sanzo hitting him with the fan when he found Goku biting on twigs. 

Sanzo… 

Goku raised his eyes to the sky, thinking of the monk.  Where was he?  Where was everyone?  Why didn't they hear his calls?  And what was up with this wall?  He turned from where he was sitting and stared at it again.  There was nothing special about it.  Just smooth stone.  No writing, no symbols.  Nothing to give it any distinctive note.  He searched around the wall, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.  Same trees.  Same ground, same...his eyes traveled over the footprints that were scattered everywhere, marks of his previous runs around the wall, but there was something different this time. 

He squinted, peering closer, touching one of the new prints with his finger.  They were real all right.

And, judging from the size, it was Hakkai who had made them. 

-----

"Gokuuuuuuu!"  Hakkai called again.  "Goku, I'm here!  Come out!  Everything's alright!  It's me!"  But still no answer.  He walked around the wall again, pausing to listen, but nothing.  He looked down on the ground.  Goku's prints were everywhere.  Around the clearing, the wall, coming in all directions.

"He was running." Hakkai moved slowly from print to print, noticing the distances between and the scuffed ground.  "What would make Goku run?  Or rather, who?"  He didn't like that thinking at all.  He was tempted to leave the clearing and go look, but the idea that Goku might come back kept him in place. 

His voice was dry from calling out, and he went to his side to grab his canteen, only to remember that he had left it in Jippu, wherever Jippu was.  He sighed, and tried swallowing his dryness away.  It offered very temporary relief.  Looking at Goku's prints again, images of the boy running in fear crossed his mind.  What would cause Goku to run, and if something is around that's menacing enough to frighten "I'll kick yer ass!" Goku, then why wasn't there any sign of that?  No other prints were here.  Nothing large or lumbering or...he shook his head.  Not since he left the road had anything made sense. 

He placed his hand on the wall, its stone cool to the touch.  He could wait here, or he could go out and look.  Maybe find running Goku, or maybe find what he's running from. He sighed.  It seemed that this waiting and seeing would lead to few answers.  If there was something out there, he was going to find it. 

Bracing himself, hand poised at his side if he needed a quick burst of ki energy, Hakkai turned, and picking one direction that Goku had left the clearing in, walked into the darkness of the forest. 

-----

Gojou lightly tapped his cigarette on the wall's edge, the ashes falling to the ground.  After surveying the scene, he didn't know what to think.  He leaned his head against the wall and breathed out the smoke. 

After finding the wall and then all the prints around it, he went to light a cigarette, but he found his own hand shaking.  After a few drags, it stopped, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't a little freaked out by it all. 

What he couldn't tell was if Goku and Hakkai were together.  Goku's running feet differ completely in mood to Hakkai's slow walking tracks.  The thing was that both headed out in the same direction.  Gojou turned his head to where the two sets of tracks left the clearing. 

"Where the fuck are you guys?"      

And where was bouzu?  Had he left them all?  Was this some kind of joke on the kappa? 

He shook his head.  No way.  That would take too much thinking for the saru, and Hakkai...Hakkai didn't think that way...

Still...

Suddenly he got one of those inside warning signs.  He grimaced.  I can't believe I have to go again…

Maybe it was the fall, or the fact it seemed like he was on the left side of the moon.  

But whatever it is, he thought as he made his way out of the clearing, I ain't breakin' water in front of that wall, that's for damn sure.

Gojou couldn't explain it, but feeling the distance between him and the wall gave him more relief than thinking that somewhere wandering around, were Goku and Hakkai.

-----

The first time Hakkai had found the wall, he had noticed Goku's tracks.  Then he had left in search of...whatever was out there, Goku, Gojou, something out there besides him.  The only thing he ran into was another wall.  But it wasn't "another" wall, because the second time he hit it, he noticed his own tracks.  He left in another direction but the same thing happened again moments later.  He could barely go 15 feet without spilling out into the clearing.  Grabbing a stick from the edge of the open space, he marked a circle all around the wall itself.  Then placing the stick by the wall, he picked a new direction and left.  By his thinking, less than a minute had passed before he hit the wall again.

Something was definitely different though. 

The circle was partly scuffed by feet.  He recognized the prints easily enough.

"Gojou..." he shook his head.  But how...

Then he noticed the stick. 

It was laying about ten paces from where he had placed it. 

His hand went to his head.  How was this happening?  How could this be?  How could they be here without him seeing?  How could they do this without him hearing them move?  Why didn't they hear him?  He looked around.  Everything that he saw screamed that he wasn't alone, that the others were with him, but then again there was no one around, no sounds, no anything.

It was like the forest was haunted.

And suddenly, he wondered if he was the ghost.

^^ tbc-