The Whisper of the Wind
By: Dawnn's Grace
Chapter 1: The Song of the Caged Girl
"Goku, fetch some wood." Sanzo ordered as he lit up another cigarette.
The group was stopping a little early today. The cliché small army of weak youkai had attacked wasting their time in a typically violent fashion. The small insignificant difference this time was that they did it in the late evening. That meant only that the group would be stopping now a short distance from the carnage instead of an hour or so when it really was dark.
Goku grumbled more out of habit then anything else. He quickly went of to gather the wood without any real argument. Hakkai always liked to tell him, the faster that he gathered the wood, the faster that Hakkai could begin cooking. Food was of course, the fastest way to end an argument with Goku.
It didn't really matter that much either. Gathering wood was easy. You went as far as you would, turned around, and started picking up wood on your way back. Nothing complicated about it. The problem that Goku sometimes had with this assignment however was that on numerous times his curiosity would over ride his constant hunger. This was one of those times.
Something was different about this forest.
Goku didn't bother picking up any wood. He stood quietly where he was for a long while just listening. The normal forest sounds could clearly be heard. He couldn't smell anything wrong but that didn't mean anything. While the wind wasn't strong it was persistently blowing away from him. Any dangerous smells in front of him wouldn't be able to reach even his nose.
Not one to simply shake a curiosity off, Goku continued towards the presence that drew him forward. Now he could hear something else. The wind was whistling through something hollow, maybe a fallen and hollow tree or something. Goku started walking a little faster. Then he heard more then the wind now, someone was singing.
And that was how he found her, singing while sitting in a stone bird cage covered in wards about four feet above the forest floor and domed. Her sparkling silver strands of hair glistened like spiders silk. Her head bobbed somewhat like a bird to the sweat melody of her own voice. She seemed slender and small as her bare feet swung back and forth in rhythm. She wore pure white little shorts and a long and baggy tank top scrunched up around her waist. She looked to be about eighteen, Goku's age.
Goku being the complex creature that he was said the first thing that came to mind. "Pretty," he whispered to himself.
The girls storm black eyes snapped to his face instantly. The song was dead and forgotten as she scrutinized every inch of him with a slightly perplexed look on her pale, sharp face. Then the confusion cleared and was replaced with a look of … recognition.
"Goku, long time no see. What's it been five hundred years or so? You look nice." She said wit a slightly predator smile. "I don't suppose you came all the way out here to get me out of this cage?"
"Sanzo!" Goku yelled running back the way he had come.
"I'll take that as a no." The peculiar girl said with a reluctant sigh as her legs began to swing back and forth, again.
"Sanzo! Sanzo! Sanzo! There's a girl in a birdcage! There's a girl in a bird cage!" Goku was shouting as he burst into camp, grabbed the snarling priest by the wrist, and proceeded to drag him to the scene.
"What the hell was that about?" Gojyo said dropping the firewood he'd been forced to gather in Goku's extended absence.
"It would seem that Goku found a girl in a bird cage." Hakkai answered calmly. There was a pause of about two seconds as the strange information sunk in. "I believe we should follow Goku and see this for ourselves."
"Duh shit," Gojyo said sprinting off after Sanzo and Goku.
"Hakuryu, please stay with the camp." Hakkai said before swiftly walking after the others.
"Kyuu…" the small white dragon said setting his head back down on someone's blanket.
"Goku, where the hell are you taking me?" Sanzo grumbled finally getting fed up with being dragged through the forest by the little monkey.
"There's a girl in a bird cage," Goku answered in a huff before tugging Sanzo more persistently. Then they were in the clearing with the girl in a birdcage. Now though she wasn't happy like Goku remembered. She looked very, very annoyed.
"No way in hell. They actually reincarnated your violent droopy eyed ass." The girl said with obvious irritation.
"Who the hell are you?" Sanzo calmly said leveling his gun at her.
"My name's Brii. It's good to know they finally kicked your violent ass out of heaven but in 500 plus years you'd think you would gather enough bad karma to come back as a stink work or a dung beetle or something. I can't believe the monkey managed to attach himself to his glorious sun all over again." The girl ranted in a rage.
"Come on Goku," Sanzo said turning around just as Gojyo and Hakkai entered the clearing. "We're leaving."
"Hey, no, droopy, you can't just leave me in here. I'm sorry about the name calling." The girl whined.
"I've already learned better then to let animals out of their cages." Sanzo said easily moving back into the forest.
"Fucking bastard!" Brii yelled in frustration. Then she noticed the other two. "Hey, you two mind trying to get me out of here?"
"As a reward, how about a night in your pleasant company?" Gojyo asked wiggling his eyebrows as he continued walking towards the cage.
"A kiss, I'll lower myself to a kiss." Brii answered extending her hand.
"What are you implying? I was talking about a couple hands of poker, maybe a game or two of mahjong." Gojyo replied managing to sound defensive as he took her hand and tugged at it.
"No luck," Brii said when the tug failed to produce the desired effect of freedom. "How 'bout you Mr. Smiles?"
"I'm willing to give it a try." Hakkai said taking her offered hand and pulling to no avail. "I apologize but it seem that I can't free you either."
"Goku, you next." Brii said with her hand extended. Goku pulled at her hand and it didn't work. "Hold on real quick, I need to tell you something."
"What?" Goku asked curiously.
"Come closer, I need to tell you something about your past you've probably forgotten." Brii said tugging on his hand to bring him closer.
"Lean in and I'll tell you. You might not want your friends to hear." She whispered grabbing the back of his head with her other hand. "If you remembered your past, you'd remember that I can be quite devious."
And with that she yanked him into the cage with her. Goku's body seemed to pass through the bars and even through Hakkai's grasping hand as he tried to stop it.
"Hey bitch give the monkey back!" Gojyo shouted hitting the bars with his materialized weapon.
"Not till you get Konzen or Sanzo or whatever the fuck his name is right now and you get him to let us out." Brii said letting go of Goku so he could panic around the small interior of the cage.
"I want out!" Goku whined as he tried to go through the bars the way he'd come only to find that they were now very solid.
"And so do I! So you bring Mr. Droopy Eyes back up here and get me out of this!" Brii screeched before she seemed to collapse in on herself and curl up into the fetal position. "Please, just get me out of here."
"I'm sure Sanzo would agree to release you if you were not to take Goku hostage." Hakkai reasoned calmly believing the girl's sanity to be in question. "It's hard to expect someone to be reasonable if you yourself won't be reasonable."
"To bad I'm done with being reasonable. The monkey stays with me until I'm out of this oversized bird cage." Brii answered. Goku was now starring at her in horror and disbelief. "Even if we have to wait for that bastard to be reincarnated and forget about us all over again."
"You little bitch!" Gojyo growled his weapon arcing down gracefully towards the girl between the bars. But it was stopped, not because it couldn't fit between the bars, but because some unseen force had stopped it.
"Brute force can't get you out, it certainly can't get you in." Brii grumbled still in the fetal position her head tucked so close to her chest that they couldn't see her eyes though it sounded like she was crying.
"Gojyo, I think it best if we discuss the situation further with Sanzo." Hakkai said not bothering with his false smile and cheer right now. Hakkai left the clearing as Gojyo continued to glare at her prone form.
"Hurt him and you'll wish you'd stayed in your cage." Gojyo threatened his voice cold and malicious. Then Gojyo also left the clearing.
"No wait! You guys just can't leave me here!" Goku shouted after his departing companions. He turned frantically to his cellmate who was sitting there laughing and not in the insane or desperate sort of way either. It was almost like someone had told a funny joke. "Why are you laughing?"
"Sorry Goku. It's just that I make such a horrible villain. By the way, it is great to see you, even if you're still just as gullible and naive as when we met." Brii said and before he could react she gave him a strong and strangely familiar hug that he couldn't help but return.
"But I don't even know you." Goku whined as she pulled away from him.
"That can't be right. Do you remember anything before your own punishment?" Brii asked puzzled.
"No, all I remember is being in the cave for a really long time and then Sanzo came, like the morning sun." Goku said finishing almost dreamily.
"All right already, I get it. No need to break your brain coming up with all that poetical shit." Brii said in exasperation.
"Brii are you really going to keep me here?" Goku asked pathetically. The girl was treating him nice, like they were old friends, but a friend wouldn't hold him hostage.
"Of course not, I'd go crazy before you would. I'll let you out tomorrow afternoon, maybe late morning if you're really pathetic. And all of this is hinging on the slim possibility your friends don't show up for you first." Brii said tilting her head back randomly to look at the birds flying home for the day.
"Tomorrow afternoon! I'll miss four meals! I'll starve to death!" Goku whined.
"Four meals, last time I checked there were three meals a day." Brii said her expression one of pure disbelief.
"Sure; dinner, midnight snack, breakfast, and brunch." Goku listed. "I'm going to starve to death!"
"Goku look at me. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly. Now do it again. Once more, that very good. Now think, are you hungry right now?" Brii asked very calmly.
"Well of course I'm … (blinkblinkblink) …not hungry." Goku said astonished.
"And if you're appetites changed since heaven, I'll give up gambling. In a cage like this you won't get hungry or thirsty or tired. We only get hot cold and desperately bored and lonely." Brii answered calmly with a hand on either side of his face.
"I remember that. I remember being so lonely for someone to talk to."
"So they did manage to break you two apart." Brii said taking her hands from his face and leaning against the side of the birdcage.
"Who?"
"You're brother. He's going to be really pissed when he finally gets out."
"I have a brother." Goku said amazed.
"I wonder where your Sanzo friend is. He should've had enough time to get back here by now." Brii said awkwardly scanning the tree line.
"No," Sanzo said stubbornly turning the page of his newspaper.
"Sanzo, I find it hard to believe that you are seriously considering leaving Goku in that cage with that creature." Hakkai said sternly.
"I'm not considering anything. I'm not going to let either of them out. " Sanzo puffed irritably at his cigarette.
"Look at us you damn bastard." Gojyo snapped angrily crumpling the paper with one hand. "You just expect us to leave the kid in that cage and go on our marry freaking way as if nothing ever happened?"
"Of course not idiot." Sanzo said grabbing the paper away from Gojyo.
"Both Gojyo and I are quite perplexed by your actions." Hakkai said diplomatically. "Perhaps you would care to explain."
"That cage seemed pretty small to me. How long to you think she can stand with the monkey in there with her." Sanzo answered going back to his paper.
To Be Continued…
Authors Note:
For all those wondering this story is set right at the end of the Saiyuki manga and before Saiyuki Reload. All information that I happen to collect outside of these titles may or may not be used because I am the writer and therefore I am the god of this universe.
I intend to post a chapter about every Thursday if you all are wondering. This is my first fan fiction on this site and the first I've posted online for at least four years.
Enjoy, read, review, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows.
Disclaimer:I do not own anything from this series except for the manga sitting on my bookcase at home. Do not touch these. I have covered them in poison in case someone decides they want to run off with them. hehehehe.