Saiyuki belongs to Minekura Kazuya
Collar: Chapter 1
Sanzo regained consciousness in semi-darkness and apparently alone. He was seated with his back to a pillar to which he was bound at the waist, with his hands tied behind him. He struggled but could move very little. There was something around his neck. It was very uncomfortable and quite tight.
"I'm Shahin Ushas and you are my prisoner." A woman's voice, somewhere off to his right. "You are also bait. I know your final, unapprehended companion will come for you and then I'll have all four of you. You won't be able to stop the resurrection of my lord and he will wipe all of you filthy humans from the face of the Earth. We will rule as is our destiny." Ushas' voice was musical and quite low pitched for a woman. Sanzo struggled in an effort to see her. The band around his throat tightened ever-so-slightly. "If I were you I'd keep still." Her voice sounded amused. "That thing is slowly choking you. Every time you move or any time I tell it too, it tightens. You don't have long and you have no means of escape. Your only hope is rescue." The voice was moving closer. She seemed to expect him to speak but he maintained a stony silence and glared into the middle distance. Let her gloat. It bought him time. Goku couldn't be far away and Goku had abilities that few demons understood. This was far from over. She slid into his field of vision and started gliding towards him. She was tall and very beautiful with creamy skin and eyes that flashed a bright aquamarine blue. Her hair was long and straight and fell like black silk to her knees. She was exquisitely gowned in colourful silks and brocades that whispered sensually as they trailed across the floor in her wake. "My, but you're a pretty one! Such a graceful thoroughbred! And those eyes..." She stooped to look into his face. "What a pity you have to die!" She caressed his hair and he tossed his head furiously. "Oh, fiery, too! Where's your tranquility, Buddhist?" His glare became poisonous and she laughed. "What? Nothing to say? No attempt to make me change my mind? To see the error of my ways?" She purred.
"Oh shut up!" Sanzo hissed. "I really can't be bothered listening to idiots!" He was giving nothing away. Let her taunt all she wanted.
Ushas smiled sweetly. "But you see, you really have no choice. I hold all the cards here. Soon your little monkey will be here and I'll have all four of you. Until then I shall just amuse myself." She lifted his chin and forced him to look into her eyes. He had an overwhelming desire to spit in her face. Fear was making him even angrier. "I could have so much fun with you. There's very little that's more enjoyable than corrupting a priest. It's so entertaining watching them struggle with their little consciences!"
"You've got the wrong man, Lady!" Black humour in his eyes. "I've never had a conscience and I lost my 'purity' a long time ago and never missed it." His mind worked quickly. She had no idea as to Goku's true power. Good. But where were Hakkai and Gojyo? Were they together or had she the forethought to separate them? Where those two were concerned the whole was definitely greater than the sum of it's parts. They'd go to any lengths to protect one another. Had she underestimated them? He hoped so.
"And yet Kanzeon Bosatsu entrusted this most dangerous and important mission to you, little priest. I wonder why she did that if you're so untrustworthy?" She ran a slender finger along his jaw. He glared at her, balefully, eyes dark with fury.
"I never said I was untrustworthy." He snarled, keeping her talking. "She can trust me absolutely. To be stubborn and ruthless and to break every rule in the book if it will serve our ends. She just can't trust me to be a good Buddhist." He replied, trying very hard not to move and cause the collar to tighten. If he could intrigue her sufficiently she would continue to bandy words with him, rather than take the wiser course and kill him while she had the chance.
"And what about all that bad karma? You reek of blood. How many people have you killed? How many unfortunate youkai have died with your bullet through their heart? You'll pay for that. You're bound for Hell, Genjo Sanzo."
"My karma is my own affair. You assholes have to be stopped." He hissed. Good, she was trying to figure him out.
"Oh, so you are an altruist after all. Ready to take on all that bad karma to save others. How very noble of you! But you know, Sweetie, you've failed and I'm going to have a little fun, then fillet you, pan fry your flesh and eat it with fava beans and a good chianti. And you know, there's a rumor that after eating a sanzo priest an enterprising demoness can remain young and gorgeous forever. Maybe I'll just have a little sample now." She was very close to him now, kneeling beside him. She pulled the robe from his shoulder, ripped his cassock with her teeth and bit hard into his muscular shoulder. He neither moved nor made the slightest sound.
"Oh, delicious!" She moaned, licking her lips. "You may not be a conventional, pure Buddhist priest but your sins add spice. Like wasabi! And there's something else isn't there? You're a tulku. Who's I wonder?" She fished inquisitively for more information.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, bitch, so you might as well shut the fuck up!" Offer her a stone wall and see if she'd try and jump it. Every moment increased their chances of survival.
"You're a mouthy little bastard, aren't you? Like a little animal snarling to hide your fear."
Before he could come up with a suitably scathing response, a bloodstained Goku burst into the cavern, his nyoi-bo spinning in his hands. He sped across the floor, hauled the demoness off Sanzo and flung her right across the room in his fury.
"Your people are all dead. I've slaughtered every one. Now I want my master back." His lips drew back from his teeth, exposing his fangs.
"Goku!" Sanzo called. "Untie me!" Goku dropped to his knees and untied the knots with swift, dexterous fingers. Then he saw the blood on Sanzo's shoulder, running down the cassock and soaking into his robe. "She's injured you!" he said through clenched teeth. His eyes blazed with golden fire.
"I'll do more than that, you pathetic little ape demon! I'll eat him, and enjoy every, tiny morsel. Maybe I should make you watch before doing the same to you. Maybe I should press you into preparing my meal!" She taunted, unwisely. Goku stood slowly, shuddering as he did so. His limiter cracked, shattered and fell to his feet in shards. Oh shit, thought Sanzo, this certainly complicates matters...
Seiten Taisei always astonished Sanzo, no matter how many times he saw him. Such wild beauty distilled into such a small and incredibly dangerous package. He took off across the room like a bullet out of a gun, faster than Sanzo's eye could follow, his claws flashing in the torchlight. Ushas screamed as he slashed at her and pulled her sword from the ether, fighting desperately to defend herself against his onslaught. His claws raked across her arm, his cruel, feral smile showing his fangs. He laughed at the sheer joy of battle and the sound sent a chill down Sanzo's back. She hissed and slashed at him, her blade a glittering silver arc above his head. He leapt and caught it between his teeth, then with a deft toss of his head, flung it far beyond her reach. It rang like a funerary bell on the cold stone. She barely missed a beat but kicked out powerfully, spinning away from him as she did so. He snarled and came after her, somersaulting over her head to land behind her. She spun again, facing him, her own claws glinting and her lips twitching back from her fangs. Then she launched herself at him, hoping to throw him off balance with her superior height and weight but he was far too fast. He somersaulted again and this time she'd barely turned before he struck her. She blocked his blow and swiped swiftly with her right hand, the tips of her claws catching him across his left cheek. He laughed again, catching her wrist and pulling her towards him. She struggled but his grip was too strong and he was too close. Sanzo couldn't watch as Seiten Taisei went for her throat, enfolding her in a grizzly embrace. A few seconds later he heard her body slide to the floor and Seiten Taisei start to pad towards him. He didn't look up until the elemental stood over him.
"Goku, come here. I can't move." He breathed. "Can you understand me, Goku?" He looked into the golden eyes, hoping Goku could exert some control. Recognition flickered. "You know me. I'm no threat." He knew he only had one chance to replace the limiter. The collar about his neck would quite possibly strangle him as he moved or Seiten Taisei could slice him to pieces. He couldn't afford to get it wrong.
"I know you?" Seiten Taisei queried, kneeling at his side and reaching out to touch him. Sanzo remained absolutely motionless. The elemental's fingers touched his hair, his talons catching slightly. "Golden, like the sun..." He came closer, touching Sanzo's cheek with the back of one supple finger. Sanzo was uncomfortably aware of how close those talons were to his throat.
"Goku..." Sanzo sighed "Saru..." Seiten Taisei smiled. Not the terrifying, feral smile but a gentle one, like someone trying to recall a pleasant memory. He leaned very close, as if trying to breathe Sanzo's scent. Sanzo took a chance and allowed his head to fall back, exposing his collared throat. His breath caught as the collar twitched a little tighter.
"Goku..." he sighed the name again, barely vocalizing. The elemental was hanging over his throat now, his lips almost touching Sanzo's skin, just breathing in his scent as if trying to remember it. His hair teased against Sanzo's face, soft and shining.
"I know you..." Sanzo could feel Seiten Taisei breath against his skin. Sanzo felt a shiver of something that wasn't fear shimmer through him. "You're his friend. He loves you. We love you." The elemental lifted his head and met Sanzo's eyes, his own thoughtful. Then he touched the collar with one careful talon. "There is a solution to this problem. If he's brave enough, if he's desperate enough. He must be the one to choose. I will leave the answer for him. He has only to look. I will not forget you again, so you need not fear me. Quickly, bind me. I must return your partner to you." He bowed his head so that Sanzo could reach easily.
"Thank you, Sage. I'm in your debt." Sanzo replied, reaching his hands about the crown of Seiten Taisei head.
"I'm not keeping an accounting." The elemental turned his bowed head slightly and smiled with surprising sweetness. Then the light flashed as the ring reformed.
