The Strength of Crimson

By: Dark Hearted Shinobi

Chapter One

"Sanzo, there appears to be a town up ahead." Hakkai said, looking over at his blond counterpart.

"Fine. We'll stop there, restock and spend the night. But that's all."

"That sounds good to me."

"A town! All right! FOOD!" Goku yelled, punching a fist in the air.

"Beer and women's more like it." Gojyo drawled, his ever present cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Both of you, shut up." Sanzo snarled, reaching for his fan.

Hakkai laughed quietly to himself as he pulled into the town. The smile soon slipped from his lips as he noticed the town was deathly quiet. "Um. . .. there may be a problem."

"Oh shit." Gojyo snarled over Hakkai's shoulder.

"This sucks! No food! An' I'm about to die over here!"

The fan made a resounding whap as it connected with Goku's head, knocking the youngest member of the team back into his seat.

"I thought I told you to shut up."

Hakkai looked around as they drove through the streets. "It doesn't look like it's been abandoned. There are remnants of life."

"Right. . . and that means. . .what?" Gojyo replied.

"Lets explore the town and see what we can find. Sanzo and Goku, you go that way. I will take Gojyo and go this way." Hakkai said, parking the car. "Hakuryuu, transform."

The little dragon turned back to it's natural form, kyuuing as it perched on Hakkai's shoulder.

"Fine." Sanzo looked over at Goku. "Let's go."

"Can we find food? I'm starvin' to death!"

"Shut up."

Hakkai turned to Gojyo, laughing a slight bit. "Well, shall we go?"

"Whatever. I just wanna find some beer."

"Of course." Hakkai started walking down the streets, peering in windows, frowning lightly. "Well, there are meals on the tables, fires in the fireplaces and other signs of life, but I see no inhabitants."

"Do you think that they could have been killed before we got here?"

"That's rather unlikely. If there had been an attack, I would think that more of the town would be destroyed."

"Hm. Guess that makes sense." Gojyo stopped walking suddenly, making Hakkai turn and stare at him.

"Gojyo?"

"Look over there." The red-head pointed to a collapsed building, still smoking. "What's that?"

"I don't know. Shall we find out?"

"Yeah." Gojyo headed over to the rubble, his steps quickening, then turning into a flat out run as he caught sight of something red sticking out from it. He started digging, then swore loudly. "Fuck! Hakkai! Get your ass over here!"

"What seems to be the matter, Gojyo?" The green-eyed healer asked, walking over. He frowned as he saw what Gojyo had uncovered.

The bodies of about half a dozen children were lying in the rubble. Their ages ranged from a newborn child to about seven years old. Hakkai's frown deepened when he saw they all had blood red hair.

"Gojyo?"

"Hakkai, I think. . ." Gojyo lifted one of the children's broken bodies from the rubble, peeling up an eyelid. The iris underneath was the same red as a sunset. "Fuck."

"Hanyou?"

"Yeah." Gojyo lifted the other bodies from the rubble, laying them in a straight line. "Can you help them?"

Hakkai shook his head. "No. They're dead. I can only help the living."

Gojyo kept digging, finding two more bodies, both toddlers, then he uncovered a young girl, about eight years of age and frowned. "Hakkai, she's alive. Barely, but alive."

"Let me see her." Hakkai took the small body, laying her on the ground. He held his hands over her form, letting his healing chi flow into her small body. Her tiny body shook and he frowned. "Gojyo. . . I do not know if I can help her."

"Damn it Hakkai! Try harder!"

"I'm doing the best I can." The healer replied, his voice soft and low.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would someone do this?"

"That I cannot answer, Gojyo." Hakkai replied softly, continuing to work on the girl. Gojyo watched him, strangely silent. Hakkai glanced over his shoulder at his friend once, frowning when he saw Gojyo, looking at the dead bodies, his bangs covering his eyes, hiding his emotion. Hakkai started to speak, but a shout stopped him.

"Heyyy! Gojyo! Hakkai! Did you find food?" Goku yelled, running up. He stopped when he saw the line of children, Hakkai kneeling beside the girl and Gojyo standing over them. "What's this?"

"It's a sacrifice." Sanzo answered, walking up, taking a long drag on the cigarette hanging from between his lips.

"What do you mean 'a sacrifice'?" Goku looked over at Sanzo.

The blond priest looked away from the bodies. "I found some of the townspeople and spoke to them. They said they had just barely survived a youkai attack."

"The town does not show any signs of attack." Hakkai said softly. He frowned when he realized the young girl was no longer breathing. "Gojyo. . ."

"Shit. She's dead, isn't she?"

"I'm sorry."

"No. You did what you could." Gojyo frowned deeply.

Sanzo looked at the tiny body lying in the dirt. Just another causality of this damn war.

"Hak-Hakkai?" Goku asked, his voice an octave higher than usual, quavering slightly.

"Yes Goku?"

"Why'd she die?"

"I-I do not know." Hakkai sighed, running his hands through his hair. The four of them went silent, just staring, stiff, quiet, no one moving.

"I'm going back to town." Sanzo broke the silence suddenly, startling everyone. "Goku, come on."

"Okay." Goku bounded after Sanzo, glancing back over his shoulder at the other two.

Hakkai watched Sanzo's back. He could tell by the stiffness of the blond priest's shoulders, the way he was walking and the dark chi he was giving off that Sanzo was pissed, but the priest would never admit as much. "Gojyo. Come on."

"Fine." Gojyo trailed them, leaving the bodies behind him. He stopped, turning back. "You go on ahead. I want to bury them. They don't deserve this fate."

"Do you want help?"

"No. I'm gonna do it myself."

"What are you going to dig with?"

"This." Gojyo summoned his shakujuko, shrugging. "That's what the spade is used for. Digging graves."

"All right. Be careful."

"Right." Gojyo started digging as the others disappeared into the distance, darkness falling over the small town.

A/N: Well. . . . . this is quite fun, I think.

I have no idea where it came from... I think somewhere in the deep recesses of my odd little mind.

I hope you enjoy it.

There is more to come if you like what I have here. ^_^

Disclaimer: Don't own Saiyuki.