"Hakkai! Hey! Can we get some of these? Can we? huh?" The young monkey looked at the brunette man with glistening, puppy dog eyes. If he had a tail, he would have wagged it. Hakkai smiled and sighed, nodding in silent agreement. Goku yipped in excitement and turned to the vendor, grabbing as much of the fruit as he could lay his hands on.

Hakka merely grinned complacently and looked around the market place curiously, wondering if the crowds were always this thick, or if there was a carnival in town. Gaze drifting, he noticed a large shadow swiftly pass over the marketplace, its features extremely familiar. He knew those wings... he had seen them before… but not for many months…

Maeth!

Gojyou groaned as he limped his way into his room at the inn. God dammit that woman knew how to land a punch! His grimace widened into his trademark smirk as he lay down on the single bed in the corner – but he still had got to kiss her…

His mind wandered back to that moment, and he had to try hard to quell the stirring of desire in his body. That woman. That vamp. That… Vampire. She was more woman than he had ever met. Her body was curved lusciously in all the right place, her lip were full and red. Her eyes spoke of a thousand hidden promises of heat, passion and excitement. Her voice was deep and husky, yet very feminine, the kind of voice that made a mans' spine turn to jelly. And in more ways than one, she seduced him.

With words, with motions, with ideas – even the way she blinked seduced him. She had a way of making everything she did appeal to the male libido within him. He wasn't even sure if she was aware of this effect, but he was sure she knew his reaction to it- as she continued to beat him to a pulp when he did so. So caught up in his own little world, was he – that he very nearly missed the near silent knock on the bedroom doorframe, before the intruder… well, intruded.

"Sanzo! What the hell man? Can you at least knock and wait a few seconds? I mean, what if there was a woman in here with me… unless you're into that kind of thing? Why, you kinky bastard-" WHACK. The chair thrown from across the room connected with Gojyo's face solidly sending him flying back in a spurt of blood.

"Keep your perverted thoughts to yourself, you damn lecher! I only wanted to know if Goku and Hakkai came back with you – they were supposed to pick up cigarettes for me." Sanzo's voice barely hinted at the effort it took to hurl and entire chair across the room. Gojyo wiped his nose and glared at the monk – yes – he had deserved that – but it still hurt!

"They didn't come with me man – if anything… I thought you would still be out in the market somewhere… did Jivra come back with you?" His eyes searched Sanzo's surroundings as thought the pretty girl might pop out of his robes at any minute.

Sanzo's eyebrows twitched. "I don't care what happens to that woman – she can do what she damn well pleases. It's not up to me to keep an eye on her." He turned his face, ignoring the single raised eyebrow from Gojyos' direction. He felt a twist in his gut, but refused to listen to the possibility that maybe he was wrong.

Gojyo sighed and reclined back on the bed further. "Well – if that's what you say, oh holy Buddha – then may the girl look after herself. I mean – what possible harm could someone like HER get into? Hmm?" He made the statement sound like a challenge, and Sanzo whipped around to glare at him – but Gojyo was already dozing asleep. Sanzo snorted, and eyed his red headed companion curiously. Funny… he seemed to be favoring his abdomen…

Had he been in a fight?

Ax scanned the area below her – eagle vision piecing through the veils of dust on the streets as she tried to locate her missing companion. Her breath came quickly – she was anxious… something strange was definitely going on…

That voice though…

Who was the owner of that familiar voice? It was like something from dream… like the shadow of a waking memory… almost too faint to be real. So then, how did she know it?

Whipping her wings in a flurry, Ax vaulted higher into the sky to get a more expansive view of the village. Focusing her sight, she noticed a large dust cloud, shaped like a tornado, filled with silver light near the edge of town… THERE… that HAD to be it!

Ax folded her wings and dove straight for the area, hoping that she wasn't too late for… whatever was going on. Feeling a strong pulse, followed by a sizzle of raw power, she sped up, praying that Jivra was not in the heart of the matter…

… because whatever that silver light was… it didn't bode well.

The young, dark coated man uncrossed his arms from in front of his face and wiped at the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. He smiled softly at the memory of blood. After all – how long had it been since someone had actually landed a punch on him? Let alone made him BLEED? He raised his silvery black eyes to the young woman in front of him, who had yet to retract her arm from the vicious punch she had thrown.

He had only just found the core of her soul – the place where the sutra and her life force had melded into one being, when he felt himself getting thrown back by the force of her fist. Jivra panted in effort – the young man was sturdier than he looked – and retrieved her arm, setting herself in the stance for the next attack. The young man continued to smile at her, a glint of ivory teeth showing between his lips.

Just who WAS this guy?

"Excuse ME, Mr. Grabby-hands – but I don't recall getting your name, OR allowing you to grope my chest without permission! Tell me who the hell you are, or prepare to have your ass handed to you on a platter!" Jivra bared her teeth at that final insult, and readied herself for his attack. She was completely taken aback by what he did next.

Releasing an arm from the folds of his strange coat, the blonde and blue haired man crossed it over his chest and bowed low, dipping his head in motion. His stance was flawless, she could tell from years of forced deportment classes by Ax. His grace at holding the bow was effortless, as though it came naturally to him. Jivra merely stared, confused and a little freaked out by this display – people didn't just BOW to people that had just punched them… that was just too weird.

"My apologies, Madmoiselle Telemnar, please forgive my thoughtlessness. You may call me Scythe." His voice flowed over her again, that warm honey feeling becoming more commonplace than it had before… as though she knew him from somewhere. His eyes danced in the midday sun, and Jivra felt her breath catch in her throat – true, she didn't find him particularly appealing, but he WAS attractive. Something about the way he looked at her – as though he were seeing her soul, and conversing with it, rather than with her.

Suddenly, the sun disappeared in a whirl of dust. The young man straightened from his bow and dropped the charming act in a swift movement. "Alright – you know my name, so I don't have to go through all that 'yes, sir' 'no, sir' bullshit again, do I?" Jivra started at the change in his voice – he had gone from honey smooth to deep and rough in a matter of seconds. Was this guy bipolar or something?

The dust continued to whirl around the pair, cocooning them from the outside world. Strangely enough, Jivra was sure it had something to do with him – and was decidedly unhappy about the affair. His demeanor had also changed – gone was the softly smiling gent who had just bowed to her – now there seemed to be an arrogant, uncaring youth in his shoes. What the hell as going on?

"Pardon me, but would you mind STOPPING THIS FREAKING TONADO?" Jivra's voice echoed within the whirling enclosed space, reverberating back to her as though she were in a cave. She covered her ears and winced, glancing up to see what the young man was up to?

"This isn't ME sweet heart, its YOU!" His voice cut through the wind and her consciousness, confusing her thoroughly. What did he mean, it was her? First he blocked her path, then he groped her chest, then she punched him, then they 'exchanged pleasantries', then HE turned freaking schizophrenic on her and now this tornado that came out of nowhere was HER fault? What the HELL was going ON? "Well... I dunno how I did this? Do you?" Her voice was strong and clear, yet held a slightly sulky note, as if she were a child who wasn't being told the whole truth from her parents.

Suddenly, Jivra's token cowboy ha went flying off her head, and floated up to the sky through the funnel above them. Ok. That was the last straw - NOBODY messes with the hat.

"Can't you freaking DO something?" She yelled at Scythe, covering her mouth with one hand as she peered at him through the dust and her own flying hair. He seemed calm (if somewhat lightly annoyed), and she was extremely interested in the fact that despite all the wind and dirt, the young man stood his ground as though he we indoors – not a hair out of place in his head. Not a speck of dust on his coat. Just who WAS this 'Scythe' guy?

"Yeah… look – I'll see what I can do, a'right?" His voice was sharp and cutting - much like his name, and he had a strange, unfamiliar accent within that standard dialect. "You'll need to close your eyes though – you could go blind if you look before I tell you to." His eyes met hers for a moment, and Jivra nodded in agreement, clenching her eyes tightly shut.

A few seconds passed, in which the wind merely gained in strength howling in the street, and starting to suck up debris, causing panic in the local residents who lived in that area. Jivra kept her eyes closed, listening to the screeching wind, hating the sound it made as it ripped and tore its way across the ground – it was too much like an evil force when it did that.

And then…

Light bloomed beyond her eyelids. Brilliant, all consuming light. She gasped, clamping her hands over her eyes so she wouldn't look inadvertently. But oh, how she wanted to – to see what brilliance was taking place in front of her. And she was SURE it was brilliance – as she had not felt a light that pure in many months… not since the day the dragon had escaped her.

Jivra felt the wind slow, and decline. Listened as the shrieks faded to hollow howls of breeze, and tasted nothing but clean air, instead of dirt and sand. The tornado had been stopped – and not just ANYONE could do that. Beyond her eyelids she saw the light fading, and knew she had to see before it was too late. Just what HAD Scythe done? Did he have a scripture? A talisman? A crystal of some sort? It had to be holy – there was no other way…

Squinting through nearly closed eyes, Jivra peeked at the young man who had so suddenly disrupted her afternoon. She locked her gaze on him, and unseeingly widened her eyes, gaping at the sight in front of her. His tanned chest, toned abdomen and long, muscled arms… and also…

Her lips parted, allowing a few syllables to escape, at which he whirled around to glare at her, eyes scathing in their anger…

"Why… you're…a…" she whispered, unbelievingly….