Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The candle flickered tauntingly on the lone figure hanging in the corner. His once golden hair was streaked with a black liquid which had slithered down his face and torso, all the way to his feet. It puddled on the floor. A myriad of whip marks coated his back and shoulders, burns smeared his arms, and the rest of his body was splotched black and blue. Sanzo continued his icy stare down the shadowed corridor, right past his unseen visitor.
Drip.
His eyelids flickered, the normally violet gaze graying. Everything appeared disfocused and swam out of concentration. Sanzo couldn't see the man only feet away. Sanzo couldn't even focus on the candle. He simply struggled to concentrate on the shapes shifting in the darkness.
Drip.
Gojyo. Hakkai. Goku. They danced before him in and out of the shadows, taunting.
Drip.
Someone was humming. Sanzo gritted his teeth, twisting his arms in irritation, disregarding the momentary pain as he struggled to focus. The figure stepped closer.
Drip.
Sanzo's mind swirled in an internal struggle. Something was wrong, something was changing, but he didn't care. He needed to focus on... who were they again? The ones barely in his sights who refused to come a hairsbreath closer; Sanzo gritted out profane phrases as his senses continued to weaken.
Drip.
The vile liquid, once warm, all at once turned ice cold. It clawed at him. A man stood at Sanzo's side and watched him, only inches away, smiling.
Drip.
The priest's eyes rolled back as the cold seeped into his blood, freezing his insides. It blackened his vision, smothered his hearing, flooded his throat; Sanzo's whole body convulsed as he descended into a complete frenzy.
Drip.
The captor kissed the icy cheek as Sanzo rapidly fell into a state of madness.
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"SAAANZOOOO!!"
"Sanzo."
"SANZOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
"Sanzo...O...o."
"SANZO!!"
"San... GYAAAH, YOU # APE! What the HELL was that for ?!"
"You're not even TRYING!"
"I'm blowing my fricking vocal chords searching for that damn priest, what more do you want?! You actually believe he'll come prancing out of the forest with a basket of daisies because we're shrieking his name?!" Crack.
Gojyo landed on his bum from the force of Goku's blow, and was up in a split second launching himself up... and back down again as Hakkai slammed the two of them together. He rubbed his forehead wearly as he regarded the two. "We're getting nowhere like this."
"No. Shit. OWW!"
The monocled man surveyed their position as Gojyo gingerly tested his new lump.
"What's going ON Hakkai, it's like we're going in circles!" Goku slid down in annoyance, glaring at the trees holding them seemingly captive. Gojyo glared back at him."Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have to chase after you this whole time!"
Hakkai sighed for the umpteenth time that day. He had spent yesterday treating the groups wounds but was now regretting it as the two juveniles had had enough energy to irritate each other. The healer looked around again in frustration; he was still exhausted and had little patience for the two. But Goku was right. They were lost. Hakuryu was even unable to reach the top of the trees.
"Where can he be?" Goku's voice was small and it disheartened Gojyo even more. Everything about this situation was rubbing them all the wrong way. Hakkai was supposed to be smiling. Goku needed to be whining about being hungry. He was supposed to...
Che. No wonder he was irritated. Gojyo needed a smoke. Badly. The playboy went to light his cancerstick when it burst into flames. His startled yelp alerted the two, but no one was ready for when a fourth figure appeared out of the forest. The newcomer's gaze was intense and unflinching. A gaze that was very familiar to them. And it came from someone they knew very well.