Goku
Morning was weird. Really weird. We were in a weird place with weird people who wouldn't stop looking at us like we were criminals, and everything Sanzo and Gojyo did felt weird too. We ate breakfast together for what felt like the first time in forever, but neither of them said a word. Gojyo wouldn't fight with me, and Sanzo didn't make a single threat to shoot either of us. It was almost a normal breakfast, and that's what was weird about it.
I kept looking for Hakkai, but he was nowhere to be found. I guess he didn't come back last night.
Once, I almost asked Gojyo about it—because he'd followed him—but then I'd remember the way he'd come out of the woods last night. I'd stayed on the edge of the village, waiting, thinking he'd bring Hakkai back, assuming that was what he'd gone with him for. But when he came back he was by himself.
"What about Hakkai?" I'd asked.
Gojyo looked at me oddly, like he didn't even know what I was talking about. He had a lit cigarette, but it didn't look like he was smoking it. He looked…I dunno'. Just lost. "Oh. Hakkai. He's…just gonna' take a walk."
"'S he comin' back?"
"Who knows?"
So today I couldn't ask. Maybe Gojyo had no idea where Hakkai was. Maybe he didn't care.
I stared at Sanzo, trying to sort out what I saw in his face. It looked pretty calm, for a morning Sanzo face, but behind that was this…frustration, I think. It was really hard to tell. I didn't know what he'd be frustrated about. Because Hakkai was gone? Because Hakkai had freaked out? Because Gojyo might just stay here in this weird-ass little village and we'd have to go on without him? Because everyone around us was treatin' us like we were dangerous?
We were dangerous, right? Sanzo had his gun and was always threatening to kill someone. Trigger happy, Gojyo called it. Hakkai lost his limiter and I had to admit, youkai Hakkai was scary. I lost my limiter, and I guess I was probably scary too. Not that I could remember. Gojyo had his issues too. Such a social guy, but I knew how much he enjoyed swinging that crazy blade around, slicing people to ribbons.
Maybe I shouldn't worry if they thought we were dangerous.
"What now?" I asked eventually. Sanzo was done eating. I mean, he still had food, but he hadn't eaten any of it in like thirty minutes or somethin' nuts. I'd never get how he could just not eat like that. I wasn't even full yet. I could eat a whole nother ten plates if I wanted.
"Hn. Now?"
"Yeah, I mean…we gonna' get goin' soon? What about Hakkai?"
Sanzo looked at me for a second, and then he looked at Gojyo, who was just picking at his food by now, a cigarette fizzing in the other hand. "What about Hakkai?"
"What about Hakkai, Sanzo?" Gojyo snapped.
"Well where is he?"
"Fuck if I know. It's not like we sleep together."
"Did he come back to the village last night?"
"I don't know, Sanzo."
"You're useless." Sanzo grumbled.
"Hey, don't act like this's my fault, alright? 'Cause it's not. You were right there when he took that thing off. If anyone's to blame it's you."
Sanzo's eyes flashed, "I'm not responsible for anything you idiots do. Including whether you go bat-shit or not."
"But you'll shoot us if we do, right?"
"And relish it."
"God, you're an asshole."
They were going to start fighting again, I guess. I looked between them nervously, realizing that as long as Hakkai wasn't around to make them cut it out, it would be up to me to make sure they didn't kill each other. "Uh, so. Hakkai's not here, right? I ain't seen 'im anyway? What'dya wanna' do now, Sanzo? We gonna' leave him behind?"
That's what I expected. That's what Sanzo always said he'd do if any of us weren't around when it was time to roll out, so I was surprised that he didn't answer right away. He didn't go right ahead and say 'Of course we are', get up and walk away. He sat a while longer, like he was thinking about my question. At last, he muttered, "We'll wait a while. If he doesn't come back by tomorrow…I guess we have to."
What was with that?
I glanced at Gojyo, saw him giving me the same bewildered look I felt right back at me.
"Really?"
"That's what I said."
"But you're normally so…"
"So ready to dump any of us on our ass and go on by yourself." Gojyo finished, a little meanly, I thought.
Sanzo did stand up then, glared down at us, "Use your heads. Hakkai took Jeep with him, and I'd rather not walk to India if I don't have to."
That made sense, I thought, as he started to walk away…but still, it had never stopped Sanzo before. He'd walk if he had to. He'd swim if he had to. He'd go without food just 'cause he couldn't carry it, if he had to.
Once he was gone, I met Gojyo's gaze again.
He raised his eyebrows at me, "Weird."
"Yeah. Weird."
"Maybe Master Sanzo's on his period or something, doesn't wanna' walk today."
"Wassat even mean?"
Gojyo just sighed, "Man, you are so clueless. I can't decide if it's refreshing or just irritating."
"Hm." I put my fork in my mouth and stared up at the ceiling.
Gojyo only sat there a little while longer before getting up without a word and wandering away.
Sitting at the table by myself was no fun, so I finished eating and went to look for Sanzo. If he changed his mind and decided to leave, I didn't want him leaving me behind.
He didn't get too far. He was hanging around not far from the broken down little house the people had given us to stay in, smoking and watching the sky. Not much to see, I thought. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky, and today the air was hot.
"Hey Sanzo." I walked up beside him, watching the sky too. I saw a few birds flying around, doing tricks and stuff, but I didn't think that's what he was looking at.
Sanzo just grunted at me.
"Can I ask ya' somethin'?" I said after a while.
"What is it?"
"It's just…you really don't wanna' leave Hakkai behind?"
He turned his head to look at me. I thought he looked a little bored now. "Do you?"
"No. I'm worried about 'im. Whatever happened last night…what if it happens again, only this time we ain't there ta' help 'im?"
"He's not a child: he'll have to deal with it by himself."
"Yeah, I guess. So then, that ain't why we're waitin' for 'im?"
"No." Sanzo sighed suddenly, blowing a lot of smoke from his lips, "We're waiting because…I'd rather not have just the two of us go…"
"The two of us? What'dya' talkin' about? Gojyo-"
"That dumbass." Sanzo shook his head slightly. "Gojyo will probably stay here, Goku."
"What?" I didn't mean to sound so surprised. Sure, I thought maybe Gojyo would want to stay here, but Sanzo really sounded sure. Like he already knew.
"He's stupid, and his choices are usually equally stupid. I assume that tomorrow, whether Hakkai comes back or not, Gojyo won't be going with us. It would be better if we had Hakkai."
I thought. I thought really hard. And thought and thought and thought. "Don'tcha' think we could just convince 'im ta' go with us? Tomorrow, I mean. I want Hakkai ta' go too…but…either way…Gojyo…"
"It's not my job, Goku. No one's making the three of you do this, and if any of you decide to leave, I can't force you to stay."
"He can't stay here though." I said, feeling hopeless suddenly. "It's…weird here. It ain't home."
"Hmph. The fact that even you know that is really a testatment to how incredibly moronic he is."
My heart began to sink. It was sort of like feeling hungry—that empty, unhappy feeling—but worse. Like being sick and hungry at the same time. "What if I talk to 'im? Maybe I can convince 'im-"
"I wouldn't want you to waste your time trying to talk to that mule, but then…" He flicked some ashes away, then took a slow drag on the cigarette, "it's none of my business what you do in your spare time."
Was that his way of saying he wanted me to try? It didn't really matter, I was going to if he wanted me to or not.
Not long after that, Sanzo announced that he was going to go meditate. I guess that's what he did when he wasn't reading the newspaper. That left me alone in this weird village again, with nothing to do, so I wandered around, trying to think clearly, looking for some way to occupy my time.
Luckily, like yesterday, there was plenty to do around here. The village was a little bit crappy. Buildings falling apart, carts that needed to be repaired. Heavy stuff to lift. I was good at helping, so I went wherever someone needed me. 'Hey. Need help with that?' 'I bet I can do it.' 'Naw, s'okay, you don't hafta' give me anything for it'.
At first, most of the people were weird about letting me help, like they didn't really want to, but after some convincing, they usually let me. By the time whatever we were tryin' to do was done, they were smiling and laughing with me like we were friends. It was great, and I started to feel like I had a lot of friends, with people walking by, smiling at me and patting me on the back like they'd known me forever. It was a good feeling. Maybe if I were Gojyo I might wanna' stay here too. It might be nice to be part of a place like this—helping out neighbors and getting invited to dinner and stuff. It might be fun.
I helped a guy change the wheel on his cart, and then I helped his brother move big bales of hay. I rescued a kitty that was stuck in a tree, carried some heavy baskets for a lady in the market. Around noon, I hung around in the market, talking to people and sampling food, and even wound up helping out at a shop, so I got free lunch.
Lunch was really good, and pretty big, and I felt really, really happy and peaceful when I was done, so I found a tree to stretch out under and took a little nap. The village was quiet and cheerful, full of butterflies, with the scent of fresh fruit and grass everywhere, and when I woke up, it seemed like I had even more friends than before. Pretty much everyone who walked by had a bright thing to say to me.
When I was done with my nap, I decided to look around and see if Hakkai had come back, but I didn't see him anywhere, and no one I talked to had seen him all day. I guess he wasn't back yet. I couldn't find Gojyo either. Sanzo was reading something when I found him. I dunno' what it was. Not the paper. Some book he must have found somewhere. I sat a while with him, because I liked doing that. Just sitting and being near Sanzo and not worrying was always nice. It reminded me of old times, before the calamity and the minus wave and all this craziness, when we just lived in the temple, and Hakkai would come over and teach me things, and everything was perfect.
After a while, I went back to wandering. I stopped by the park to play ball with some of the kids. They were nice because they didn't start off hating me like the grown ups did. They acted sorta' nervous when I went up, smiling and asking if I could play too, but they didn't tell me no, and it didn't take long for them to all love me and wanna' hang off me and run around with me. We played tag next. Then hide and seek. One of the older kids wanted to spar with me. I went easy on him.
There was this little kid named Deshi who was really into me. He let me wear his goggles, and he talked a lot. We talked about games and food and exploring, and then he showed me the fort he'd built under an old bridge. The river was mostly dry, and he was keeping a lot of treasure there. Sticks he thought were cool, shiny things he'd picked up, smooth rocks. Animal bones and skins, and stuff travelers had either left or given him. He showed me a bottle opener. It was rusty and dinged, but he held it tight and smiled and told me his brother gave it to him. I asked where his brother was, but he said he was dead. I told him that was too bad. Then I dug around in my pockets looking for something he could have. I didn't have much, but eventually I found an old lighter I'd almost forgotten about.
Deshi held it reverently, staring at the flame like it was magic. "Where'd you get it?"
"Gojyo gave it to me." I grinned. "I dunno' where he got it, but he's already got one, so he said I could have this one." I added so he wouldn't feel bad, "I don't smoke, so I don't need it."
"I don't smoke either." Deshi explained.
"But ya' might some day. Then you'll have Gojyo's old lighter. Hey, maybe it's lucky—for smokers or whatever. Gojyo's like, I dunno', the king of smokers."
I thought a little sadly, that maybe Deshi would just have Gojyo around, so if he wanted to smoke he could bum cigarettes and lights off him. That sounded nice to me. There was something between smokers, something about sharing cigarettes and lighting each other up and stuff, that non-smokers didn't get to have. Sometimes I thought the only thing Sanzo and Gojyo had in common was that they smoked, and the only time they'd admit that they needed each other was when they had to ask each other for a cigarette or a lighter.
Like the last time Gojyo left, to go fight Kami-Sama. Sanzo said he needed a light, but Hakkai and I couldn't help him. I bet he'd wished Gojyo was there then. I bet he'd missed him.
Deshi flicked the lighter again.
"Don't waste the lighter fluid." I told him. "Then it won't work."
The kid tucked the lighter away with the other treasures he had, and looked at me very seriously, "Thank-you, Goku-San."
"Haha, no problem, kid." I ruffled his hair, like Gojyo did to mine sometimes.
Dang. I keep thinkin' about that jerk… Is he really gonna' stay here?
In the cave he told me he wasn't leaving us. But now…
I played with Deshi a little longer, then he had to run off to dinner, and I walked around alone, feeling sort of hungry too. This village was probably the most peaceful place I'd ever been in: no fighting, no attacking youkai, no angry mobs or scheming villagers. Just neighbors and friends and happy kids. Maybe we should all just stay here. Forget the revival and the journey and just stay here and enjoy the peace.
The lady I'd helped with the baskets earlier saw me walking by when I passed her house and called out to me, "Goku-San! There you are."
"What's goin' on? You need more help?"
"No." She smiled. She had a really pretty smile, "I wanted to know if you'd like to join me and my sisters for dinner."
My grin must have been pretty big, because she laughed.
"Yeah! I'd love to!" And I ran up the stairs to her; she took my hand, and I stared at her. She was probably my age. I guess…that was sort of…supposed to be important…when it came to…liking someone.
Immediately my face was burning. Hopefully she didn't notice.
Dinner was just as good as lunch, and I had a lot of fun with them. The two younger sisters were about fourteen and ten, and they laughed at everything I said, stuff the guys would have usually made fun of me for. It was good, feeling funny and important and cool.
I could stay here. I thought eventually.
Later, when I was walking outside, looking up at the stars and feeling great, I realized that this was the kind of place everybody needed. Not this place, exactly, I guess. Just a place like it. Everybody just wanted to belong somewhere, with someone.
An' I belong with Sanzo…
Maybe Gojyo belonged here, the way I belonged with Sanzo. Maybe these people could be his family, like Sanzo was my family. Maybe it was selfish to try to talk him out of staying.
I looked up and noticed a guy standing off to the side of the road, staring out at the trees. Hey, it actually looked like it might be Gojyo. He was smoking and he had the long hair and everything.
"Hey." I jogged over to him, smiling. I felt like I'd just had the best day of my life, and there was no way he hadn't too. This was where he was supposed to be, with the people he was supposed to be with, so his day had to have been twice as good as mine. Better than that even.
He barely glanced at me. "Hey, kid."
The grin slipped from my face. He didn't sound like he'd had the best day in the world. He sounded…I didn't know the word I needed. Not upset or nothin', just…worried maybe. Or stressed, I guess.
"What'cha' up to?"
"Thinking…about stuff." He looked toward the woods again.
"What didja' do today?" I was sorta' just making conversation now, but I did want to tell him about the awesome day I'd had. I wanted to tell him this place was awesome, and I didn't mind if he stayed, because he was going to have an awesome time every day.
Gojyo flicked ashes. It made me think of Sanzo again. Maybe that really was the one thing they had in common. "Nothin' important. Just bummed around town."
"Did'ja' hang out with that chick again?"
"Lei? Yeah, a little."
"Is she pretty?"
He smirked at me, but it didn't seem normal… "C'mon, you know me. I wouldn't hang out with her if she wasn't."
I nodded, feeling a little more serious now. "I had a cool day." I told him, since he hadn't asked, "I made all kindsa' friends an' stuff."
Gojyo started walking, up toward the trees, and I followed, still talking.
"It was a lotta' fun, helpin' the people an' playin' with the kids an' stuff. I gave this one kid your lighter."
I saw him check his pocket, "What lighter?"
"Y'know, the old lighter ya' gave me."
"I gave you a lighter?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
I thought about it, "Dunno'. Few months ago."
"Oh. Hn. I don't remember that."
I was pretty sure he gave it to me. Yeah. I remembered him grinning all mean and stuff, sayin' 'Careful not to burn your little monkey ass.' "Well ya' did."
"And then you went and gave it to some random kid? Now I know what you do with the things I give you, I guess."
"You never give me anything, ya' selfish kappa."
"I gave you a lighter, didn't I?"
"Well, you've never given me anythin' else."
"If you're gonna' be that way, I'm definitely never giving you anything else."
We bickered about that for a while, and by the time I won we were deep in the woods. I hadn't even realized how deep we were going.
"You win." Gojyo muttered, bopping me in the shoulder.
You win.
"I win a lot lately, huh?" I said quietly.
"Yeah, you know. You're just too smart for me."
"More like you're just a quitter these days."
"Oh shaddup." He ordered, but it didn't seem any more sincere than anything else he'd said.
"What're we doin' out here anyway?" I glanced around at the trees. It was pretty dark, and sorta' creepy. I thought I heard somebody calling.
"What, you scared?"
"No! Just, I wanna' know what we're doin'."
"Nothin', just takin' a little walk."
"A walk ta' where?"
"Goddamn, Goku. I dunno'. Just a walk."
I studied his face, "You lookin' for Hakkai?"
His voice faltered, and for a moment he looked like somebody had caught him tryin' to sneak a cookie before dinner. "I-no. Of course not. I don't know where that dumb ass is, and I don't care."
"Buuull shiiit."
"I don't mean I don't care." He tossed the cigarette down, "I just mean…he can take care of himself."
"Yeah, that's what Sanzo said too."
"Heh. Friggin' priest is right for once."
I wondered. Maybe they were both saying that, but I didn't think they believed it. Either of them. I think they were both sorta' worried about Hakkai.
Maybe I needed to worry too. I'd had such an awesome day, and I guess they'd been worryin' and stuff, about Hakkai and whatever; I hadn't even thought to be worried.
"He'll be okay." I said.
"'Course he will. I'm not worried."
"Think he'll come back by tomorrow?"
"I dunno', he better."
Gojyo lit another cigarette, and we walked a little further, and I tried to think of something to say. Some way to ask all the questions I had.
"The village is pretty cool, huh?" I asked, eventually.
"It's…"
I waited, but he never finished. "I think it's fun. An' ev'rybody seems pretty nice."
"People were nice to you?"
"Yeah. Well, not at first. But I made 'em like me."
"'Course you did. You're good at that." To me, he sounded jealous. Maybe he didn't spend all day making friends like I did.
"People like ya' too." I told him, "Ev'rybody always thinks you're cool."
"Damn straight they do."
"You're good at makin' friends." I smiled, thinking maybe I was just misreading his tone and stuff. Maybe he wasn't jealous like I thought.
"Tch. Goku…do you know what a friend is? Like, what a real friend is?"
"Huh? Yeah. Like…somebody ta' hang out with."
"Hm. I guess you're right. I am good at that then."
I stared at him, trying to understand. "I don't mean like girls, Gojyo."
"I don't either."
"I mean, ev'rybody likes hangin' out with ya'. You're fun."
"What's this about?" He finally turned his head to look at me, almost walked into a tree branch.
"Nothin'. I just think you'd fit in here."
He stopped, and I saw we'd come to the wall we'd had to climb over. That seemed like forever ago now. Gojyo gave me a look that was almost…confused, I guess. Or maybe he didn't believe me. "You think so?"
"Sure. They're all just like you." I smiled again.
"I…" he grabbed onto a tree branch. It almost looked like he was using it to hold himself up. Like he thought he was going to fall down. "I don't know about that… I mean, I'm not sure…" He stopped and brushed the hair back from his face, took a deep breath. "I just mean, I don't really know if I belong here."
I nodded, but I wasn't sure I got what he was saying. "So…where dya' think ya' belong?"
"Who the hell knows? Let's go back—I'm hungry."
I laughed. "Didn't ya' eat?"
"Not since breakfast."
"Breakfast?" I frowned, "That was forever ago! How can ya' go so long not eatin'?"
"I didn't think about it, I guess." He was moving back through the trees, back the way we'd come.
"Didn't think about eatin'? You're so weird, Gojyo."
Now he laughed. "Right, right. I'm the weird one. Not the monkey who can't go two minutes without a huge meal."
"Duh." I stuck my tongue out at him.
We bantered a little about that. This time though, he didn't give up and say 'you win'. Instead, he argued with me really seriously, like he was trying to prove that what I'd said earlier was wrong, and he seemed a little more himself.
I started to relax. He was probably just worried about Hakkai, and that's why he was acting like this.
"Hey, I wanna' tell ya' somethin'." I said when we were almost back to the village. "Issat okay?"
"Huh? Sure, it's fine. What's up?" He turned to me, gave me all of his attention, which I sort of liked. So often, Gojyo just seemed to blow me off or make fun of me or not care about what I was saying. It always felt good to me when he stopped to really listen to what I was saying. It didn't happen much, but it was something I really liked about him. Sanzo did it too sometimes, and that felt good. Hakkai always paid attention when I said something. I liked that the best, but I was glad the other two didn't always take me so seriously. It made moments like this almost special.
"I just wanna' say, this place is really cool, an' I'm glad we found it. At first, I wasn't sure, ya' know? Feng was such a jerk, an' ev'rybody wanted ta' kill me—thanks for not lettin' 'em, by the way—but today, an' a little bit yesterday, I really had a lotta' fun. Well, other'n Hakkai goin' crazy last night. That wasn't fun. Anyway, today I had a ton of fun. It's an awesome place, an' ev'rybody's awesome. So, I just wanna' tell ya'…not that I want ya' ta' leave or nothin', but…I get it. I get why. It makes sense. So I won't try an' stop ya'."
He wasn't moving or even looking at me anymore. He was looking past me, over my shoulder, just listening carefully to everything I was saying.
"Er. I mean, I'll miss ya'. That's what I really wanna' say. Yeah, that's what I wanna' tell ya', Gojyo. I'm gonna' really miss ya', an' it's gonna' be real weird not havin' ya' with us, but I don't think that means ya' hafta' go if you don't wanna'."
I paused to study his face. His eyebrows were all wrinkled together, and he was sort of chewing at his cigarette, staring intensely past me.
"Gojyo?"
I turned slightly, checking to see if maybe we weren't alone.
That's when it hit me. It was like a brick wall my senses suddenly slammed into, smacking me in the face with a fist of reality. The air…it reeked. Blood. Steel. Fire. All of it was wrapped into one horrible stench; the stench of chaos. In the distance, I saw a faint, orangeish glow. "Wh…what's happenin'?"
Gojyo didn't answer.
"The village. What'dya' think's goin' on? Gojyo." I stepped just a bit closer to him, but I knew I couldn't cling to him or hide behind him like I could Hakkai or Sanzo. "Gojyo, I smell blood. Lots an' lots of blood."
"Shit." He came to life suddenly, started to jog, tossing his cigarette aside. "Shit!" Then he just took off running.
"Gojyo! Wait!" I ran after him, summoning nyoi-bo as I went. The smell of blood was thick in the air, and with it I could the smoke too. Up ahead the warm glow of fire was beginning to light up the woods.
I tore after Gojyo and we broke through the trees at the same time. We stood there staring. The village was on fire, all the houses blazing, and trees too, carts overturned, animals running wild, and I heard people screaming. The smell of blood was even stronger, and the smoke stung my eyes.
Beside me, Gojyo started to curse, "Son of a bitch. No…"
I looked up at him, but he was just staring straight ahead with wide eyes.
"We were only gone a little while." I whispered, "What'dya' think happened?"
Gojyo didn't answer. He didn't move.
"Do…do you think…" I didn't want to even say the rest of what I was thinking, "H-Hakkai?"
Without a word, Gojyo started to run again, weaving around burning wagons and overturned debris. I ran after him, not wanting to believe the horror around me. Now I could see dead bodies lying all over the place, on their faces in the dirt. Most of them looked like they'd been torn open, and they had pools of blood around them. Like a youkai had attacked 'em. "What happened here?" I choked, catching up to Gojyo. I didn't want to believe Hakkai had done this.
Gojyo still didn't say anything, he was moving toward a body that was lying all twisted at the bottom of some stairs leading up to a porch and a house. It looked like an old guy.
"No way." Gojyo knelt, touching the old guy's neck, like he was checking his pulse or something. Then he was quiet, just sitting there a while, like he didn't know what else to do. He mumbled something.
I stood next to him, looking down at the old guy's face. The fire hadn't reached him yet, but it looked like someone had slit his throat. Weird. He almost looked like he was smiling. "Did ya' know 'im?"
Gojyo nodded jerkily. "His name was Hu. Damn old bastard."
"Gojyo." I almost touched his shoulder, but decided not to at the last second. "Dy'a think…Hakkai did this…?" I could still remember youkai Hakkai from the other night, and how unbelievably strong and dangerous he was.
"No." Gojyo coughed a little and covered his mouth. "Hakkai…wouldn't do this."
"Yeah but…he ain't been himself lately."
He got up, looking angry, spread his arms wide, "Look around, Goku, does it look like somethin' Hakkai would do?"
I shook my head.
"Then it wasn't him." He had his shakujou out now. "Now c'mon."
"Where we goin'?"
"We're gonna' find the bastard that did all this and kill him." Gojyo glanced down at the old guy again and sighed, "Sorry Jii-san…" With that, he turned and stormed away, walking in the direction of the town square.
I stood there a second longer, looking down at Hu and wondering; then I followed my friend.
We had to step over a lot of bodies as we went: more old guys, some young guys. Girls. Lots of girls, shredded and bleeding. Little kids. I hated seeing all the little kids torn to shreds, and it made me angry. Their blood was the same color as their hair. "Who would do this?" I demanded, feeling so angry I could barely stand it. It was such a horrible thing to see. After such an awesome day, why did it have to end like this? This morning, the town had been so peaceful and bright and perfect, and now it was totally trashed. I saw Deshi's bridge. It was on fire too, and I couldn't help thinking about his treasures. I almost stepped away from Gojyo to go save some of it, but I didn't want to risk losing track of my friend in the fire.
"Gojyo!"
I spun around. There was a girl running toward us. She looked about my age. She looked scared.
Gojyo turned on her, "Lei?"
"Gojyo! I'm so glad you're alive!" She practically flung herself on top of him, clinging to his jacket and breathing hard. "Quick…we've got to run! We have to get out of here right now!"
He grabbed her shoulders, "Who did this?"
"I-I don't know who they are…there's a whole army of them though."
"Youkai or human?"
"Youkai. Definitely youkai. Gojyo…they're strong. I mean, I don't know how strong you and your friends are…but these people are monsters!"
Gojyo shook his head and looked around the burning village, "What about everyone else? Is anyone else alive?"
The girl nodded, swallowing hard, "A group of us are gathered on the northern outskirts—some came back to look for survivors and try to put out the fire. Feng took a band of men to confront the invaders. Gojyo, please, you have to come with me!"
"Feng? Where did they go?"
"To the town square, but-Gojyo!"
Gojyo tore away from her and started to march in that direction, "Lei, get everyone you can and go back to the others. I'll catch up later."
"But Gojyo!"
He didn't listen to her, but I put a hand on her arm, "'S'okay. He'll be all right, you just gotta' get as many people out as ya' can."
She looked at me a second, like I was disgusting, then pulled her arm away and turned, going back the way she came, but paused to look at me over her shoulder, "If you two survive, meet us within an hour…we can't stay here."
I nodded, and then headed after Gojyo.
"You go with her." He said when I caught up to him. "Help her save the others."
"What? Why should I?"
"Because she needs you more than I do."
"Gojyo…" I shook my head, feeling sad, "We dunno' who did this. She said it was an army—it coulda' been that Ryptcore guy."
"If it was he's going to regret it."
"But we barely got ridda' Xiong by ourselves, an' Ryptcore's gotta' be stronger."
He had nothing to say to that, but he didn't try to tell me to go back anymore, so maybe I got through. We walked on together toward the burning square feeling angrier and angrier and sadder and sadder.
There was a whole army in the square. It looked like they were running wild and looting buildings, taking whatever they wanted, laughing and shouting. I saw that they were all normal youkai, with long, razor sharp claws. They were wearing weird clothes too, almost like armor, and they had paint and blood smeared on their faces. They were grinning. Gojyo hesitated, lingering in the shadows, clutching his shakujou tight, and I stood beside him.
In the middle of the square, someone had torn down the statue of the guy who built this place, and there was a big youkai standing there instead. He was really tall, and built like Gat, with nothing but muscle. His hair was long and cut all ragged, and he had a weird piece of metal through his nose. Something about him was really, really creepy—his youkai energy was like pure black, like a huge void of darkness. I was scared it would swallow me.
"It's Ryptcore." Sanzo said, coming out of the shadows next to us. "And that army…that's the Dethbreed."
"Sonnava bitch…" Gojyo muttered.
"Wait, so he did all this?" I looked at Sanzo. "He's th' one that lit the village on fire and killed all these people?"
Sanzo nodded. He was lighting a cigarette and seemed weirdly calm. "I was just about to go have a word with him when you two slackers showed up."
Gojyo glared at him, "Who're you callin' slackers? You were here the whole time and you didn't do anything!"
"Sorry, I didn't realize it was up to me to protect your little misfit village." He took a puff off his cigarette and started to walk toward the army.
"Bastard…" Gojyo growled but he just followed him.
I went too, but I had a really bad feeling in my stomach, and it was much, much worse than being hungry.
There were even more dead half-breeds in the square, and blood was pooled and smeared and splattered everywhere. A lot of the people I saw were the same guys who'd brought me and Gojyo in. They were all dead now. Their leader, Feng, was still alive. I saw him kneeling in the middle of the carnage, breathing hard. His arm looked like it was wounded really bad. When he saw us coming he yelled, "You! How dare you show your faces here?"
Course, as soon as he started screaming at us, all the youkai stopped whatever they were doing and looked up at us and everything was quiet.
The big youkai in the middle smiled, "Well, well, if it isn't Genjyo Sanzo and his little gang." His voice… I shivered. It was like ice. I couldn't think of another way to describe it. And his eyes…they were red like Gojyo's…but so, so much colder.
"I take it you're Ryptcore." Sanzo said calmly. I wondered if he was as calm as he sounded.
I knew I was a little scared. Sure, I was pretty sure we could take this creep, but he was so frickin' creepy I couldn't help feeling like we couldn't.
"So you know me, do you? That's good. It's always good to know the one who's going to kill you."
"You're not killing anybody." Sanzo snorted.
"Ah, but see, I've already killed so many." Ryptcore swept his arm around, gesturing to all the dead half-breeds.
"You son of a bitch!" Gojyo spat, taking a step forward.
"Hm. So the rumors are true. A half-blood freak does travel with the great Genjyo Sanzo." His freezing, red eyes landed on me, and I automatically stiffened my body, ready to defend myself. "And Son Goku, the great Sage Equaling Heaven…not a myth after all. What a motley team you are. Ah. But I see you're missing a member. The youkai slayer, Cho Hakkai…you might wish you had your youkai slayer with you, Genjyo Sanzo."
Hakkai. Where was he? I couldn't help looking around for him. I really would feel better if we were all together.
"Shut the fuck up!" Gojyo snarled, going forward again. "Just shut the fuck up!"
Ryptcore looked at him and blinked like he'd forgot he even existed, "You're angry. I like that—anger is such a magnificent tool, such a weapon. But…" he cocked his head, grin expanding. He looked totally demonic. "What are you so angry about, Sha Gojyo?"
"Why did you kill them?" Gojyo demanded, "These people weren't a threat to you!"
Ryptcore just laughed, "Oh, I see. So even you worthless people have a sense of camaraderie. How fascinating. Such an interesting weakness to cling to, brotherhood. How fortunate for me not to be weighted down by such a petty thing."
"Cut the bullshit, psycho, and get ready to fight!" Gojyo crouched.
"You, fight me? Well, I hope you're at least a little stronger than the average freak. Most of them begged and wept before I killed them."
I tried to speak up, tried to stop him. "Gojyo-"
It was too late. "I said shut up, asshole!" Gojyo ran headlong at Ryptcore, light reflecting off the blade of his shakujou. He swung.
Ryptcore swung too. His attack was tight and concise—he hit Gojyo upside the head and sent him flying a few yards, where he landed in a heap of dead half-breeds.
"There. Why don't you just stay there? With your people."
"That idiot." Sanzo growled, getting his gun ready, "What's he thinking?"
I sort of got it though. Gojyo was just mad. Why shouldn't he be?
"Son of a bitch." Gojyo started to get up. When he turned around I saw his face was bruised and his eye had blood running from the corner of it. This Ryptcore guy was mad-crazy-ass strong. One hit and Gojyo already probably had a serious head injury.
I watched, gut tight and twisted, as Gojyo attacked again, screaming, swiping twice at Ryptcore with his weapon. The second swing was cut short when Ryptcore grabbed the staff part of the shakujou and snapped it right in half.
Gojyo stared, "What the…"
"Get away from 'im!" I screamed.
It was too late. Ryptcore lashed out like a striking snake and grabbed Gojyo by the neck. He lifted him up in the air, high above his own head.
Gojyo kicked and clawed at Ryptcore's hand, trying to get free; his eyes were huge and his mouth was hanging open. I could tell he couldn't breathe.
"No!" I launched myself forward, swinging at Ryptcore with my bo. I didn't even see him swing. I just felt unbelievable pain flash through my head, and then I was crashing through a window. Glass shattered all around me, slicing my arms and back. I landed hard on a chair, breaking it, and then lay on the floor a few seconds, trying to understand what had just happened. Outside there were screams and gunshots.
Sanzo…Gojyo…
Painfully, I made myself get up, clutching Nyoi-bo I busted the door up, ran back outside.
Gojyo was lying on the ground, not moving. He had blood all over him, so I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Ryptcore was standing on him—full on, both feet, just standing there on his chest. Sanzo had his gun aimed, but Ryptcore didn't seem bothered.
"Get off him." Sanzo ordered. He didn't sound so calm now—he sounded really angry, and sort of scared: Ryptcore had just beaten Gojyo and put me through a window all by himself. Without Hakkai we might not be able to do this. Even with Hakkai we might not be able to.
"You heard 'im." I snapped, readying myself to attack again. "Get the hell offa' him!"
Ryptcore just smiled, teeth sharp as his claws. He lifted one foot and stomped on Gojyo's chest, probably as hard as he could. I heard a gross, loud snap, and Gojyo's body convulsed.
He screamed, suddenly moving again, writhing and prying at Ryptcore's foot, trying to get out from under him. Blood spurted from his mouth.
"Gojyo!" I ran forward. It didn't matter if I was strong enough. It didn't matter if Hakkai was here or not, or if I had to take off my limiter to do this. I couldn't just stand around. I had to fight.
I hit Ryptcore with the full force of my body, shoulder ramming against his stomach. It was actually enough to get him off Gojyo, but I could tell it didn't hurt him at all. He just stumbled back a few feet and looked at me like he couldn't believe that had just happened. Like I snuck up on him or somethin'.
It probably hurt me a lot worse than it hurt him. That armor he was wearing was hard, and my whole shoulder felt completely broken. I landed roughly. "D-dammit…"
Sanzo stepped up next to me, gun still aimed at Ryptcore. He growled, "You pathetic piece of shit."
I took the second we had to look at Gojyo. He was in pretty bad shape already with the blood all over him, and he was unconscious.
"He alive?" Sanzo asked really quietly.
"I think so…but…Sanzo…he can't help us."
"Feh. How annoying. We don't need his help, Goku."
"But Sanzo-"
"Just get ready."
I nodded. There was nothing I could do for Gojyo right now—we had to beat Ryptcore.
Ryptcore started laughing, "You're all so pathetic! Look at you—trite little beings, so tied down by things like fear and justice and love. How can you ever hope to defeat me when I feel none of those things? Nothing but the cold black of my own mind."
"You're crazy!" I yelled.
"Crazy or not, I will survive, and the three of you will perish."
Sanzo fired. The bullet hit Ryptcore right in the arm, blood spraying from it, but he just looked at it like he didn't know what it was supposed to be.
"At least we know he's got blood." I mumbled. "Alright, here I come, ugly. Better get ready!" I went at him again.
Ryptcore didn't care about me either. He blocked my attacks and hit me twice. The first time he just winged me, the second he sent me doing cartwheels across the square and I crashed into Feng.
The youkai around us laughed, even though Sanzo was firing again.
"God dammit, you." Feng shoved me away, getting up. "I never should have brought you people here!" I looked at him. His arm was intact, but it had blood running all down it. I couldn't figure out if he was in any shape to fight or not. I guess I didn't expect him to. So I ignored him and attacked Ryptcore again. This time I tried to smash his skull open with my bo. He just tilted his head to the side, and I hit his shoulder instead.
But nothing happened. He just stared up at me, that creepy smile on his lips. It was like I hit him with a feather.
I backed away from him, "N-no way…"
He feinted forward. I wasn't ready for it.
I screamed and tried to block his attack, but he punched me right in the mouth. I was flying again, blood gushing from my lips and mouth. I hit the wall behind me and a bunch of bricks fell. Dazed, I lay there for a few extra seconds, trying to understand what was happening. I'd never hit someone dead on like that before and had them just look at me.
Footsteps coming closer.
"Goku, get up!"
Sanzo…
I had to help Sanzo.
I got up again, but I could barely do it—I felt really sick now, and I almost fell down again.
Ryptcore was right there. He slashed at me and I felt his claws dig into my skin, slicing me from shoulder to side. It burned.
Screaming, I jumped back, was pressed up against the wall. "You jerk!"
He hit me across the face, pummeling me to the side, and then slapped me from the other direction. He grabbed my shoulders and slammed me back against the wall over and over. I felt my bones fracturing as he beat me into the bricks. I coughed and tasted blood in my mouth. The rest of his men were just standing around, watching. They didn't make any noise, and I didn't see any emotions on their faces.
What was wrong with these people?
Sanzo finally got there. He pointed his gun at Ryptcore's head and fired. I thought for sure he'd get him.
Ryptcore just dropped me and spun around, darted away. For a big guy, he was really fast.
I collapsed there, writhing and coughing, vision blacking out.
Sanzo kept firing. Again and again and again.
I was in so much pain now. It was speeding all through my body, burning like a fire, from my finger tips all the way down my legs. My face was a mess of blood.
Someone was screaming something at me. I thought I heard Sanzo's voice, but it was so far away. "…up! You damn monkey! Get up!"
Right. Right, I had to get up and keep fighting.
Sputtering and coughing, all but puking, I made myself get up, supported myself on my bo. I could see Ryptcore all the way across the square, just laughing and enjoying himself, like our pain was nothing. I wiped the blood from my eyes with the back of my sleeve. "Sanzo…he's way strong."
He was reloading his gun quickly, "I know." He snapped it shut and took aim. Fired.
Ryptcore faded to the right. He was so fast, it almost looked like he disappeared and reappeared. Then he was beside us again. This time he went at Sanzo. He hit him with an uppercut. It was insane.
One second Sanzo was standing there in front of me. The next thing I knew he was gone. It was like he just vanished.
"S-sanzo!"
He landed a few feet away from me—just fell out of the sky, landed in a wagon full of wooden cages the villagers kept chickens in when they sold them. Wood and straw flew everywhere. Sanzo struggled to get up, pushed himself onto his hands and knees. His robes were torn and now his face was bloody too. I didn't see his gun anywhere.
"Sanzo!" I tried to run to him.
Ryptcore got in front of me and backhanded me, sending me right into the wall again.
Then he went after Sanzo. He charged right over to him and grabbed him by the front of his robes, swung him around and around, smashed him down into the ground. A murmur went up from the Dethbreed. They were just enjoying the damn show.
Cursing and trying to shove my pain to the back of my mind, I got up.
Feng was right there. "That man…he's a monster. Who is he?"
"Ya' don't know?" I spat some blood out.
Feng shook his head, "I just know you'll need my help if you want to defeat him."
"Ya'…can ya' fight?"
He looked insulted. Oh well. Then he ran forward to where Ryptcore was lifting Sanzo up by his collar, his other fist raised to punch his lights out.
Feng drew his sword and leapt in the air. He swiped at Ryptcore, slicing him across the back. I didn't really think it would do anything, since he was wearing all that armor, but Ryptcore screamed and dropped Sanzo. He jumped up and spun around, caught Feng around the waist before he could get away and threw him into a building. The whole front of it exploded in a cloud of dust and glass.
I didn't get it. Hitting him with my bo hadn't done anything, but Feng's sword had cut him. Of course, as I looked at Ryptcore, I realized he wasn't hurt bad enough to even slow him down. It was like Feng had given him a paper cut.
"Right." I started to walk forward, knees buckling.
Sanzo was getting up too. I went to him, keeping one eye on Ryptcore. He was dealing with Feng now. "What're we gonna' do, Sanzo?"
Sanzo wheezed and brushed the dust off his robe, smearing blood on it. "What do you think? We're going to kill him—we just have to find his weakness."
This fight reminded me a lot of the fight we had with Kami-sama so long ago. Maybe if we all ganged up on him… but we needed Hakkai and Gojyo to help us.
I watched Ryptcore going after Feng, hitting him over and over, backing him toward a corner.
"One thing's for sure, he's easy to distract…and in spite of his ravings, I don't think he's very intelligent. The experiments they did on him likely tampered with his brain."
I nodded. "Will it help?"
"Anything will." Sanzo glanced at Gojyo, "Too bad that idiot had to go get himself knocked out right away…we could actually use his help right about now."
"What about Hakkai? Where dya' think he is?"
"It doesn't matter… It just matters where he isn't."
Ryptcore was coming toward us again. He had Feng by the hair and was dragging him along, practically skipping, like he'd caught somethin' yummy for dinner.
When he was a couple yards away, he threw Feng at us. It happened so fast, I could barely get out of the way, but Sanzo got hit, and they both flew past me.
"Sanzo!" I watched them crash into a pile of crates.
When I turned back, Ryptcore was coming at me, eyes gleaming.
I gripped my bo and jumped straight up in the air, landed on his back and hit him good in the head. This time he was the one who went flying and landed in a dusty pile. When he got up he even had a thread of blood leaking from his ear. It didn't matter. He still got up, and he was still smiling.
He came at me with his claws now, looking to sink them into my heart. I barely managed to get out of the way, blocked a few times. Sparks flew when the claws hit my bo. Once he snagged my leg and I fell down, had to hurry to get up before he came down on me.
I hit him a few more times too, aiming mostly for his head and his face. It didn't matter though. Even when I hit him as hard as I could, he always came back for more. After a while, his whole face was coated in blood, his nose was busted and he was missing some teeth, but he didn't care. I was starting to feel hopeless.
Worse than that though, for every time I hit him, he always got me back twice, so I was in even worse shape than he was. Sometimes Sanzo and Feng would come back to help me, but they did even less than I did. Sanzo found his gun and shot Ryptcore a bunch of times, but then he was always just on his back again a few seconds later. And Feng really got trashed. I thought he was gonna' die. The three of us weren't doing jack. Damn, if Gojyo and Hakkai were there we'd at least be doing a little better.
I don't know how long we fought. It felt like hours, and I was tiring out—Ryptcore didn't seem fazed at all. I didn't know how much longer I could keep it up, but now I felt like I was protecting Sanzo and Feng, and they were helping me less and less. Feng was drenched in blood, and Sanzo couldn't walk straight. I think he was out of bullets too. There were probably more with our supplies but…
"Why don't you give it up? Surely even you can see how futile this is." Ryptcore sneered, licking some of Sanzo's blood off his claws. "Just die. Spare yourselves this pain."
I spat a little more blood out. My mouth seemed to be full of it—I could barely speak around it. "Shut it, ass-face. We're never gonna' lose to a dick like you."
That just made him laugh, "Boy, you already have."
Not answering, I watched him. This did feel a lot like losing.
With a yell, I went at him one last time, determined that this time I was going to make him feel it. I jumped up and sprang at him, swung my bo at his face.
Ryptcore dodged the hit, spun around and sliced me across the back, knocking me to the ground. I rolled a ways gasping from the pain, feeling the hot blood well up from my wounds. "C-crap…crap…" This was horrible. This was awful. I couldn't do anything. My body hurt so bad…I just kept getting up and fighting, even though I could barely see, even though my body was on fire. I just kept fighting. I just kept losing.
He stood over me. He looked like a shadow, and there was smoke and fire behind him. I watched him raise his claws, "Say good night, Son Goku…"
Something else moved. Another shadow. Then there was a bright flash of purple light that hit Ryptcore full on, blowing him back.
That girl landed…whatever her crazy name was. She stood right where he had been a second ago, her voice frantic, "Get up! Didn't you hear me, you dumb kid? Get the hell up!" She grabbed my arm, claws digging in, dragged me to my feet. "We've got to hurry. That won't keep him down for long."
I stared at her, trying to understand what she was telling me.
"Hurry!" She snapped, "He'll be back over here in a second, "Grab your friends, we have to run!"
"R-run…but…"
Jade slapped me. "Snap out of it, kid! You want to keep fighting him? He's going to kill you!"
I shook my head, trying to clear the confusion. She was right… if we stayed here he'd just kill us. Maybe we could fight him again later, but right now we had to get away. "'Kay."
"It's about time. Get your red-headed friend, I'll get Sanzo."
I glanced over at Sanzo. He looked like he was still awake, but he was definitely down for the count. There was nothing any of us could do now.
Gojyo. I turned to run back over to Gojyo.
A bunch of youkai got in my way.
"Move it uglies!" I swung at them, trying to bust them up. They just moved. It was like swinging at shadows, and their glowing eyes never blinked.
Another burst of purple light blew them back, but it didn't kill them. "Hurry up!" Jade screamed.
I managed to get to Gojyo. God he looked bad. Real bad. I was almost scared to touch him, scared I'd just hurt him worse, but I pulled him up. He moaned as I pulled him over my shoulder. He was a lot taller than me, so his feet dragged.
How can this really be happenin'?
Feng stepped up. He looked bad too. His one eye was shut and he was bleeding all crazy, breathing like he could barely breathe at all. "I'll take him." He choked.
I stared at him. He looked like he was going to collapse. "Ya' sure?"
"We need you to fight…I'll take him."
Reluctantly, I nodded, and let him take Gojyo. He swung him over his shoulder. Behind him I could see that Sanzo was on his feet again, robes all torn up, and Jade was doing her best to hold the Dethbreed off with her purple chi. On the other side of the square Ryptcore was marching forward. He looked ruffled, but not hurt.
"Damn. That guy's tough."
Feng said, "My people are gathering at the northern end of the town—if we can make it there and get over the wall, we can escape. Will you cover me?"
"You got it." I twirled my bo and turned, ready to beat back the Dethbreed, if I could.
"Let's go!" Jade yelled, running for the square exit. Sanzo was right behind her, and then Feng, taking Gojyo with him. I watched them fight off some of the Dethbreed that were guarding the exit. It looked like the three of them would be enough to get us out of here, so I just had to focus on making sure no one stopped us from behind.
A few came at me, expressionless, claws flashing, but I was able to hold them off. They were all crazy strong. Probably as strong as me. For all I knew, a few of them were stronger. Anyway, if I were all healthy I might not have a problem, but my body hurt so bad, it was all I could do to keep them back and head for the exit at the same time. To make it all worse, the fire was still raging, and it was closing in too. If the Dethbreed didn't kill us, we'd probably all burn.
We'd never get out of here at this rate.
I fought them back a little. They were being careful, standing off a few feet, studying me, but I knew that if I tried to turn my back they'd follow, and every time I took a step back, they came toward me. I was starting to really think I might die in this place. The others weren't doing any better.
Then I heard a familiar chirp, and Jeep flew past my face in a blur of white.
"Jeep!"
He chirped again and flew back the other way, circled around and landed on top of a pile of barrels.
One of the youkai took the opportunity to attack me, so I had to hesitate and knock him back. Then I looked at Jeep again. Not at Jeep. What he was sitting on. The barrels each had one word painted on them: Fuel.
I didn't know why these people had fuel, and I didn't have time to care. I only knew two things about fuel: it made cars go, and it burned.
"Hey!" I smiled for the first time in what felt like years, "Jeep you rock!" Then I swung my bo at the youkai who'd gotten too close, knocking them back. The next time though, I swung at the pile of barrels, making them fall over. There were just enough of them.
They all fell over, busting open and rolling and leaking fuel everywhere. One youkai even got crushed by them. I grabbed a nearby piece of wood that was starting to burn, and flung it onto the fuel. Right away a bright blaze started, a wall of fire springing up between me and the Dethbreed.
"Guys!" I turned, running toward my friends, "Let's get outta' here!" I jumped up and kicked at some of the youkai they were fighting, knocking the others down with my bo. Jade took care of the rest.
"I agree." She said, leading the way out. "We've lingered here long enough—hurry!"
Sanzo was right behind her, holding a sword he'd picked up, and then Feng.
I brought up the rear, paused just long enough to look over my shoulder. The fire was really high now, and the Dethbreed wasn't bothering to try to break through it. I could see Ryptcore standing over there, wind blowing his long hair as he stood perfectly still.
He was so creepy.
But he was behind me now, and that was all I cared about.
My body ached as I ran, and I was having a hard time breathing. I had to keep wiping the blood out of my eyes too, but I still just ran as fast as I could. The fire was worse than ever: buildings were collapsing and the sky was totally black from the smoke. There wasn't a sign of life anywhere. Not at all like the awesome, peaceful, beautiful place I'd hung out in all day. It was awful.
Just focus on staying with the others.
But I was hurt so bad, and everything was so hazy, I kept tripping and falling behind, plus I had to weave through all kinds of burning debris. It was way hard to keep up, and after a while, they were way ahead of me, heading for the northern tree line.
"Goku!"
"Hakkai!"
He was running up on the side of me, totally okay. "What in the world happened here?"
"It's sorta' a long story, Hakkai…"
"Ryptcore?"
"Yeah…"
"You're hurt."
"A little. What about you? Are ya' okay?"
Hakkai nodded, "I'll be fine for now. Where are the others?"
"Up ahead—we're gonna' go meet what's left of the villagers."
"I see. In that case, let's hurry."
"You said it."
I felt a little better seeing Hakkai. At least as long as he was around he'd be able to heal everybody, and then maybe later we could all go fight Ryptcore together. The four of us had to be enough to beat him. Had to be.
We didn't have to run much further before we caught up to Sanzo and the others. They were hanging around the northern wall, past the tree line. Some other half-breeds were there too: the girl we saw earlier. A couple, some guys my age, a few more girls and Deshi. There were only ten of them, not including Feng. Eleven people made it out of the village alive. A bunch of them were injured and burned. I didn't see anyone I'd helped today. I didn't see anyone who'd given me a meal. I realized they were dead. All or them were dead.
That was a terrible realization. How could this be happening?
"We all here?" Feng demanded. He still had Gojyo slung over his shoulder. "Lei, is this really all you could find?"
Lei nodded. She was holding Deshi's hand and she looked like she'd been crying, "I'm sorry Feng…everyone else is dead."
"Maybe not." Another man said. "They might have made it out already."
"We'll worry about finding them later." Feng decided. "Right now it's important for us to get out of here."
"Great idea." I said, heading for the wall.
Jade was already hopping over it.
We got over the wall, and then we just kept running, away from the fire and the heat and the Dethbreed. I didn't know if Ryptcore was chasing us or not, and I didn't want to look to find out. All I knew was that by the time we started to slow down to take a break, the moon was really high in the sky and the night was chilly. Behind us I could see the faint orange glow of the fire, but it was miles away. Hopefully it wouldn't spread too much, or too fast.
We took a break by the river to catch our breath, and so Hakkai could heal the wounded.
I was really hungry.
Feng laid Gojyo on the ground and Hakkai knelt beside him, looking for his pulse and shaking his head.
I edged a little closer, trying to ignore my own wounds. "Is…is'e alright, Hakkai?"
"I'm not sure." Hakkai murmured. "I can fix some of these wounds…but the broken bones, I can't repair those very well."
I tried not to think about how Ryptcore had stomped on him, sank to the ground too, touching Gojyo's arm. There were bruises all over his throat. Hard to believe just a little over an hour ago we were walking through the woods together. We were laughing together. I was trying to tell him something important. Now that something important didn't matter. Not at all.
Gojyo…how could this happen?
"He almost killed 'im, didn't he?"
Hakkai didn't answer.
"An' all the other half-breeds too…" I added a little more quietly, "there already weren't very many of 'em…and now…"
Hakkai sighed, "Try not to worry about it, Goku.
I didn't see how I was supposed to not worry about it, but I didn't say anything. I just watched him heal Gojyo.
"What about that woman?"
"I dunno'. She came an' helped us escape."
"I see."
"Where'd ya' go, Hakkai? We needed ya'."
"Yes, I'm sorry. I just had to do a bit of thinking, I suppose. After the other night, I'm just not sure…"
"Ya' didn't kill anybody." I told him.
"No, but I…I enjoyed what I did. And that's what frightens me the most: that I might go berserk…or that I already have."
I hugged my knees to my chest, thinking about that. I knew what he meant. I knew exactly how he felt. Coming back after being in my youkai form just got harder and harder, especially when I knew that I'd hurt people and that I could have accidentally killed someone. "You're not berserk, Hakkai. It'll be okay."
He sighed, "I certainly hope you're right, Goku.