Pairings/Characters (for this chapter): Genjo Sanzo's reincarnation, Son Goku, Kougaiji, Hakuryuu, Homura's reincarnation
Rating (for this chapter): G
Chapter summary: Jinhai's finally found the sutra he's been sent to retrieve. The only problem is, he and Kougaiji have to steal it.
A/N: The lure of humanoid!Hakuryuu was too powerful to resist.
Word count (for this chapter): ~2,678

Chapter Nine: Bacon

Jinhai looked at the helicopter waiting for them. Behind him, Kougaiji was still busy thanking the pilot of his private airplane and asking after the man's wife and son. Jinhai didn't know why Kougaiji even bothered; it was the man's job to fly him around anyway. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Jinhai made his way towards the waiting copter. Maybe if he sat inside and smoked, the emperor would get the hint and hurry up. As he approached, the pilot looked up from where he was fiddling with the controls.

The first thing that Jinhai noticed was how pale the pilot was; his skin was the color of ivory and his short hair was pure white. When the pilot turned his head to look at him, Jinhai saw red eyes that would probably be intimidating if they weren't widened in shock. "Sanzo?" the pilot asked incredulously.

Not another one. Jinhai resisted the urge to go for his gun and instead climbed into his seat and buckled himself in. "Don't call me that," he said shortly. "Lemme guess. Another old friend? Were you all buddy-buddy with Sanzo too?"

The pilot snorted in amusement. He twisted around in his seat so he could look at Jinhai. His curiosity made him look much younger. "I was the jeep," the pilot said. "And if I were 'buddy-buddy' with anyone, it probably would've been with Hakkai."

"I see you've reacquainted yourself with Hakuryuu." Kougaiji climbed up into the helicopter as well, settling down in the seat beside Jinhai's. The emperor glanced at Hakuryuu as he righted himself and started up the copter. "I was expecting you to recognize him. I heard your kind were good at that sort of thing."

Hakuryuu shrugged. "The aura's the same," he said, as if that explained everything.

Jinhai scowled and looked out the window, blocking out the conversation, though he did wonder what Hakuryuu meant when he said he was the jeep.

Kougaiji rubbed his temples as he looked out at the expanse of sand below them. The sand reflected the glare and heat from the sun, making his head ache, though since it was nearing sunset, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Beside him, Jinhai was in a huff because Hakuryuu had requested that he put out his cigarette. Kougaiji squinted, trying to make out any distinguishing landmarks in the desert below.

"Are we near?" Jinhai asked shortly.

"Just a few more minutes before we reach the coordinates you gave me," Hakuryuu replied.

A large, rocky shelf came into view as the helicopter passed over a sand dune. "Here we are," Hakuryuu said cheerfully, slowly bringing down the copter. There was a slight jolt as they landed. The three of them exited the helicopter, and Hakuryuu helped them bring down their gear and equipment.

"Rendezvous is in three days' time," Hakuryuu said as he handed Kougaiji his knapsack. "I can pick you up earlier if you're done, but it'll take me at least a day to get here after you call."

"Thanks," Kougaiji said, shouldering his knapsack. He waved goodbye as Hakuryuu climbed back onto the copter. Turning back to look at the Gobi desert, Kougaiji raised an eyebrow when he saw Jinhai scowling at him. "What?"

"What did you mean by 'his kind'?" Jinhai asked, jerking his head towards the quickly-receding helicopter. "You said his kind was good at recognizing reincarnations."

"He's …" Kougaiji paused, wondering if Jinhai would be able to accept what he was about to say. "Hakuryuu's a dragon."

Jinhai stared at him, eyes narrowed slightly, making Kougaiji wonder if Jinhai believed him or not. Eventually Jinhai turned around, pulling a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his pocket. "Whatever." He picked up a couple of bags and started making his way down the shelf. Kougaiji grabbed the rest of their things and followed suit.

It didn't take them long to reach the ground, Kougaiji jumping down from a ledge, throwing up a small cloud of sand as he did. He looked around, trying to find a place where they could settle down for the night. There was a space between a lip of rock and the ground; it looked big enough for Kougaiji and Jinhai to squeeze under for the night, and it offered protection from sandstorms and the sun.

Jinhai was obviously thinking the same thing—he was already unrolling his sleeping bag and unpacking one of his bags, moving his things under the rock overhang. Kougaiji set up his own bedroll and started working on building a campfire. He found the silence between them unnerving, so Kougaiji cleared his throat and began talking. "So, I guess from here we'll go on foot?"

"About a kilometer north of us," Jinhai said shortly.

"I guess we'd better turn in early so we can get a head start tomorrow morning."

The look Jinhai gave him would have made even the largest of Kougaiji's bodyguards hesitate. As it was, having lived for more than a thousand years and having known Sanzo, Kougaiji just tilted his head inquiringly.

"We eat dinner then head out," Jinhai snapped. "I want to get this over with and get out of this fucking desert."

Kougaiji simply nodded. No use getting into an argument at this point, and he had to admit that at least this way, they'd be able to avoid the worst of the heat. As they prepared their food, the sun set and the temperature slowly dropped. Knowing that desert nights were abysmally cold, Kougaiji gathered as much fuel for the campfire as he could for later while Jinhai cleaned up the remains of their meal.

"Ready?" Jinhai asked.

"As I'll ever be."

Great. Just great. Jinhai glared down at the group of tents assembled below them, wondering what he'd done in his past life to make the gods hate him. Beside him, Kougaiji frowned but otherwise remained silent.

It looked like they'd stumbled on a dig of some sort. With his luck, the archaeologists had found the sutra and were keeping it under lock and key.

The back of Jinhai's neck started to itch. He scratched it, scowl deepening. It was getting colder and sand had gotten into places that he'd prefer to remain sand-free. Jinhai was far from happy. He half-wished Kougaiji would say something just so he could snap at him and vent.

Jinhai was pulled out of his foul mood when Kougaiji suddenly placed a hand on his arm. "I hear people coming this way," Kougaiji whispered. "We need to move." He gave Jinhai's arm a small tug, indicating that he should follow before quickly making his way down the sand dune they were standing on.

Jinhai went after him, irked that he was following Kougaiji. He was used to doing things solo, and having to work with someone else bothered him to no end.

They crouched in the shadow of the nearest tent, and Jinhai couldn't help but notice the way that Kougaiji's cat-slit eyes glinted in the moonlight. It made him look feral and dangerous, and Jinhai had to suppress a sudden rush of unease that went through him. He suppressed the urge to move away from Kougaiji—he wasn't afraid of youkai, and he wasn't going to start being scared now.

Goku straightened up from where he was brushing dust off of a bit of vase. He felt as though someone had run a finger up the back of his neck, and he rolled his shoulders in an attempt to get rid of the feeling. It persisted, though, making him restless, and after a few minutes of fidgeting, he put down his brush and stood up.

"My back's starting to hurt," Goku said when his classmate looked up at him. "I think I'd better turn in."

"Good night, then."

Goku made his way out of the large work tent and back to his own, rubbing the back of his neck. The weird feeling was still there, and it didn't look like it was going to go away anytime soon. On a whim, he made his way towards the storage tent, getting the urge to check on the sutra they'd dug up.

As he approached the tent, Goku wondered where the guard was. Somebody was usually stationed to watch over the storage tent—the black market trade in artifacts had been booming lately, and a lot of the stuff they'd dug up would probably net a lot of money.

Walking a little faster, Goku practically tripped over a body lying face-down in the sand. He checked for a pulse, calming down slightly when he realized that the guy was just unconscious.

After making sure that the man wasn't seriously injured, Goku slowly approached the storage tent. As he moved closer, he could hear voices coming from inside it.

"Do you even know what it looks like?"

"Of course I know what it looks like. Shut up and keep searching."

With every step Goku took towards the tent, the strange feeling at the back of his neck got stronger. While he felt like he'd heard one of the voices before, it was the other voice that intensified the niggling feeling.

Goku took a deep breath. Reaching out, he opened the tent flap. A youkai and a human stood in the middle of the tent. A single lamp stood on the ground between them, barely illuminating the scene, the lamplight dimmed so it wouldn't be seen from the outside. The faces of the intruders were mostly in shadow, making it hard for Goku to see what they looked like.

"Shit," the human cursed, taking an involuntary step back.

It was then that Goku caught sight of the sutra in the stranger's hand. "Hey!" Goku said, stepping forward. "What do you think you're doing?" The feeling at the back of Goku's neck became even more insistent. Now that he was closer, the human seemed vaguely familiar. "Give me that!"

The human just snarled and shoved the sutra into his backpack. Goku took another step forward, intent on getting the sutra, but the youkai grabbed hold of his arm. "Jinhai, hurry up and leave," he said urgently. Outside the tent, Goku could hear voices growing louder, people woken up by the commotion.

"Don't be an idiot," Jinhai snapped. "Let go of the brat and let's go."

"I'm not a brat!" Goku said automatically. The grip on his arm tightened. Goku knew he could break the youkai's hold with no problem, but he didn't want to accidentally hurt him. He glared up at the stranger.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be," the youkai said, bending down to speak to Goku. The light from the lamp on the floor illuminated his red hair and triangular earrings, making the markings on his cheek stand out.

Goku froze. "Oh my god—"

"Nobody move!" Goku looked over his shoulder at the tent's open mouth. A small group of well-armed men stood there, their guns all trained on the two intruders.

Jinhai ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Ah, fuck."

Kougaiji and Jinhai had pretty much given up without a fight once they'd been caught. It made more sense to escape after everything had calmed down rather than fight their way through armed men, especially since they had Kougaiji's fire magic to rely on anyway. They just had to wait for things to settle back down in the camp before trying anything.

Still, it didn't make things any more bearable. Kougaiji's shoulders were starting to ache—he and Jinhai had been tied to a pole driven into the ground, sitting back-to-back on the sand a few feet away from the edge of the campsite. A guard stood nearby, his hand resting lightly on his weapon's holster. He wasn't really focused on them, but he glanced at the pair every other minute, never moving from his spot.

Kougaiji's ears caught the sound of someone moving, coming from the shadows cast by the nearest tent. There was a dull thud and their guard crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Jinhai immediately tensed up, and Kougaiji quickly burned away the ropes binding their arms. He and Jinhai stood, the latter moving into a fighting stance.

The shadowy figure of the guard's attacker stood up as well, stepping into the moonlight. It was the young man who'd walked in on them stealing the sutra. Kougaiji was struck with the same sense of familiarity he'd felt in the storage tent, a feeling that made sense when he saw the diadem he was wearing.

"Son Goku," he said incredulously.

Goku's face split into a wide grin. "I knew it was you!" he said, walking closer. "Wasn't really sure in the tent—hadn't seen you in centuries—but I was sure when you burned those ropes."

"Wait," Jinhai interrupted. "Son Goku? As in the great sage equal to heaven? Are you telling me that this is the legendary Seiten Taisei?" He glared at the newcomer suspiciously.

Something in Jinhai's tone obviously got on Goku's nerves, and he glared right back. "Yeah, that's me. And who're you?"

"None of your business, monkey."

Kougaiji had been wondering whether the two of them would recognize each other. It seemed that something in Jinhai did remember Goku, and based on the stricken look on Goku's face, he'd just realized that it was Sanzo's reincarnation he was talking to.

"Sanzo," Goku breathed. He practically tackled Jinhai, throwing his arms around his neck and babbling nonstop about how much he'd missed him.

Watching a confused and annoyed Jinhai attempt to fend off the hugs of an elated Goku was admittedly entertaining, but they had to keep quiet and leave as soon as possible. "We need to leave," Kougaiji said, placing a hand on Goku's shoulder. "You can continue with your reunion later."

"Sanzo I can't believe it's you!" Goku stopped trying to crawl all over Jinhai, but he kept hold of the human's sleeve. It was an oddly childish gesture, and Kougaiji was reminded of a much younger Goku and his unswerving loyalty to Sanzo. Some things never really changed, Kougaiji supposed.

Jinhai wanted to rip his hair out in frustration. Yet another addition to the growing collection of people who'd known his past incarnation. And this was an especially clingy one at that. The legends didn't say anything about Son Goku being an annoying, touchy-feely brat barely out of college. He scowled and attempted to remove his sleeve from the monkey's grip, an exercise in futility.

Kougaiji was obviously enjoying himself at Jinhai's expense, the bastard. Jinhai glared at him, but Kougaiji just ignored him and spoke to Goku. "We need to get the sutra you found. Do you know where they kept it?"

"They put it back in the storage tent, but there are more guards now." Goku tilted his head in curiosity. "Why do you want it, anyway?"

"We're not the ones that want it," Jinhai snarled. "I was assigned to look for the damn thing. His royal highness here just decided to tag along."

"What d'you mean—"

"We really do have to get moving, you know," Kougaiji reminded them softly.

Jinhai couldn't agree more. He was about to start making his way back to the storage tent when the sound of gunshots rang out. Clearly silhouetted by the moonlight, a large group of heavily armed men on horseback crested over the ridge of a nearby dune.

They fanned out, forming a circle around the campsite. Some dismounted and tore down tents, moving quickly and efficiently until they'd gathered all the people in the same area as Kougaiji, Jinhai, and Goku. Even the guards from earlier hadn't managed to put up a fight, having been caught completely unaware or asleep.

One of the cloaked figures urged his horse forward, towards the group of prisoners. He pulled down his hood, and Jinhai was surprised to see that he was only a teenager. "I'm Guang Long," he said. "Cooperate, and I won't shoot you."