I hold no claim to the characters from this kick-ass Anime. Only Aurora, Naora, Corell, Arryn, Orin, and Amira are mine.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Ambition
It was the same ole, same ole. The jeeps were traveling, along a small cliff this time, and Goku and Gojyo were complaining; like always. Orin was sleeping at the moment, leaving his sister to drive as he slept in the back beside Naora. The other women were quiet though, just enjoying the summer warmth as they ignored the whining men. Sanzo then made a comment about grass and got Goku up in a roar when a huge boulder decided to drop down onto the first jeep. The men were gone.
"What the fuck!" Amira jumped up from her seat as Arryn slammed down on the brakes.
"Goku!" Naora was out of the car in seconds, following after the men in the green jeep. Amira followed, leaving Aurora with the twins.
"What's going on?" Orin was groggy as he sat up straight.
"Another attack, of course." His sister answered him. "We're gonna have to save Sanzo and the others."
"Eh, let them rot." The man went to go back to sleep but Aurora kicked him out of the jeep and down after the others.
"That was mean, Aurora." Arryn giggled as the jeep went back to its dragon form.
"I'm not nice." Was the Priestess' answer as she jumped down into the trees.
Arryn gave a soft smile as she made her own way down after the others. Already, she was sure that Aurora was forming a plan in her head, now all she had to do was hear it and get into place.
"What about the women?"
Souto closed his eyes for a moment, settling down his laughter, before answering his men. "The women won't be a problem. We can either talk them to our side like Homura wants or slay them like we do the men. We only need that one, The Priestess."
"We have found two sets of footprints," Outo announced. "But it seems that the women have, in fact, disappeared."
"They're around here," Souto replied. "Ayomi wouldn't leave Konzen here like this, no matter how much of an ass he was."
"Hello hotties!" the men turned at the whistle to find Amira and Naora standing there to the left, the taller woman with a huge smile on her face as she glanced the blue-haired man up and down. Her gaze then turned to the one with the long black hair; Jikoku. "You know, I never mind dating a guy that was trying to kill us all." She nudged her friend. "What do you think, Naora?"
The small woman flushed, refusing to glance at Jikoku. "Shut it, Amira." She hissed, hiding her red face behind her hands.
"God, you're still such a kid."
"Yeah? And you sound like Gojyo."
"I'd rather sound like him than like the bottomless pit." Amira hissed at her friend. She then turned her head back to the group before them. "So, you guys are a part of Homura's goon-squad, huh?" She gave them a-thumbs up. "Ten bucks says that you little god-wannabes won't be able to catch us!"
Souto smiled. "Your attitude remains the same as ever, Teruko."
"That name again, huh?" Amira frowned. "Well, it doesn't matter. Like I said," she turned with a wink. "You ain't gonna catch us!" Both girls took off into the trees; no doubt in their mind on the men following them. "I feel like a moron." Amira sighed.
"Why? It's no different than what you normally say." Naora replied.
"Yeah, but I was serious when I said Souto and Jikoku were cute. You know I don't like having to choose between which one to hit."
"Yeah, I suppose so. But don't worry, you'll choose Gojyo." Naora smiled.
"True, but sti-HEY!" She turned her head and glared at the smaller woman as she was laughed at. "I'll let you get away with that one, Naora, just don't expect a freebie next time."
"First a boulder and now this. Just a coincidence, right?"
"Sure it is." Sanzo snorted as he walked through the trees again. "It's probably the work out of some out of control fur trapper."
Aurora couldn't help but give a smile as she glanced back behind them at all the traps that Hakkai had saved them from.
"That'd make me feel a lot better," Hakkai smiled. "But…"
"It's probably Homura again," Arryn commented as she and Aurora followed the Priest and Hakkai. Orin had gone off to find Goku and Gojyo as Amira and Naora were sent to distract the enemy.
"Do you suppose Goku and Gojyo are all right?" Hakkai wondered aloud. "Even with Orin going to find them they could still be hurt."
"I'm afraid that we can't get rid of Gojyo and damn pain in my ass monkey boy that easily." Sanzo hissed, shooting his gun to take care of a few more traps.
(Have I ever told you guys how much I LOVE this asshole? Best character of the whole series, in my opinion!)
"You know that you're leaving a trail for these guys to follow us, right?" Aurora commented. She frowned at the ground. "Who in the hell has the time to create a minefield!?"
"A moron." Sanzo answered her.
"I agree with that," Arryn hung her head. She then flushed as her stomach growled. "I apologize for sounding like Goku but, I'm afraid that I'm getting a little hungry."
"You're not alone," Hakkai smiled at her. "When this is over, let's-"
"Ha! There you guys are!" Amira's voice broke through the silence as he jumped out of the trees before them, wiping sweat from her brow. "Damn, I didn't think it would be so hard to find you, with Sanzo shooting his gun and all."
"Where's Naora?" Aurora asked.
"We ran into Orin on his way to Gojyo and Goku so she went with him." Amira fell into step beside the Priestess. "And don't worry; the goon-squad followed me, not her. And you're both gonna love this. One of the guys, Jikoku, Gorgeous!" she said the last word in a sing-song voice.
"Is that right?" Arryn laughed at her friend.
"I'm serious! The other guys suck." Amira gave Aurora a wink. "Their leader on the other hand, Souto, isn't too bad, either. I think he's up your alley, Aurora."
"You think so, huh?" The Priestess raised a brow.
"I don't know. He's gonna have to be a total asshole to put up with her," Arryn laughed. "Or a pussy."
Amira gave a laugh herself. "True, true. But this guy, something told me that he's like Sanzo, if not wor-" She came to a stop in her words as Sanzo had paused himself and turned to glare at her. "What? Truth's the truth. You're an asshole, my friend."
"That's not why we stopped, Amira," the redhead turned to look at Hakkai as he gazed around the forest.
"Here it goes." Sanzo sighed.
"So it would seem." Arryn placed a hand on her hip.
A strange fog began to pass around them and a man attacked from above. The five of them flittered apart into the trees. Aurora found herself being followed by a bald guy and gave a frown.
"You know, this is totally pointless." She told him. "Why even bother when you know you won't win?" she heard Sanzo's gun go off and sighed. "Bullets aren't going to work on these guys, Sanzo. Can't you see the dot on their forehead?" She dodged out of the guys attack before giving him a kick in the face. "Look, I don't have the patience to deal with you guys right now, so why don't you just leave and say you couldn't find us."
The guy laughed. "Still the same as ever, Ayomi."
~That name again~ She hissed at herself.
"Unfortunantly we have orders to bring you back. I know you aren't going to like it but I'll be taking you with me, conscious or not."
"The hell you will be!" Arryn jumped in out of nowhere, landed a Chi blow to his chest. All it did was push the man back though.
Hakkai was on his own but Amira found herself with Sanzo, Jikoku following them. "Why are we running?" Amira asked the Priest. "Why don't we just take them down?"
"Shut up!" the Priest growled at her as they hid behind the leaves. "I'm thinking." His mind rolled quickly but before he could come up with anything Jikoku showed up again and pushed them out of hiding.
"All right!" Amira scowled, patting dust off of her clothes as she stood. Jikoku had tossed knives at her but she ignored them as she took a side step. "I am tired of this crap. Come out here and fight me face to face so we can hurry up and get back on the road. You dudes are really starting to piss me off!" ~If I can distract this guy for a moment and give Sanzo time to think and escape then maybe we all can get out of here.~
Jikoku paused for a moment, a smile on his face. "I'm not too fond on killing women, let alone a beautiful one, but it seems that I have no choice on it here. Too bad."
Amira gave a grin, her face growing a bit red. "Well, at least I can say you're not alone on that part." She pulled out her sais. "Now, let's just see what you 'gods' can do."
"Having problems, Kouryuu?"
Sanzo had been leaning against a tree, breathing hard. He had taken Amira's diversion and got to safety. Opening his eyes, Sanzo turned to find Aurora standing before him, arms crossed as she frowned at him.
"Only as much as you are." He replied. "Where's Arryn and Hakkai?"
She shrugged. "Doing their own thing, I'm sure. Amira?"
"Fighting one of them." He answered her. He pulled out a cigarette and tried to light it but his lighter was out of fuel. "Dammit. This sucks."
Aurora went to pull out the lighter she had in her pocket but paused, taking in the sight of Souto standing before them. Sanzo noticed him, too.
"What do you know? It's another one."
"More than just one." Aurora sighed as three more joined them.
"Weren't you monks taught a respect for mother nature?" Jikoku asked. "Or did you skin class that day?"
"You know, that's funny. All this time I thought tobacco was a part of nature." Sanzo grunted.
"Keep blowing smoke," Ryokusho smirked as he cracked his knuckles. "You're gonna burn."
"You're not going to get away this time," Sekieki grinned. "Neither of you."
"Four to two," Aurora sighed at Sanzo. "Whatever shall we do?"
"There's no point in fighting," Souto told her. "Hand over the Maten Scripture and we'll take the lady and be on our way."
"I don't think so." Sanzo growled, taking a step in front of Aurora.
"Do you really want to join your friends so badly?" The god asked.
"Friends? Please." Aurora snorted. "All they are, are pains in my ass. I give you thanks for finally getting rid of them." ~Not true but I'm not gonna say so~ Souto frowned.
"What the hell are we waiting for?" Sekieki demanded. "Let's just kill the bastard and take the woman already!"
"Wait!" Souto told him. He turned back to Sanzo. "We could put in a good word for you to Homura and ask him to spare your life."
Sanzo closed his eyes. "Neither of us have any intention of spending the rest of our lives as his little hunting dogs like you guys."
"You bastard!" Jikoku growled. "Speaking in such a tone will only shorten your life!"
"If that was true," Aurora shook her head. "He would have been dead a LONG time ago." Sanzo gave her a look.
"We can take care of that soon enough." Ryokusho grinned.
Sanzo glanced up at the sky for a moment before exchanging a look with the woman behind him. A small grin spread across her lips. He took a step forward. "You spoke of our 'friends' earlier. You wouldn't happen to know where they would be hiding, would you?"
"Oh, you'll be seeing them soon."
"Perhaps you'd like to join them!" Jikoku tossed some more knives at them but Goku dropped out of the trees and knocked them away before killing him.
"Aww, too bad." Amira sighed, stepping up beside Aurora. "I wanted to finish him off."
"Then you should have done that before hand instead of playing around." Aurora told her.
"Sakura!" Naora's voice dropped in as she hugged the taller woman. "I'm glad to see you're safe."
"Where are Gojyo and Orin?" Aurora asked her.
"They're taking care of that other guy." Goku answered her. "Don't worry. They'll be fine!"
"So, boss-man," Amira grinned at Souto. "It's five to three. What are you going to do?"
"Change that to seven," They turned to find that Arryn and Hakkai had joined them again.
"How are you not dead?" Souto demanded. Ryokusho and Sekieki were lost for words. "Don't tell me this whole thing was all a hoax!"
"The boys may be stupid, but we ladies aren't." Amira grinned. "That's why we split up to help them. You may be gods but you're still no match for us. So, how many does that leave of you guys? Four?"
"I'm afraid not." Gojyo's voice announced the arrival of him and Orin, both looking pretty pleased. "We just killed that greenhorn back at the cliffs so if my math is right that just leaves three."
"Damn, you'd think these god dudes would be smarter than this." Orin covered a yawn. "After all the regular shit we kill daily they should know we're strong by now, dammit!"
Aurora closed her eyes, trying not to roll them as the arguing began as Gojyo teased Sanzo for smoking too much. She had to fight to keep herself from laughing, too.
"I'll snuff you out." Sanzo growled.
"That's not very nice," Hakkai told him. "Apologize to Gojyo."
"Not likely." Sanzo replied.
"You," Aurora grabbed Souto's attention. "You might want to take what's left of your Squad and go back to Homura before you're all dead to. While you're there, give him this for me." She flipped him off. Orin and Amira gave a laugh at her.
Ryokusho ran forward to attack Hakkai but he was easily taken care of by some Chi.
"Okay," Hakkai ginned. "I guess that's Hakkai, 2, Grizzly Bear, 0." Arryn giggled at the look on his face.
'Dammit," Sanzo sighed. "And I really wanted to waste that guy for making me run too much."
"Then maybe you should be looking for the bomb-guy," Amira told him. "He's the one that had your panties in a wad."
"Eh, he's just the crumbs." Sanzo lifted his gun.
That pissed the dude off quickly but he was no good against the pissed off Priest.
Souto seemed to be lost. Aurora shrugged her shoulders. "I told you to leave. Should have listened."
"Looks like all your friends are gone." Gojyo smiled.
"You should see when Sanzo gets mad!" Goku grinned.
"Maybe you should surrender now." Hakkai scratched the back of his head.
"Aww, do we really have to kill him?" Amira asked. "We already killed the other cute guy. Let's let this one leave."
"Cute or not," Arryn sighed. "He was trying to kill us."
"Eh," Orin shrugged. "Who cares? I just want to get back to sleep."
"I'm hungry." Naora pouted.
Aurora felt her anger growing.
"Tell me, both of you priests," He glanced between Aurora and Sanzo. "If your friends had truly been dead, would you still have turned down my offer to join Homura?"
"If these guys had truly been dead," Aurora answered him. "Then you wouldn't have been able to ask us the question." Naora gave the taller woman a smile.
"So be it." Souto closed his eyes. "We were far too ambitious. But we could no longer serve the incompetent fools in Heaven. After what happened to you and the others, Ayomi, it opened our eyes. We thought to follow Homura and seek our own fortune! I'll succeed, even alone! I'll kill you all and take the Maten Scripture and Ayomi with me, no matter what!"
Aurora turned her head from the fight as Goku moved to take care of Souto. What had happened to make this guy leave Heaven and follow Homura? Just how bad was it up there?
Naora frowned as Souto dropped his blade and let Goku's strike hit true. "But why?"
"Unlike you, I know when it's my turn to die. In the Heavens, we had never known defeat. So you must tell me, how were you able to beat us? What power do you have that allows you to out maneuver Heaven?"
Things were silent for a moment.
"I'm not sure how to answer that," Orin sighed.
Gojyo blinked. "All the battle's we've survived,"
"The fact that we're alive," Hakkai began
"We don't believe." Sanzo ended it.
"Well," Amira grunted. "That made absolutely no sense to me."
"Me neither," Arryn agreed as Souto died. "Just go with it."
"How stupid," Sanzo scowled.
"Not too bad, for common soldiers." Naora commented. "But this Homura guy…what makes him so much better than them?"
"Homura is the War God," Aurora told her as she turned to leave the clearing. "He was given nothing to use but a sword. His strength will be far grander than any of ours, no matter what we do…"
I hope you guys like it. Review! :)