AN: Ok, so I personally love this chapter. Sharak is such a cool character to write and I fell into her POV easily. I hope you enjoy the finale!
Credit to Qualapec the She-Wolf for starting this story and writing chapters 1-5.
Chapter Content Warning: graphic description of injuries
Chapter 26
Sharak Sanzo woke with a start from her fitful sleep to the sound of a commotion outside her window. With the surge of adrenaline, she grabbed for her gun under her pillow out of instinct – ready for whatever fight was coming – but the stillness in her empty room indicated they were not under imminent attack. She had been on high alert after the assault they suffered the night before and it took a moment for her racing heart to slow.
Against her aching joints, she rose and hurried out to settle the disturbance. Replacing the spell to invoke the barrier had taken much of her strength, but her nightmares and insomnia were the consistent source of her weariness. She frowned at the barely risen sun as she descended to the front gate; however, the early hour meant nothing when it would not matter how long she slept.
As she approached, she was astonished to hear that a fight had not broken out. What the hell could be the trouble if troublemakers were not behind it? She readied her pistol anyway, and the members of her militia guarding the gate parted the way.
What she saw at the gate made her draw her gun and held her speechless. A couple flying dragons were parked a few yards away from the barrier, and at the barrier stood a frantically crying youkai holding a half-dead man over her back. Next to her, slouched a man with the unmistakable red hair and red eyes of a half-breed with a white dragon on his shoulder and a curiously inhuman boy beside him who also looked deeply concerned.
"Are you the Sanzo priest?" the female youkai asked.
Sharak kept her gun leveled and answered warily, "I am."
Finally, Hassan came up to her right, breathless from running. "There you are, Sharak-sama. I had come to fetch you; this demon tried to cross our barrier and is seeking our assistance."
"Please you have to help us. I have been trying to tell your followers we mean no harm, but they would not let us through without your consent. Genjo Sanzo is in need of immediate medical assistance."
Sharak's breath caught in her throat at the name. Another Sanzo? She had heard of the young man charged with making his way here, but could that really be him? "I am not of the nature to turn down assisting an injured man, but you make a rather presumptuous claim, youkai. How am I to believe this man is a Sanzo? And further still, believe a youkai such as yourself, who cannot cross my barrier, would seek to save him?"
The woman reached behind for something tucked into the bloodied waist of the man's pants, and Sharak along with her men stood at the ready in case it was a weapon. However, the youkai did indeed offer good evidence to support her assertions. In her delicately clawed hand, she held out one of the sacred scriptures – something no demon on the side of Gyumaoh would ever do.
Lowing her weapon, Sharak walked towards the girl holding the sutra. She appraised the possible Sanzo priest as she took the scripture and her stomach flipped over his appearance. Certainly, the man was young enough to be the same greenhorn Sanzo she heard of, but how he was still alive in that state confounded her. Moving aside his thick blond hair, she revealed the chakra on his forehead and rubbed at it, making sure it was real.
He was a Sanzo priest.
Unfurling the sutra, Sharak saw without a doubt it was the true Maten Scripture.
"Very well, my men will take this man you call Genjo Sanzo and care for him." She then called out to her right-hand man, "Hassan, see this Sanzo priest is properly cared for."
Her faithful companion responded immediately, and she had to restrain herself from grimacing when she saw more of the man's injuries as he was carried off.
The younger member of the outside group began running after the injured man, but Sharak halted him when he freely crossed over the barrier. "Hold up there, boy. I never said you would be welcome."
"I'm not letting you just take off with Sanzo like that without me. I hav'ta go with him." The passion in the boy's golden eyes was startling, but still, Sharak would not simply allow a stray demon into their sanctuary.
"Oi, you ought'a just let the stupid monkey follow his master," the scowling half-breed finally pipped up around a cigarette. "He'll just be a pain in the ass if you don't."
His master, huh? Sharak eyed the teenager. Could the odd youkai child possibly be this Sanzo's successor? "Very well. Takanada!" she addressed one of the guards close by. "Escort this boy to his master and keep an eye on him."
She turned back to the shivering woman, holding her arms around her at the foot of the barrier as she watched longingly after Genjo and his friend. "So, tell me, youkai, how did you come across a Sanzo priest and this scripture."
Numbly, the youkai answered. "The truth is a long story, and not an easy one to believe." She met Sharak's eyes again and seemed to snap out of her daze a bit with a deep breath. "I am the prince Kougaiji's personal apothecary, Yaone, and I had been charged with tending to Genjo Sanzo's wounds when he had been captured by our forces a month ago. The lead Scientist, Dr Nii Jianyi, under command of our current leader, Gyokumen Koushu, had sought to kill Sanzo and myself because I had been treating him." Her smokey eyes became distant as the youkai looked down. "Sanzo had saved me from that bastard, you see. I owed him my life, so I helped him escape. Gojyo here," she gestured to the hanyou, then followed by nodding her head in the direction the boy had gone, "and Goku are two of the companions Sanzo had been sent on his journey west with."
The red head, Gojyo, sneered and turned away. "Che'."
"I see. That is quite the story. Hopefully, this Genjo Sanzo recovers enough to corroborate this."
Yaone lowered her head and her eyes brimmed with tears as she nodded.
Placing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder, Sharak told her, "Don't worry. We will do everything we can for him. We don't have any real doctors here, but we have a couple healers that can look after him."
The tears fell freely now as Yaone longingly looked towards the fortress, and she reached her hand out against the barrier. "Sanzo priest‑sama, I am a healer, and I am familiar with Genjo Sanzo's wounds and how to treat them. Please, I ask you permit me to attend him."
Sharak smiled sympathetically at the youkai's honest plea. "I'm sorry, but that is not possible. I can not grant any one youkai entrance without taking the whole barrier down; and that is something I simply can not do." She looked over to a brooding Gojyo and sighed. "The half-breed may enter as long as he is unaffected by the minus wave, and I can offer you supplies if you wish to stay nearby and await word of your friend's condition. If my healers can not offer him enough assistance, I will see that accommodations be made outside the barrier for you to attend him."
With this, the woman's eyes lit up. "Yes, thank you. That will be enough. I just want him to be safe."
With a nod, Sharak headed back inside to follow after Hassan and the others. Without turning she called back to Gojyo. "You coming, hanyou?"
Grumbling, the half-breed followed with his little dragon in tow. "If you've got a room and something to eat, I'll take it."
Sharak made a face to herself; for being one of the Genjo's companions, she found it odd the half-breed did not wish to follow after him like the other two. Perhaps he was only being practical. "Yes. I'll see that someone looks after that head wound of yours as well."
Unhurriedly, she found her way to where Hassan had taken the wounded Sanzo. The two healers, Chen and Usui, were already busily assessing their patient's injuries, and the boy sat by the opposite wall watching them intensely.
"Hassan, how is he?" She nodded to the unconscious man.
Her number one sighed. "Not good, I'm afraid. Master Chen said he was in shock from blood loss and has requested we find a blood donor. I sent Takanada to ask around for anyone with type O since we don't know his blood type." He shook his head and looked back towards Genjo. "I can't believe a Sanzo could be so young, and in such rough shape too."
Observing the wounded priest brought unwanted memories of when she had suffered her own critical injuries. Clenching her jaw, Sharak fought back the flashes of suffering. Genjo would have much to work through if he survived this.
"Hopefully another donor turns up," she said as she rolled down her leather sleeve. "But I can at least donate the first pint." Grabbing a chair from the desk in the corner, Sharak placed it at the foot of the bed and sat down. "Chen-san, I am type O and a willing donor." She held out her arm for emphasis and knew those were the only orders she had to give.
Pulling a cigarette out from her robes, she lit it from a nearby candle as the healer probed for a vein. "The youkai woman is outside the barrier waiting on word about her Sanzo priest here, Hassan. Please see she is taken care of and given whatever she needs." Sharak let out a puff of smoke and gazed up at the ceiling for moment, coming to the realization of another implication. "Also, see that the men are on high alert and place extra security around the barrier links. It is likely the demon army will attempt another attack now that we are harboring their escaped Sanzo. I don't need another lengthy incantation tonight."
Hassan frowned. "Do you think we should pull any men away from the repair work they started in the surrounding villages?"
Sighing, Sharak rubbed her temple with her free hand. "We will have to use some, yes. We are spread too thin otherwise with our losses and wounded. Damn, those demon's for thinking they could hit us with such a large-scale assault. We were only lucky the bell did not break and was only displaced."
"And that the enemy forces were mostly comprised of local youkai. It seemed only one battalion came from Houtou Castle, and they were still low-ranking officers," the militia commander added.
"Only low-ranking officers, hmm? You were able to tell that much?"
"Yes, Sharak-sama. I've met a demon or two before that would be considered a general, and none from last night were that powerful."
"How odd. Well, they paid for underestimating us and not sending their best." She drew in a breath of smoke from her cigarette. The healer, Chen, eyed her, but knew well enough not to bother saying anything about her habit – even if she was donating blood.
The other healer, Usui, walked over by Hassan and Goku. "Excuse me, but we need both of you to leave so we can more thoroughly examine the holy man with privacy."
"I'm not leaving," the boy said adamantly. "I've been around Sanzo plenty and I'm a guy, unlike that chick."
"I'm sorry, young man, but we must insist on keeping his holiness' virtue. Sharak-sama is a Sanzo and is thus beyond gender. And as you can see, we need her here to transfuse her blood directly as we have no other means," the healer politely replied.
"Come on, kid. I'll help you find somewhere to wash up at and then you can follow me to the kitchen for some food," Hassan said as he led the reluctant kid out the door.
Idly smoking what was left of her cigarette, Sharak intended to let the healers do their thing and mind her own business. However, the pair of gasps drew her attention to the undressed priest, and she bit her tongue to keep from joining their exclamations. To think those damn bastards would do what they did to a Sanzo priest made her stomach churn and she did not bother to hold back the grimace from her face. The healers continued checking him over and Sharak followed along now, noting just how many gruesome injuries the man suffered as the healer's communicated quietly between themselves. His right leg had a long wound stitched along the outer side of his calf; a puncture wound went through just behind the bone of his ankle; the cartilage behind his kneecap was torn through as well by a puncture wound; a deep stab wound cauterized on his inner thigh; and some recent wounds littered his leg that she heard the healers say had some pieces of metal still inside.
That was just the man's leg!
She needed another smoke. Fishing one out, Sharak continued following the examination. Genjo's left leg and pelvic area were then assessed at length. His right iliac wing to his hip bone was recently fractured but was a clean enough break not to require surgery, and the other injuries were mostly superficial. Usui covered Genjo's lower half with the sheet as they moved on. There were many healing, shallow wounds across his torso, but the broken ribs and dark purple bruising halted the two men.
"I don't like the look or feel to this area here, Chen," Usui said as he palpated the monk's lower left ribcage.
Chen began feeling the same area and nodded in agreement, placing his ear to the darkened flesh. "That's definitely an active internal bleed." The middle-aged man drew in a shaky breath. "I'll go ready the surgical supplies. You keep looking him over, Usui."
Usui nodded and went back to his examining the monk. There were several fractured ribs from what Sharak gathered by the younger healer's reactions. He checked at length, a large wound to the Sanzo's left shoulder that went all the way through and was weeping fresh blood. The grimace Usui made after palpating the area gave her reason to suspect there were some broken bones nearby the wound as well.
The priest's left arm was nothing short of a mess. Usui began muttering to himself as he inspected the limb. The shoulder ligaments were loose from recent dislocation. A recent fracture to the monk's radius and ulna in in his forearm had caused the area to swell a great deal, and Usui hoped the fractures were simple enough to heal with casting and not surgery. However, the severed ligament in Genjo's wrist would need surgery. The healer made a face at the puncture wound through the man's hand and a couple missing fingernails, but then set the limb down to inspect the other one.
The other arm was in better shape, but still had several healing wounds deep along his bicep along with some older bruising. The wounds on Genjo's neck were a bit older and mostly healed, but Usui growled and spat out the word 'hickies' at the dark marks Sharak had thought were just more bruises. Checking the ugly bruise and swelling on the monk's cheek, Usui determined there had been a recent fracture to his left zygomatic arch.
Usui blew out a long exhale and shook his head. "I've never seen anything like this done to a man, Sharak-sama." He moved the monk onto his side to examine the wounds on his back, but he seemed satisfied they were already properly treated.
Sharak understood Genjo's back would scar pretty bad regardless of the stitching. Many of the lashes were bleeding still and ran deep. She had seen marks similar before and knew only a cat o' nine tails would rip chunks of skin like that and dig so deeply into the muscle tissue. She drew in a heavy drag from her cigarette and looked the healer straight in the eye when he set the priest back down. "Are you and Chen able to handle it?" she asked around the cigarette she held.
"Neither of us are very well practiced in surgeries, Sharak-sama. It will depend on the extent of the bleed he's suffered internally, and which organ has been damaged."
"If that's the case, you should move Genjo to a stretcher before you begin. If it turns out to be over your heads, the youkai woman outside is an experienced healer herself and may be of assistance if you bring him to her."
"A youkai, ma'am?"
"Yes. From what I've been told, she saved this man from the enemy. Even if she can't cross the barrier, I see no reason not to trust her."
"But aren't only evil youkai unable to cross? Those who have turned berserk?"
Taking another puff, Sharak mused over that very fact. "Yes, but she is not one of those turned crazy by the negative aura. She is from Houtou Castle so that may have something to do with it. Perhaps being exposed to the minus wave at such close proximity for so long has tainted her enough the barrier rejects her. I'm not sure, honestly."
Chen finally arrived back into the room with the surgical supplies and Usui relayed to him about moving the Sanzo priest to a stretcher – which they did – and then began the surgery.
The two healers were so engrossed in their operation that they failed to notice what Hassan called out the moment he reentered the room with Goku. "Sharak-sama, why are you still giving blood!?"
At this, the two healers looked at each other in shock before Usui turned to her. "Forgive us Sharak-sama! We did not mean to take more than a pint. I will take the line out right away." He moved from assisting Chen in the surgery to wash his hands in the basin nearby.
"Hassan, have any new donors been located?"
"No, Sharak. Most of the men don't know their blood type and the few that do are not type O."
"Does the patient still need blood?" Sharak stalled Usui from removing the catheter in her arm.
"I'm afraid so, ma'am."
She leaned back in her chair and took another drag of smoke. "Then I will be fine. Continue helping Chen with the surgery, Usui."
The three men all began to protest before Goku interrupted. "Can I help Sanzo? I don't know my blood type, but can you test it?"
Chen was the one to answer, his focus entirely still on the surgery at hand. "Unfortunately, we do not have any equipment here to test blood types, young man. If you don't know your type, I'm afraid you can't help. We don't know your Sanzo's type either, so we can only use type O."
"Hakkai would have known out of anybody." The boy looked down sadly. "I'll go ask Gojyo and see if he knows. Maybe he could be a match."
Sharak spoke up before Goku left. "I'm afraid the hanyou's blood won't do, Goku. Youkai or half youkai blood does not mix well with humans."
"Oh, the Merciful Goddess must have changed Gojyo's blood when she kissed him then," the kid said and turned defeatedly to sit back by the wall to keep an eye on his master. "I can't help either I guess; I'm also more of a youkai."
"Damn it!" Chen exclaimed. "I can't see where the bleeder is. Suction over here some more, Usui."
Using the baster-like device, Usui suctioned out another measure of blood and disposed of it in a nearby bucket.
A growl of frustration from the senior healer had everyone on edge as he continued to search inside the monk's chest cavity. Chen stood back and sighed, placing his instruments on the tray beside him, and addressed Sharak. "I'm afraid the area Genjo Sanzo-sama's rib lacerated is hidden too deep for me to find without causing a fatal amount of blood loss myself. We will have to see what the youkai healer outside can do for him."
"Understood," she said.
Usui placed a sterile cloth over the surgical wound, and they gathered their supplies to transport with the priest. "How are his vitals?" Chen asked the younger healer.
"Currently stable," Usui replied still listening with the stethoscope.
Chen placed the ether mask over Genjo's mouth for another few seconds to continue his anesthesia before moving him outside.
With Hassan's help, the men carried the stretcher. Still tethered to the other Sanzo, Sharak followed behind. When they began descending the stairs however, she began to feel dizzy. She grabbed the railing and called out for the others to stop as she waited for her vision to come back.
"Sharak-sama!" Hassan called out to her but did not leave his position in holding Genjo's stretcher.
Before her vision finally cleared completely, Sharak felt Goku take her arm around his strong shoulder to help her walk. She looked at the boy in surprise but allowed the help. If she had only not been a woman, the current amount of blood she had given the other monk would not have been an issue; but the pesky facts of life were an added factor this week. She groused at her own weakness and continued to follow the others down the stairs and outside the barrier.
Yaone had been pacing before she froze from seeing them carry out Genjo towards her. Tears quickly lined her eyes as she placed her hands in front of her face.
"Miss, Sharak-sama told us you may be able to help the patient with your abilities," Chen said. "I'm sorry to say, he is beyond my help. There in an internal hemorrhage from a source I have not been able to locate. He is losing too much blood for me to continue blindly searching, and Sharak-sama is so far our only available donor."
Sharak regarded the youkai with a nod and inwardly cursed she was in such an undignified state. Still having to lean against the young man, she was all but panting from just the short walk outside the barrier.
As the stretcher was placed in front of her, Yaone took a moment to gaze at the all too pallid complexion of the man in front of her. After gently stroking the sweat soaked bangs away from Genjo's eyes, Yaone took a fortifying breath and sobered her emotions. "Ok. Do you have any surgical gloves or antiseptic for me to wash with?" She looked at Chen.
"We only have our own pairs of sterilized gloves, ma'am, but we do have antiseptic wash. You could use Usui's gloves; he's mostly been assisting and suctioning."
"That will have to do." The youkai said before scrubbing in and familiarizing herself with the full situation the other two healers relayed to her as well as their names and equipment.
In her less than focused state, Sharak had not noticed Hassan left until he returned and offered her a chair.
"Are you sure you can still be transfusing your blood, Sharak?" he asked quietly so as not to disturb the healers.
"I will not let this man die, Hassan. He's fought and made it this far; it would be a shame to give up on him now." She gave him a hard glare. "You make sure that I am not taken off this line unless another donor shows or Genjo does not need any more blood to survive. If I pass out, my life better be on the line before you let them disconnect me for any other reason. Am I understood, Hassan?"
Tight lines etched his discomfort at being given such an order, but he acquiesced. "Yes, Sharak‑sama. Understood."
The three of them watched in suspense as the healers continued on with the young monk's surgery. Yaone was indeed the skilled healer she claimed to be. Nimby, she used her petite hands to do a more precise job then Chen had been able to at exploring Genjo's thoracic cavity.
"Yaone ma'am, Genjo Sanzo's vitals are dropping," Usui said in barely contained alarm, waking Sharak from her daze.
Sharak had started to feel tired enough that she gave up fighting it a few minutes ago, but now she was on full alert – even though her head was swimming.
"Shit!" The youkai healer looked up from her patient and caught Sharak square in the eyes, gauging the obvious weakness in their only blood donor.
Yeah, this was the shitiest of situations to be sure. After this was over, she would have all her men's blood type analyzed. If Sharak had the strength to stand and pace, she would have. But for now, she could only pump her hand into a fist to make the blood flow a little faster into the dying man on the other end of the line.
"Usui, start pumping air into his lungs to give him more oxygen," Yaone ordered. "Chen, suction this area here quickly. I believe I've narrowed down that the bleed is coming from his kidney; I just have to find the spot…" She squinted her eyes as she tried to see around the blood in Genjo's chest. "Ah ha!" A look of relief alleviated the lines on the healer's brow, and the relief spread to everyone else who had been holding their breath. "Hang in there, Sanzo, I've almost got it." Picking up the pre-threaded needle, she began sewing the tear in her patient's kidney.
"We're losing him!" the younger healer exclaimed.
"Damn it! Come on, Sanzo, hold on, please!" Yaone said with tears forming as she kept her deft hands busy.
Careful not to let the change in posture cause a complete black out, Sharak slowly stood. Hassan was quick to hold her arm for support, and she walked closer to Genjo, assisting the current of blood entering the man with gravity. Vigorously she pumped her arm and began pacing to quicken the blood flow. "Hassan, monitor Genjo's vitals for Usui. Usui, get another line in this man." She held out her other arm in reference.
Sharak was not a woman used to having to explain her orders or repeat them, but when the healer looked at her in dumbstruck silence, she had to do just that. "Usui, this man needs more blood, and fast. What are you waiting for?"
Their exchange earned the attention of the youkai healer, but she only looked up for a second to meet Sharak's gaze and said nothing. At least someone knew what had to be done.
After another brief hesitation, Usui quickly connected the two Sanzos by another vein.
There was not much else Sharak could do at that point, the growing blackness clouded her sight completely in a matter of minutes and she toppled over into Hassan's study grasp.
By the time Sharak woke again, she opened her eyes to the sight of a full moon brimming outside from her bedroom window. The dry cotton feeling in her mouth drove her to sit so she could find some water. Seeing a full glass of water on at her bedside table made her smile.
Damn, her head was dizzy though. She would have liked to go check on the status of their guests, but after simply drinking some water stole all her energy, Sharak knew that would not be possible. Groaning she rested her head in her hands. How much blood did she loose?
A quiet knock on the door alerted her to the presence of the man who had been waiting by her door for her to wake. "Come in, Hassan," she said as she went for one of her cigarettes.
"Excuse me, Sharak. I just wanted to see how you were doing." The man closed the door behind him and rubbed at his shaggy hatted hair.
"I'll live. What about Genjo?" she asked around a twirling stream of smoke.
Hassan let out a long exhale. "Once they closed him back up, Yaone said the risk of him dying from blood loss was decreased enough that we could end the transfusion. He's been in a bad way though. They treated everything else that would not need further surgery, and now they are just waiting to see if he stabilizes. Chen and Usui have been taking shifts watching him as his vitals have been touch and go."
"Is the youkai still here?"
"No. Once she had done all she could for Genjo Sanzo, she left. She wanted me to relay her sincerest thanks for what you did though, since she could not thank you in person."
Sharak simply waved it off with her hand. "No thanks are necessary. But tell me, how are the other two?"
"The boy, Goku, is currently with Genjo Sanzo in his room. The men provided him a futon to sleep on since he did not want to leave. Gojyo, I've heard, has been mostly smoking up a storm in his own room and stalking around the fort off and on. He was placed under strict orders not to sleep until tomorrow when Chen can assess the progress of his head injury. The guy had a pretty severe concussion apparently."
The effort of sitting up was becoming too much of a stain, so Sharak leaned back against the wall behind her.
"Are you sure you are alright Sharak?" Hassan anxiously stepped closer. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Please stop fretting, Hassan." She sighed, then scoffed. "I thought you out of anyone would know by now, I'm more resilient than that." There was an understanding between them when she met his gaze, so she left it at that. "As long as everyone is taken care of, that's all I need from you. Thank you, Hassan."
With a short nod and a tight draw of his lips, the militia leader excused himself for the night.
Sharak took in another long drag of smoke as she looked out her window to the large harvest moon. The darkness was so calm and peaceful in comparison to earlier that morning – and even the night before. She was grateful to the gods the night had gone on undisturbed, and their enemy had not forced another attack…
Yet.
AN: I followed a little bit of what happened in the anime with there being an attack on Kouten Fortress, but no divine intervention took place. I may keep it that way.
Oh golly, Sharak is sexy, and Hassan is so sweet. There is definitely a deeper story to how Sharak got her scars. I do not know if she will disclose it though. For now it remains a secret.
I do not know Sharak's blood type, so hopefully canon does not contradict me (or it will have to be that much more AU).
Where is the Merciful Goddess when you really need her though lol. Sanzo needed another kiss of blood! (No, I probably wont address this in the next fic)
In my head, the barrier keeps out those effected by the minus wave and youkai living close enough to the minus wave that the minus wave aura has sort of permeated into them even though Kougaiji et. al. are not effected by it. Therefore, in the anime, Hakkai could cross but Kougaiji could not.
But hopefully this is enough of a close to this story that it could be stopped here. There is plenty left to add though, so I will be continuing to write the next story, but I hate when a fic drags on and changes from the original description. I also do not want to post anything unless it is finished or close to finished, so a lot of patience will be required as I slowly write "Where the Light Breaks Forth." I don't like when fics are forever abandoned halfway through, so just in case life gets in the way and I forever abandon it, that is why I will wait to post.
Thank you so much for reading this long novel! Let me know your thoughts in the comments :D and please favorite and follow for when the next fic is posted! 3
Your humble author,
~Krysstian