Drawn to the Light
By Kanzeon
Spoilers: A lot of them. At least until the first twenty or so episodes of the anime and most of the manga.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the fanfic idea.
Warnings: Implied shounen ai, bad language and Men Behaving Badly
Surgeon General's Warning: Smoking cigarettes may cause lung cancer.
* * * * * * * * * *
Waking up and getting up had never been easy. Not even for monks with missions. Sinking back into he drug-induced oblivion had been extremely tempting . . . But no, he was awake now, sans headache and feeling as sluggish as cold porridge.
And still hankering for a long smoke in a quiet corner with maybe a few shots of whiskey as an accompaniment.
Wishful thinking.
Sanzo opened his eyes. It was close to evening already, if the long shadows on the ceiling were any indication of the time. He still had the vile aftertaste of whatever concoction the kappa had brought back in his mouth. Someone--probably Hakkai--had thoughtfully provided a pitcher of water and a washbasin.
His limbs felt as though they had been filled with lead, but he pushed himself up anyhow, trying to shake off the lethargy. Damned headache and all its after effects . . .
He made it to the washbasin and rinsed out his mouth. Marginally refreshed, he looked out the open window to check the weather. It was not raining anymore. There were hardly any clouds in the darkening sky. A day had been wasted in this hick-town.
Sanzo wanted someone to swear at. Gingerly, he set one foot in front of the other and moved. When the pain in his head showed no sign of returning, he quickened his pace and shoved the door open.
Goku was just outside on the landing--he was leaning over the railing and appeared to listening to the voices drifting up from downstairs. The monkey looked up when the door creaked open.
"Sanzo? You're awake! Hakkai and Gojyo are down there with the innkeeper. I think that man is trying to kick us out--"
"Like we would want to stay another minute," Sanzo retorted. He had wanted to call Goku a stupid ape as usual, but something in the monkey's eyes held him back. Relief. It was the Oh-Good-Sanzo-Really-Is-Okay look that was the first thing he always saw whenever he woke up from the sedatives.
He shunted that disquieting insight aside and started down the stairs with Goku trailing after him.
Hakkai's voice could be heard from the common room, still reasonable but a little impatient this time. "--I'm just saying that we--"
"You made me lose all my custom!" The landlord, sounding indignant. "All my guests got scared away today--"
"Hey, I think the exotic fauna in the bedding you provide probably factored into that." Gojyo, stating the obvious. "And it wasn't like a new hole in your ceiling matters. It already looks like Swiss cheese--"
"I already factored in all the damages in your bill--"
Ah, the landlord was trying to wring them for they were worth before kicking them out. Sanzo made a noise in disgust and deliberately let his footfalls be heard as he climbed down.
The landlord's tirade tricked to a standstill as Sanzo put in his appearance.
"Oh, Sanzo . . . You're up. We're trying to persuade the landlord to let us--" Hakkai began.
"Save your breath. We're leaving!" Sanzo barked, causing the landlord to back up a step and start looking for concealed weapons. "And where the heck is my gun?"
"But Sanzo! I'm hungry! And it's dinner time!" Goku whined.
If Sanzo had been the sort of man who was inclined to kindness, he would have thwacked the monkey and hauled them out of there as soon as possible.
"Ow! Sanzo--that hurt!" Goku yelled as he rubbed his head.
"Shut up, stupid ape," he said, shoving his fan back into his sleeve. "We'll leave after dinner."
Hope faded from the landlord's eyes as Goku started capering expectantly.
It should be noted that Sanzo was the kind of person who would use his fan on Goku and then inflict him on the hapless staff of the inn at dinnertime. After all, the innkeeper did not have to put up with the monkey's whining every day.
But there was one more thing bothering him . . .
"Oi, kappa . . . Where did you get the cigarettes from? I could smell it on you this morning, but I couldn't place it until now."
"Aw hell . . . a guy can't bum a smoke anymore without getting the third degree about it from everyone," Gojyo muttered.
"The local medicine woman . . . Which he made a deal with to check out a possible local disturbance," Hakkai informed Sanzo. "She was, um, very persuasive . . ."
"Were you thinking with your dick again?" Sanzo asked sarcastically. "Don't come running to us if it meets up with a chopper or whatever the women in this place use."
Meanwhile, Hakkai had covered his mouth and was trying very hard not to make a sound as the priest hit the mark . . . without really knowing the details about little wax dolls and assorted body fluids.
"That's it . . . No more charitable deeds for Mr. My-Shit-Doesn't-Stink Monk here," Gojyo exclaimed. "He can go blow his own brains out the next time he gets a migraine--"
"At least I have a brain, unlike certain people I could mention . . ." the priest retorted. "You didn't have the sense the Creator gave a cow to get the rest of the tobacco, right? I'm surrounded by idiots . . ."
Gojyo exchanged a look with Hakkai as the monk stalked off to curb Goku from reading off the entire menu to the beleaguered cook.
Yep, everything was back to normal . . .
* * * * * * * * * *
The dreamer was, for the want of a better word, excited.
A celestial soul, no less. Someone with the power to end the dream permanently.
The dreamer had lost sight of the light for a while. But it was there, just a little out of reach. Just outside the boundaries of unconsciousness.
But the dreamer was nothing but patient.
The light was getting closer.
* * * * * * * * * *
"Sanzo, is this a good idea?" Hakkai asked. It had been nightfall when they had set off from the inn. Now, walking down a rutted road that would have wrecked havoc on Jipu's suspension in the dark, the village seemed rather inviting again.
"Hmphh . . . It was part of that stupid kappa's deal to see this through. Why not now?" The monk looked irritated, yet somewhat preoccupied.
"Ano . . . You don't really think there's something out there worth checking out, do you?" Hakkai asked Sanzo's back. "I can't sense anything . . ."
The priest did not deign to reply.
"Kyyuuuuu? Piuuuuu . . ." Hakuryuu cooed from Hakkai's shoulder.
"I don't know either . . ." Hakkai sighed and walked on.
"Well, we're here," Gojyo said from up. "The river. Or the river bank. To the left of the road for a hundred yards or so . . ."
Goku hoped up onto the stones that lined the bank and peered over. "Whoa!"
"That is quite a drop," Hakkai murmured as they looked over the stony embankment and down into the swollen river below. "No wonder they have to use irrigation . . . The river must be practically inaccessible in the dry seasons."
"She said we may have to go down on the rocks . . . preferably in the day time," Gojyo said meaningfully. "It's suicide to try hopping around down there in the dark!"
"I didn't come all the way here on someone else's idea just to quit," Sanzo said curtly. "Hakkai, is there anyway to make a torch?"
An old dried out branch served as a makeshift brand to light the way as they climbed down the rocky slope to where the water lapped around large slabs of granite. Scattered here and there were clumps of vegetation that had hung on tenaciously throughout the river's fluctuations.
"Hmm . . ." Hakkai peered up at the rocky embankment. "The river must have been receding for quite some time now. But all the growth on the stones here seems to indicate that the water level has been dropping faster recently."
"Other than the interesting geography, there isn't anything else here," Gojyo pointed out. "Unless you mean the possibility of more rain. Can you smell it?"
"Don't see anything. Or smell anything other than the rain that's coming," Goku piped up. "Can we go now? It's getting cold out here . . ."
"So the weather didn't really let up," Hakkai said, glancing up at the gathering storm clouds. "I don't think we can sleep in Jipu tonight if it gets heavy . . . Guess we'll have to break out the canvas."
"Aw shit . . . And we came out here for *what*?"
"A wild goose chase," Sanzo said crossly. "Are you sure you got the right directions from that old hag? Or maybe there was too much rainwater in your ears--"
"Hey! Were you really expecting to find anything he--"
Whatever Gojyo had been about to say was cut off by the downpour that soaked them to the skin in seconds.
"Oh *crap*," Gojyo said succinctly.
All three looked at Sanzo for the telltale blood vessel. Yep, right there--throbbing away under his right eye as usual . . .
"Er, Sanzo?" Goku asked when the monk stayed silent for a full minute.
"I'm tired of this!" Sanzo hissed. "Someone's been fucking around with us and I've had it!"
"Um, I think the monk's gone crazy *and* paranoid, Hakkai," Gojyo muttered to Hakkai. "Come on, let's get out of the rain--"
The earth chose that moment to move. Right out from under their feet.
* * * * * * * * * *
One moment they had been standing in the rain with Sanzo getting madder as they got wetter by the second. Then the stones had started shifting as the storm picked up the pace above them.
They had barely been able to keep their footing, but they had managed to start scrambling for higher ground just in time. Then the river had started to churn. Whatever it was, it was not natural.
Goku could sense it, though he could not for the life of him understand why.
The wave that had washed them clear of the bank would have been impossible even in the most turbulent river.
Fortunately for him, Goku had rather liked swimming and he surface from the water, a little breathless but unscathed.
"Hakkaaaiii!" he yelled into the pounding rainstorm. "Gojyo? Oh wait . . . stupid kappa can't swim . . ."
And Sanzo . . .?
The priest was nowhere in sight. Neither were the other two. He was bobbing alone in the middle of a churning river as the rain poured down in torrents.
Sanzo?
"Oh shit . . ." Taking a deep breath, Goku dove back under again.
Don't leave me alone . . .
The undertow was strong, but it was pulling him downwards and he let it carry him deeper. It was dark and cold down there, but to leave without finding any of the others was . . . unthinkable. He started to search desperately even as his supply of air started to run low.
Sanzo . . . Somebody, please . . . *Anybody* . . .
Neither mortal or youkai, Goku knew that he could withstand the pressure and lack of air for more than just a few minutes. But even that was not long enough as his vision began to blur. He almost thought he was hallucinating when he saw something in the murky depths ahead of him.
A glint of . . . gold?
Sanzo!
Reckless impulse drove him on, regardless of the fact that no light could exist this deep down in the depths.
It could be . . . It could be . . . It *has* to be--
Hope gave his flagging limbs a kind of desperate energy as he cut through the water, following the flicker of light. And then he *could* see the priest, white robes and all.
His fingers snagged on one pale sleeve. Not a hallucination after all. But then--
Sanzo? Unconscious. Have to get Sanzo out. Now. Need air . . . Before he--
The current had other ideas though. Try as he might, Goku could not extricate himself and Sanzo from the grip of the strong undertow. And they were being towed in deeper.
* * * * * * * * * *
Getting dunked into a river full of chilly water was not Gojyo's idea of an evening's entertainment. Getting dragged under by the unnatural current had never been on his list of priorities in the first place. He could have *sworn* that that wave had been unnaturally high when it had swept them off the rocks--
But shit like that always happened when one was on the road with Sanzo. Gojyo had always avoided deep water because he could not really float, much less swim . . .
I should've taken up that offer to learn to swim . . .
Memory chose that extremely inconvenient moment to resurface.
Jien's hands ruffling his damp hair. Deep and gruff voice that was always and eternally "big brother" speaking to him. Amused. Always tolerant.
"Oi--I'm not going to be there to fish you out everything you fall in. I'll teach you to swim, okay?"
Oh wait, I did agree . . . But it was just before that day . . .
Blood. The smell of it. The sight of it dripping down the length of an old sword. The sword that Jien held in one slack hand. The day that everything went to hell in a hand-basket.
It'sdarkIt'sdarkIt'sdark . . . Ohshitohshit . . .
So the worst possible thing happened.
He panicked. He saw his own precious supply of air escaping from his nose and mouth even as he struggled.
And the darkness pressed inwards.
* * * * * * * * * *
Hakkai broke through the surface, gasping. He had remembered that Gojyo could not swim--which was really odd for a kappa--and had gone in after him. Gojyo had been in trouble--Hakkai could hardly get close enough to get a grip on him. The strange current had dragged them in quite for a distance before vanishing abruptly and he had wasted no time kicking for the surface with Gojyo in tow.
But when he had a good look at his surroundings, he realised that they were not in the river after all. They had emerged in a cavern. His youkai senses compensated for the lack of light instinctively. This was someplace underground. They had discovered an underground cave, most probably under the riverbank that they had been checking.
Or maybe "discovered" was not really the right word for this . . .
Decided that there was nothing for it but to brave the strange cavern, he hauled Gojyo out of the water and waded to the shore. He shook the kappa's shoulders and found him alarmingly unresponsive.
"Gojyo?"
The red-haired man was not breathing. He had probably lost a lot of air while panicking . . .
"Gojyo!"
There had been that first aid class at school . . . But they probably did not have the addition of ki to the technique in mind.
Two breaths followed by the application of carefully controlled ki to the sternum--repeat the cycle--
Goyjo started to twitch after three cycles.
Hakkai sighed in relief. Gojyo's youkai ancestry had probably saved him from prolonged anoxia. He helped to prop the other man up as the redhead coughed up a prodigious amount of water.
"That--that was too bloody . . . too damn close . . ." Gojyo rasped.
"Too close," Hakkai agreed.
A slight pause as they recouped after a near brush with death. Danger on a daily basis was just peachy, but they had got over the death wish phase already, thank you very much.
"Where is . . . this place?" The cavern stretched out before them for perhaps half a kilometre and the rest was shrouded in darkness.
"I have no idea. When I couldn't feel the undertow anymore, I swam upwards and we popped up in here."
"Wherever *here* is," Gojyo muttered. "Something stinks, and it's not the fish I have stuck in my boot. I hate to admit it, but Kailan and the stinking priest may have been on to something . . ."
"Definitely *something*," Hakkai said and pointed at the ceiling of the cave. Barely visible in the gloom were rough frescos of what looked like rivers, clouds and a depiction of a rainstorm. There was some kind of writing as well, carved deep into the walls--but the people who could read it were probably centuries dead. It was not a real cavern, but an ancient site of some power.
"She wasn't kidding about it being some elemental site . . ." Gojyo dumped a small fish out from his boot, changed his mind and chucked it back in the pool of water behind them. "But I can't feel anything. I mean, if it powerful enough to cause the storm, we should be able to sense it by now."
"I think Sanzo knew something," Hakkai said worriedly, "but he didn't say anything even though it was bothering him."
"Stubborn monk . . . D'you suppose he and the monkey wound up in here?"
"It's very likely. Have you recovered? We need to find Sanzo and Goku . . ."
"Say . . . did you kiss me just now?" Gojyo asked as he got to his feet.
"Ah, that was part of the method to revive--"
"As in lip to lip?"
Hakkai looked flustered. "It wasn't--"
Gojyo looked thoughtful. "Can you try that again when we're not so busy drowning?"
"*What*?"
The redhead grinned. "Because, Hakkai, your Frenching technique needs a bit of work in the tongue department. I'm telling you this as a friend--"
Hakkai's expression had gone from mildly embarrassed to that semi-blank look he sometimes had when he was not smiling. And then he demonstrated how his technique was, in fact, not lacking on a very surprised Gojyo.
"I concentrate better when I don't have things like saving a life on my mind," Hakkai said with a small smile as the kappa stood there, shell-shocked. "We should go find the others now."
When he could finally shape a coherent sentence instead of gaping like a dying goldfish, Hakkai was already halfway across the cavern. "Was that a joke?" he asked weakly. "Oi! Hakkai! It was a joke, right? Hakkaaaiiii!"
* * * * * * * * * *
End Part 4