New Enemy
More luminescent eyes appeared, peeking around the corner of the cabin. Another small figure hopped crookedly toward Sanzo, coming up behind the priest. The first creature was standing just inches away from him and appeared to be sniffing the blood-spattered edge of his robe. Disgusted, the blond man took a step back, but the thing jumped forward with surprising speed and sank it's teeth into his calf. Drawing in a sharp breath, Sanzo's eyes widened in utter shock. The last thing he expected such a pathetic little creature to do was attack him mercilessly. Without a second thought, he pulled out his gun and fired a messy shot straight through its spindly body. The one behind Sanzo made a strangled gurgling noise and leapt toward the priest's back, only to be shot down in midair. More came from the direction of the dead body, some stopping to tear at the still fresh meat, others moving toward the pool of blood and the startled priest. In the darkness their glowing eyes bobbed eerily around the two men, oddly shaped silhouettes moving erratically. Some of them could only scuttle sideways, others seemed to have their heads twisted around the wrong way. Overall, it was a very unnerving scene, even more so than the incident with the anonymous attacker earlier.
"What the fuck…?"
"You sure attract some strange creatures…" Gojyo muttered, trying desperately to come up with a plan of action, as it was clear that whatever these things were, their brains were probably too underdeveloped know when to quit. As more of them arrived, the kappa got a good look at one of the deformed mouths and concluded they probably had a very nasty bite. He was inwardly relieved that it was Sanzo that he received a nip and not himself. Flinging Shaku Jou's blade toward a pair of them, Gojyo decapitated the creatures neatly. "What the hell are we supposed to do about these fucking creeps? They're everywhere!"
"Do I look like I know?" Sanzo snapped irritably. This night was turning out to be very trying for the priest, especially with the appearance of this pack of demented rats. He only had so many bullets on him…. "I think they're lesser demons…. I remember something about them traveling in packs…" he added. If that were the case, they would probably be here all night fighting them off. Sanzo fired another shot, frying three more that were standing too close together, but another crept up from behind and latched onto his arm before the priest could a good shot in. Swearing loudly, Sanzo slammed it backward in to the wall until it let go. Every hit elicited a sickening crunching noise from somewhere in the creatures body and it fell, dying, to the ground.
"Packs? You don't say…" Gojyo snorted, rolling his eyes in the priest's direction. Unfortunately, taking his attention away from the battle proved to be unwise. Two of the little demons jumped him from behind, aiming for the back of his neck, but got a mouthful of hair instead. "You little dickweeds—get the hell OFF my hair!" The redhead twisted around violently, both angered and extremely freaked out. Surprisingly, the demons let go almost as soon as they had latched on, being flung through the air to land a few feet away. They were definitely not the most nimble beings, having landed on their sides or backs, squawking in a tortured imitation of birds.
As blood began to drip from Sanzo's wounds, more of the demons started crowding around him. He shot down two and sent a third flying with a sharp kick to its ribs. Pausing to search his pockets for more bullets, he tried to remember more of what he had heard about lesser demons, in an attempt to end this battle before the tides turned for the worst.
"They're attracted to blood. Don't let one bite you or they'll swarm." The search for ammunition proved mostly futile—only two shells left. Sanzo reloaded his gun and shot the closest demons, only to be bitten by two more taking their places.
"You should try taking your own advice, monk," Gojyo replied with a frown. The number of demons collecting around the priest was becoming worrisome. Jumping over a group of the demons that seemed to be steadfastly ignoring him, he sliced open a good four of them that were too close to Sanzo. "Jeeze, they're looking at you like you're a gourmet meal…."
"It's the fucking blood you splashed on my robes earlier."
"Not to mention all that fresh stuff," the kappa added, looking pointedly at Sanzo's wounds.
Bullets gone, the priest had resorted to smashing the butt of the gun into the demons that launched themselves at him and kicking the ones that got too close on the ground. "Dammit…" he hissed as small, gnarled teeth took a decent chunk out of his ankle. "There's no end to them…." Sanzo cast about desperately for something to fight with, but came up with nothing. The sutra had been discarded by Gojyo earlier in the cabin, and he had forgotten to pick it up in the confusion.
"Get back," the kappa commanded Sanzo. He stepped in front of the injured priest, brandishing his weapon at the voracious little demons. Gojyo was fully aware of how much his companion hated help, much less protection. Shaku Jou's blade snaked out in a deadly arch and reduced a few more demons to lumps of raw meat. The pack pressed closer, tempted by the scent of fresh, flowing blood, several of them taking dangerous nips at Gojyo's boots.
"Fool, get out of the way. You're not doing any good," Sanzo growled behind him. Gesturing ahead, the priest pointed out the growing number of lesser demons around them. "Get the sutra—it's still inside. They shouldn't follow you if I stay here." He glared at the oddly luminous eyes staring unblinking at the two men. The misshapen creatures were making bizarre meeping noises here and there and a squabble broke out in the background over the corpse under the tree.
"You expect me to just leave and let them have you for a meal?" Gojyo snapped, barely dodging more attempts at getting a taste of his legs. "How're you gonna keep them away long enough?"
"I'll manage. Just go, you idiot—we don't stand a chance without the sutra." Sanzo gave the kappa a sharp push toward the door, hoping his companion would be reasonable about his request. The priest knew the odds were not in his favor, but it was well worth the risk if they lived through this.
Gojyo gave a short sigh, realizing that arguing with Sanzo was like arguing with a brick wall on this point. Reluctantly, he left the priest's side, heading for the broken cabin door. His heart pounded in his chest as he jumped over and sometimes barreled through squirming piles of the lesser demons. Even though the kappa was a fast runner by nature, he hoped silently he would be able to reach the sutra before the creatures had their hungry way with his companion.
Meanwhile, Sanzo turned his attentions back to the swarm, sweeping his gaze over the multitude. "You have got to be kidding me…" he muttered to no one in particular, realizing just how many of the demons were out there. They must have landed right in a nest of them. The priest had a pretty good idea that this was how the previous owners of the building had ended up. Their gnawed bones were probably around back, remnants of the family that had lived here before. Perhaps there were farmers, just starting out…. Or maybe pioneers, hoping to create the beginnings of a new town…. Whoever they were, it was clear that these monsters were behind their untimely demise and likely it would be the two travelers' as well, at the rate things were going. Sanzo had an image of the next passerby finding their carcasses outside and wondering who they had been, just before the pack of lesser demons descended upon them like a plague.
The priest sighed heavily and grabbed a stick off the ground nearby. If he hadn't been bleeding already, whacking the demons to death with the stick may have been vary therapeutic for the stressed Sanzo. He was holding his own against the demons, but not as well as he should have been. A branch was not the best weapon when fighting masses of short creatures, and the wounds were starting to sting and throb.
"Hurry up, kappa! I don't have all night!" he shouted in the direction of the cabin door, just as one of the demons took a nice chunk out of his neck. "Goddammit…. This night just keeps getting worse…."