Voices
Voices of the long dead assaulted Sanzo's ears, screeching incoherently. Paralyzed where he stood, the priest couldn't even begin to try and decipher the multitude of spectral noises. After a few brief moments, the pain in his head forced Sanzo to his knees, clutching his throbbing skull. His lips moved slightly, mouthing obscenities before a strangled scream tore from his throat.
"Sanzo?!" Gojyo had been surveying their surroundings, but whirled around and dashed to the priest's side as he crumpled. The kappa grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him roughly, frustration rising as he failed to find any reason for this sudden outburst. "Sanzo!"
Another scream died on the priest's lips as the spiritual
energies became too much even for one such as him and Sanzo blacked out. His eyes rolled back and he limply slumped
against Gojyo, face so pale the skin was almost translucent. Utterly confused and on the verge of
panicking, the redhead could barely think straight enough to catch the priest's
dipping head. Kneeling, he grabbed his
limp companion by the shoulders. "Fuck
fuck fuck… What's wrong with you?
Sanzo…." Gojyo doubted anything he did would elicit a response from the
unconscious blonde. What could
possibly have made him scream like that?
Gojyo was suddenly very aware of the heavy ethereal atmosphere,
listening intently, peering in to the fog for a trace of
something…anything. All the buildings
looked as if they had been burned down, many years ago. Empty skulls peered out at the kappa with
vacant eyes, most of them half-buried in the dirt and rubble. The only building even remotely in one piece
was at the far end of the small village; it seemed to have once been a two
story structure, but the roof and most of the upper floor was gone, as well as
one wall from the lower. If it had been
daylight, one would have been able to see the remains of ornate décor on the
outside of the dilapidated structure. Unfortunately,
the mist seemed to gather most thickly around that one building.
Gojyo sighed softly, silently rebuking himself for not having paid better attention earlier. The rotting atmosphere was definitely getting to him, feeling as though he were trapped in a catacomb. All around the crushed, grinning skulls offered him no explanation. The only thing that presented him some semblance of safety was the ominous building at the edge of the road, but the kappa was not thrilled with the way fate seemed to be pushing him into one course of action. Gojyo looked down at the limp priest in his arms, wishing like all hell that Sanzo would wake up and tell him what to do. Gently, the kappa turned him to face his chest and hoisted Sanzo over his shoulder, grimacing at the thought of how the priest would react if he knew he was being dragged around like a sack of potatoes, but now all he received in reply was the disturbing bob of his soft, blond head.
Groaning in protest and frustration, Gojyo headed in the direction of the decaying building. He cast a sidelong glance at Sanzo hip, "I know you'd say it looks like a trap, but I really don't know where else to go…."
The structure creaking menacingly, as if the slightest breeze would send the whole thing crashing down. It was a miracle the building was still partially standing, looking like it had been there since nearly the dawn of time. The wood on the walls was as black as the dark shadows that seemed to congeal in every corner of the accursed town and condensation from the fog dripped occasionally in the background. Where the door had been was only a frame with blackened edges and peels of splintering wood. Gojyo stepped of the threshold, his boots echoing conspicuously on the hard floor inside.
"What a dump…." The priest was still dangling from Gojyo's shoulder and showing no sign of waking up soon. He was unnaturally pale, despite the slight redness in his cheeks from having hung upside down too long.
The layout of the building was mostly one large room with two smaller one off to either side and a rickety set of stairs leading to nowhere, several of them having collapsed with time. Not for the first or last time, Gojyo frowned and wondered why he was here again. There couldn't possibly be anyone here that would be of any help, but at least it provided a little shelter in case Sanzo didn't wake up until tomorrow. His lips twisted down in silent sympathy as he switched the priest over to the other shoulder. "Always gotta be indisposed when it's really important, don'tcha?"
Gojyo picked the door to his right at random and stood at the doorway peering in. The room was empty except for a nest of dead leaves in the corner that probably housed some small animal. There was a hole in the wall that may have been a window at one point, but had since been splintered beyond recognition as such. The kappa entered the room uneasily, the floorboards creaking under his heavy boots. Kneeling down, he removed Sanzo from his shoulder and leaned him again the far wall. Despite his usual nonchalance about the priest's health, Gojyo did not like the way his face reminded the redhead of the mist outside. He reached out and slapped Sanzo hard across the face, but to no avail. "Wake up, damn you."
The slap had no effect on the comatose priest, only resulting in a red welt rising on his cheek and his limp head whipping to the side. Sanzo's body slumped, nearly sliding down the wall into and uncomfortable heap. The kappa sighed, regretting hitting him, finding little consolation in the fact that Sanzo would have beat him around the head much harder if their roles had been switched. "Alright fine, leave me alone in this god-forsaken town," Gojyo said with a snort, pacing over to the vaguely square shaped hole in the wall, but he might as well have been trying to stare through a white-washed fence. The fog was so thick it hid everything beyond the wall from view. The kappa shuddered, disliking the mist more and more every minute.
[Luna sez: Sorry guys, but this one's going to be put on hold for a while in favor of another GojyoxSanzo fic. ^^;; But hey, as long as it's 5x3 who cares, right?]