"Ero kappa! I don't care if your beer is warm; I'm not getting you
another one. I'm not your servant! Plus, I'm really hungry, I think I'm
starving!" moaned Goku.
"You're not going to starve, and you're the closest to the cooler, monkey boy, so you get it!" Gojyo retorted.
Goku pulled out a can and grinned evilly, his golden eyes dancing. "Oh, look! A nice, cold beer. And it's all mine."
"Why you little..."
"Will you two shut up already?!" Gojyo and Goku cringed from the paper-fan wielding Sanzo. "If you don't stop it, I'll gladly leave you in the desert to fight over the stupid beer!"
Hakkai chuckled softly, staring at the road ahead of them. "Luckily for them, there seems to be trees up ahead, as well as civilization."
The two sitting in the back immediately looked up, forgetting about their fight. "Food!" exclaimed Goku happily.
"Women," Gojyo sighed, content.
Sanzo turned a wary eye on Gojyo. "Don't start hitting on innocent girls again, Gojyo." The half breed just shrugged, smiling slyly as Hakuryu pulled into the town. The dragon/jeep rumbled along slowly in the apparently deserted town.
"Don't count on it, Gojyo," remarked Hakkai. "There seems to be no people." He looked around curiously. "What's that smell?"
Goku peered into the windows as Hakuryu slowed down even more. "I wonder what happened?" Hakuryu passed by an open door, and suddenly Goku fell back and put a hand over his nose. "Ew! Smells like rotting carcasses." Goku stopped at what he just said, and looked over unsurely at the other three. "You don't think..."
"Hakkai, tell Hakuryu to stop. Now." Sanzo said sharply. He got out of the jeep, Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai not far behind. Looking through the door, he stopped, turned around, and walked back out emotionless, letting the other see. Inside the building were two children, eyes wide and staring, dried blood all over their mouths and fronts of their shirts. The girl had her hands clutching a ragged doll, and the boy, apparently her brother, clung to her body, tear tracks still visible down his dirty face. Goku stared, shocked; Gojyo looked away; Hakkai slowly went near the children and crouched next to them, brushing the hair off the little girl's face. "All the other houses next to this have the same thing." The three looked up, startled, as they had not realized Sanzo had left. "No wounds, no signs of a battle, just blood around their mouths."
Goku looked out the door. "Hey, hey Sanzo! You hear something?" Looking up from the bodies, Sanzo looked around. "It sounds like a person."
Hakkai got up and left hurriedly, searching for the source of the now- audible groans. They got louder as he reached the edge of the village, and soon he found a man lying on the ground next to an old, stone well. The youkai knelt next to the man. "Are you alright? What happened here?" he asked the man urgently, helping him sit up.
The man looked up. "I am Kintse." He began to cough uncontrollably, and Hakkai shushed him.
"Please, do not talk. It will make you-"
"My entire village has died but me, stranger." Kintse looked up at him with glassy, beseeching eyes. "Please, listen to me. This is a plague- infested place. It is a horrible thing, which eats you from the inside out." He began to cough again. By this time Goku, Gojyo, and Sanzo were also near and listening. He began again, voice low and tortured. "We had a physician here, but he was mad. All he raved about was his medicines, and how someday he would become famous and rich for them. He killed a woman and her unborn child with one of his concoctions that he called medicine. A simple sickness, she could have been easily saved by a simple herb! But he had to go and test one of his inventions on her." His face bcame contorted with anger. "We outcast him from the village, but before he left he gave a village child a gift. He told her it was a special candy that he made just for her, and sure enough she ate it. That piece of food he gave the child was a mixture of strange, foreign poisons and herbs. She contracted the plague and soon died." Kintse clenched his hands in tight fists, and his body became racked with sobs. He pounded his fists against the wall as hard as he could in his state, and angry tear streamed out of his grief-filled eyes. "That monster started the plague in a little child. That monster killed my wife, my unborn son, and my little girl." He shook, body and mind consumed by his mourning. Slowly he looked up at them, eyes now emotionless and empty.
"Then they all started to die. First Kalali, Ridhai, and Zuhrad." He said matter-of-factly. "Then it got worse and worse, and soon the doctors died, and the herbs ran out, and the people could do nothing to stop the pain. It seemed like as soon as one person died from the disease, another caught it. It was like a spirit leapt from the dying body of one to the living one of another. We didn't know how the plague went from one person to another, and we couldn't figure it out. And others were killed trying to get to the spring-"His eyes snapped wide open, and he began to scream in torment and shake. Blood started to dribble out of his mouth. Hakkai placed his hands above the pain-riddled man's abdomen, but his chi seemed to do no good. Goku stood back in horror as blood began to flow out of his mouth, pumping out more with each heartbeat. Leaning back, Kintse breathed out a name rasply, before his head fell limp onto his shoulder and the blood, once gushing out of his mouth, now trickled down his cheek from the corner of his mouth.
Goku looked nervously at the man. "Hey, Hakkai, let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps. Hakkai?" The brunette closed the dead man's eyes, then turned and looked at the others; his usual, ever-cheerful face was replaced by one of solemn compassion. He nodded, got up, and got into the waiting jeep/dragon. Hakuryu chirped, worried about his master.
Hakkai smiled. "Don't worry, Hakuryu, I'm fine. Let's see if we can find a place to rest for the night, away from here." They all got into the jeep, and rode out of the cursed village. No one noticed, in the fading light of twilight, that Hakkai had turned the same pale shade Kintse had been.
"You're not going to starve, and you're the closest to the cooler, monkey boy, so you get it!" Gojyo retorted.
Goku pulled out a can and grinned evilly, his golden eyes dancing. "Oh, look! A nice, cold beer. And it's all mine."
"Why you little..."
"Will you two shut up already?!" Gojyo and Goku cringed from the paper-fan wielding Sanzo. "If you don't stop it, I'll gladly leave you in the desert to fight over the stupid beer!"
Hakkai chuckled softly, staring at the road ahead of them. "Luckily for them, there seems to be trees up ahead, as well as civilization."
The two sitting in the back immediately looked up, forgetting about their fight. "Food!" exclaimed Goku happily.
"Women," Gojyo sighed, content.
Sanzo turned a wary eye on Gojyo. "Don't start hitting on innocent girls again, Gojyo." The half breed just shrugged, smiling slyly as Hakuryu pulled into the town. The dragon/jeep rumbled along slowly in the apparently deserted town.
"Don't count on it, Gojyo," remarked Hakkai. "There seems to be no people." He looked around curiously. "What's that smell?"
Goku peered into the windows as Hakuryu slowed down even more. "I wonder what happened?" Hakuryu passed by an open door, and suddenly Goku fell back and put a hand over his nose. "Ew! Smells like rotting carcasses." Goku stopped at what he just said, and looked over unsurely at the other three. "You don't think..."
"Hakkai, tell Hakuryu to stop. Now." Sanzo said sharply. He got out of the jeep, Goku, Gojyo and Hakkai not far behind. Looking through the door, he stopped, turned around, and walked back out emotionless, letting the other see. Inside the building were two children, eyes wide and staring, dried blood all over their mouths and fronts of their shirts. The girl had her hands clutching a ragged doll, and the boy, apparently her brother, clung to her body, tear tracks still visible down his dirty face. Goku stared, shocked; Gojyo looked away; Hakkai slowly went near the children and crouched next to them, brushing the hair off the little girl's face. "All the other houses next to this have the same thing." The three looked up, startled, as they had not realized Sanzo had left. "No wounds, no signs of a battle, just blood around their mouths."
Goku looked out the door. "Hey, hey Sanzo! You hear something?" Looking up from the bodies, Sanzo looked around. "It sounds like a person."
Hakkai got up and left hurriedly, searching for the source of the now- audible groans. They got louder as he reached the edge of the village, and soon he found a man lying on the ground next to an old, stone well. The youkai knelt next to the man. "Are you alright? What happened here?" he asked the man urgently, helping him sit up.
The man looked up. "I am Kintse." He began to cough uncontrollably, and Hakkai shushed him.
"Please, do not talk. It will make you-"
"My entire village has died but me, stranger." Kintse looked up at him with glassy, beseeching eyes. "Please, listen to me. This is a plague- infested place. It is a horrible thing, which eats you from the inside out." He began to cough again. By this time Goku, Gojyo, and Sanzo were also near and listening. He began again, voice low and tortured. "We had a physician here, but he was mad. All he raved about was his medicines, and how someday he would become famous and rich for them. He killed a woman and her unborn child with one of his concoctions that he called medicine. A simple sickness, she could have been easily saved by a simple herb! But he had to go and test one of his inventions on her." His face bcame contorted with anger. "We outcast him from the village, but before he left he gave a village child a gift. He told her it was a special candy that he made just for her, and sure enough she ate it. That piece of food he gave the child was a mixture of strange, foreign poisons and herbs. She contracted the plague and soon died." Kintse clenched his hands in tight fists, and his body became racked with sobs. He pounded his fists against the wall as hard as he could in his state, and angry tear streamed out of his grief-filled eyes. "That monster started the plague in a little child. That monster killed my wife, my unborn son, and my little girl." He shook, body and mind consumed by his mourning. Slowly he looked up at them, eyes now emotionless and empty.
"Then they all started to die. First Kalali, Ridhai, and Zuhrad." He said matter-of-factly. "Then it got worse and worse, and soon the doctors died, and the herbs ran out, and the people could do nothing to stop the pain. It seemed like as soon as one person died from the disease, another caught it. It was like a spirit leapt from the dying body of one to the living one of another. We didn't know how the plague went from one person to another, and we couldn't figure it out. And others were killed trying to get to the spring-"His eyes snapped wide open, and he began to scream in torment and shake. Blood started to dribble out of his mouth. Hakkai placed his hands above the pain-riddled man's abdomen, but his chi seemed to do no good. Goku stood back in horror as blood began to flow out of his mouth, pumping out more with each heartbeat. Leaning back, Kintse breathed out a name rasply, before his head fell limp onto his shoulder and the blood, once gushing out of his mouth, now trickled down his cheek from the corner of his mouth.
Goku looked nervously at the man. "Hey, Hakkai, let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps. Hakkai?" The brunette closed the dead man's eyes, then turned and looked at the others; his usual, ever-cheerful face was replaced by one of solemn compassion. He nodded, got up, and got into the waiting jeep/dragon. Hakuryu chirped, worried about his master.
Hakkai smiled. "Don't worry, Hakuryu, I'm fine. Let's see if we can find a place to rest for the night, away from here." They all got into the jeep, and rode out of the cursed village. No one noticed, in the fading light of twilight, that Hakkai had turned the same pale shade Kintse had been.