A/N: Ahem, yes, well, as has been asked, I'm not dead. Just really… distracted. (stuffs Roy Mustang under her bed...) But despite the lure of FMA, I have not forgotten Saiyuki! The last chapter of Monsters Inside is about 60% done (the bits with Hakkai and Gojyo have been complete since February, it's Goku and Sanzo that have been giving me fits on the wrap up) but this little side piece was something I'd been sitting on, and decided to release even though MI isn't totally wrapped up. This takes place in the same timeline, with the setting about 8-9 months after MI. Just a little drabble on the natures of our favorite lads….
Disclaimer: This is a piece of fan-fiction written for the sole enjoyment of the reader. (And we do enjoy these boys, don't we?)
Part I: Earth
The class was small and consisted of two senior monks, a very talented young novitiate, and the doctor's apprentice. The art of Chi-healing was a discipline that took decades to refine and control and Yang was inarguably the finest practitioner in all of Chang-an.
"Today I will discuss the elements, and how you need to modify your treatments on a patient's nature." Yang began, seating himself with a grace that was beginning to slow, his silver braid flicking neatly to the side to avoid being sat upon. "While every person carries the traits of all five elements, the majority will tend to favor one in particular." Yang drew out a small leather folder filled with papers of all colors and plucked out a sheet of yellow. "We shall begin with Earth, such a common and seemingly simple element to understand…"
On the surface, Goku was an easy person to figure out. So long as there was something to eat, someone to fight with, and a certain person to keep an eye on, he was content. It was only when he started lacking those foundations that he started remembering things he'd rather forget, and strained for the memories that he had lost. Inside, he was filled with caverns of nothingness, dark and cold, and when he was alone it was very easy to become lost in it searching desperately for the sun.
The first time he had gotten into an argument with Gojyo, Goku received a shock. Normally all he had ever had to do to win a fight against anyone (except for Sanzo) was to raise his voice and act a little scary and after two days of wary circling around the half-breed, Goku made a try at Gojyo's breakfast. Gojyo had raised his voice right back, and then swiped back the meat bun Goku had snitched from the redhead's plate. The rapidly escalating taunts had dragged a very irate Sanzo from the bedroom where he had been watching over the injured Gonou. Sanzo hadn't been terribly coherent, but his lack of sleep had not affected the priest's aim.
Escaping out into the rain, Gojyo and Goku ducked around the side of the building. Gojyo cocked a thumb back at the inn's entrance and smirked, "Blondie just doesn't appreciate a good insult does he?"
A laugh escaped Goku, "No, no he doesn't." The two shared a grin and Goku felt a part of him that had been missing snap back into place.
The yellow paper twisted and folded under Yang's skilled fingers as he spoke. "And lastly, when Earth is placed under tremendous pressure, it reacts with unsurpassed violence. What do think an emperor fears more, a military coup or a peasant uprising? A few thousand men with swords or millions with scythes?" Yang carefully set the paper he had been manipulating on the table, spearing it in place with a pin. "When Earth shatters, all you can do is wait out the tremors and repair what you can afterwards."
A tissue of silver-white sipped out of the folder next, and Yang held it up with a smile. "Deep within the heart of Earth, you will always find Metal."
Disclaimer: This is a piece of fan-fiction written for the sole enjoyment of the reader. (And we do enjoy these boys, don't we?)
Part I: Earth
The class was small and consisted of two senior monks, a very talented young novitiate, and the doctor's apprentice. The art of Chi-healing was a discipline that took decades to refine and control and Yang was inarguably the finest practitioner in all of Chang-an.
"Today I will discuss the elements, and how you need to modify your treatments on a patient's nature." Yang began, seating himself with a grace that was beginning to slow, his silver braid flicking neatly to the side to avoid being sat upon. "While every person carries the traits of all five elements, the majority will tend to favor one in particular." Yang drew out a small leather folder filled with papers of all colors and plucked out a sheet of yellow. "We shall begin with Earth, such a common and seemingly simple element to understand…"
On the surface, Goku was an easy person to figure out. So long as there was something to eat, someone to fight with, and a certain person to keep an eye on, he was content. It was only when he started lacking those foundations that he started remembering things he'd rather forget, and strained for the memories that he had lost. Inside, he was filled with caverns of nothingness, dark and cold, and when he was alone it was very easy to become lost in it searching desperately for the sun.
The first time he had gotten into an argument with Gojyo, Goku received a shock. Normally all he had ever had to do to win a fight against anyone (except for Sanzo) was to raise his voice and act a little scary and after two days of wary circling around the half-breed, Goku made a try at Gojyo's breakfast. Gojyo had raised his voice right back, and then swiped back the meat bun Goku had snitched from the redhead's plate. The rapidly escalating taunts had dragged a very irate Sanzo from the bedroom where he had been watching over the injured Gonou. Sanzo hadn't been terribly coherent, but his lack of sleep had not affected the priest's aim.
Escaping out into the rain, Gojyo and Goku ducked around the side of the building. Gojyo cocked a thumb back at the inn's entrance and smirked, "Blondie just doesn't appreciate a good insult does he?"
A laugh escaped Goku, "No, no he doesn't." The two shared a grin and Goku felt a part of him that had been missing snap back into place.
The yellow paper twisted and folded under Yang's skilled fingers as he spoke. "And lastly, when Earth is placed under tremendous pressure, it reacts with unsurpassed violence. What do think an emperor fears more, a military coup or a peasant uprising? A few thousand men with swords or millions with scythes?" Yang carefully set the paper he had been manipulating on the table, spearing it in place with a pin. "When Earth shatters, all you can do is wait out the tremors and repair what you can afterwards."
A tissue of silver-white sipped out of the folder next, and Yang held it up with a smile. "Deep within the heart of Earth, you will always find Metal."