Authors Note: The characters are in and it's update time! Hurrah. So here's our first assassin. The other two chosen characters will appear in later chapters. And so this chapter is dedicated to Chibi Suzaku Kitsune. Thanks so much for letting me borrow Hikurai.
Goku broke through the thick knit of trees about the same time both Hakkai and Gojyo did, the foliage giving was to a wide grove, Sanzo standing in the middle of it, smoke rising from the barrel of his gun, form taunt and defensive. His attention was locked on the treetops and whatever he was watching was riveting enough that he didn't notice Isis clinging to his arm.
"Sanzo! What is it?" Hakkai said, a light frown marring his features.
"Oh hurray. You're here." The voice was soft and decidedly feminine but had an undercurrent of amusement.
"What the hell?" Gojyo stepped back looking around him as soft, rolling laughter floated over the area like a fog. Something moved among the leaves and then a girl dropped down onto one of the lower branches, crouching for a moment then stood.
Her lips turned up in a light smile, tilting her head slightly so her short, obsidian hair caught the stray moonbeams and flashed blue with the light. A black trench coat draped over her form didn't seem to hinder her easy movements, the layers of a black tank top reveled by an open, sleeveless white top evident. Her eyelids were lowered, so that only flashes of emerald green eyes could be seen from beneath ebony lashes that fell like shadows against her snow complexion.
"So you're the Sanzo party." She laughed and turned then leaned backwards till she was peer at them upside down. "A band of pretty boys. Cute. "
"And let me guess." Sanzo growled lowly. "You're one of Kougaiji's assassins."
She grinned. "I thought he was suppose to be the smart one." She said point at Hakkai. Her finger moved on to fall to Sanzo. "The hot tempered leader." On to Gojyo "The idiot rouge." Goku. "The pint size fighter." She turned her attention to Amunisis then and tilts her head a bit "I wasn't told of her however. Is she a pet?"
Goku stepped forward glaring. "Just who the hell are you?"
The girl blinked then swung herself up again, settling into a crouching position and bowed. "Apologies. I am Hikurai Kitasa, messenger and retrieval agent. It's come to be heard that you are in possession of a sixth sutra."
Sanzo scoffed and crossed his arms placental forcing Isis to release her hold on him. "Nope."
Hikurai's eyebrow went up. "Lying. For shame. For shame. It's not nice to tell stories to a lady. Makes her gentle heart just break you know."
Goku tightened his grip around his Nyoibou "Get lost."
"That's rude. If you just hand over the sutra I'll let you go." She smiled "I'll even let your little pet go away unharmed. How's that."
"Like I said." Sanzo replied calmly. "We don't have any sixth sutra."
Hikurai frowned and leaned forward, eyelashes lifting the slightest bit and her brow creased. "Hmm. You aren't lying." She sighed. "Oh well then." Then lifted a wrist slowly where dangled what seemed to be a charm bracelet and reached out tugging something off. A tiny miniature scythe hung in her hand a moment before she tossed it up into the air. Light flared and she lifted a hand to catch a full-grown scythe in her hand, moonlight flashing of a blade nearly as dark as her hair. She leaned back a moment then launched forward at Sanzo "I'll just take the one you have then!"
Sanzo growled and moved, whipping his arm around but her eyes opened, blazing deep green and Sanzo spun suddenly firing at the empty air.
"Sanzo! Look out!" Goku's voice shattered through the grove at the same time Isis grunted and pushed against Sanzo's back, Hikurai's scythe sheering across her shoulder as the girl landed again.
Goku growled and lunged at her. Hikurai spun bringing the scythe up to block Goku's Nyoibou then whipped out a kick in his direction, foot connecting with his stomach to slam him backwards, her eyelashes lifting again, green eyes blazing.
"Goku!" Hakkai called, firing a ki attack at Hikurai.
Hikurai whipped around thrusting out a hand "Dance of the gods!" jumping into the air to avoid an attack from Gojyo's shakujo at the same time black and red light erupted from her palm spiraling towards Hakkai. Hakkai gasped and dove out of the way in time to dodge it, the wave clearing a path through tree and bush alike.
"Damn it. She keeps disappearing." Gojyo growled. "And other things keep appearing instead."
"It's her eyes." Sanzo said. "She's using them to create illusions."
"Just great. Move!" The last part shouted towards Sanzo as Hikurai dove at him again, trusting out her hand once more.
"Dance of the gods!" The same red-black light flaring in Sanzo's direction this time.
Isis threw herself against Sanzo's chest the same time the light erupted around him, flaring, a blinding white light marring everyone's vision. When is cleared the earth and shrubbery around Amunisis and Sanzo was destroyed but the pair themselves were unscathed, save for where Isis' dress had been partially burned away in the back revealing the pulsing violet symbol that blazed there. Hikurai landed back on her original branch blinking in curious surprise.
"What. It didn't kill them." She muttered, frowning with light annoyance. "Didn't even scar them." She straightened. "You girl. What are you?"
Isis turned and glared at her but said nothing, clinging to the front of Sanzo's robes. Sanzo blinked, scowled then pried her hands off of him forcefully. She looked up at him, made a sound like a wounded kitten then sighed dejectedly when her forced her arms down at her sides.
"Pay attention!" Gojyo's voice and Hikurai turned in time for his shakujo to catch her around the legs knocking her from the tree.
She gasped and thrust out a hand sending out a shock of red and black light just in time to block Hakkai's ki attack but the force of it slammed her back into a tree, head striking the trunk. Her form went taunt and she straightened, a chill radiating from her. Her eyes opened full then, blazing like a pair of ethereal emeralds lit from within. Specters sprung up from the ground, hanging in the air like thunder clouds cries of agony and blood lust filling the air.
The group stepped back, herded to the center of the clearing ending up back to back. Gojyo snarled. "Damn it. I can't even see her anymore."
"Don't have to see her to hit her." Sanzo growled firing his gun at empty and specter littered air but there was no result but the sound of gunfire piercing the means for scant seconds.
"It's not working." Goku said, head turning in all which directions.
Sanzo growled again. "Damn it. I wish these things would get out of our way."
Isis blinked, once, twice, the third time her eyes started to blaze and she stepped forward, lilac form spilling from the crown of her head down to her feet like a waterfall then sinking into the ground turning the earth below them lavender which spread. The screams of the specters deepened then suddenly evaporated as the apparitions disappeared, like wisps of smoke. There was a gasp and then pain his the group, as their vision cleared and they released that they'd been subject to tiny cuts from Hikurai's scythe.
"You...how can you..." Hikurai was on the branch again staring at Isis and the understanding blossomed across her face like a sunrise. "Sutra." And then she turned and was gone.
