[Insert standard disclaimer here.] If I'm making money out of these, I'd
probably not be worrying about finding a job.
Hakkai saw Sanzo fall, a youkai on his back And didn't waste time by shouting – forming and releasing a ki ball as fast as he breathed, letting Gojyo take care of the youkai he had been facing.
The force of the blast was enough to throw the youkai off Sanzo – and Hakkai winced when claws dug deep into the monk's side tore free. Another ki ball aimed at the recovering youkai's face ensured that it stayed down.
Hakkai made his way to Sanzo, taking care not to engage any of the remaining youkai on his way. Blood was trickling from a gash on the monk's temple, mirrored by a tinge of red on the sharp rock nearby. Sanzo's face was becoming paler from the loss of blood but Hakkai was hard-pressed in dividing his attention between healing and battling.
"Sanzo!" Goku's voice was frantic as the boy ran up, dragging a still struggling youkai impaled on Nyoibou. He flung it away to join its fellows before turning his frantic gaze at the monk. "Hakkai! Is he-?"
"Not if they keep distracting me," he flung off a youkai that had been trying to claw at his face, chucking a ki ball right after it – he only succeeded in driving it further away.
"We'll keep them away. Gojyo!"
"Since when did monkeys start giving orders?" was the grunted reply.
"I'm not a monkey!"
Trusting the other two to do their job, Hakkai concentrated on Sanzo and sent his strength to the monk. It flowed green and as his energy reserves drained rapidly, his head began to feel light and breathing became a conscious effort.
His concentration broke when sudden lightning raced through his left shoulder and up to his neck.
Red and gold flashed by as Goku shoved the youkai away with his staff, but the damage was already done. Vision tunneling, Hakkai sat back on his heels to desperately regain his focus. The stinging at his neck and shoulder brought him back to reality just in time to block an overhead strike with his uninjured arm. And the shakujou's crescent blade snapped out, piercing through a yellow eye. But that save had left the half-breed vulnerable for a swinging club that smashed on Gojyo's chest.
"F-ck-"
"Gojyo!" and Goku's lengthening nyoibo stabbed the youkai with the club as the half-breed retracted his blade in a stumbling arc. Blood trickled down one side of his lips but his crimson eyes burned brighter in anger and pain.
"Fucking. Bastards." He was now swinging shakujou to parry yet another youkai lunging for him.
Then Hakkai was forced to dive to one side as claws came slashing down at him. He rolled, suppressing a gasp as his injured shoulder hit the ground, and leapt to his feet. A ki ball was already forming on his hands as he faced the youkai that came for him. Slitted eyes watched him as he waited for an opportunity to attack. The air stung his throat as he breathed in. His head still felt light. He was tempted to throw up in a second or so. But then he would lose sight of the youkai in front of him, which he could not afford to do.
Then his trembling leg almost gave out.
His slight falter encouraged the youkai to charge at him – he let fly the ki ball a second too late – and he felt himself falling backwards with the youkai leaping above him.
He didn't have time to think. His hand shot out, straight-fingered, into his target. The youkai didn't even shudder as it fell limp on top of him.
The stench was overwhelming this close. Hakkai desperately shoved the corpse off him, coughing at death clogging up his nose. Something was wrong with these youkai – it was as if they had been dead the whole time.
"Oi, Hakkai." He turned just as the coughing fit faded; found Gojyo looking at him in concern. The half-breed was clutching at his chest. "You alright?"
Hakkai didn't know where he found the strength to crawl to his feet. All he knew was he had to take care of their injuries-
"Don't even think about healing us." Gojyo's lazy drawl was gone, replaced by a tone that brooked no argument.
Hakkai bowed his head in agreement. "I'll carry Sanzo-"
"I'll get his majesty's skinny ass into the jeep. You get us to the nearest town fast. Oi Goku!"
The boy limped into Hakkai's view, leaning heavily on his Nyoibo. Blood trailed down one leg from a gash on his hip.
"We're leaving," Gojyo bent down to lift the unconscious monk, hissing as his movement probably stretched the injury to his chest. Crimson eyes caught Hakkai's worried gaze and the half-breed scoffed. "Forget it. Just move!"
Somehow, they made it safely to the newly transformed jeep, which had flown away during the battle and was now patiently waiting for them to jump in. Hakkai had gunned the engine as soon as the others were settled – Goku immediately started bandaging the monk - and drove towards the direction of a town still too far away. But they all needed to rest – and find a place that would be more defensible than the tree-lined path they had been in.
The youkai leader had slipped away as soon as the fight commenced - whether to attend to other matters or to bide his time for another battle, Hakkai didn't know. Li's withdrawal might have something to do with Sanzo knowing his name. Or was it really his name? Sanzo had sounded so sure-
A groan sounded behind him, interrupting his thoughts.
"Sanzo?"
A grunt of pain. The monk must have sat up. "Where-?"
"Someplace far from where we were," Goku answered. "We got them-" his voice broke off in a pained cry as the jeep stumbled over a leaf-covered pothole. Hakkai mumbled an apology as he kept his eyes on the ground in front of the jeep.
"Bakazaru," Sanzo's tone was irritated as always, "you'll lose that leg if you don't take care of your hip."
"Fat chance of that happening when the pet's master is out cold and bleeding," Gojyo remarked beside Hakkai. His hand was clutching at his chest.
"I'm not a pet." The grumbled reply told volumes of the boy's agony. The fact that he'd only grumble instead of start an all-out brawl meant that either he hurt badly or he was too tired to argue. It only brought to light how desperate their situation was.
Searing pain from his shoulder forced out a hiss as he clutched at his injury.
"Hak-"
"I'm fine." He cut off whoever it was and returned his hand to the wheel. The snapping of tree branches above them made distinguishing Sanzo's and Gojyo's voices a little difficult. And he couldn't spare a moment wondering whether it was their reckless driving that caused the snapping, or if it was more of those shikigami. Yet even if they were shikigami... he didn't dare to floor the jeep and risk crashing into a tree. Yet he didn't dare to slow either.
Gojyo's hand was tense on the dashboard and Hakkai saw the half-breed glancing upwards from the corner of his eye.
"Shit," Goku snorted from the back seat. "Does their stink have to reach so far?"
The sound of Sanzo's gun cocking was sharp enough to penetrate the snapping and Hakkai stepped harder on the gas. They were too far for the stink to reach them. But if Goku could still smell them, it only meant more of the shikigami were chasing them.
Then, just as suddenly as they sounded, the snapping stopped.
"The fuck?" Gojyo was half-standing on the passenger seat, his hand curled as though to summon shakujo.
At that moment, they burst into what looked like the ruined remains of a town. Vegetation had already lined the wrecked walls of numerous houses partly made of wood and partly of stone. Vines and small shrubs grew over the rubble cluttering the village roads and the harvest field they were now standing on.
"This...this town wasn't mentioned in the map..." Hakkai murmured, more to himself than to the others.
"Of course not," Gojyo swung out of the jeep and started towards the nearest house; shakujo appearing in his fist. "Who would bother mentioning an abandoned town in a map?"
"The ones from the last village." Sanzo's tone was quiet as he calmly approached the place. "This must be the town they were talking about."
"Na Sanzo, wait up!" Goku eagerly leapt off the jeep, staggered a bit as he called out Nyoibo to use as a crutch, then limped quickly to reach the monk's side.
"Sanzo," Hakkai gingerly stepped off Hakuryuu and waited for the dragon to hover by him. Sanzo had to suspect a trap, yet he was much too calm about it.
"Shouldn't we take this more cautiously? It's obvious more of those youkai were chasing us all the way here."
"It doesn't matter." The monk called back over his shoulder, still intent on reaching his goal. "This is where those youkai were first killed. They wouldn't come near this place."
"How'd you know that?" Goku was a little breathless during their walk. His hip, though bandaged by Sanzo probably, was still leaking blood as it stained the cloth wrapped around it.
"Yeah, bouzu. How'd you know?" Gojyo had already recalled shakujo when he reached them. He had torn part of his jacket and wound it around his torso to keep his injury from worsening.
Despite their pestering, Sanzo kept his silence as they finally arrived at the door to the nearest house. The wooden roofing had long ago collapsed into the wood-stone interior and left no shadows to hide from the light streaming down the town. Hakkai watched as Sanzo slowly lifted a hand to brush the open doorway before letting his hand drop back to his side.
"Sanzo?"
His reply was soft that Hakkai almost didn't catch it. "I had a dream of this place."
A/N: Wahoo that took a load off me ^_^ Next chapter will be coming...when it's coming. Can't make any promises since I still have work. But drop me a happy note or two and I might be inspired to write faster ;)
Much thankees to the lovely sf-sama, one of the (if not THE) great goddesses in the Saiyuki fandom for taking the time and effort in beta editing. Her sharp eyes sure picked out a lot of mistakes I missed (and this was my what? 5th draft? ^^;; )
To everyone who's reviewed so far, thankee so much too ( Brightens up a day hearing from you ^_^
Hakkai saw Sanzo fall, a youkai on his back And didn't waste time by shouting – forming and releasing a ki ball as fast as he breathed, letting Gojyo take care of the youkai he had been facing.
The force of the blast was enough to throw the youkai off Sanzo – and Hakkai winced when claws dug deep into the monk's side tore free. Another ki ball aimed at the recovering youkai's face ensured that it stayed down.
Hakkai made his way to Sanzo, taking care not to engage any of the remaining youkai on his way. Blood was trickling from a gash on the monk's temple, mirrored by a tinge of red on the sharp rock nearby. Sanzo's face was becoming paler from the loss of blood but Hakkai was hard-pressed in dividing his attention between healing and battling.
"Sanzo!" Goku's voice was frantic as the boy ran up, dragging a still struggling youkai impaled on Nyoibou. He flung it away to join its fellows before turning his frantic gaze at the monk. "Hakkai! Is he-?"
"Not if they keep distracting me," he flung off a youkai that had been trying to claw at his face, chucking a ki ball right after it – he only succeeded in driving it further away.
"We'll keep them away. Gojyo!"
"Since when did monkeys start giving orders?" was the grunted reply.
"I'm not a monkey!"
Trusting the other two to do their job, Hakkai concentrated on Sanzo and sent his strength to the monk. It flowed green and as his energy reserves drained rapidly, his head began to feel light and breathing became a conscious effort.
His concentration broke when sudden lightning raced through his left shoulder and up to his neck.
Red and gold flashed by as Goku shoved the youkai away with his staff, but the damage was already done. Vision tunneling, Hakkai sat back on his heels to desperately regain his focus. The stinging at his neck and shoulder brought him back to reality just in time to block an overhead strike with his uninjured arm. And the shakujou's crescent blade snapped out, piercing through a yellow eye. But that save had left the half-breed vulnerable for a swinging club that smashed on Gojyo's chest.
"F-ck-"
"Gojyo!" and Goku's lengthening nyoibo stabbed the youkai with the club as the half-breed retracted his blade in a stumbling arc. Blood trickled down one side of his lips but his crimson eyes burned brighter in anger and pain.
"Fucking. Bastards." He was now swinging shakujou to parry yet another youkai lunging for him.
Then Hakkai was forced to dive to one side as claws came slashing down at him. He rolled, suppressing a gasp as his injured shoulder hit the ground, and leapt to his feet. A ki ball was already forming on his hands as he faced the youkai that came for him. Slitted eyes watched him as he waited for an opportunity to attack. The air stung his throat as he breathed in. His head still felt light. He was tempted to throw up in a second or so. But then he would lose sight of the youkai in front of him, which he could not afford to do.
Then his trembling leg almost gave out.
His slight falter encouraged the youkai to charge at him – he let fly the ki ball a second too late – and he felt himself falling backwards with the youkai leaping above him.
He didn't have time to think. His hand shot out, straight-fingered, into his target. The youkai didn't even shudder as it fell limp on top of him.
The stench was overwhelming this close. Hakkai desperately shoved the corpse off him, coughing at death clogging up his nose. Something was wrong with these youkai – it was as if they had been dead the whole time.
"Oi, Hakkai." He turned just as the coughing fit faded; found Gojyo looking at him in concern. The half-breed was clutching at his chest. "You alright?"
Hakkai didn't know where he found the strength to crawl to his feet. All he knew was he had to take care of their injuries-
"Don't even think about healing us." Gojyo's lazy drawl was gone, replaced by a tone that brooked no argument.
Hakkai bowed his head in agreement. "I'll carry Sanzo-"
"I'll get his majesty's skinny ass into the jeep. You get us to the nearest town fast. Oi Goku!"
The boy limped into Hakkai's view, leaning heavily on his Nyoibo. Blood trailed down one leg from a gash on his hip.
"We're leaving," Gojyo bent down to lift the unconscious monk, hissing as his movement probably stretched the injury to his chest. Crimson eyes caught Hakkai's worried gaze and the half-breed scoffed. "Forget it. Just move!"
Somehow, they made it safely to the newly transformed jeep, which had flown away during the battle and was now patiently waiting for them to jump in. Hakkai had gunned the engine as soon as the others were settled – Goku immediately started bandaging the monk - and drove towards the direction of a town still too far away. But they all needed to rest – and find a place that would be more defensible than the tree-lined path they had been in.
The youkai leader had slipped away as soon as the fight commenced - whether to attend to other matters or to bide his time for another battle, Hakkai didn't know. Li's withdrawal might have something to do with Sanzo knowing his name. Or was it really his name? Sanzo had sounded so sure-
A groan sounded behind him, interrupting his thoughts.
"Sanzo?"
A grunt of pain. The monk must have sat up. "Where-?"
"Someplace far from where we were," Goku answered. "We got them-" his voice broke off in a pained cry as the jeep stumbled over a leaf-covered pothole. Hakkai mumbled an apology as he kept his eyes on the ground in front of the jeep.
"Bakazaru," Sanzo's tone was irritated as always, "you'll lose that leg if you don't take care of your hip."
"Fat chance of that happening when the pet's master is out cold and bleeding," Gojyo remarked beside Hakkai. His hand was clutching at his chest.
"I'm not a pet." The grumbled reply told volumes of the boy's agony. The fact that he'd only grumble instead of start an all-out brawl meant that either he hurt badly or he was too tired to argue. It only brought to light how desperate their situation was.
Searing pain from his shoulder forced out a hiss as he clutched at his injury.
"Hak-"
"I'm fine." He cut off whoever it was and returned his hand to the wheel. The snapping of tree branches above them made distinguishing Sanzo's and Gojyo's voices a little difficult. And he couldn't spare a moment wondering whether it was their reckless driving that caused the snapping, or if it was more of those shikigami. Yet even if they were shikigami... he didn't dare to floor the jeep and risk crashing into a tree. Yet he didn't dare to slow either.
Gojyo's hand was tense on the dashboard and Hakkai saw the half-breed glancing upwards from the corner of his eye.
"Shit," Goku snorted from the back seat. "Does their stink have to reach so far?"
The sound of Sanzo's gun cocking was sharp enough to penetrate the snapping and Hakkai stepped harder on the gas. They were too far for the stink to reach them. But if Goku could still smell them, it only meant more of the shikigami were chasing them.
Then, just as suddenly as they sounded, the snapping stopped.
"The fuck?" Gojyo was half-standing on the passenger seat, his hand curled as though to summon shakujo.
At that moment, they burst into what looked like the ruined remains of a town. Vegetation had already lined the wrecked walls of numerous houses partly made of wood and partly of stone. Vines and small shrubs grew over the rubble cluttering the village roads and the harvest field they were now standing on.
"This...this town wasn't mentioned in the map..." Hakkai murmured, more to himself than to the others.
"Of course not," Gojyo swung out of the jeep and started towards the nearest house; shakujo appearing in his fist. "Who would bother mentioning an abandoned town in a map?"
"The ones from the last village." Sanzo's tone was quiet as he calmly approached the place. "This must be the town they were talking about."
"Na Sanzo, wait up!" Goku eagerly leapt off the jeep, staggered a bit as he called out Nyoibo to use as a crutch, then limped quickly to reach the monk's side.
"Sanzo," Hakkai gingerly stepped off Hakuryuu and waited for the dragon to hover by him. Sanzo had to suspect a trap, yet he was much too calm about it.
"Shouldn't we take this more cautiously? It's obvious more of those youkai were chasing us all the way here."
"It doesn't matter." The monk called back over his shoulder, still intent on reaching his goal. "This is where those youkai were first killed. They wouldn't come near this place."
"How'd you know that?" Goku was a little breathless during their walk. His hip, though bandaged by Sanzo probably, was still leaking blood as it stained the cloth wrapped around it.
"Yeah, bouzu. How'd you know?" Gojyo had already recalled shakujo when he reached them. He had torn part of his jacket and wound it around his torso to keep his injury from worsening.
Despite their pestering, Sanzo kept his silence as they finally arrived at the door to the nearest house. The wooden roofing had long ago collapsed into the wood-stone interior and left no shadows to hide from the light streaming down the town. Hakkai watched as Sanzo slowly lifted a hand to brush the open doorway before letting his hand drop back to his side.
"Sanzo?"
His reply was soft that Hakkai almost didn't catch it. "I had a dream of this place."
A/N: Wahoo that took a load off me ^_^ Next chapter will be coming...when it's coming. Can't make any promises since I still have work. But drop me a happy note or two and I might be inspired to write faster ;)
Much thankees to the lovely sf-sama, one of the (if not THE) great goddesses in the Saiyuki fandom for taking the time and effort in beta editing. Her sharp eyes sure picked out a lot of mistakes I missed (and this was my what? 5th draft? ^^;; )
To everyone who's reviewed so far, thankee so much too ( Brightens up a day hearing from you ^_^