A Fools Dream

Chapter: 8

They were seated in their usual places in the jeep, silence hung over the passengers and driver, which replaced the previous days light mood. Hakkai was driving at a steady, but fast, pace – an indicator that his mind was elsewhere. Sanzo sat quietly in his seat, trying to sleep, but to no avail as the dead silence was irritating him. Gojyo sat on the right side of the jeep, behind Hakkai, his chin resting in his hand, as he gazed out over the passing plains. Ena sat quietly, on the left side, barely aware of everything, as her mind floated elsewhere. Young Goku sat between the two, uncomfortable with the silence, yet afraid to break it; for fear that his words would fall upon deaf ears, or worse. He sighed, and looked up at the road ahead, a bored expression upon his face, which suddenly changed as his eyes widened at the scene up ahead. His golden eyes flicked towards the driver, who seemed to be continuing on, not noticing what he had come to see.

"Hakkai!" Goku cried suddenly, standing up in his seat, as he leaned over to grab the back of the drivers' seat. Shocked out of his musings, the dark-haired man came to a startled halt, causing everyone to lurch forwards in their seats, accompanied with cries and curses of disgruntled surprise. All eyes turned on Goku, two pairs menacing, one pair questioning and the last pair following the direction the youth was pointing in. Before a word could be uttered, Ena took hold of her weapon and jumped out of the jeep, taking off towards the disturbance that had caught the golden-eyed youth's eye. Not long after, Goku also took off, following in the woman's footsteps, leaving the three men to gaze after them.

The scene that met them was a one-sided battle, consisting of about a dozen youkai or so, all ganging up one person. Scattered about the place were a few downed youkai, presumably fallen at the hands of the person who was now backing away from the group, their posture ready to counter the enemy's first move.

Noting that the one fighting the youkai appeared unarmed, Hakkai wordlessly stepped out of the jeep, closing the door before making his way to the battle. Watching his best friend leave to join, Gojyo sighed and muttered something about how it wasn't their fight and that if Ena wanted to poke her nose in, she could…it wasn't their problem, but all the same he too stood up and exited the jeep. Thus Sanzo was left behind, to watch as the four of them were getting closer to their destination. He grit his teeth in frustration, it was that woman's fault…but then again Goku was equally to blame, he was the one to have brought it to their attention. Watching as Ena landed the first blow, he sighed and climbed out of the jeep…he was going to have to have a word with their troublesome passenger.

-o-

Letting out a cry, Ena swung her sheathed weapon at the nearest youkai, who cried out in pain as the weapon impacted with the side of their head. She glanced quickly at the person she had come to aid, only to focus her attention onto an attack aimed her way. She ducked her head out of the way, and shoulder-rushed the attacker, ramming the hilt of her weapon into the chest of another youkai, who had hoped for a cheap shot. Looking up in time, she managed to jump out of the way of an axe that a youkai had hoped to embed somewhere in her body. Before she could punish the attempt, a red, golden-ended pole slammed across the youkai's head, downing it instantly. She looked up to meet a pair of golden eyes, which twinkled momentarily with a companionate smile, before turning their attention to an oncoming youkai.

The battle ensued, with youkai coming up from every possible direction, and still the three fighters fought on. At some point, Hakkai had joined the fray, blasting at an airborne youkai with his Qi Gong, thus rescuing an occupied Goku from an overhead blow. Gojyo too entered the battle, knocking down and brutalising foolish attackers with his Shakujou, and then fell into position with his two comrades and Ena. Upon sighting the formation, a few youkai came to a confused halt, frowning as they looked over their uninvited foes, which were occupied with some of their allies.

"Sanzo company?" one of the youkai asked, who apparently was blond and blue-eyed, a shade that stood out against his brown skin.

"Yeah, what of it?" Gojyo replied, throwing in a question of his own, as he pushed back his assailant, who in turn stumbled back to join his still-standing comrades. The little group of surviving youkai stared at the four presumed to be the Sanzo company, their former foe forgotten.

"Where's your Sanzo? Did you lose h-" before the question could be finished; the purple-haired youkai that had spoken this time was shot straight between the eyes, the gunshot resounding through the silence. A click resounded, as the gun was prepared again, and all eyes turned to meet the blond monk.

"The Sanzo is right here…" he said, cocking the gun at his next victim, "and I didn't get lost…they'd have been the ones I'd have told to bugger off," he indicated the group of four, one of whom seeming to be a little surprised to see the monk joining them. The blond youkai grit his teeth in anger, he hadn't counted on the monk being this much of a smart-ass…that and he had just killed one of his comrades, not that the deaths of the others didn't count any less.

"Die!" he cried, launching himself at the violet-eyed monk, only to be killed as the bullet did a through-and-through. Watching the death of two of their allies at the hands one monk and his banishing gun, the rest of the youkai charged in with battle cries of their own.

The Sanzo company, Ena and the person they had come to aid looked upon the charging youkai with varying expressions of exasperation, then took up arms, preparing to defend themselves. Screams and grunts filled the air as the opposing sides clashed, fighting with their respective styles.

Ena rammed her elbow into the gut of an oncoming youkai, and prepared to follow up by slicing the assailant, only to find that the hilt of her blade wouldn't budge. She looked up in alarm, noticing that her attacker was already beginning to recover, and so tried to unsheathe her weapon in a more desperate manner. Just as she heard the soft click of the blade beginning to slide out, her eyes widened as a pained gasp escaped her. Her eyes slowly travelled upwards, meeting the triumphant smirk of the youkai she was facing off against. Her breath caught in her throat, as the demon before her slid the dagger out of her body, from where it was buried in her abdomen. She staggered back a bit, her breath rattling a little as she struggled to breathe, her hands clasped about the wound. Her eyes widened once again, all she could do was watch as the youkai spun about, slashing her across the chest.

Her vision began to cloud over, as she felt herself beginning to fall. She heard her name being called out, and the cry of the youkai as it was banished. As she landed upon the ground beneath her, she managed to catch a glimpse of red, a gruff voice muttering curses in regards to her incompetence, and then everything went black.

-o-

Pain…she was in pain…her body ached all over, and certain parts of her screamed out to her groggy mind. She worked her jaw, grimacing at the iron substance that coated her mouth…then she became aware of a particular scent. A scent that had hung heavily in the air once before…a scent that was associated with events she didn't want to remember. However her desires were ignored, as the mental images flashed through her mind, causing her brow to furrow. She began to flail as the horrors increased in their intensity, red blood splattered everywhere among those images. Suddenly something weighed itself down upon her, preventing the movement of her arms and legs. She struggled against whatever it was, terrified that whoever…whatever it was, was out to do her harm. Menacing laughter filled her mind, a deep throaty bellow mixed in with a young child's twinkling tone. She had reached her limit, she could take no more, the thing wasn't budging and it was becoming difficult for her to breathe…the darkness was going to claim her once more.

She cried out suddenly, and then felt herself being slammed back down upon the ground, the impact causing her head to spin. Slowly she became aware of her name being gently called out, the voice coming from somewhere above her. Her eyes slowly opened, fuzzy images dancing before them. She closed her eyes and shook her head a little, then opened them again, becoming aware of two tanned arms placed upon her shoulders. She squinted her eyes a little to sharpen her vision, and then continued her visual trek upwards. The person who had her pinned down was also on top of her, preventing her legs from moving. She frowned as her eyes refused to cooperate, but continued to look up; the person wore a white tank-top and she could just about make out some crimson strands that fell alongside their face. Not needing to go any further, her eyes widened in recognition.

"Gojyo?" she asked, her tone a little incredulous, since the last time she checked the redhead seemed pretty antagonistic towards her, though not openly.

"Yeah," he replied, sighing in a somewhat relieved manner. By now her vision had focused completely, and she was now looking into the twin crimson pools that gazed back into her own.

"Do you mind getting off…if someone comes in…our position looks kind of…odd," she said, gesturing as best she could with a pinned arm. The half-breed raised an eyebrow then smiled a little eerily.

"No-one's coming in…I'm on watch," he explained, then the smile grew a little, "besides, most women never complain when I'm on top," Ena narrowed her eyes at this comment.

"Please get off, or I'll make it known that I'm wide awake," she retorted, her tone forcefully calm. Gojyo raised an eyebrow and tutted, as he shuffled away from her to sit cross-legged beside her.

"Jeez, can't you take a joke?" he muttered, watching as she pushed herself into a sitting position, "you're not even my type, so don't think too highly of yourself," Ena winced in pain as she sat up, her soft, brown hair tumbling about her shoulders. She brought a hand to her abdomen and brought it away to find that a thin layer of blood covered it, 'At least the bleedings lessening…but…how?' she turned to the half-breed for an answer, pausing when she caught his strange expression. She watched as an eyebrow slowly raised, then looked at herself, her eyes widening in surprise. Her upper torso was practically bare, save for the bandages that were wrapped about her wounds. Apart from that, the upper part of her robe was bunched about her waist, and her black top lay to the side.

"Pervert," she hissed, pulling up the blanket, which lay at her waist, to her chin. Gojyo blinked at the offensive statement, part of him a little disappointed that the view was gone, but scowled all the same. Ena scowled back, then remembered her wounds, "Who treated my wounds?"

"Hakkai did," he replied, then continued to elaborate, as she blinked in surprise, "he used up quite a bit of energy healing your wounds, he did as much to the point where the wounds could heal themselves,"

"Hakkai…treated me?" she repeated, slightly dazed. The redhead snorted at her seemingly dazed state of mind.

"If anyone's a pervert, it's him…he's the one that had the longest look, and who knows, maybe copped a feel while he was at it," he commented, knowing full well that his best friend would never do such a thing…but she couldn't possibly know that, so he was going to have fun heckling her.

"Hakkai's excused for peeking," she stated firmly, her brow drawn into a dark frown, "as for 'copping a feel' he may have had a reason for it…otherwise I doubt it's in his nature,"

"What makes you so sure?" he shot back, humour at her indignation dancing in his eyes. She seemed about to reply, but paused, catching herself and turned her face away. Gojyo frowned, turning his head to one side, as he studied her, "What's up…why the silence?"

"It's…nothing," she replied, then turned to meet his gaze, "I just know that he isn't the type of person to do those things, just like I know Goku isn't the type to betray those he cares about," The half-breed blinked at these firm and close observations, apparently taken aback, 'Guess she isn't as bad as I thought…' He drew in a breath and let it out, then a thought occurred to him.

"If you don't mind me asking…why were you thrashing in your sleep, and what made you cry out like that?" he asked, sure that the other three must have heard the commotion. The young woman blinked a moment, and then sighed, looking away from him once again.

"I…had a bad dream, one that I've been having for a while," she replied, then swallowed, "I guess it's why I've been pretty recluse," a sudden thought came to her, and she spoke once more, cutting off the redhead, "could you leave and join the others, please? I'll be out in a moment," She raised a hand to any protests he had, and turned to face him with a reassuring expression, "I'll be fine, I assure you, now go," Letting out a sigh, Gojyo shuffled towards the entrance of the tent and left without a backward glance.

In his absence, Ena let the blanket fall away and winced as she reached for her black top. She pulled it on gently, making sure to not disturb the bandages and shuffled outside herself. She came to her feet and pulled on the upper part of her robe in an equally gentle manner, then smoothed out the fabric before sweeping out her hair. A pang of guilt shot through her as she noted that it was evening now, meaning that she had hindered their journey. She drew in a breath and made her way towards the sounds of the popping fire, coming into the presence of the Sanzo company.

Upon sighting her, Hakkai made a move to help, but she raised a hand, knowing full well her state. She took in the countenance of each person; Sanzo was smoking a cigarette, placing her with an indifferent gaze, Goku seemed a little relieved, but worried, Gojyo had lit up a cigarette of his own and waited for whatever she had to say, Hakkai seemed fully concerned for her well-being. She smiled inwardly and then bowed deeply in greeting, causing Sanzo to raise an eyebrow, Goku to cock his head in curiosity, Gojyo to frown a little and Hakkai to make another move to help, but held himself in place. She rose, straightening her posture and smiled lightly.

"My name is Ena, and I am deeply sorry for hindering your journey, it was an error on my part and I do not deserve your aid, however it is a little late for me to make that statement, since I have already received it," she paused to look upon each of them, then continued, "I am twenty-years of age and am the daughter of a monk, who revoked his vows, and his beloved," she drew in a steadying breath, "I am the second child of three, and have been taught and raised by the teachings of my father who never forgot his monk heritage, that is why I dress as a monk," she thought a moment about what else the green-eyed man had said, "I was taught the art of battle by both my parents, hand-to-hand by my father, and with blade by my mother," she ended here, and bowed once more, signalling the end of her introduction.

Sanzo remained as he was, appraising her for a while. Her sudden self-disclosure had in fact surprised him, as he was sure had done the same to the others. He drew on his cigarette, holing the flavours within for a while, then exhaled, flicking the ash into the grass before him.

"Very well…you may remain with us for a while longer," he said, noting that she didn't rise from her bowed position, "however, if this happens again…you can be sure we will be leaving you behind," He knew his words had surprised the others, it wasn't like he was allowing her to join them permanently, but he knew their surprise was due to the fact that he had allowed her to stay with them for a while longer.

"Thank you, Genjo Sanzo Houshi Sama," she said, her face evidently paler in the firelight, as she straightened her posture, "I will excuse myself…more rest is needed of me, if I am to be of use tomorrow," she left their company, making her way back to her tent. She gently lowered herself atop the soft bedding, despite the urge to simply collapse, and pulled the covers to her chest, before her world was claimed by darkness.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Four months later and now I update…such a long time in my book, though not nearly as long as my other in-progress fic. Anyhow, I'm sorry for the wait, hehe, and I feel really bad for not thanking anyone up to this point…I was hoping to do that at the end of the entire story, but seeing as how I don't know how long that'll take, I'm gonna do it here, in bulk:

Thank you to the following for taking the time to review this story:

Blaithlin-Windmistress: Thanks for the compliment, hopefully I can carry on with the standard, hehe

Hakuryu08: Thanks lol, and it's not exactly a change of heart, more like a realisation, hehe…I'll edit the summary, lol, it does sound a little misleading ;;, though at the time it sounded accurate .

Mirai Aria: Thanks for the compliment, hope the chapters so far have narrowed down your suspicion, lol

Rasinah: Thank you so much, I'm glad you like this one as well hehe, and I'm happy to know that I'm not throwing the characters out of character, lol

UltraM2000: Thank you I know it's a little heavy on detail, but I like painting pictures as best I can with words, lol

Shinoa Yuuki: Thank you, I appreciate the tip but I like consistency…well as much as I can have of it at least

Fleur-de-Lis: Thank you very much I'm glad you feel that I have the characters well characterised hehe, as Rasinah said, I'm only armed with the info I've got from reading character bios and episode scripts…though within the last four months, I managed to watch Saiyuki Reload Fansubs lol, so hopefully my characterisations have gotten better

Merf: Thank you I've been planning on writing stories focusing on each individual character…but that may take a while, hehe

SwitchVale: Thank you I know quite a few stories do focus on a Gojyo/Hakkai pairing…but I'm not one to write yaoi, shounen-ai maybe…but mildly, lol

RyuTsume: Thanks, I hope this chapter managed to cover it lol

Your reviews really mean a lot to me lol, they're what keeps me thinking on how to continue the story anyways, I hope this chapter was good, and see you next update