Disclaimer: Saiyuki I WILL own you artistic license or no whahahah whahahah for I am Master Thief (not to be confused with Master Chief) And I steal all the things worth stealing! Like….rice,…..those shiny pennies on the ground….and small branches off trees! There will be no escape whahahahahhahahahahah!
Introducing:
Saiyuki- The Demons Within
Chapter Five: Bloodbath with Gluttony
Hakkai sighed for the tenth time in the past thirty minuets. He had absolutely no idea of where to go now. On his way to the river for water, he had been attacked by some more of those demons but he had managed to escape by falling into the river torrents and being swept down stream. While it had seemed a good idea at the time, he had indeed nearly drowned and had found it difficult to get back to shore. Getting to shore, he deemed was his good luck for the day for now back at the camp he found it utterly deserted and things were quite a wreck. It had Gojyo and Gokuu's messy fighting style written all over it. The thing to do would be to have them clean it up but he would have to find them first. He could read the signs of battle in the dirt but there was absolutely no indication that anyone left this area. They must have simply vanished. Even Hakuryuu was nowhere to be seen. Hakkai sat down. If he thought through this logically, he was certain that he would uncover what happened.
"Now where do I begin…?"
As if to answer him, a giant stone door appeared out of nowhere jutting straight up out of the ground. Hakkai stared at it for a moment, got to his feet, and approached it. As soon as his hand touched it, the door opened with a loud cracking of rock. It was as though a door to a different dimension. Inside, it looked as if it were the entrance to a labyrinth. It was dark and lit by eerie purple-fired torches. The smell of decay filtered in from the misty stone maze. Hakkai crossed his arms.
"Quite impressive. I suppose this is the gate to Hell?" He received no reply, "I accept your invitation then. I'm sure my friends are waiting impatiently for something to happen." With a smile, Hakkai walked into the door.
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When they arrived at the end of the long hallway, Sanzo looked to the side at Gokuu who was slouching badly. The naturally tanned skin was so pale that the blood that stained it seemed almost the right shade in comparison and the usually bright eyes were a dull molten gold. There were other more subtle signs of fatigue, Sanzo could tell. He could almost sense it. Still who knew what would happen if they stopped for too long. The duo came to a halt as they got to a fork in the path. Left or right?
"Which way?" If there was one thing Gokuu was good at, it was hunting.
Gokuu gave a slight sneeze, crouched down, then sniffed twice in both directions. He frowned then made a gesture. Sanzo looked confused. Gokuu's face scrunched up with frustration for a moment then he took two strands of his hair and held them up like antennae.
"Gojyo." Sanzo translated. Gokuu nodded then pointed left, "Let's go." Sanzo started to walk on when he noticed that Gokuu was still crouching. They could not stop now, "Come on. Let's get Gojyo."
Sanzo pulled Gokuu to his feet. Despite the tired sigh, as soon as he regained his feet, Gokuu stood straighter than he had. He could see the small line of worry on Sanzo's face. They continued for a while. Every time they got to a split in the path, Gokuu would check both directions then lead him. He was trying to act as though he was getting better but the more Sanzo watched him, the more he saw the earth youkai's constitution failing. If Gokuu were to pass out now, Sanzo was not sure about what would happen. There would be no way for him to tell which was the right direction to take and without Hakkai, he could not help the sick youkai at all.
Turning left at the next fork, Sanzo stopped slightly confused. About halfway down the hall stood…Gokuu? He looked to his side to see Gokuu staring confusedly at the figure as well. Every move he made, the other made. It was as if the figure before them was a reflection in a mirror. However, the only one being reflected was Gokuu. Cautiously, they moved toward it, stopping mere inches away from what appeared to be the source. Sanzo glared at it. He had not noticed any shine from glass. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the creature leapt out at him claws extended. Sanzo felt a rush of air as a set of the long nails swiped by nearly slicing his face. The creature had been knocked aside by Gokuu before it made contact. In the blink of an eye, they were grappling on the ground tearing viciously into each other. Sanzo could only watch, it was difficult for him to gauge which monkey was his. Soon blood was flying everywhere. Gokuu jumped back after taking a hard blow to land beside Sanzo. His eyes were blazing but they were a bright emerald instead of gold.
No time to think. Sanzo stepped quickly to the side as the creature flew at him again. Gokuu leapt up at it intercepting and knocking it to the ground. It was all Sanzo could do to keep out of their way in the tight space. He kept an eye this time on the right youkai. The fight came to a definitive end as Gokuu pinned the creature to the floor and slashed open its throat. To Sanzo's horror, however, that was not the end. The earth youkai leaned down and tore a huge bite of flesh from the creature's throat. Sanzo ran over and grabbed the youkai by his hair. He yanked Gokuu from the dead body and shoved his face toward the ground.
"Spit, damn it!" Sanzo's voice was filled with rage and disgust. He was nearly overcome with a sudden sick revulsion about the youkai. That was not like his monkey at all. He pushed the face closer to the ground, "Spit it out now! So help me if you swallow that." Sanzo let the threat slid away as he felt suddenly sick as he watched Gokuu spit out the flesh and blood. Taking him by the collar, Sanzo threw the earth youkai to the ground away from the mess, "What the hell were you doing?"
The blood covered youkai looked back up at him with a slightly dazed blank expression. The green color faded from his eyes only to reveal confusion. Gokuu blinked several times. He looked down at his blood soaked garments and hands. He could still taste the metallic liquid in his mouth. He gave Sanzo a look of fear, "Sa--zo?"
"You idiot.!" Sanzo struck him over the head with his fan then knelt beside the youkai. He took the only clean edge of Gokuu's shirt and roughly rubbed the blood off the youkai's face. He glared, "Don't you ever do that again. If you do I'll kill you."
Sanzo saw Gokuu nod his head in acknowledgement that he understood. Sanzo's brow creased. He wondered how many sins the earth youkai now possessed. With an eye twitch of irritation, Sanzo hit Gokuu over the head again. Harder.
"..tai…" Gokuu rubbed his head.
Sanzo got to his feet and pulled Gokuu up as well. Seemed like Gokuu's voice was coming back, "Let's get away from this damned place."
Sanzo forced them to walk several more hours to get away from the kill sight specifically so that he would not have to smell it anymore. Little good it did him. Finally, Sanzo stopped and leaned back against a wall. He pulled out a cigarette. At this particular moment, he did not care what happened. As he lit it, Sanzo hear Gokuu collapse to the ground beside him. Sanzo took a deep drag of his cigarette and stared down at the reeking youkai. The blood from his recent fight was now caked upon the blood of Chin Issou. It was disgusting to see that Gokuu's own blood from his wounds had mingled with the mess. The metallic stink of blood was so strong that Gokuu's usual earthy smell did not seem to exist anymore. Sanzo breathed out a long stream of smoke as he watched the semi-conscious eyes looking back at him. They made him tired just to look at them. Sanzo made an annoyed noise then looked away. When Gokuu saw that Sanzo's attention had shifted, he shivered and closed his eyes. Sanzo rolled his eyes.
"Are you getting worse?" Sanzo tossed the cigarette butt to the ground smoldering.
"Huh?" Gokuu's eyes opened wide, "I'm fine really! Hah-chee! I'm- I'm just cold."
Sanzo shook his head; a light smirk was creeping over his lips. Stupid monkey thought that he was going to abandon him or something. He sighed; this place was warm, too warm to be wearing a heavy cotton robe. It is not as if he actually gave a damn. Gokuu should be carrying his stuff anyway. Sanzo removed his white outer robe and draped it over Gokuu's shoulders.
"Sanzo?" Confused heretic eyes blinked at him.
"You said you were cold. Colds lead to getting sick and sick saru get shot. Besides, your stink is about to knock me out." Sanzo growled out as grumpily as he could, "Now go to sleep or I'll shoot you when I get my gun back."
"Sank you Sanzo." Gokuu coughed then curled up on the ground with the robe and fell fast to sleep.
Sanzo sat down on the ground and pulled Gokuu close. He put the earth youkai's head in his lap and absently petted his hair. Sanzo found it almost comforting except for the fact that he could hear Gojyo's voice in the back of his mind making up bad jokes. The monk settled back into the most comfortable position that he could against the wall. He rested one eye while keeping the other one open and wary. However, after walking all that time with his back still making complaints for while there were no wounds the pain remained, and his feet throbbing from the abuse of not talking a break, sleep soon came for Genjo Sanzo.
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Lirin was sitting on a tree branch swinging her legs back and forth. She was bored and hearing word that her old sparring partners the Sanzo-ikkou were back together, she decided to go visit. She had followed their trail to here but there was no sign of them. They surely would not have left all their stuff here like that. She giggled to herself. It was going to be funny when they realized that some of their food was gone. She had gotten quite hungry tracking them down and all. After a while, the youkai princess crossed her arms and sighed. Where were they, didn't they know that it was going to be dark soon?
"Lirin-sama!"
Lirin turned her head to see Yaone enter into the clearing shouting for her. What a party pooper. Better climb higher and hide.
"Lirin! Get your ass out here!"
Uhoh, onii-chan sounded mad. What was he doing out looking for her? She had only left this morning. Lirin hopped down from the tree limb and waited for someone to find her. She turned to look to the side as she heard a faint sound in the bushes beside her. Ears twitching, Lirin snuck up to the bushes and carefully pushed them aside.
"Huh? Wassit?"
"Kyuuu…."
Lirin picked up the wounded dragon, "You look familiar."
"Lirin-chan, there you are."
Lirin turned grinning ear to ear to see Doukugakuji leaning down to her level with his arms crossed, "Hiya, other big brother."
"Kou has been searching all over for you…hey, what is he doing here?" Doukugakuji took the dragon out of Lirin's hands.
"There you are!" Kougaiji's voice came and he walked into view, "Next time you go off without telling me—"
"Look Kou." Doukugakuji held up Hakuryuu.
"They must be around here then." Kougaiji took a glance around.
"What's wrong onii-chan?" Lirin watched the serious look on her brother's face.
"There have been reports of massive amounts of earthquakes in this area. I only assumed that something bad was going on and now that I see who has been here. I know the culprit but where are they now?" Kougaiji looked about. He did not like the story that the campsite told him. He turned to Hakuryuu, "Where is the Sanzo-ikkou?"
"Kyuu…" Hakuryuu flapped his uninjured wing briefly.
"Hey, Yaone! Over here! We got a job for you." Doukugakuji called.
Kougaiji walked the way that Hakuryuu had flapped and as soon as he approached the area, a huge stone door shot up from the ground.
"Well, I suppose this is where they went."
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Hakkai continued to walk down the creepy hall. He had turned several times in the maze and was himself quite lost. He had no idea where he was going but oddly enough, he still felt confident in the directions he took. Hakkai felt as though someone where watching him, however, and it slightly grated on his nerves. Until he could be sure of his watcher's location, Hakkai was not going to let on that he knew. After making another turn, he smiled to see two sets of familiar footprints littering the ground. At least he knew that this was the right way. Hopefully, he would find them soon.
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Sanzo woke to the feeling that someone had put a red-hot coal on his leg. He shook violently to dislodge the source of heat only to awaken fully and realize that it was from where Gokuu's head was resting. He rolled the earth youkai to the side and put a hand to his forehead. He was almost too hot to touch. Sanzo shook him.
"Wake up, you baka-saru!" Sanzo received no reply, not even a twitch out of Gokuu. Sanzo stopped shaking him with a sigh. What was he supposed to do now?
Wrapping the robe around Gokuu, Sanzo gathered the youkai upon his back. It was at this moment that his back decided to yell that it hurt. It could not be helped however; the earth youkai was too big now to be comfortably carried in his arms. He began to walk. Sanzo cursed his back, cursed Azreth for the lashes, and then cursed Gokuu for being sick.
The journey after that was very long and trying. The hall was straight, so far, there were no turns for him to make. For that, Sanzo was glad. Despite his screaming back, Sanzo grit his teeth and continued on. He was not going to leave Gokuu behind. With the youkai's chin resting on his shoulder, Sanzo could hear the faint breath. It was a sign that Gokuu was still alive. Once Gokuu's face turned and Sanzo felt teeth from the open mouth graze his neck. For a brief instant, the monk was afraid of being bit. The fevered face instead just burrowed against his skin. It reminded Sanzo of the actions of a small child.
The youkai was shivering badly now. Sanzo frowned. He had to find Hakkai or a source of water soon or Gokuu might not make it. Mind on his options, Sanzo tripped over something and fell heavily to the ground. Sanzo gathered himself back up and checked Gokuu for injury before leaning tiredly against the wall. His breath was heavy and his back demanded the break. He could not go on anymore for a bit. Why did this place have to be so…so damn annoying! Sanzo looked up ahead trying to make some sort of plan only to see that the hall turned sharply to the right. He could see a strange red light emanating from that direction. He stood up, looking down at the unconscious Gokuu for a moment then headed toward the bend. He would just check it out. He would not be gone long.
End Chapter Five
Next Time on: The Discovery Channel
Uncover the truth behind the mysterious Sanzo, watch the strange courtship ritual of a Gojyo, observe how a Hakkai raises its young, and we'll poke a Goku with a stick and see if it tears our arms off!
Chapter Six: A Little Bit of Lust
In which, Gojyo returns to the story, Gokuu gets a bath, someone gets possessed by Lust, and the journey continues on
