Disclaimer: Ok time to recap...Seiobo, Kirriah, Sai, and Kye are mine. This story is mine. Any Saiyuki or marvel characters or ideas belong to their respective creators… not me. I have absolutely no money…so don't sue.

AN: I love to read reviews, comments, and feedback. So please review this if you can. It will let me know who all is interested and help me to make the story better. Also…telepathic communication takes place in a much shorter time than regular speech in this story.

words -- thoughts

"words" -- telepathic communication

Chapter 4: Stalling won't change anything.

As she cleaned her little family's den, Kirriah hummed the song that her mother had used to chase away her nightmares, before she was stolen away from home. Kirriah hated work of any kind unrelated to her idea of survival. However, the rain had returned and decided to stick around for a while, so she cleaned in order to expel her excess energy.

"Kirri?" Sai asked gently as he moved into the space Kirriah had just finished cleaning in effort to get out of her way. It had been a month since Sai had found their new home and other than the occasional visit -once or twice a month from that pain in the ass kami there had been no mishaps since they had moved in. "Have you thought about that conversation we had a couple of weeks ago?"

"Which one?" The teen asked innocently as she continued to do her chores.

"The one about the guy you are supposed to kill for Seiobo." He replied patiently knowing full well that Kirriah hated to think about the cruel kami.

"Oh. That one…" the young mutant said as a shadow briefly passed over her face. A moment later she shrugged, "To be honest I haven't thought about it since she was here."

As she continued her chores, Kirriah couldn't help but to think back to the kami and her visits. They were all the same. Seiobo would come down and ask her why she hadn't killed the Monkey King yet. She would point out that she hadn't settled in yet so she couldn't. Seiobo seemed to accept the reason because afterwards the kami always left her in peace…until two weeks ago.

o-o-o-o

-Two weeks ago-

-Tenki -

Seiobo was pissed. A lecture from the high and mighty Kanzeon Bosatsu was not how she had wanted to start her day this morning. But that was exactly what had happened. Somehow the older goddess had discovered her plan to destroy the itan creature her father had allowed to be set free and felt it necessary to make her aware of that fact. In addition, Kanzeon hinted that she'd expose her to her father, Tentei, if any harm came to that thing or its master.

Seiobo decided that it was time to teach her chibi assassin where her place was.

o-o-o-o

Kirriah woke to the mid-morning sun, shining in all its brilliance, coming in through the doorway of her den, accompanied by a warm breeze. The young feline mutant stretched and rolled lazily onto her side so that her back could be warmed by the sun's rays, and noticed that Kye was already up. A quick glance around and a couple of sniffs told her that while Sai was still there asleep, her big sister was gone. Miss Responsibility probably went to hunt up breakfast for everyone. The teen shrugged as she rolled to her other side smiling widely as she basked in warm sunlight. As she did, the young feline mutant remembered the full moon she gazed at after she'd returned home from her watch shift the night before. It had been so beautiful that she stared at it till sleep had come to claim her. It was a wonderful night. No youkai attacks had been reported through her shift, so there wasn't that much to write in her report. Learning to speak Chinese was easy enough, but reading and writing it still gave her a little trouble. And the teen knew as the sun's warmth seemed to fill her soul that today was going to be perfect as well.

Suddenly a shadow appeared across her face and a chilling presence filled the room and Kirriah knew that today was going to suck.

"Do ya mind you're blockin' th' sun." the feline teen growled at the shadow, not caring that it was Seiobo, as she rolled onto her other side.

In the next instant, Kirriah found herself face down on the stony surface of the den floor. A pain spread in her back that more than likely indicated a cracked rib or two. On top of that, there was another slightly more intense pain unlike any she'd felt before. However, she couldn't quite identify where it had come from.

Kirriah's instincts took over. She jumped up with her claws bared and snarled, "Grrrargh! That hurt ya bitch!" The furious mutant didn't even feel the cool breeze or hear the loud clap of thunder signaling a sudden storm's approach.

"You will address me as 'Mistress'," Seiobo retorted as she instantly appeared next to the teen and punched her in the stomach before she could react, sending Kirriah crumpling to the floor. Another loud clap of thunder followed by a sudden heavy downpour of rain accented the kami's words. Looming over the teen she continued, "You are not my equal...not even close! You are an itan...the lowest ranked of all creatures."

As Kirriah tried to stand, she collapsed to her knees, doubled over, and gasped for air. Again there was an "extra pain" just as with the first blow. However this time it was more intense and lingered on, slowly working its way through her system. Normally any pain from a blow like the one she'd just sustained would have been driven away by her healing factor almost instantly, having only served to stir up the need to kick the offending party's ass. The problem was that these blows seemed to be infused with some strange new pain that had a near debilitating effect to it. These extra pains seemed to be intensifying with each new blow. This one had been a good deal more intense than the first, and it had been all Kirriah could do not to cry out.

Kye sensed her sister's pain. Concern filled her strong voice as she asked, "Kirri you ok? What's going on? Sai are you up?"

"I am now. What's the emergency that you had to wake me from such a wonderful dream and breakfast ain't even here yet?" The male tiger groggily replied.

"'M fine, Kye. Seiobo's here and feellin' physical this mornin' is all." Kirriah replied as she tried to catch her breath.

"Do you need any backup?" Kye and Sai asked simultaneously.

Kirriah heard her brother land as he hopped out of his bed and knew that she had to get the situation under control fast or it was going to end up becoming a repeat of what happened when Seiobo had stolen her from home. The teen willed the pain out of her mental voice as she said, "Onee-chan you just keep huntin'. I'm sure Sai an' I can handle things here. If we can't then we'll call ya. Though, I think at this rate I might a healer after this. Damnit! And it had started off as such a good day too!"

"I'm finished hunting and I will be on my way back with breakfast as soon as this rain stops. You had better not be hurt when I get there or I swear that I will kill her," Kye shot back.

"Oh...did that hurt?" Seiobo asked mockingly.

"Yeah…M-mistress." The proud mutant choked and growled out the last word as she tried to stand only to receive another kick in her gut sending her twisting across the floor and impacting with the wall as she landed at Sai's feet. This time a small cry and whimper escaped her. The young mutant shuddered and curled up on herself as she waited for the pain to pass.

"Good. It was supposed to," The feline kami sneered. "It is time for you to learn your place. I have been lenient with you up to now to give you a chance to adjust to your new station and home, but that will no longer be the case. From now on you will kneel at all times when you are in my presence, unless I give you permission to do otherwise."

"SEIOBO!" Sai roared as he entered the room just in time to see his little sister curl up on the floor at his feet from yet another of the kami's blows. The male tiger paused in order to calm his voice and position himself between Seiobo and his little sister, he continued growling to emphasize his warning, "Hurt my little sister again in any way and I will kill you."

"Not if I get to her first!" Kye interjected.

"No! Onii-chan don't do anythin' please." The young mutant cried out in panic as she grabbed his leg. The memory of what happened when Kye tried to that back at the mansion was still fresh in her mind. Kirriah slipped back into a private connection with her siblings before she continued. "That's just what she wants you to do. Remember, we decided to play her game for now. When she makes her big mistake…that's when we take her out...not before. In the mean time, you guys have to pretend to just be my loyal pets that can to talk to people in their heads. No matter what she does to me, unless she actually kills me, you guys have to promise not to interfere. Let her think she's won...for now, Ok? Besides onee-chan you can't get to her anyway from where you are." the teen finished.

"Alright, we promise not to interfere until you give the word," Kye reluctantly agreed.

Anger still laced Sai's mental voice as he replied, "That is unless you lose consciousness. Best we can do."

"Fair enough. Thanks," the teen agreed. With that understanding she pushed past Sai to kneel before Seiobo, eyes trained on the ground to hide her own rage. She knew the time for open defiance would come later and with it vengeance.

"There, that is much better," Seiobo purred. "Well, I see that you have completely settled into your new home." Seiobo paused as she looked around the den. "And such a lovely home it is too. How did you find it?"

Kirriah was suspicious of the kami's sudden interest in her home, but in effort to appear submissive, the teen answered in a neutral voice, "Don't know Mistress. Just lucky I guess."

Allowing the pleasantness in her voice and features to drop, the kami said sharply, "So why have you failed to perform your appointed task? There had better be a good reason or the pain you have experienced so far will seem insignificant by comparison to what I will do to you next."

"What do ya mean?" the teen asked as she looked up innocently at the kami.

"Baka itan!" the goddess stormed as she struck Kirriah in the back of the head. The force of the blow caused the girl's head to bounce off the ground hard which created a gash on her forehead, which healed almost immediately. The kami new that the additional pain that she'd infused into each of her blows however would take several minutes more before it dissipated completely. She had gradually been increasing the amount of additional pain accompanying each blow so as to gage how much pain Kirriah could take before passing out. So far, the teen's resilience was surprising…much higher than expected. Ignoring the teen's cries and gasping inquiry as to the reason for the blow, Seiobo continued, "I want you to tell me why you have as yet to kill the Monkey King…now."

"Oh…that." Without raising her head or opening her eyes, Kirriah took a deep breath before asking in what she hoped was a deferent voice, "Permission to speak frankly…Mistress?" the teen asked as she closed her eyes more tightly, swallowed hard, and braced herself for another hit. Kirriah knew that she must have sounded militant, which did not exactly qualify as subservience. Silently, the young mutant waited for the kami's response as she winced inwardly.

Kirriah's answer as well as her reaction to it caused the kami to smile cruelly, but her voice sounded almost kind when she said, "Since you asked so nicely, I will allow it…just this once."

Sighing inwardly Kirriah decided to play a few head games of her own. Keeping her head bowed and eyes closed she said, "Thank you, Mistress." She paused to take a deep breath and let it out before continuing. "The reason I haven't killed him yet is simple. I don't know anythin' 'bout the guy. Ya know things like where does he live or hang out? What does he look like? Ya know, stuff like that. Ya didn't tell me a single thing about him 'side from the name Monkey King and that he is supposed to get his thrills from death and destruction. An' with all due respect, I hope you didn't expect for me to come in, setup shop, and kill every guy I saw till you came down and said that I had got him. I've spent my entire life trainin' to protect the innocent and I don't plan on killin' a single one…ever. "

"So you mean to tell me, all this time the only thing you needed to complete your task was a little information? Why didn't you ask earlier?" Seiobo asked feigning innocence.

"But Mistress…I asked you several times…you refused," the teen pleaded careful to keep her head down and eyes hidden.

"Well…he looks…" the kami paused deliberately before adding in attempt to bait the young mutant, "…like you."

Kirriah's head shot up suddenly, her teal-edged golden eyes wide open in shocked surprise. "So you mean to tell me that the Monkey King is a girl? But I thought that this Monkey King person was a guy," she said in utter naivety.

"No," Seiobo said as she struck the young mutant across either side or her face, which briefly left claw marks and sent two more separate waves of pain coursing through the girl. The kami closed her eyes and listened in pleasure to Kirriah's screams of pain and waited for the loudest of them to cease before she continued. Leaning close to the trembling girl's ear she said in a cold, soft voice, "The Monkey King lives in this area. He is a boy about your age with long, wild brown hair and wears a golden diadem. His eyes are exactly the same as yours…except they do not have the teal edge that adorns your own. Now that you have a description of your target, my chibi assassin, you have no more excuses to hide behind. I will return in one month. If the Monkey King is not dead, then I will make your life infinitely worse than it is now." With that Seiobo disappeared.

o-o-o-o

After the kami left, Sai crept over to where his little sister lay curled up on the floor and silently curled around her. Gently easing one of his front paws under her head, he offered whatever solace his presence could give. Kirriah took a deep, shaky breath as the last of the pain finally subsided and stared sullenly at the wall of water that now covered the den's entrance. She didn't bother to wipe at the tears, which slowly streaked down her face as she weighed her options against what her mistress had just said. How can a boy my age possibly be this sinister Monkey King guy? What if the Monkey King is really an innocent and Seiobo just doesn't like him because of some stupid reason, like the color of his eyes or somethin'? For that matter what was wrong with having gold eyes anyway? Sure they're rare things to see. So are blue moons, but no one calls those bad. She knew that if the Monkey King was an innocent that there was no way that she could possibly kill him.

Never harm the innocent; always protect them. Her father's, words rang in her mind. He had damn near killed her in the Danger Room teaching that particular lesson when she had accidentally killed some simulated innocent bystanders in a prior training exercise. She knew would have to meet this Monkey King because of another rule that her father drilled into her. Always know your enemy and why he/she is your enemy. She was also taught: Always fight for your own reasons and whenever possible on your own terms. Never attack just because someone tells you to. This meant that she had a choice to make and the consequences of that choice would be hers to bear either way. That only left one question. If her target was an innocent, could she accept whatever it was Seiobo had planned to do in order to punish her disobedience?

-End of flashback-

o-o-o-o

"So are you going to do it?" Sai probed.

"Huh?" The teen responded as his voice snapped her out of her reverie. "Do what?"

"Kill the Monkey King rocks-for-brains. What else?" he teased in an effort to lighten the teen's mood some.

Kirriah sighed and closed her eyes as she sank to her knees beside the tiger and said, "Well...Dad said I should never kill someone unless they are a direct threat to myself, my family, or an innocent. I've never seen this guy before so he isn't a direct threat to my family or me. No one at the guardhouse has ever mentioned anyone who looks like 'im so he can't be threatening innocents in the area. So, I have to meet 'im first. If I don't, then I dishonor my parent's memory and I can't…no…won't do that. Father and Mother taught me better than that...much better," the teen finished as she sullenly stared down at her hands.

Sai shifted so that he could look Kirriah in the eye. His voice was tender as he replied, "And when are you gonna do all that? You can't stall forever. You only have two weeks left to before that kami comes back. Do you even know where he lives? You know that stalling won't change anything."

"No," Kirriah admitted as she continued to stare at her hands. "Do ya have any ideas as to where I should start lookin' onii-chan?" the teen asked as she looked up into the eyes of her beloved brother.

Sai sighed before responding, "As it so happens…I just might." The tiger paused to make sure he had Kirriah's full attention before he continued. "I was out exploring yesterday while you were sleeping and came across this temple. There, I heard a group of priests there talking about someone they called 'Priest Sanzo recently picked up a small boy. The boy, it seems causes a lot of trouble for them. What really caught my attention was when one of them remarked that the boy's golden eyes should have warned Priest Sanzo about the trouble that he would cause."

"Well that's as good a place as any to start. Thanks onii-chan," the teen said as she stretched but made no motion to get up.

"So when do you plan to stop stalling and go meet him?" Sai asked.

Kirriah got up and looked around the den trying to find anything that she had left undone. Finding nothing, the teen turned to look outside to find that the rain had decided to take a break as well. With a resigned sigh, Kirriah said, "No time like the present I suppose, but I really don't want to do this. It jus'…don't…feel right."

"I know little sister. I know," he said gently. Sai fell silent as he watched the young assassin strap on her katana and put on her image inducer. Once she indicated that she was ready, he crouched down and said, "Hop on my back and I'll take you there. Before you ask…it'd be at least a five hour hike for any human…even for you. Just in case you have to fight let me carry you there so you can conserve your energy."

"Thanks onii-chan," she said softly in an effort to get used to speaking again as she climbed on his back.

As Sai leapt out of the den, a light rain began to fall.

o-o-o-o

Goku lay on his bed and moaned softly as he stared longingly out the window. It was too quiet and boring inside the temple, but Sanzo had told him that he had to stay inside because of the rain. At first, the saru had tried to amuse himself by playing a combination of tag and hide and seek with the acolytes but they didn't seem to like the game much. When they finally caught Goku, they literally dragged him kicking and screaming to Sanzo, who really didn't like being bothered because of it. Sanzo had hit him in the head with that fan thingy he always seemed to have and had told him to shut up and stay in his room. So now here he was bored and alone…again. What was he supposed to do now? He had all this energy and nothing to do. Goku hated this feeling. He had tried asking Sanzo if could go outside and play when the rain stopped, but every time he did, the priest just said "no" and hit him in the head with the fan…or at least that's what he'd done the last ten times he'd asked.

He had almost decided to go outside to play anyway…no matter what the weather was like, when he noticed that the downpour had stopped. The scent on the breeze told him that there would be more rain soon…if he was going to play outside then he'd have to go now. The saru peeked carefully around the corner into Sanzo's office. Good. He's still at it. Quietly he slipped back into his room and out the window to freedom.

o-o-o-o

Priest Genjyo Sanzo leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk and stared alternately at the mountain of paperwork in front of him and the rain falling outside. He didn't look very priest-like and didn't care. Between the rain and the paperwork he was in a very bad mood. Add to that a certain baka chibi saru who kept causing trouble with the acolytes and you got a day that-simply put- sucked. It was days like today that made the priest wish that he had left that saru where he had found him.

o-o-o-o

The first thing that Goku noticed when he got outside was that all the scents were more intense than before. It was as if the whole world had been asleep all this time and now was wide-awake. Everything seemed to be alive and brimming with extra energy -including him. He felt a completeness that he had never felt before…even with Sanzo. After several minutes of trying to figure out why this was, he looked down at his feet to find that they had disappeared. As he lifted his legs there was a "squish" and his feet reappeared. The sound tickled him inside so much that he forgot that he was supposed to be quiet and giggled uncontrollably as he continued to play this new game.

Suddenly a droplet of water hit his cheek and he paused to stare up at the sky. A few seconds later it w as joined by another and then before he knew it there was a light rain falling and he was completely wet. Caught up in the joy of moment, he danced around in the falling water laughing as he sang, "More rain! Yaaay!"

o-o-o-o

Sanzo looked up from his paperwork. It was quiet…too quiet. It had been over an hour without even one sound coming from Goku's room. Sure, he had told that baka chibi saru to shut up and stay in his room so the acolytes would leave him in peace. However…even that had never stopped him for this long before. Perhaps he fell asleep?

The priest had just decided to go check on the boy when he heard the unmistakable sound of Goku's laughter coming from outside the building. Casually, Sanzo stood up, walked to the window, and looked out the portal. Sure as the rain that was once again falling, there was Goku staring dumbly up at the sky, as the rain washed over his face. I'm going to kill him. With that thought in mind Sanzo stalked out of his office and headed for the door to the area where a certain soon-to-be-dead chibi saru was playing.

o-o-o-o

The young assassin soundlessly slipped off the tiger's back and crouched next to him for a moment before saying, "I can handle things alone from here."

Laughing Sai said, "Ok then little sister I'm heading back home to my dry bed. He regarded his little sister for a moment before adding, Kye and I can get here in almost no time. Call if you need anything.

"Whatever ya lazy bum. Ya just wanna go take a nap. Go ahead I'll be fine," she teased. For the first time since she had discovered the mental link…she let it fall completely silent.

As the tiger soundless left the area, the assassin flipped a switch on her watch/image inducer, which hummed softly as a hologram appeared around her. The teen closed her eyes as she adjusted to the tingling sensation the device caused. Now, because of its unique design, anyone who saw her would see a Chinese teenage human girl with long black hair secured into a braid at the base of her neck and teal eyes wearing a tight-fitting t-shirt -which slightly exposed her midriff, jeans, leather jacket, and hiking boots -all black. Of course, whenever she spoke her Japanese accent always betrayed her foreign heritage and she still had a little trouble following a really fast paced conversation. The young mutant knew that while time and practice would fix her mastery of speaking and following rapid conversations, there probably wasn't any way to erase her accent entirely.

A child's laughter reminded the young feline assassin of her purpose for being here. With all the stealth of a tiger, she soundlessly approached the edge of the tree line where the forest bordered the temple grounds beyond. As she scanned the area, she saw a boy playing in the temple yard. He tilted his head up just as a light rain began to fall. For a moment, he seemed to be entranced by the feel of rain on his face. Suddenly he started to laugh and dance around the yard as he sang out, "More rain! Yaaay!"

Between her position and heightened senses of sight, hearing, and smell the young mutant assassin was able to fully assess the physical description of the boy, except for his eyes. She noted that the boy had long wild brown hair which was mostly tied back in a ponytail and the sleeveless white high-necked shirt with black trim and jeans he was wearing. She also noticed that he wasn't wearing any shoes -even in this wet weather. The center of a golden diadem gleamed from his forehead. His height and age the young assassin judged were roughly the same as her own. Something inside the young assassin told her that this boy was in fact the Monkey King that her mistress had her to kill. However, that same "voice" also told her that he was an innocent.

o-o-o-o

Sanzo stood on the porch and watched as Goku danced around in the rain like an idiot for a few minutes before he yelled, "GOKU!"

"Huh?" the chibi saru responded as he turned to face the man who had freed him from that miserable stone cage that he'd been locked in for so long. He blinked up at Sanzo for a moment his confusion plain in his brilliant gold eyes -having completely forgotten that he wasn't supposed to be outside in the first place.

"Bakazaru," continued the priest as he lowered his voice slightly. His face was flushed with anger as he glowered down at the young boy. "If you don't get your ass inside right now, I'm going to kill you!"

"But Sanzo, why?" Goku whined. "I like the rain. It's fun and makes the dirt go 'squish', see? See? See? See Sanzo? See? See?" The boy was so wrapped up in proving his point, that he didn't notice that Sanzo had left the porch until the priest's fan had hit him sharply in the head, knocking him into the mud. "Owww!" he cried out as he sat up. "What'd ya do that for?"

"Just shut up and get your ass inside right now…or I will kill you."

Sanzo's voice was calm but his eyes held a note of warning that the saru knew he shouldn't ignore. But he had been having so much fun! As he rubbed his head where the priest had hit him, he made a final protest, "Ya never let me do anythin' fun. I can't get sick so what's the problem?"

Sanzo said nothing. Instead, he raised his fan and struck again.

"Ow ow ow! Ok, ok. I'm goin', I'm goin'." the saru pouted as he got up and started to head for the temple rubbing the spot where Sanzo had last hit him.

He had barely taken a few steps when the wind changed directions and he was hit with a strange new scent, which stopped him in his tracks. After sniffing the air a couple more times, he whirled around and dashed off in the direction the scent was coming from, excitement blazing in his golden eyes.

This is gonna be the best game of hide and seek ever!

o-o-o-o

(End of chapter 4…to be continued)

(Don't you just love cliff hangers?)