Ch 2: Mountains Swallow Souls
----
"Gojyo… …Gojyo……Gojyo"
The last time the kappa's name was called it registered and his brain clicked awake. "Hnnn…" Bleary eyes met shining green ones.
Hakkai was smiling over the redhead, "Morning."
"nnn…" Gojyo rolled over… "don't be so damn cheery it's to early…" light snoring emanated from the sleepy kappa.
BAM!
"Gojyo!" a shorter brunette vaulted through the door and onto Gojyo's bed. "Wake up pervert!"
Shaking eagerly the larger man beneath him Goku jabbed every bony joint he could employ into the now painfully awake Gojyo.
"Errrraaagghhh!" the monkey was flung across the room.
"Ha ha! Sanzo! He's awake!" Goku bounced to standing then around the room on the balls of his energetic feet.
The blonde monk entered, "hmh, let's go then."
"Yeah!" bright golden eyes flickered before retreating out the door.
The minutes passed slowly as Gojyo blinked away the last of his sleep. "Hey Hakkai… I thought we were stuck here for a few more days …"
The brunette smiled, "turns out the girl from the restaurant had a good suggestion," Hakkai lifted the card from his pocket and flipped it in his fingers a few times. "The man on the card is one of the original workers from the local mine… which, lucky us happens to go straight through the mountains to the other side."
"Hnn… more of that auspicious fate we've somehow got our hands around eh?"
Sharp words came from the street outside through their window, "come on! Before I'm forced to shoot the both of you!"
Hakkai leaned out the window and waved once before disappearing back inside.
----
"Well, yessir! I remember this place quite well," a short old man who carried a walking stick tapped a few times on the mines entrance with his poll. "Hah! Just how I left 'er," he was a smiley guy with a short and very white beard. Laugh lines the size of canyons ran across most of his face and a toothy grin could be seen nearly all the time.
"One could get lost in this place…" He breathed looking up with squinty eyes peering through leathery skin. "Whadda ya say laddies shall we enter her dark and rocky bowels?" He smacked Sanzo on the back… hard…
Big leather boots clunked noiselessly through the mine as the four turned five sauntered on through the dark.
"Hey gramps!" Goku piped up as he stubbed his toes for the eleventh time. "Why do we have to walk in the dark? Can't we have a torch or something?"
The old man chuckled, "why use what you don't need? Besides if we hit a pocket of methane while carrying one of those fire things we'll go boom real quick."
Hakkai's face was twitching a bit nervously, "methane?"
"Yeah we had a real problem with it back when they opened this place up, but I reckon it's mostly gone now, errrgh…" He scrambled up over a large boulder.
"Won't we suffocate…" Hakkai walked into the boulder. "Omph!"
"Only if you breathe. Now skedaddle up that rock and let's continue eh?" They could feel the old mans cheerful smile through the darkness and at least the littlest martyr enjoyed in it.
The time seemed to pass in an entirely different flow as they wandered through the blackness. A silence and musty stench surrounded them like an unruly cage.
"Hey," Goku tagged whoever it was that he felt walking next to him.
"What do you want you stupid monkey?" Gojyo's tongue lashed the words a bit more harshly than usual.
"Food… did you bring any?"
"Not for you, go bother Sanzo," the redhead tried to ricochet the incoming complaints onto one of his other comrades
… it didn't work…
Goku started to paw at Gojyo, "come on, you've got to have something. I'm sooo hungry breakfast was almost four hours ago!"
Gojyo shoved him off and kicked at the air. He was in no mood to sport with the monkey especially without the use of his eyes.
"Merh! Stupid pervert!" Goku latched onto the kappa and started groping in the dark for something to punch.
The two made quite a lot of noise but sight being as impossible as flight at the moment Sanzo could not very well shoot either of them.
Then Goku made a mistake… he crushed the paper through the kappa's vest…
WHAM!
"GET OFF OF ME!" Gojyo belted out each word as he threw the monkey into the mine wall with a crash.
Goku hit jagged rock hard and fell to his hands and knees coughing as he landed. "Shit… hhhnn… what the hell was that for Gojyo!"
"Quiet!" a hissed whisper came from the old man…
Somewhere deep in the mine the mountain was speaking… her dark depths growling like a roused animal…
The old man lit a torch…
Eyes dilated far too quickly and it hurt to keep them open.
Obvious horror in his voice he hollered, "TO THE SKITHERS!" His short legs moved unlike anyone would have expected.
"What the hell's a Skither!" Goku yelled as they booked it after the old man.
They ran… faster and faster… the rocks falling around them barely missing heads and feet. Following the light which seemed to be getting steadily further away as sturdy feet scampered on ahead.
A sharp pain shot through Sanzo's shoulder as a rock hit him from above, his legs stumbled but he kept running. "Old man! I hope you know where we are going because if we don't get out of here soon…"
The firelight disappeared and the four travelers came to a screeching stopped under an upward shaft. Daylight could be seen, a pinprick at the top of the tunnel.
"Ollioup!" The old man came barreling down from above, "Take 'old of the rope laddies!" he outstretched his arm and handed the end to Sanzo.
Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku grabbed onto the line and the old man climbed up it like a bug on a leaf.
The mountain rumbled threatening to crumble from beneath them…
"Hurry up old man!" The monk yelled as he heard the path they had just run down crumble away.
His hand whipped out a knife the size of his forearm and he chiseled with the strength and knowledge of his years. A filled mine cart fell away from its track.
The musty air rushed past their ears as they flew upwards.
"HOOOOYAAAHHHHH!" The old man was the last on the rope grabbing the end when it whipped past his face.
Gas from the chambers below swallowed their former standing space and the torch as well. A fiery blast belched from below threatening to consume their flesh.
Within twenty seconds of flight they were atop the mountain, bearded tour guide the only one left standing. Dust, fire, and rock roared from the shaft they had so recently been flung from as the mine collapsed.
"Whoo! Just like old times!" The old man whooped and did a little dance.
Hakkai scrambled to a standing position and checked over the other members of their traveling company for injuries. Everyone was fine, except for… "Gojyo are you alright?"
The redhead was twenty or so feet away trembling. He vaulted to his feet and away from Hakkai. Running towards the collapsed rocks his heart thumped hard against his chest. He reached the pile and began pawing through it, the hot rocks searing his palms. '… where is it!..." the small paper fluttered down from his vest, it had been dislodged in the commotion but had not left his clothing. Gojyo swiped the note up and swallowed down his worry and fear.
"Are you alright?" Hakkai asked again not approaching the kappa this time.
Standing Gojyo turned, "I'm fine," his face was devoid of emotion but his mind was caught up in chaos.
The old man smiled and gave the group a thumbs up, "almost didn't make it out of that one di…" blood dripped from his neck and soaked his collar. With a grotesque sound his bearded head fell from his shoulders to the ground splattering Sanzo and Goku with flecks of crimson liquid.
"I say, lovely slice on that old chap Hoai," staring back at them was the reason no one went 'over' the mountains anymore.
----
A/N: Tell me what you think please! Hope you liked this chapter well enough.
