Chapter 3

A Curse Unknown

"Bankotsu! Bankotsu! I found a stick!" Jakotsu proudly shouted holding the stick up in the air, the sun shone on it dramatically.

Bankotsu turned from looking at some freaky ant and saw Jakotsu's find.

"Jakotsu… It's a twig…" He replied, dryly.

Jakotsu looked back at the stick and a cloud rolled over the sun, blocking out the light. Ironic.

"A man can dream, can't he?" Jakotsu pouted as he threw the twig behind him.

A small squirrel was trying to crack open a nut when a twig came zooming down and smacked him right in the head. The rodent collapsed to the ground with it's tiny feet sticking up in the air, dead.

"So, Bankotsu, Bankie, Ban, Kotsu, B… B! That's what I'm gonna call you from now on." Jakotsu squealed at all his unusual thinking and ideas.

Bankotsu continued along on the forest's floor, ignoring his new found nickname.

"So, B…how's it going B? Are you finding sticks OK, B?" Jakotsu smirked evilly, knowing very well that he was taunting his friend.

Bankotsu held his anger in, controlling the raging ball of annoyance.

Jakotsu skipped off further into the forest and quickly came back with an oddly shaped rock.

"Hey, B! This rock looks like your head!" Jakotsu squeaked and Bankotsu gave a questionable look at the stone, it's lumpy and jagged figure had no sign of him on it.

"C'mon B, it could be your brother." Jakotsu put the rock up beside Bankotsu's head. "See the family resemblance."

Bankotsu clenched his fists and punched Jakotsu in the gut, causing him to drop the rock on his own toe.

Jakotsu cried out in pain and rubbed his red toe, soothingly.

Bankotsu saw an open space and exited the cramped forest, but they were right back where they started.

"Aw, hell!" Bankotsu muttered and he heard Jakotsu let out a dramatic gasp from behind him.

"B! You said a bad word! Shame on you!" He blurted out, shaking his finger in Bankotsu's face as he walked up to him.

Bankotsu smacked Jakotsu across the head and he fell to the ground with a clunk.

"Ow." Jakotsu mumbled as his foot twitched.

Bankotsu gazed over at their bonfire and saw no sign of Renkotsu or Sango. His eyes widened. It can't be. But something in the fire had caught Bankotsu's eye.

He jogged over to the bonfire and peered into the flames, he saw the outline of a body as the last of it's face burnt away.

"Renkotsu." Bankotsu whispered to himself. "Who or what the hell did this to you, but more importantly where's Sango?"

Once again, Bankotsu scanned the area of their somewhat camp, but saw no trace of Sango anywhere. However, Bankotsu did notice the commotion upon the sand. Footprints here and there, but there seemed to be over twenty of them.

"What the hell is going on here? I thought this was a deserted island." Bankotsu began to question his better judgment. There was something on this island and he had a feeling it wasn't going to be good.

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The echoes of drums were heard outside as Sango opened her eyes, lazily. A dark room came into her view and she coughed from all the musky air.

Sango tried to move around but her arms were tightly bound behind her back and her ankles were tied also. Who the hell are these people? She wondered, squinting to try and see better through the blackness.

The straw door swung open and a man stood in the entrance. His dark skin and many bones for jewelry stood out against the sun that now shone into the hut. Sango didn't dare speak or move, afraid of what these men could do.

He walked towards Sango, but she didn't want to take her chances. When the man stepped a few feet closer to Sango, she jabbed her legs out and knocked the man to the ground and he clenched his stomach.

Sango rubbed the rope on her wrists up against the hard wood of the hut and they began fray. Finally, the ropes broke loose and Sango untied her legs.

"Teh glri! Seh lesoo!" He yelled. Sango ripped the straw out of her way and ran outside, but she stopped in her tracks.

It seemed like this whole tribe of Natives were now facing her, with glares on their faces. Eyes like fire and hands grasping spears, the Natives surrounded Sango. She had know idea what to do.

Their battles cries rang through the skies, but stopped at a gesture of a hand, near the back of the group. A line was made way for a middle aged Native, with many bones and skulls for jewelry and designs. The fur that he wore to cover his lower part of his body, was the fur of a orange and black tiger. His eyes, to Sango, almost seemed to resemble a snake, waiting for its prey.

His footsteps stopped in front of Sango.

"Tsih wnamo wlli eb pdehsiun fro cginmo ot oru idnals!" He bellowed and the men cried out in return. Sango wished that she could understand what the hell they were saying.

"Bginr hre ot teh Celcir Fo Sderca Gdnuor, os ew wlli gevi a sllep fo mnoitalupina!"

Two men grabbed Sango by the arms. They dragged her to The Circle Of Scared Ground, which didn't look to scared because it was just a pole and a large circle drawn around it. After being quickly and skillfully tied to the pole, Sango's heart raced, knowing that death, once again, was staring her in the face.

The leader of the tribe, who she had figured out the man to be, stepped into the circle with a dagger clenched in one hand and a small sack placed in the other. Struggling was useless for Sango by this point, but she still wouldn't give up. Using all of her strength and will, Sango repeatedly strained to break free from her bounds, but it was no use.

The chief came faced to face with her and sprinkled a bit of the powder, from the bag, onto his sweaty palm. His hand closed on the dagger's hilt and he grasped to side of Sango's shirt and pulled it up, to show from her hip bone to her ribs.

Sweat dripped from Sango's brow as the tip of the knife inched closer and closer to her side. The man began mumbling ancient spell words, that couldn't be made out, but then as the knife got closer the speech became louder.

"Whti prewo of sdna dna bedal, a cesru wlli eb bnro dna teh sekan wlli eb edesaele!"

The people of the tribe, surrounding the circle, began to chant the same words. A tear slid from Sango's eye as the blade dug through her skin. The leader traced a circle and drew the outline of a snake tongue in the circle. Pain wisped throughout Sango's body, even though the dagger was only at her side. A killing headache struck her mind, but she still stayed in focus.

He brought the dagger away and the pain stopped, but Sango felt something less…less will.

"Ti si deno!" The chief cried out and they gazed at him. Sango was confused. Weren't they going to kill her, but she was still here? Her mind suddenly stopped when the tribe began to chant again. Her body broke free from the ropes, but her eyes had turned a crimson red.

"Sango?" A voice cried out from behind the crowd.

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Couple minutes earlier…

"You'd think that finding food in the jungle on an island would be easy…" Suikotsu groaned as he looked up, at what seemed to be, the 1000th tree, in the past half of an hour. He had been searching trees, bushes, plants, and even the ground for some sort of food.

This island sucks ass.

Wind whistled through the trees, bringing a rotten smell to Suikotsu's nose.

What the hell is that smell? It almost smell like…dead snake?

He chose to ignore it, not really wanting to adventure into it, afraid he might find that something he would regret.

Continuing through the forest, Suikotsu noticed a young tree bearing a brightly colored fruit. He proceeded over the sapling and gave it a questionable glance, not knowing whether or not to eat or even touch this fruit.

Taking the chance, Suikotsu, hesitantly, reached out to grabbed the fruit, but at the slightest touch Suikotsu found out it wasn't a fruit at all.

The bug, which had made its resting place on the tree, uncurled from its sleeping posture and turned its aqua blue eyes to Suikotsu, examining him. The bug's flesh had turned from a wondrous color of blue and yellow, to a gut wrenching puke green. It forced out its over sized wings from its back and began to take flight.

Then a monkey plopped onto Suikotsu's head, taking him by surprise and causing him to fall to the ground. The chimp, greedily, grasped the insect with its tiny hand and shoved the bug into his mouth, making disgusting slurping noises while chewing. Suikotsu rose up his head, just as mush from the monkey's feast, leaked from the corner of it's hairy mouth and onto Suikotsu's head.

He bolted up, sending the monkey flying into a tree, and wiped the chewed up bug off his forehead with his sleeve, almost puking during the process.

The monkey gave a loud screech for what Suikotsu did and climbed back up into his tree, grumbling on the way.

Suikotsu sighed and lowered his head in defeat, strolling through the jungle. While dragging his feet across the ground, Suikotsu's ears pricked at the sound of voices, at the exit of the trees.

Is that chanting?

Suikotsu chose to go explore, since he thought that this island was deserted. The last branch left his view and the new sight was that of a small village, but Suikotsu was more concerned with the crowd to his right.

They seemed to almost be worshiping something, or enchanting something. That was when Suikotsu noticed a familiar figure tied to a pole on the middle of the group. Her eyes had turned into a bloody red and she broke from the ropes that tied her to the post.

"Sango?" He cried out, but that was a mistake because the Natives brought their attention back to him. A evil smirk spread across the leader's face.

"Akcatt hmi!" He ordered as he pointed his finger in Suikotsu's direction.

Sango stood up and gave Suikotsu an unemotional expression. Then a dagger appeared in her right hand, she clenched it willingly, or so it seemed. With great speed, Sango rushed up to Suikotsu, with the knife pointed to his face.

He dodged her speedy attack and Sango fell to the ground, but her body hoisted itself up.

"Sango, what's wrong with you!" Suikotsu wondered out loud as Sango sent out another attack. Of course, she gave no answer, just contest jabbing. Suikotsu avoided her shots and tried to grab her wrist, but every time he tried, she would whip back.

Suikotsu bolted forward and grabbed her arms, but just as he did her eyes closed and she collapsed in his arms. Her sudden fall caught him by surprise, but he held her close to his chest. The Natives stood there, without making any moment or even a sound. Suikotsu took that as a signal and scooped Sango into his arms.

Green became his view once again as he rushed through the forest moving as much branches as he could out of the way. Sango was still unconscious in his arms, her now normal sense of quite relieving, but questions of why she was like that were providing with no answers. Suikotsu began to slow down when he noticed the white sand that laid on the beach and off in the distance he could see Bankotsu pacing back and forth and Jakotsu sitting in the sand beside him.

He picked up his pace and broke free from the cramped jungle.

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Bankotsu followed the footsteps he already etched into the sand from pacing. His mind coming to different and terrifying solutions to where Sango might be.

Jakotsu gazed up at his friend, his eyes following his stiff movements. He decided, since he was so bored, to play with a pile of sand, until Jakotsu heard a faint voice in the distance.

"Bankotsu, Jakotsu!" It said, but the voice itself, even so far away, sounded tired and out of breath. Jakotsu glanced up and saw Suikotsu heading their way, with Sango in his arms.

"Uh…Bankotsu?" Jakotsu asked, poking him as he walked by. "Bankotsu."

After a few seconds, of Bankotsu ignoring him, Jakotsu finally stood and marched up to Bankotsu. He grasped his shoulder and shook some sense into him…while yelling.

"BANKOTSU! YOU IDIOT! SUIKOTSU IS RIGHT OVER THERE AND SANGO IS WITH HIM!" The lapping of waves seemed quieter at that moment.

Bankotsu's eyes widened and he turned his head, to see Suikotsu near the forest. He pushed Jakotsu away from him and rushed over to help the, now tired, Suikotsu. Jakotsu had fallen to the ground, with a clunk and rolled his eyes at Bankotsu's stupidity.

Suikotsu had finally collapsed onto one knee just as Bankotsu came up beside him.

"Is everything alright?" Bankotsu asked, but he talked so fast that Suikotsu could barely understand him.

"Yeah, I'm fine-" He began.

"No, not you! Is Sango OK? What happened? Is she hurt?" Before Suikotsu could even answer Bankotsu took Sango out of his arms and brought her over to the now campfire.

Suikotsu plopped onto his ass and sighed. Jakotsu came walking…wait no skipping… up to Suikotsu and peered down at him.

"Are you OK, Suikotsu?" Jakotsu's question was at least thoughtful. He nodded, slowly and saw Jakotsu's hand reaching down in front of his face. Suikotsu graciously took his help.

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yay! suikotsu to the resue! lol i luv the beginning with jakotsu i was really hyper when i wrote that but please R&R:P