Pairings/Characters (for this chapter): Tenpou's reincarnation/Kenren's reincarnation, Son Goku, Homura's reincarnation, Shien's reincarnation
Rating (for this chapter): G
Chapter summary: It's a busy day in the Gobi desert; sutras are found, nuclear weapons are checked upon, and battle plans are finalized.
Word count (for this chapter): ~623
Chapter Eight: Hornet's Nest
Location: Gobi Desert
Date: 04 Apr 21xx
Time: 0600
Long looked at the nuke settled in nicely at the back of the cave, a smug smile on his face. A lot of the group's older members had thought that his plan had been foolish and would bring nothing but more trouble for them. They were all wrong, Long thought gleefully, running a hand across the surface of the nuke, the metal cool to the touch.
Somewhere to his left, Wei was talking to Chua about changing the guards' shifts, transportation of some firearms, training new recruits. Long might be the leader of the Dragons, but he knew that without Wei, the entire group would probably fall apart in less than a week.
"Boss Guang, we need to go."
Long looked up from his contemplation of whether or not he should do something nice for Wei as thanks for putting up with him, and frowned. "How many times do I have to tell you?" he asked in exasperation.
Wei patted him on the head. "Long. We need to go."
"Sure, Wei-ge. Lead the way."
Location: Gobi Desert
Date: 04 Apr 21xx
Time: 2100
Goku lay on his cot, staring up at the night sky through the small hole in his tent's ceiling. He thought about the sutra that he'd dug up that afternoon, about how the memories that were associated with it had flooded his mind until he was dizzy.
The sutra was locked away with the other excavated artifacts in the storage tent, all the way across camp. Goku debated whether or not to go and sneak in and take one more look at it. There wasn't really any point in doing so; after all, staring at a sutra wouldn't accomplish anything except maybe depress him a little.
He rolled over onto his side and tried to go to sleep. The high from unearthing the sutra—from finding something to help him remember Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo, and Hakuryuu—was slowly wearing off, but he was still far from sleeping. He could hear his classmate snoring a few feet away from him.
Goku wondered which sutra they'd found and what it could do. He thought about what excuse he'd give Professor Huian tomorrow morning when he'd ask if he could take a look at the sutra. Because, really, it couldn't hurt to just take a peek at it.
When he finally fell asleep, he dreamed of Sanzo whacking him on the head with the Maten Sutra folded into a fan.
Location: Gobi Desert
Date: 04 Apr 21xx
Time: 2300
"When do you leave?" Allen asked, avoiding looking at Rick. He swirled his water around in his cup instead, wishing that he could drink something stronger.
"We plan on attacking the Dragons on the twentieth," Rick said evenly. After a few moments of silence, he sighed. "Can you please stop sulking, Allen?"
"I just don't understand why you have to be the one to lead the strike team," Allen muttered, still refusing to meet Rick's eyes. "Why can't someone else lead the team? You can come in with the rest when they finish setting up the traps."
"They need someone who knows how to disarm the nuke," Rick explained patiently. "And you know that right now, I'm the only one who can go along with the team. Fred's still recovering from that gunshot wound."
In the privacy of his sleeping tent, Allen slumped against Rick, relishing the contact. "The sergeant's an idiot. I can't believe he managed to shoot himself in the foot."
Rick wrapped an arm around Allen's shoulder. "If I spend the night here, promise to stop whining?"
"That seems like an unfair trade."
"All's fair in love and war," Rick said, laughing.