I'll be honest…I didn't edit this…. It's been so long since I updated this fic, I just wanted to get this up. Please let me know if you see any major inconsistencies, and I'll fix them. Otherwise, enjoy.
Sanzo
My master was the only person I could ever trust when I was a kid. I didn't remember my real parents, and I didn't care, because Koumyou had always been there instead, since the very beginning, smiling at me and looking after me and reassuring me. The other students in Kinzan, my peers, had never liked me. They used to pick on me because I was fatherless, because I didn't know where I came from, because I didn't have a family name, and most of all, because, in spite of all that, I was still Koumyou's favorite.
I didn't ask to be his favorite, I didn't even care about being his favorite. It was all the same to me, as long as I got to be near him, if not as a son, than at least as a student. I didn't ever think I deserved to be the next Sanzo, I wasn't even trying to be, really. I was just living my life. I accepted the things I couldn't have along with the things I did have. I accepted that I'd never have a father or a mother like everyone else did. Maybe it was because they died. Maybe it was because they didn't want me. Maybe it was a misunderstanding.
Maybe I would have actually given a shit about why they'd sent me down the river if Koumyou hadn't been the one who fished me out at the other end, but as things stood, I had never needed to care, because he did pick me up, and he did take me back to the temple with him, and then he raised me like I was his son.
I never asked for any of that.
Trust was a strange thing in my mind—foreign almost—I didn't really understand it, and I didn't give my trust away easily. As a kid I had learned that trust could get you to a lot of places you didn't want to be, and relying on someone else could get you killed, and that meant that the only person I could trust or rely on was myself, and that had always been fine, because that's just the way it was. Still, I had always trusted Koumyou, and I had always relied on him too. I don't think it had even occurred to me before he died that that's the way it was, because it was just so normal.
When he died, everything suddenly hit me at once. The full reality of my life had been thrown in my face, leaving me stripped beneath a stark, cold light. I had trusted and relied on and loved Koumyou, as if he were my real father, and suddenly, he was gone. That one person whom I'd looked up to with every fiber of myself, not even realizing how much it really meant to me, dead, because he wanted to protect the sutra. And me.
That same night, I had realized what a curse trust and reliance and friendship and love really were, and I told myself that I didn't want them every again. The first time those things came into my life, uninvited, and took root because I didn't know any damn better. It wouldn't happen again. I told myself it wouldn't.
I promised myself…
This was why. This was the exact, definitive reason I'd told myself all that, and maybe for the last ten years or so, I just hadn't really been thinking about it. I'd been telling myself that I was doing a good job staying distant and self-sufficient and strong.
I stared at the gray sky above me, not knowing how long I'd been waiting for the sun to rise, thinking about these things. It seemed like the same thoughts were just replaying over and over in my mind, and the only conclusion I could ever get to was that I had messed up. I had broken the promise I made to myself all those years ago.
It was cold, the air was damp with dew, and every breath I drew was sharp. Beneath me, the ground was frozen and hard, and it made me feel that much more annoyed by the circumstances. If that stupid idiot Hakkai had to abandon the mission, he should have at least left the car for those of us who meant to carry on.
People are selfish, and that's why you can't trust them, because no matter how much they say they're going to back you up and stick around, the truth is, when it comes down to choosing between you or themselves, they don't choose you. That's fine. It's sickening, but it's fine, because that's the way life is. It's idiotic to expect people to be anything but selfish.
The sky was threaded with fiery orange and streaks of red, which meant it would probably rain, and then I'd have to walk in the storm, and that would make this all worse than ever.
I kept lying there for a few minutes longer, told myself I'd try to go back to sleep, because it couldn't be past five in the morning, but the thoughts of Koumyou and trust and of my current situation, kept looping through my head, and finally, I sat up, with an annoyed groan, and lit a cigarette.
For some reason, it felt like I'd had a nightmare, even though I couldn't remember having one. A nightmare about Koumyou maybe…
That night…I could remember it all so vividly—the relentless attack of the youkai, the dead weight of my body, immobilized and sealed by magic, the peaceful smile on my master's face, the shower of bright red blood that splattered the whole room—it was still like it happened yesterday. I didn't have to dream about it every night for those events to haunt me.
Everyone in the camp was spread out. Kougaiji and Dokugakuji were so far away, they'd made their own fire. Lei was just close enough to our fire to stay warm, but far away enough that she didn't really seem to be with us. That all suited me fine. Goku was nearby, standing guard, pacing around the perimeter of the clearing and talking to himself. He hadn't noticed that I was awake yet.
I watched him as he walked up and down, every here and again squatting down to look at something he'd found on the ground—probably mushrooms or animal tracks—sniffing at the air and shadowboxing for fun. It was all so familiar. It was all so typical. It was so Goku.
As I watched him, I couldn't help but ask myself, Do I trust Goku?
Begrudgingly, I admitted to myself, that I did. I trusted him with my life.
I had always trusted Hakkai and Gojyo too. Not from the beginning exactly, but over time, they'd done enough things for me correctly that I'd reluctantly given into the idea that I could generally count on them. That's where all this trouble had began; I'd trusted them, only to discover that I had been right all along.
It was more than just trust though.
The truth was, all of those things—all of those weaknesses I despised so much—had come into my life again, just as unexpectedly and uninvited as the first time. I couldn't imagine losing Goku, whether it was because he died or because he lost his mind. I hated to think that all this bullshit with Ryptcore and the DethBreed, Hakkai and Jade, could actually be enough to tear Goku from me, in the end, and I knew I'd do anything I had to in order to protect him, even though I'd always told myself that I didn't need to protect him, and I didn't want to need to protect him. It pissed me off, in a way, and then again, it was something I might just have to accept. By now, it was painfully obvious that Goku was staying in my life for a long, long time, and the worst part was that…I wanted him to be.
How ridiculous. I couldn't believe the way all of this was fucking with me. I'd looked for a way to stay out of it, but it was no use. The team got dragged in, one by one, and now I was getting pulled down too. In the beginning, I didn't think this thing was going to affect me…but now it was. The Asahara and Ryptcore and the Dethbreed. Insane Hakkai and the Seiten Taisei, and that unbelievable, idiotic, drooling, fuck-up, Gojyo. They were all reaching back into my past, deep inside my heart and mind. They were all messing with my scars now. And I didn't like it.
I shuddered and looked around the camp again, half expecting to see the ghost of my master standing on the edge of the clearing. Part of me almost wished to see him. It would be good to hear some of his advice now… Koumyou was the kind of person who probably would have encouraged me to rely on my teammates and to allow them to rely on me, but I still didn't see why I should bother.
After I'd finished my cigarette and had started a second, I decided there wasn't any point in delaying. I was up, and so was Goku, so we might as well get started, so I stood up and began to cross the clearing, moving toward him.
He heard me coming and turned to me with that stupid, open, innocent look of his. Trust came naturally to Goku. How could he be that way, even now? Couldn't he see things were coming apart just as easily as I could?
Maybe no one had ever betrayed his trust before, so he couldn't even recognize it for what it was, or maybe he just had so much faith in those two dumbasses, he didn't want to believe that's what they'd done. He didn't want to accept that they'd run out on us.
That thought alone made me even more angry. I'd expected them to fuck up or leave, eventually, but it wasn't right for them to do this to him when we all knew he'd never do it to either of them.
"Good mornin'." His voice wasn't quite as cheerful as it was supposed to be, and I felt like there were a lot of other things he wanted to say but thought that he shouldn't.
"Hn. We're moving out. Now."
"'Kay."
I tried to think of something else that I could say, but I'd already told him everything I thought, and it wouldn't do me a damn bit of good to spew a load of false comfort on him, so I lingered only for a second before turning back to collect what little I had.
He came with me, "They didn't come back."
As if I couldn't see that with my own two eyes.
"Of course they didn't. Don't tell me you were up all night waiting for them."
"I thought…"
It didn't matter what he thought, and he must have known that too, because he didn't finish.
"Get your shit together and let's go."
"What about breakfast?"
"We don't have much food left. You might as well eat whatever you have—we should reach the next town soon."
"Alright."
He probably didn't like that either. He probably didn't like the way things were right now. He'd probably say it was 'weird', if I'd let him.
But I wouldn't, and he obviously knew that as well. He went over and gently shook Lei to wake her up."
Within half an hour, all five of us were moving on again.
The trip was annoying. Walking was taking much too long. I tried to walk quickly, but Lei was slowing us down, and my injuries were bothering me a little, even though Hakkai had closed all my wounds. I felt sore and stretched and unbelievably tired. My head was hurting, and I kept watching the sky all day. It was only a little cloudy, but I still expected the clouds to burst at any given moment. That would make the circumstances completely unbearable.
Quickly or not, we did move steadily, managed to cover over ten miles before stopping for a break. I would have kept moving, but Goku was adamant that we couldn't make Lei push herself too much, because it wasn't fair to her.
She didn't complain any, I'd give her that. She was quiet and I could tell she was worried. I guess she had to realize that complaining wouldn't help her, because I was letting her tag along, and I could leave her behind whenever I chose.
I probably wouldn't, really. She was alone and unarmed, and as long as she wasn't slowing us down too much, I might as well let her stay with us. It wasn't like I could stop her anyway.
In the afternoon, we passed through a small, desolate town, where the people looked at us suspiciously and wouldn't talk to us unless we spoke to them first, which was just as well, since I had nothing to say to any of them. We had lunch and bought some supplies, but I didn't let Goku go nuts, buying food, like he usually did. I reminded him that he had to carry anything he bought, and he checked himself.
We'd be forced to travel light from now on, which meant we'd have to ration our food better and hunt a little, if we could.
What a pain in my ass. All because that dick, Hakkai had to take the car with him, which was especially absurd when, if he'd actually gone berserk, he wouldn't have any use for Jeep in the first place.
I wondered if there was any way I could have gotten out of this journey, or avoided it.
It's my duty now, and I'll stick to it, no matter who goes bat-shit and runs away.
We left the town around two and kept marching west, staying silent for the most part. Even Goku wasn't running his mouth for a change. We'd only been walking an hour and a half before I could see another town on the horizon. At first, I thought we might as well go around it rather than wasting time going through it, since we had everything we needed, and it was too early to even think about renting an inn, but something told me otherwise, a small voice inside that told me to go through the town, though I couldn't explain why.
I initiated a ten minute break so I could consult the map, which Hakkai had marked the route on in red pen. The town ahead of us was circled in red, so that's where he must have been planning on staying, but our travel time would have been pretty different back when he did that, since it was before any of this nonsense started. Beyond the town was another, slightly large one, with two paths to take to get there; a long way out over the plains, and a shortcut through a pass. The shortcut was probably more dangerous, but at least if we went that way, we'd reach the town beyond it by nightfall; if we went the other way, we'd have to camp again.
The pass was a no brainer.
I put the map away and kept walking toward the village on the horizon—if nothing else, maybe Lei would find the kid she'd lost there and get out of my hair—but as I went, a sense of foreboding started building up in me. At first, I passed it off as nothing, but as time passed, I felt more and more nervous. The wilderness around me was too quiet—even my companions were silent—and the town ahead of us seemed dark and hazy. We hadn't come across another traveler all day, but I got the distinct feeling that we were being watched by someone, and I scanned the area for enemies. No one was there, and I told myself that I was just nervous because of the situation we were in.
Whatever it was, the closer we got to the town in front of us, the heavier the feeling of impending doom became, and by the time we reached the outskirts, I knew something was wrong.
Goku stopped beside me, scenting the wind, breathily, "What's up with this place?"
I stared down the main street, but it looked deserted.
Lei huddled behind us, "Nobody's here…"
"I smell somethin', Sanzo." He took another, deeper breath. "It's like…death."
Without a word, I entered the town, completely alert, watching and listening to everything.
Goku took Lei by the hand and came with me, and Kougaiji and Dokugakuji were right behind us.
Something was definitely wrong. Nobody was in the streets, and nobody came to their windows or their doors to watch us pass. In the distance I heard a dog baying, but that was it. I stared down the main road, but no one appeared.
"What's goin' on?" Goku sounded scared.
I didn't have any answers, and I didn't have any reason he shouldn't be scared, so I moved on in silence, walking a little more quickly. I already knew what I was going to find, and I already knew why, and the idea scared me a little bit too.
We were almost to the center of the town when we came across the first body. It was a woman, flopped over on her side, neck twisted and broken so that she gaped up at us with empty eye-sockets and a Chelsea grin. Her arms were broken too, her torso torn almost completely in half, and her breasts looked like they'd been ripped off. She was lying in a pool of half-congealed blood.
Behind me, I heard Lei choking and gagging.
"Son of a bitch…" Dokugakuji muttered.
I stared down at the body, trying not to show how disturbed I was. The woman was young, and it looked like she had been beautiful, when she was alive. There was a trail of red leading away from her body, further up the street, like someone had dragged her body over here.
Goku stammered, "Wh-what the hell's this?"
I didn't answer—I couldn't really—so I just led the way further up the street, following the trail. It was disgusting and thick, like someone had spread jam over the cobblestones. As we walked along it, we found more bodies. Two and then three and then four. Men, women and children, all mutilated and dead. They'd left trails of their own, the paths intertwining and leading deeper into the town. Eventually, I took my eyes off the ground and watched the town around us, in case someone attacked, but this place was deathly still.
We were practically running by the time we reached the center of the town, and it was there, just like I knew it would be. Heaps and heaps of dead bodies, each one more torn and bloody than the last, humans, all of them, ripped open and murdered, but not eaten. Not the work of your typical, berserk youkai.
They were everywhere, strewn all over the square like they'd just been thrown there, carelessly, with no respect whatsoever. Half-dried blood was splashed all along the street and the walls and the buildings.
Lei started sobbing and gasping. I saw that she was clinging to Goku, and he looked grim and angry. The other two were closer to us than they'd been for days, and they both had expressions of shock and outrage.
I wondered what my face looked like right then. I felt like I might throw up, and I was clenching my fists, tightly.
At the very center of the town, a young man had been hung up on a tree, a stake jammed through his chest, pinning him there, gruesomely. He was wrapped in a stained, white sheet, with some papers draped over his shoulders, and his hair was blonde. His eyes were blue, but I still got the message. A banner was hanging there above him, bloody lettering on tattered linen. Two words; Ded End.
"Somebody can't spell." Dokugakuji said weakly. He was just as idiotic and annoying as his brother—it was exactly what Gojyo would say.
"Dethbreed." Kougaiji answered. Just like Hakkai might. A typical answer to his friend's stupidity.
I shook my head. I didn't want to think about those morons ever again.
"Sanzo…" Goku practically squeaked, but I don't know what he wanted me to say.
My mind was racing. This scene was a lot like the mess Ryptcore had left in the half-breed village several days ago, only without the fire, so I took it he wanted me to come along and find it this way, but he didn't seem to be here himself, this time. I didn't see any sign of life at all. And what about the banner? Just a sick message, or was there more to it? We could keep walking and go right through this town, couldn't we?
Unless we'd just strolled into a trap.
My gaze darted around again, half-expecting to see an ambush creeping out of the shadows, but there wasn't so much as one crow gorging itself on the carnage.
Goku tugged at my robes. "Sanzo? What now?"
What indeed. It hadn't escaped my attention that the village we'd been in two nights ago had probably been burned to the ground, and now this one was decimated as well—never mind that the buildings themselves were still intact—and yet the town between them, the one where we'd stopped for lunch, had been left alone.
We'd be idiots to go back to that place, since he was obviously right where Ryptcore wanted us to go.
Then, what about the town beyond this one? Was there even the slightest chance that it was still safe.
Kougaiji must have been thinking exactly that, because he suddenly announced, "We'll go scout ahead."
"How far?"
"Just until the next town is in sight. If it's like this, there won't be any way to tell, but if it's been burned like the other one, at least we'll see some sight of that. I don't think it's wise to split up for too long, but there's a chance they're lying in wait just outside of town, and we don't want to risk falling into their hands."
Tiredly, I nodded, and then he and Dokugakuji were gone.
Goku and I stood there amidst the massacre, with Lei still trembling and crying. He was comforting her a little, reassuring her that Deshi probably wasn't here.
"Let's have a look around town." I grumbled, turning back the other way.
"For what?" Goku asked.
"Anything that might be useful. Signs of where those psychos may have went. Survivors. Anything." Anything was better than standing there, staring at all those mutilated people.
"'Kay."
We rooted around outside the square for a few minutes, but I didn't see so much as one bloody footprint, and then I stepped into a building marked 'bazaar' to look for anything we might be able to make use of.
The place was ransacked. On the outside, it looked fine, but on the inside, the furniture was smashed, the doors had been busted down, and all the goods were gone.
Nothing of use to us.
We went back out into the street, and I thought it seemed even colder out now; the sky was still blue and spotted with gray clouds.
As I was coming down the steps, Lei lurched into me, grasping at my arm with her long nails. She swallowed hard and whispered, "I-I think I see someone."
I followed her gaze, down the street, the way we'd come, where I could see a wavering, dark figure, in the distance. It looked like a person, walking calmly toward us, but whoever it was, they were too far away to see any details about them.
The sight sent chills down my spine, and I had my gun out at once.
A survivor? Or could it be Ryptcore?
Whoever he was, he was moving so slowly, it almost looked like he was standing still.
He had the height and shape of a man. I highly doubted it was a woman.
Setting my jaw, I moved down into the middle of the street, cocked my gun as Goku summoned his bo.
"Maybe it's one of th' guys." He whispered.
That was better than any of the alternatives.
At any rate, it's unlikely.
I threw my cigarette down and raised my gun, aiming directly at the stranger's head, "Stop where you are, and identify yourself."
The stranger didn't answer, just kept moving toward us, with that shaky, unreal march of a ghost, then, just when he was close enough for me to make out black hair and long ears, more figures appeared. They came out of doors and from around corners, they seemed to pop up from behind carts and trash cans and fruit stands. They formed a long line, from one side of the street to the other, and staggered toward us, silently. In a matter of seconds, there were twenty of them.
"Creepy." Goku hissed.
I fired off a round. The shot echoed through the empty streets, bouncing over our heads. My aim was true, and I hit the initial figure, right in the face. He collapsed back with a spray of blood, but not so much as a scream. Not a moment later, a different man jumped out a window and replaced him. The group began walking faster.
To hell with waiting for them to identify themselves. I began firing off rounds, quickly and with accuracy. Another three fell.
The group started to run, charging right at us.
I held my ground, glanced over my shoulder once to see if there was a more advantageous spot for us to move to.
Another group of youkai was right behind us. So close I could have spat on one. They were tall and muscular, dressed in animal furs and rags and crappy armor. Their eyes were crazed with a lust for blood, tongues lolling from their mouths, and their hands and arms and chests were already smeared with crimson.
Goku screamed and jumped back, hauling Lei along with him.
I ducked away just in time to avoid being torn open by a set of razor-sharp claws.
"Where'd they come from?"
There were only ten of them, but they were closing in around us, forming a half-circle, and I felt stupid for having missed them.
The larger group was almost upon us as well now, and they still weren't uttering a sound.
I was stupid. I'd let the smaller group sneak up on us because I was distracted by the formation of the other one. Now we were surrounded by the DethBreed.
Angrily, I shot one in the chest, and he too died without so much as a sentient gurgle; when I scanned the crowd for Ryptcore, I didn't see him. With any luck, he was still too injured to fight.
Not that it mattered. If these fuckers were anywhere near as strong as the last members of the DethBreed we'd put up with, we'd have our hands full, even without Ryptcore around. Not to mention we had Lei to concern ourselves with.
I should have known it was a trap. I should have gone right around this town, like I'd intended to in the first place.
"Fuck."
A group of them came at us, silent as death, claws raised, their sparkling eyes haunted by madness. I fired off six more rounds. Five youkai fell, but two got back up, bleeding, not wincing. I feinted back, reloading my gun as quickly as I could, while Goku sprang past me with his bo, started beating them down left and right.
More attacked from behind; Lei screamed, and I turned that direction, instinctively, just in time to blow open the head of a youkai that was grabbing at her skirt. I gunned down six more of them, shoved Lei toward the gap in their ranks. "You'd better get out of here."
She stumbled a little, but didn't run. She was shaking all over, eyes glazed with fear.
I had to hesitate to reload my gun again, and Goku moved in to cover me as I was at it.
By this time, there were even more youkai coming down the street toward us; If I had to put a number on it, I'd say there were fifty of them all together, and, if we were lucky, that's all there was.
One of them lunged at me. I moved to the side, just in time to keep my stomach from being torn open, and kicked him in the head. He fell onto his back, but seemed otherwise unfazed, and when he started to rise again, I shot him in the chest.
Goku pressed up against my back, "These guys're kinda' hard ta' kill."
"Do they respond to your direct attacks?" I remembered how his attacks had done very little against Ryptcore in the half-blood village, but I didn't expect that to pertain to his whole army. That would just be too ridiculous.
"Yeah. Just, they're tough."
And there were a damn lot of them.
Lei was still standing nearby, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, and I had to shoot a few more youkai before they grabbed her. It was getting pretty annoying having to protect her.
Goku beat down several more, splattering blood and brains all over the pavement, "Lei, run!"
She stood there quivering.
A huge youkai lunged at her, claws spread wide, ready to tear her right down the middle. I fired at him several times, but the pain didn't register, and he didn't stop his onslaught. That was it for her, I figured. She was going to die. I tried to block out the guilt that was already mounting inside me.
I never asked her to tag along. I knew it was a bad idea from the beginning.
With a scream, Goku threw himself at Lei, knocking her to the ground, just in time, and the youkai's razor claws tore through his arm. I watched a sudden splash of blood explode from his shoulder and start seeping down his sleeve.
He scrambled up, holding his arm and cursing.
The youkai kept attacking.
I stopped what I was doing to turn and unload all the rounds I had left into the big youkai's head, and when it was over, I didn't even recognize his skull anymore, it was just a mass of shattered bone and mutilated brain tissue. His body slumped to the ground, crimson pooling around it.
The others didn't hesitate, even at the sight of their fallen comrade, they just creeped in, closer and closer to me. I moved over next to Goku, who was standing over Lei, clutching his bo in one hand, the other arm handing limply at his side. From the look on his face, I could see that he was in a lot of pain.
"G-Goku-san…" Lei gasped, from her place on the ground.
"Nn. Ya' gotta' run…"
"Are you okay?" I asked lowly. God forbid he should be out of commission completely. I wasn't sure I could kill the thirty-whatever that were left on my own.
"Yeah. I can still fight."
That was good, because the DethBreed wasn't giving us a moment of peace. They were closing in again, reaching for me with filthy, bloody paws. Long nails snagged at my robe, and I whipped around to pistol whip the bastard, hurriedly began to reload my gun again. This time I barely finished in time before one grabbed me. I put a bullet between the motherfucker's eyes.
Now that he was injured, Goku was having a pretty hard time beating them back. Lei was on her feet again, and he was doing his best to stay between them and her, but each swipe they took at him was a little closer. His clothes were getting torn, and I saw patches of blood on his shirt and jeans.
The whole situation was starting to make me really angry, and suddenly I wished I had a close-combat weapon to complement my gun.
Nails raked across my back, barely cutting into my skin.
Furious, I whipped around, firing off another three rounds, and this time, five youkai bastards hit the ground, bleeding.
At least I knew my marksmanship was as good as it had ever been.
Idiotically, I found myself checking up and down the street, looking for something I knew I wasn't going to see.
This would be an ideal time for those assholes to show up.
But they weren't going to.
You're never going to see them again, so get them out of your head.
Goku, Lei and I all clustered together, back to back to back, as the DethBreed circled us, moving in closer and closer. I noticed Lei throwing a few punches and kicks whenever someone got near her, so it seemed as if someone had taught her how to fight, but either way, she was probably only just barely stronger than a normal human, and there was no way she'd be able to defend herself.
I really couldn't be bothered with defending her, personally, and it was frustrating to see how determined Goku was to do it himself. I couldn't stop him though. He always had to do whatever the fuck he wanted, just like the rest of the asshole team.
That team doesn't exist anymore.
I fired a couple of rounds into the stomach of the closest youkai, watched him collapse and begin to bleed out.
There had to be less than thirty left now. Thirteen or fourteen apiece, maybe.
I wondered if Goku could do it, glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. His face was strained and sweating, and he was holding his arm again. It would help a lot if we didn't have to protect Lei.
Still, this just didn't feel right, I thought, as I whirled around, shooting another handful of youkai. They weren't attacking relentlessly, like I thought they would. They were definitely trying to kill us, I knew that from the way they hacked and slashed at my stomach and sides and chest—at any rate, they wouldn't have any qualms about killing us—but they weren't coming down on us ruthlessly. It was like they were just toying with us, like it didn't really matter to them if they lived or died.
The DethBreed…what in the fuck is it really?
One grabbed me by the front of the robe, doing his best to drag me into the thick of them.
I bit back a shout, uttered an obscenity, bashed his nose in with my elbow, kicking and punching my way free, firing off a few more rounds.
Three more were dead. I'd killed six in the last forty-five seconds. That meant I should only have eight or nine left to rid myself of.
I stumbled back toward Goku and Lei, keeping my eyes on the DethBreed soldiers around me, but when I lifted my gaze to look down the street again, my heart stopped beating.
Like wavering, black shadows, even more were appearing, coming down from roofs, stepping around corners, and marching down the road in a single, dark mass of soul-less, unspeaking freaks. Another wave of fifty, just like that. They must have waited until their first batch was almost diminished, and now they'd sent in another.
Could we deal with another fifty?
I already felt bone tired, and my wounds were itching and throbbing, but I knew I had to keep fighting.
"Sanzo." Goku murmured, standing close to me again. He clobbered one with his bo and sharp, blood-stained teeth went flying in all directions. "What should we do?"
The first wave had worn us out. Goku was injured. Lei was still slowing us down. Even if they weren't attacking relentlessly, their sheer numbers might crush us.
"Get that damn girl out of here." I growled.
He turned his wide-eyed, innocent, stupid gaze on me, "Ya' mean…run away?"
"I don't know. Just get her the fuck out of here. She's in the way." To emphasize my point, I killed two more, and there was a small gap in their wall for a brief moment. We only had a small window of opportunity before the new troop arrived, and if Lei hurried, maybe she could get out of this place alive. Not that it was my problem if she made it or not…
Goku seemed to understand. He sprang forward, swinging his bo with both hands, blood rolling off his damaged arm, and made the initial gap bigger. He screamed, "Go on, Lei, get outta' here! Run while ya' can!"
She stood there gaping at him, but this time she looked just slightly defiant. It made me wish that we still had the only useful half-blood in the world with us.
I shook that pathetic thought away at once. The last person I wanted with me right now was that dumb ass.
"I-I can't just leave the two of you here to-"
"Go." I snarled. "We don't have time to babysit you."
"Please, Lei." Goku said, a little more softly. "Ya' gotta' run."
The gap was closing. They were moving to fill it. The other wave of soldiers was approaching.
"God dammit you stupid hanyou!" I grabbed her, a little roughly, under the arm, ushered her toward the gap and gave her a mean push, "You're in our way!"
Even as I was doing so, I had to dodge another attack, and this time, when the nails scraped me, they carved deep into my side.
Our fucking healer isn't around anymore…he's off somewhere being fucking nuts.
Lei finally seemed to get the message. She stumbled a little, righted herself, and ran for the gap. I covered her until she was clear of the clusterfuck of the DethBreed, and she started sprinting down the street, glancing back over her shoulder several times, like she really cared about whether or not she was leaving us behind.
At least now we could focus on what was happening.
The second wave was almost upon us. I readied myself to keep fighting. Took what precious little time I could afford to reload my gun.
And then we were in the middle of it. I lost focus on everything but the battle after that. Youkai were pressed in around me on all sides. I could smell them—their sweat and blood and piss and slobber. I saw their flashing, crazy eyes, felt their hands grasping at me and their claws scraping at me. Sometimes I could see Goku, fighting for all he was worth, with one arm, and sometimes he was completely out of sight, but I kept fighting, knocking them back, punching them silly, and blowing their heads off. Blood and carnage sprayed all around me. There were bodies under my feet. I was smelling and breathing and tasting blood. I was drenched in it. It was hell.
This time, they were relentless. They clawed at me and grabbed at me, and it was all I could do to break free or avoid being torn to pieces. I was barely able to find time to reload my gun, and before long, I found myself fighting without it completely. I swung and kicked and whipped them with my gun, I broke their faces in and went for their eyes. I felt wild myself, and I felt angrier than ever that those other two weren't here.
Not that I needed them to help me. But they were supposed to be here.
I heard Lei screaming over the din of battle, but I couldn't see her, and I couldn't waste time caring. I just had to keep fighting, through the heat and the blood and the pain. Red was dripping down in my eyes, but I didn't know if it was mine or someone else's. The hate in me was unbearable.
Come to think of it, why was I even putting myself through this? I could kill all these bastards in one focused attack, if I wanted to.
With a dark smile curving on my lips, I beat back a few more youkai and began to chant. The words started out softly, slowly almost, but they grew quickly, louder, and faster, each one dropping from my mouth like a black pearl of violence. I stood still, allowing them to surge around me, focusing on the holy words I was speaking until pain and exertion were nothing, and by the time the words 'Makai Tenjyo' rumbled up out of my throat, I felt almost calm again.
Brilliant light filled the air, illuminating the decimated, little town, the sutra flew around me, tearing through youkai after youkai, and in another second, it was all over.
The sutra was resting calmly on my shoulders again, and I was surrounded by dozens and dozens of bloody bodies. Goku was a few yards away, breathing hard and looking surprised.
Lei wasn't far off either. It looked like she's ran part way down the street and had been pursued by more youkai. They were dead just like the rest, and she was crouched there, clutching a large, heavy club, shaking so badly, I thought she might drop it.
Goku sighed, suddenly, "Good call. I was thinkin' we'd never get outta' that."
I looked him over, as inconspicuously as I could manage. He seemed okay, bleeding a little, here and there, but his arm was definitely the worst of it.
I thought I was okay also. My robes were torn and a little bit bloody, but I had held my own at least, and I'd live, even without the goddamn healer.
For a moment, we stood there, letting it sink in that the battle was over, and then I dusted myself off, half expecting to see another wave of them coming down the street, but we were totally alone now. The silence in the air was so intense, it almost seemed to tremble.
"We should get out of this despicable little town while we can." I said at last, spitting a wad of blood out. "There's nothing for us here."
"Right." Goku wiped his nose and then his mouth, and we began to walk toward the outskirts of the town. I noticed he was limping a little bit.
Lei joined us. She too seemed like she was in decent shape, all things considered.
I guess we were lucky.
For a while, none of us spoke. I kept my eyes and ears open for any more attackers as we made our way out of the town, and only once we'd left it half a mile behind us, did Goku and Lei begin talking.
It started with her asking if he was all right.
He sounded cheerful enough when he answered, "Mmhm, I'm okay. Just a little scratch."
"I'm so sorry…"
"What for?"
"You got hurt…because of me."
"'Naw, 'sall right. It ain't your fault."
Never mind that it actually was.
After that, she offered to wrap it for him, and the two of them whined at me for a break, so I eventually gave in, and we took a seat on the side of the road. I kept watch as Lei tended to Goku's injuries.
"Thank-you for protecting me." She murmured, sponging the wound clean.
I glanced at it, saw that it was ragged and inflamed, and the sight made me angry and sick all over again. I lit a cigarette and went back to keeping watch.
"Both of you." She added.
"It's no big deal." He told her, easily.
Personally, I thought it was a big deal, He'd only gotten injured because of her, and in this situation, we couldn't afford to be at anything less than our best.
I snorted, "Hn. You should have just run when I told you to."
I didn't look back at her, but I could hear the guilt in her voice. "Yes. I'm very sorry, Sanzo-san. I-I was just so afraid…"
"If you're going to stay with us, I expect you to listen to me from now on."
"I will. I promise."
"You'd better."
"Don't be mad, Sanzo." Goku interrupted, "It ain't her fault."
"It doesn't matter whose fault it is, Goku. I'm in charge here, and I expect you both to listen to me. Anyone who doesn't like it might as well stay behind, like the others."
He didn't answer, and we were all quiet for a bit longer.
I fell to thinking about the fight we'd had and the burned village we'd seen last night, and I still couldn't figure out what it was exactly that Ryptcore and the DethBreed was playing at. The freaks we'd fought had been so inhuman, and I had gotten the distinct feeling that they were just toying with us. My previous encounters with Ryptcore himself had led me to believe that he was toying with us as well, like it was all just a big joke, or a game. I thought his freedom was supposed to be at stake here. My head for his liberty.
The message he'd left in the village made it clear enough to me that he definitely had it out for me, just as he said he did. I wondered if he had any idea that our team was separated now. If he did, he'd definitely use that to his advantage and attack again soon.
Nervously, I glanced up and down the road again. In the distance, I saw two figures heading in our direction, but I could see easily enough that it was Kougaiji and Dokugakuji, coming back from their scout just in time to be completely useless to me.
Behind me, Lei was speaking again, "Why did you do it, Goku-san? Why did you put yourself in harm's way for my sake?"
"Why not?"
"Because Sanzo-san is right. You could have gotten killed because of me."
"I dunno'. I couldn't just let 'em kill ya', right? That'd be sad. I don't think Gojyo'd like it, and I know I wouldn't. 'Sides, you gotta' find Deshi, remember?"
I thought I heard her sniffle. "I'm in your debt, Goku-san."
"Naw, that's okay. But…we can be friends now. Right?"
She giggled a little. "Yes. Of course we can."
How touching.
Kougaiji and Dokugakuji were almost to us now. They were giving us long, hard looks, and when they were just a few feet away, Dokugokuji asked, "What happened to you kids?"
"We had some flies to swat." I answered stonily.
"The DethBreed?"
"Who else?" I got up, dusting my robes off, "The two of us are moving on now. Anyone who's coming had better be ready to go."
Kougaiji said calmly, "I don't think you're going that way, Sanzo?"
"And why is that?"
"From what we saw, the shortcut through the pass has been sabotaged. There's a river that cuts between this town and the next. If we take the shortcut, there's a bridge that leads across. The long route goes around it until we reach a point where it's shallow enough to ford, if I remember correctly."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"The bridge has been destroyed, probably by Ryptcore. It's impossible to take the pass now."
With a snort, I began to walk, "We'll have to take the long route then."
"I think that's a bad idea."
"I didn't ask you what you think."
"Sanzo." He was walking almost right next to me. To think, waltzing down the road, shoulder to shoulder with my sworn enemy. How far I'd fallen.
I slanted a glance at him.
"It will take two days to reach the next town if you go the long way—check the map if you don't believe me—and judging from what we saw in that town, I'd say Ryptcore is closing in. It's not safe to be caught in the middle of nowhere with him prowling around, especially not when the two of you are injured."
"Bleh." Goku chimed in, "We ain't hurt too bad."
"Then think of the girl." He retorted. "She'll be killed for sure."
After that, Goku was quiet.
Kougaiji went on, "Think about it, Sanzo. He'll be able to surround you out there, easily. It will be the perfect time for him to attack."
"It's none of your concern."
"It is. I want Ryptcore dead as much as you do."
"Then what do you suggest." I sneered. "Wait around until someone rebuilds the bridge?"
"Go back to the previous town. With any luck, the rest of your team will show up and-"
"I'm not waiting around for those two miscreants."
"We can't beat Ryptcore without them."
"I don't need them."
"You're doing exactly what Ryptcore wants you to do, Sanzo."
At last, I hesitated.
"The way I see it, he expects you to do one of two things. A. Go into the wilderness, where there's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, so he can surround you with as many of his hellish soldiers as he wants, or B. Go back to the town he didn't destroy. At least there you might be able to find some kind of advantage, a good location to fight, maybe, or your other friends, if you're lucky."
I ignored that last part and snapped, "Why exactly do you think he left that town intact? It's obvious he wants me to go there. Either way I'm doing exactly what he wants."
"No. I think Ryptcore will expect you to keep going, to try to make it to the next town. He'll think you don't want to risk getting innocent civilians involved. In the end, no matter what you do, I think the final showdown with him is coming soon, and the only thing you can do is pick where you make your last stand."
I didn't like it, and I especially didn't like hearing it from him. I wanted to keep going, I wanted to think that he was wrong, and that we could make it, but I knew better. I couldn't be stupid, or we'd all get killed.
Slowly, I looked down the road, back the way we'd come, and I could still see the middle town as a speck in the distance. Was there any chance in hell Hakkai and Gojyo might show up there if we went back?
I know better than to count on that.
"There's more to this than pride." Kougaiji murmured.
I snapped, "Don't you think I know that? I don't need advice from you, Kougaiji—you're along for the ride because you wanted to come, not because I invited you—so keep your opinions to yourself. Goku. Let's go." I turned and started to march back down the road, begrudgingly.
Goku came trotting after me. "Where're we goin'? Back?"
"That fight put us behind schedule. We'll go there, spend the night, ditch the girl, and get an early start as soon as your arm is feeling better. If we move quickly enough, and no one slows us down, we won't have to camp out between there and the next town more than once. It's the best we can do."
He didn't answer, and I knew he was nervous. I was nervous too. Ryptcore had really driven us into a corner. I didn't know what he could possibly get out of leaving the middle town intact, other than, if all he wanted was to dick around with us, he might get some sick enjoyment out of watching us pick where he was going to kill us.
He is not going to kill us. I won't let this bullshit be the death of me.
Kougaiji was still close beside me. I growled at him, "What the hell is this DethBreed anyway?"
He seemed surprised, "What do you mean?"
"That army. What is it? They don't seem to be conscious of pain or fear or anything. The officers we've fought were crazy, but at least they had some sense of self."
"I don't really know. They say that the DethBreed is cursed to follow Ryptcore wherever he goes."
"I thought they chose to join him."
"Yes. The choice is theirs to make. However, once they pledge fealty to their general, they can never be released, unless it's by death. I don't know what sort of dark art is involved, if any. All I can say is, Ryptcore would want his officers to half a sense of self so that they can make executive decisions without him. As for the rest…they seem to be little more than slaves."
"Hn."
"But don't be fooled. They don't deserve any pity—they're as heartless and bloodthirsty as he is."
"I don't pity them. I never show pity to my enemies."
He was quiet for the rest of the walk back to the town, and that was fine by me. I was sick of hearing what my enemy had to say.
The others were quiet too, and I got the feeling that everyone was tired more than anything. It took us the rest of the afternoon to walk back into town, and by the time we got there, the sun was setting.
I felt exhausted too, as I turned to watch it sink into the west, and I could barely battle back the feeling of hopelessness, but I couldn't give into those feelings, and I certainly couldn't let them show.
Ryptcore. I'm here, so come and get me if you want.
When he came, I would make him regret the day he was created, and when it was over, I would still be standing.
Of that, I was certain.