[fanfic] - changing part 7/8
A little later than I had originally hoped for, but I blame the cat again - I was so busy snuggling with her in my cosy bed, that I ended up sleeping in till twelve, and still had to get a move on packing for my glorious return to uni on saturday. But anyway, hot off the press, here's chapter 7 for all you wonderfully patient people who've borne with me so far! Concrit encouraged!
Title: Changing
Chapter: 7
Fandom: Saiyuki
Pairings: None for now.
Warnings: Total angstfest, just so you know! Worksafe, with minor swearing and horror.
Previous chapters:
Chapter 6: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/12066.html
Chapter 5: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/12031.html
Chapter 4: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/11696.html
Chapter 3: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/11431.html
Chapter 2: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/11158.html
Chapter 1: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/2007/09/11/
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: Sadly, we are not in the alternate universe where I own Saiyuki. Woe. Story, however, is mine. No stealy! The characters of Bing Zhu, Mr. Wenlong and Cao Shin are mine.
PART 7
The closer he got, the larger Goku could feel the energy plume was becoming. Up ahead, he could see it’s source; a tiny jeweller’s shop, innocent-looking and neat, but he could feel the swirling typhoon of energy around him, and pick out the edges of a malevolent voice over the screech of wrongness circling the building. No doubt about it, Gojyo was here - he could smell his scent over the tang of very wrong magic.
“Goku!” Hakkai sprinted up behind him, followed by Hakuryuu and a boy with sandy-coloured hair. “Do you feel that? “ he cried “Where’s Gojyo?”
“I think he’s inside!” Goku answered. “Who’s this?” he gestured to the other boy.
“I’m Shin, I work here.” The boy gasped, panting for breath. “What’s going on? Is Gojyo in trouble?”
“When is he ever not?”
“Sanzo!” Goku cried, turning to the source of the voice. Gun drawn and positively murderous, Sanzo cut an impressive figure as he scanned the jewellers. “What the hell is all that energy coming from?”
“What energy?” Shin looked between all of them, confusion plastered over his face. “I don’t feel a thing, though I do feel kinda creeped out…”
“It’s youkai energy.” Hakkai informed him, Hakuryuu peeping in agreement. Shin’s face immediately assumed a panicked expression. “What?!? Here? But Mr. Wenlong lives above the shop!”
“We’re going in.” Sanzo commanded, already disappearing down the side alley. “If he’s in there, we’ll find him.”
A sudden, piercing scream rang through the air, stopping all four dead in their tracks; the energy swirl above suddenly imploding and rushing inwards to it’s source. Everything become eerily quiet. Goku strained to hear, but the most he got was a whisper of air.
It was Shin who moved first, pushing past Sanzo with a key to the back door already in his hand. He was lucky Sanzo grabbed him in time.
Without warning, the door shot outwards off it’s hinges, light spilling out into the alleyway in it’s wake. Sanzo raised his gun, the familiar hum of chi and swish of Goku summoning his nyoi-bo reassuringly quick to follow. He pushed away the observation that it sounded bereft without Gojyo’s chain-clanking to finish the crescendo. A single clawed hand curled around the doorframe, a booted foot stepping out over the threshold. Sanzo’s eyes widened. That wasn’t… it couldn’t be…
A curtain of red hair obscured the youkai’s face as he descended the steps to ground level, each footfall deliberate, only turning to face them when he reached the alley floor. Hakkai choked back a gasp. It was Gojyo, but his features were sharper, along with his ears, claws and now slitted pupils. Under his vest-top, Hakkai could see the beginning of a youkai mark, but most shocking were the long fins on his ears, forearms, even his legs, where they had torn through the black fabric of his trousers. On his back, strange protrusions jutted out through his shredded shirt, twitching in the night air. Hakkai could make out gills on his neck in the dim light, and the webbing between his fingers, backlit by the light from the doorway. The light shone through a break in the webbing where he was wearing one of his old rings.
“So glad you could join us.” The ikkou glanced as one to the door, the unfamiliar voice’s owner still out of sight. “Mr. Wenlong!” Shin cried “Are you -”
“SILENCE!” the voice, reedy and aged, cut in. “As you can see, Sanzo-domo, I have a friend of yours just waiting for one of you to make a wrong move.”
“What have you done to him?!” Sanzo shouted forcefully, gun still levelled at the kappa’s heart.
“Oh ho ho!” the disembodied voice echoed out from the room. “I merely provide a service. You see, this young man needed a new limiter rather badly, and of course I wanted to help him.”
Hakkai reacted first. “A new limiter? Impossible. He’s never hed one before…” but even as he said it, Hakkai knew he doubted his own words. Gojyo had, after all, kept this a secret. Who knew what else he had kept from them?
“Hakkai.” Goku said quietly, so Mr. Wenlong couldn’t hear them, “Maybe that’s why he’s been so funny lately?” The truth hit Hakkai like a brick; Gojyo’s youkai side must have been getting stronger - he had been faster in their latest battles, as well as more aware of his enemies’ locations.
Sanzo, unaware of the epiphany occurring behind him, reacted scornfully. “Don’t be an idiot.” He hissed, “The kappa’s too stupid to need a limiter. Besides, he’s a half-breed; the human blood in his veins is his limiter.”
Gojyo twitched.
“Sanzo…” Hakkai whispered. Sanzo nodded. He’d seen it.
“Do you doubt the evidence of your own eyes?” the voice of Mr. Wenlong chimed in amusement. The echo of something said long ago floated back to Sanzo. “I do when my heart tells me otherwise.” He retorted. “He’s our kappa. Give him back.”
“Yeah,” Goku added. “I don’t care what you say, Gojyo wouldn’t hurt us.”
Gojyo twitched again.
“Ah, I’m afraid I’ve been remiss in my duties.” Hakkai sighed. “After all, I did take it upon myself to look after him.” He looked into Gojyo’s eyes. “All of him.”
Twitch.
“No!” Mr. Wenlong cried in rage. “He is mine to control! Hand over the sutra, Sanzo, or I pry it from your shredded remains!” he thrust out a hand, reaching for the connection to the ring. Gojyo flexed into a fighting stance. “Like hell.” Sanzo ground out.
With a cry of barely suppressed rage, Mr. Wenlong launched Gojyo at him, claws and fangs ready to tear into his flesh. Hakkai cried out even as he raised a barrier “Shin! Get down!” Shin dropped, Goku standing above him. Gojyo slammed into the barrier, but instead of falling used it to vault over their heads, landing behind Goku. Instinctively, Goku twirled his nyoi-bo, landing a cutting blow to the wall instead of where Gojyo was.
“Hey! Where’d he -” Goku was cut off by a slash to his face. He barely dodged the following kick, rolling to the side in his surprise and trusting Hakkai to look after Shin.
“There has to be a control point!” Sanzo yelled over the din of shattering masonry. “He needs a link to control Gojyo!”
“You’ll die before you find it!” Mr. Wenlong shrieked, forcing Gojyo into another superb counter-attack. Gojyo screamed in rage and charged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gojyo opened his eyes. It was dark, but at least the pain had gone. He sat up from where he was, sprawled on the… floor? Damn, it really was dark in here… Abruptly, he realised that it was very quiet. No chanting. No Mr. Wenlong. He felt his hand. No pain, but the ring was still there. In a sudden fit of repulsion, he remembered the hole sucking him down. Desperately, he yanked at the ring, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Shit!” he cursed “Now what?” He tried to pick out something, anything in the darkness. Turning his head, he caught a faint red glow in his peripheral vision. Turning fully, he could see it in the distance, hanging there serenely. Gojyo stood a little quickly, feeling dizzy for a moment.
“Wenlong, you bastard.” He ground out, starting to run.
Crossposted to: 1000_miles_west, saiyuki aand saiyukiyaoi
Title: Changing
Chapter: 7
Fandom: Saiyuki
Pairings: None for now.
Warnings: Total angstfest, just so you know! Worksafe, with minor swearing and horror.
Previous chapters:
Chapter 6: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/12066.html
Chapter 5: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/12031.html
Chapter 4: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/11696.html
Chapter 3: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/11431.html
Chapter 2: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/11158.html
Chapter 1: http://purpleicicles.livejournal.com/2007/09/11/
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer: Sadly, we are not in the alternate universe where I own Saiyuki. Woe. Story, however, is mine. No stealy! The characters of Bing Zhu, Mr. Wenlong and Cao Shin are mine.
PART 7
The closer he got, the larger Goku could feel the energy plume was becoming. Up ahead, he could see it’s source; a tiny jeweller’s shop, innocent-looking and neat, but he could feel the swirling typhoon of energy around him, and pick out the edges of a malevolent voice over the screech of wrongness circling the building. No doubt about it, Gojyo was here - he could smell his scent over the tang of very wrong magic.
“Goku!” Hakkai sprinted up behind him, followed by Hakuryuu and a boy with sandy-coloured hair. “Do you feel that? “ he cried “Where’s Gojyo?”
“I think he’s inside!” Goku answered. “Who’s this?” he gestured to the other boy.
“I’m Shin, I work here.” The boy gasped, panting for breath. “What’s going on? Is Gojyo in trouble?”
“When is he ever not?”
“Sanzo!” Goku cried, turning to the source of the voice. Gun drawn and positively murderous, Sanzo cut an impressive figure as he scanned the jewellers. “What the hell is all that energy coming from?”
“What energy?” Shin looked between all of them, confusion plastered over his face. “I don’t feel a thing, though I do feel kinda creeped out…”
“It’s youkai energy.” Hakkai informed him, Hakuryuu peeping in agreement. Shin’s face immediately assumed a panicked expression. “What?!? Here? But Mr. Wenlong lives above the shop!”
“We’re going in.” Sanzo commanded, already disappearing down the side alley. “If he’s in there, we’ll find him.”
A sudden, piercing scream rang through the air, stopping all four dead in their tracks; the energy swirl above suddenly imploding and rushing inwards to it’s source. Everything become eerily quiet. Goku strained to hear, but the most he got was a whisper of air.
It was Shin who moved first, pushing past Sanzo with a key to the back door already in his hand. He was lucky Sanzo grabbed him in time.
Without warning, the door shot outwards off it’s hinges, light spilling out into the alleyway in it’s wake. Sanzo raised his gun, the familiar hum of chi and swish of Goku summoning his nyoi-bo reassuringly quick to follow. He pushed away the observation that it sounded bereft without Gojyo’s chain-clanking to finish the crescendo. A single clawed hand curled around the doorframe, a booted foot stepping out over the threshold. Sanzo’s eyes widened. That wasn’t… it couldn’t be…
A curtain of red hair obscured the youkai’s face as he descended the steps to ground level, each footfall deliberate, only turning to face them when he reached the alley floor. Hakkai choked back a gasp. It was Gojyo, but his features were sharper, along with his ears, claws and now slitted pupils. Under his vest-top, Hakkai could see the beginning of a youkai mark, but most shocking were the long fins on his ears, forearms, even his legs, where they had torn through the black fabric of his trousers. On his back, strange protrusions jutted out through his shredded shirt, twitching in the night air. Hakkai could make out gills on his neck in the dim light, and the webbing between his fingers, backlit by the light from the doorway. The light shone through a break in the webbing where he was wearing one of his old rings.
“So glad you could join us.” The ikkou glanced as one to the door, the unfamiliar voice’s owner still out of sight. “Mr. Wenlong!” Shin cried “Are you -”
“SILENCE!” the voice, reedy and aged, cut in. “As you can see, Sanzo-domo, I have a friend of yours just waiting for one of you to make a wrong move.”
“What have you done to him?!” Sanzo shouted forcefully, gun still levelled at the kappa’s heart.
“Oh ho ho!” the disembodied voice echoed out from the room. “I merely provide a service. You see, this young man needed a new limiter rather badly, and of course I wanted to help him.”
Hakkai reacted first. “A new limiter? Impossible. He’s never hed one before…” but even as he said it, Hakkai knew he doubted his own words. Gojyo had, after all, kept this a secret. Who knew what else he had kept from them?
“Hakkai.” Goku said quietly, so Mr. Wenlong couldn’t hear them, “Maybe that’s why he’s been so funny lately?” The truth hit Hakkai like a brick; Gojyo’s youkai side must have been getting stronger - he had been faster in their latest battles, as well as more aware of his enemies’ locations.
Sanzo, unaware of the epiphany occurring behind him, reacted scornfully. “Don’t be an idiot.” He hissed, “The kappa’s too stupid to need a limiter. Besides, he’s a half-breed; the human blood in his veins is his limiter.”
Gojyo twitched.
“Sanzo…” Hakkai whispered. Sanzo nodded. He’d seen it.
“Do you doubt the evidence of your own eyes?” the voice of Mr. Wenlong chimed in amusement. The echo of something said long ago floated back to Sanzo. “I do when my heart tells me otherwise.” He retorted. “He’s our kappa. Give him back.”
“Yeah,” Goku added. “I don’t care what you say, Gojyo wouldn’t hurt us.”
Gojyo twitched again.
“Ah, I’m afraid I’ve been remiss in my duties.” Hakkai sighed. “After all, I did take it upon myself to look after him.” He looked into Gojyo’s eyes. “All of him.”
Twitch.
“No!” Mr. Wenlong cried in rage. “He is mine to control! Hand over the sutra, Sanzo, or I pry it from your shredded remains!” he thrust out a hand, reaching for the connection to the ring. Gojyo flexed into a fighting stance. “Like hell.” Sanzo ground out.
With a cry of barely suppressed rage, Mr. Wenlong launched Gojyo at him, claws and fangs ready to tear into his flesh. Hakkai cried out even as he raised a barrier “Shin! Get down!” Shin dropped, Goku standing above him. Gojyo slammed into the barrier, but instead of falling used it to vault over their heads, landing behind Goku. Instinctively, Goku twirled his nyoi-bo, landing a cutting blow to the wall instead of where Gojyo was.
“Hey! Where’d he -” Goku was cut off by a slash to his face. He barely dodged the following kick, rolling to the side in his surprise and trusting Hakkai to look after Shin.
“There has to be a control point!” Sanzo yelled over the din of shattering masonry. “He needs a link to control Gojyo!”
“You’ll die before you find it!” Mr. Wenlong shrieked, forcing Gojyo into another superb counter-attack. Gojyo screamed in rage and charged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gojyo opened his eyes. It was dark, but at least the pain had gone. He sat up from where he was, sprawled on the… floor? Damn, it really was dark in here… Abruptly, he realised that it was very quiet. No chanting. No Mr. Wenlong. He felt his hand. No pain, but the ring was still there. In a sudden fit of repulsion, he remembered the hole sucking him down. Desperately, he yanked at the ring, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Shit!” he cursed “Now what?” He tried to pick out something, anything in the darkness. Turning his head, he caught a faint red glow in his peripheral vision. Turning fully, he could see it in the distance, hanging there serenely. Gojyo stood a little quickly, feeling dizzy for a moment.
“Wenlong, you bastard.” He ground out, starting to run.
Crossposted to: 1000_miles_west, saiyuki aand saiyukiyaoi