Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Fire And Earth ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

FIRE AND EARTH
© June 22, 2005 By Rory V. Pascual


CHAPTER THREE

"You know, Rosebud?" Gojyo commented to the black mare munching on the green grass below him. "I think Sanzo is mellowing up a bit. Can you imagine Sanzo being nice?"

Rosebud snorted in reply as he looked up at Gojyo who was lounging comfortably in the branch of a tree.

"I know what you mean," he laughed. "He's up to something. I'm sure of it! And Master Jiroushin is in on it too." With a sigh, Gojyo declared, "Heralds and Guardsmen! They're all alike! Pointing their fingers and saying, 'We want you! We want you! We want you as a new recruit!' HAH! They're not recruiting me!"

Weeks have passed since the incident with Kougaiji. To his relief, the nasty Herald-trainee was suspended from joining in the parade rehearsals for the Queen's Birthing Day celebration. Actually, the redhead wasn't interested either, that was why he was playing hooky in the woods. But then, he was thankful, nevertheless, for seeing neither hair nor hide of his mortal enemy.

Gojyo was about to continue his lengthy discourse with his horse, when he heard voices not far from him.

"Stay there, Rosebud," he whispered to his trusty mare as he leaped from branch to branch.

Stopping at a small clearing, Gojyo saw two men on horseback. Dressed in peasant garb, they would have looked ordinary enough if it were not for their sinister mien.

"Everything is all set," said one of the men. "My men are going to distract the other Heralds while you get Herald Talia with an arrow."

"This had better work or else Hyakugan Maoh will have your head, Chin Issou," the other man replied. "The mage will not tolerate failure."

"Herald Talia is easy pickings, my friend," the man named Chin Issou declared confidently. "Not like Herald Hakkai."

His companion grinned. "I know what you mean. That price on his head is mighty attractive!"

Saying this, the two men laughed and rode off. When they were gone, Gojyo jumped down from his hiding place.

What am I going to do? he thought frantically. Someone's going to kill Herald Talia! I must tell Sanzo!

Swiftly, he ran through the brush to where he had left Rosebud. Jumping up on the saddle, Gojyo urged the mare to a full gallop, heading straight back to Haven. As he rode through the gates, contradicting thoughts whirled furiously inside his mind.

What am I doing? If I save Herald Talia, some fool Companion might get it into his or her head to choose me. I don't want to get 'Heraldized'! Shaking his head, the redhead mumbled, "Oh never mind! Better that I save her than have her death on my conscience."

As he neared the palace, he saw Goku running to meet him. Seeing the grim look on his friend's face, he already feared the worst.

As Gojyo got down, Goku immediately rounded on him. "It's about time you got here! Where the hell have you been? Jien's here and he's mad at Sanzo! He must have heard about Sanzo's reassignment to our unit and he thinks your oldest brother has been giving you a hard time!"

Gojyo grabbed his friend's tunic and shook him roughly like a rag doll. "I don't care about that! Tell Jien and Sanzo there's going to be an attempt on Herald Talia's life! Where is Herald Talia anyway?"

"She's in the courtyard with Sanzo, Herald Litouten, and some other Heralds. Jien is heading there himself."

At that moment, Kougaiji, who was passing by, overheard what Gojyo said. Grinning slyly, he took off for the courtyard.

"Go on, Goku!" urged Gojyo in earnest. "Tell my brothers that there will be men who will be distracting them. Tell them to guard Herald Talia!"

"What about you?" asked Goku. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find the real assassin!" Gojyo replied. "There's only one place I know where he could hide! Now, go!"

"Be careful, Gojyo!" his friend said to him and he ran back inside the palace. Gojyo, on the other hand, headed for the bell tower.

~~~~~

In the courtyard, Jien saw his brother overseeing the preparations for the palace celebration. A dark scowl formed on his face as he went towards him.

If I find out you've been hurting our baby brother in any way, Sanzo, he said inwardly, dark thoughts filling his mind, you're going to get it from me.

Sanzo was talking to Herald Talia. Herald Litouten was briefing the other Heralds on security procedures. Around them, a number of men were working on the grounds.

Suddenly, Kougaiji past him, shouting, "Get Herald Talia out of there! AMBUSH!"

Startled, the Heralds looked at the trainee curiously, wondering what was going on.

Then, the workmen dropped their tools and pulled out swords from the hay wagon, charging at the Heralds. Soon, swords clashed in the courtyard as the Heralds fought back against their attackers. Kougaiji himself joined in the melee. When Goku arrived, he groaned, seeing Kougaiji and the fight. Not far from him, he saw Sanzo and Jien engaged in a swordfight with four men.

:Herald Sanzo!: Goku Mindcalled in panic. :These men are decoys! Protect Herald Talia!:

But Sanzo didn't hear him. In desperation, Goku pulled out his own sword and jumped into the fray.

~~~~~

Up in the tower, the assassin growled furiously at the sudden intrusion below.

"Never mind!" he muttered with a snicker. "It just speeds up your death!"

The assassin lifted his crossbow, arrow aimed at Herald Talia below.

"Stop right there!" Gojyo shouted as he burst through the door.

The man merely gave him a smug smile. "Too late, Redhead!" he said as he released the arrow.

"Guess again!" the Herald-trainee whispered, a wicked grin on his lips.

Using Fetching, Gojyo raised his hand and reached for the arrow. The arrow wobbled momentarily and, like a boomerang, turned back towards the assassin. With a cry, the man leaped to the side as the arrow embedded itself in the wall, a few inches from his head. Taking his sword, the assassin stood up and lunged at him.

Gojyo brought his sword up in his left hand. With great dexterity, he easily parried his thrusts. Undaunted, the assassin let loose with a volley of sweeps of his blade, driving the redhead back. Before he realized that he was near the edge of the stairway, Gojyo felt himself topple backwards and he tumbled down the stairs. The impact caused a sharp pain to shoot up his injured arm. Gojyo landed at the foot of the stairs, stunned.

"Now, you die!" the assassin declared, jumping from the top of the stairs, sword ready to be driven into his heart.

In anger, Gojyo lifted his broken arm, pointing a finger at him. Devastating heat went up his arm, burning his bandages away, and a ray of white flame shot out of his finger. The flame immediately engulfed the assassin. As he got out of the way, the man dropped at Gojyo's feet, shrieking and writhing in agony. Soon, the sounds and movements ceased, but Gojyo continued to feed fire to the assassin. In a few minutes, the flames died down and nothing was left of the assassin but ashes, which the wind blew away.

"Who is dead now, you bastard?" Gojyo muttered in grim satisfaction as he rubbed his aching arm.

Looking down, Gojyo saw that the head had burned away the bandages on his arm. Removing the bandanna around his forehead, he wrapped it around his arm. As he was doing this, he detected movement in the corner of his eye. Turning, Gojyo saw that it was the assassin's companion from the clearing, the one called Chin Issou.

"YOU!" he cried in recognition.

Seeing he was discovered, Chin Issou escaped down the tower.

"HALT!" Gojyo shouted as he gave chase.

~~~~~

In the courtyard, the attackers all lay dead at the feet of the Heralds. Two Heralds have already escorted Herald Talia away from the scene.

Sanzo's superior, Herald Litouten, went towards Kougaiji and patted him on the shoulder. "Good work, trainee! If it wasn't for you, these two men would have gotten away with bloody murder!"

"I was only doing my duty, sir," Kougaiji said in mock humility, inwardly preening at the praise.

Goku was seething with fury. He nudged at Jien frantically, whispering, "He's lying!"

Jien was about to say something to him when Herald Litouten turned to Sanzo.

"You've made a big mistake about this young man, Sanzo," the Herald remarked strongly. "Someone with such a high sense of duty as this couldn't be a troublemaker. The way I see it, this young man was wrongfully suspended. It must have been your brother who started the fight in the first place."

"But sir, I…" Sanzo stammered, his face flushed with anger.

At that moment, Gojyo stumbled into the courtyard, holding his aching arm. He was frustrated about losing Chin Issou in the marketplace.

"Look who's here!" Herald Litouten declared. "Come, trainee! We were just talking about you!"

Gojyo paused in apprehension, noting the tone in the elder Herald's voice. He slowly approached the group.

"Herald-trainee Gojyo, you are a big disgrace!" Herald Litouten suddenly shouted in his face.

Gojyo felt as if he was struck. I just saved Herald Talia and I'm getting scolded for it?! he thought in disbelief. What the hell is going on?

"You have been nothing but trouble since you started training with us!" the Herald continued. "Not only do you make life difficult for your superiors, you even had the audacity to burn the tail of Herald Jehane's Companion. Now, you miss parade rehearsals for the Queen's Birthing Day!" He gestured towards Kougaiji. "Why don't you be like Herald-trainee Kougaiji here? His sense of duty and honor saved the life of Herald Talia!"

The redhead's mouth dropped open in shock. He risked his life to save the Herald and now Kougaiji was taking all the credit for it?

Herald Litouten then added, "He is worthy of emulating. To show him how much we appreciate his effort, Kougaiji will ride in front of the Herald-trainee contingent. As for you, I'm suspending you until you come to your senses!"

:Thanks for your help, Gojyo!: Kougaiji sneered at him. :I couldn't have done it without you!:

Gojyo looked at his brothers and Goku with despair on his face. In Mindspeech, he cried out to them, :I was the one who saved Herald Talia! Not Kougaiji! It was me!:

The force of his Mindvoice made the three men dizzy momentarily.

Before the tears could fall, Gojyo ran out of the courtyard.

"Gojyo!" Jien called out, raising a hand to his retreating figure.

"Leave him be!" ordered Herald Litouten sternly. "You've coddled your brother long enough!"

Sanzo couldn't take it any longer. "It would be wise of you to keep a civil tongue in your head, sir. The task of disciplining my brother still falls on my shoulders, not yours."

Snorting in disgust, Herald Litouten left together with Kougaiji.

Jien turned to Sanzo in desperation.

:We must leave Gojyo alone for awhile,: Sanzo said softly, although his heart ached to comfort his brother.

:But Sanzo…: Jien was about to argue.

:He's going to be all right,: his brother reassured him. :For now, I must speak with you.: He looked at Goku as well, causing the boy to blush. :You too, Goku. It's very important.:

Goku nodded as he followed the two brothers.

~~~~~

In Sanzo's quarters, Goku finished telling the two Heralds what happened.

"Then, it was Gojyo who really did save Herald Talia's life, not Kougaiji," repeated Jien, wanting to be sure.

"Yes, sir," Goku replied, fidgeting nervously at Sanzo's intense stare. "Those men you fought off were merely decoys. Someone else was to shoot Herald Talia off with an arrow, but I think Gojyo stopped him in time. I tried to Mindcall you, but you were too busy holding those men off. Then, when Kougaiji took all the credit… That's why I was trying to get your attention, to tell you. Really, sir! If I'm a Firestarter like Gojyo, I would have torched Kougaiji right where he was standing, and Herald Litouten along with him!"

"My sentiments exactly." Sanzo gave Goku a rare smile that took the boy's breath away. "Come now, Goku! Stop calling us 'sir' and just use our given names. This is a discussion among friends."

"Yes…" Goku began, but realizing the 'sir' was about to come out of his lips, he grinned, and said, "Yes, Sanzo, Jien!"

"Damn that Litouten! If he were a Mindspeaker, he would have heard Gojyo." Sighing, Sanzo sank into his armchair. "Poor Kappa! But he really brought this upon himself, you know."

Goku and Jien turned to him with bewildered looks on their faces.

"What do you mean?" Jien demanded at once.

Sanzo then told them what Master Jiroushin had revealed to him. When he was through, he could barely stifle his chuckle, seeing the astonishment on their faces.

"Gojyo once told me that he didn't want to become a Herald," Jien suddenly remembered. "I never thought he was serious!"

"He never told me anything," Goku put in. "I only thought he was being mischievous or something. I even defended him a number of times so he won't go on report. All that time, he never wanted to be a Herald. All my efforts were for naught."

"Don't be hard on yourself, Goku," Sanzo reassured him. "Gojyo fooled us all. It's a pity we never listened to him."

"Well, it's too late now," said Jien with a groan. "What are we going to do now?"

"Nothing at the moment," his brother answered. "We have to wait for Hakkai."

"The Empath?" asked Jien, a smile forming on his face. "He's coming home?"

"Actually, he's just crossed the border. I received the message he sent via carrier pigeon," Sanzo revealed. "In fact, I'll be riding out to meet him at midnight on the hill to discuss Gojyo with him."

"Who is this Hakkai?" queried Goku curiously.

"Herald Cho Hakkai is one of the best field operatives the Heraldic Circle ever had," Jien declared proudly, "if not, it's best spy!"

"And definitely its most virtuous," added Sanzo with a smirk.

"Huh?" asked Goku, even more confused.

Jien shot his brother a scolding glare. "Don't mind him, Goku! Sanzo is just envious that Kai has remained the way he is for the past twenty two years of his life…"

"…Pure, unsullied. Curse him for being so pretty!" continued Sanzo for him. Grinning, he looked at Jien. "Well, dear brother! If Hakkai is still in that state when I meet him on the hill tonight, I'm of the mind to ship him off to the nearest monastery or just simply do him…"

Before Sanzo could finish, Jien clamped a hand over his mouth. Looking at Goku, he said sincerely, "I apologize for my brother's behavior. He gets a bit demented when we talk about Hakkai or Gojyo. Especially Kai."

Sanzo pushed Jien's hand away. "Would you mind getting your hand off my mouth! It smells like your Companion!" He paused, noticing the sadness in Goku's golden eyes. He reached up and ruffled the boy's hair. "Are you jealous, Goku?"

Goku started at that question, blushing a deep scarlet. "No, of course not! Why would I be jealous?"

"Don't get me wrong, Goku," Sanzo carefully began. "I love Hakkai, just as much as I love Jien and Gojyo. The problem is I've had a number of romantic interests whom I thought were interested in me. It turned out they were just using me to seduce Hakkai. Let's face it! The conquest of Kai the Celibate has a greater appeal than a quiet, romantic dinner with yours truly."

"Hmmph!" said Jien indignantly. "Maybe you should tell Goku what you do after dinner."

Sanzo glared at his younger brother. "I'll have a private chat with you later, Brother Dear!"

"Do you think he can help us?" queried Goku meekly, noting the dark looks the brothers gave each other.

"Given Hakkai's lofty state of morality," Sanzo said, "if he can't help Gojyo, I don't think anyone can. Kai is known for his impartiality. Given his good sense plus a little Empathy, I'm sure he can reach Gojyo."

"The gods seem to be on our side," Jien remarked. "This thing Gojyo has with Kougaiji and his involvement in stopping those evil men…. He's slowly learning how it feels to be a Herald. You saw how hurt he was when Kougaiji took all the credit. And still, he did not say anything to Litouten."

"I agree," Goku said in turn. "He may not realize it, but he acted like a Herald this morning."

"Aside from that, Hakkai is coming home," added Sanzo. "Well, my friends! Let us indeed hope that the gods are on our side!"

~~~~~

In Companion Field, even the Companions were having a little conference regarding Gojyo.

:So it was indeed Gojyo who saved Herald Talia and not your Chosen,: Goujun asked Kougaiji's Companion, Lirin.

:Yes,: she said in shame. :I had to tell all of you because I am so ashamed of my Chosen's brazen behavior.:

:We understand, Lirin,: Goujun reassured her. :But then, you must try to talk to Kougaiji. I don't like the path that boy seems to be bent on taking.:

Lirin nodded in approval and walked off. When she was gone, Goujun turned to Kenren.

:Hearing what Lirin just told us,: he began, :what do you have to say for yourself now?:

:It was an isolated incident,: Kenren said bluntly. :Nothing more, nothing less.:

Yaone looked at him incredulously. :Gojyo just saved a Herald's life and you call it an isolated incident?:

:That still doesn't change my opinion of him,: Kenren replied stubbornly.

:Be reasonable, Kenren,: Goujun begged earnestly. :The fact that he saw it right to save a Herald shows that he has the potential to become one.:

:The potential, yes, but it will only remain a potential,: said Kenren firmly. As he started to trot off, he snorted, :I don't know why you're forcing me to choose Gojyo. It's my choice, not yours!:

At these words, the Companion left in a huff. Yaone groaned in abject surrender, :I never met a Companion as mule-headed as he. I'd like to push Kenren off a cliff!:

:That's mild,: Goujun remarked in turn. :Actually, the things I had in mind are worse than a mere push off a cliff.:

:Well, I give up on him!: Yaone said finally. :It's up to our Chosen now.:

Goujun had to grudgingly agree. :I only hope they succeed.:

* * * * * * * * * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: If there be errors, gomen. This is another rush type.