Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leaving the village that morning had been a bad idea, and Sanzo knew it. He had known it, yet he forced everyone to go anyway. Even after seeing the dark clouds looming west over the mountain pass, and despite Hakkai’s valid concerns, he had told them he was going with or without them. Sometimes they tried his hand and did not follow right away, but not this time. This time, they went along with him for the very same reason Sanzo wanted to leave despite better judgment.

They thought he was weak.

He would prove them wrong. He had to. He always had to. Being the only human in the group was not something Sanzo would allow those bastards to see as a weakness.

Even now, when the wind bit through his cloak and the bitter cold leached through to his icy skin, Sanzo fought to keep his weakness from showing and control his shivering. But fuck, there was no stopping the torrents of chills wracking his body.

He pulled out a cigarette as a hopeful distraction. However, as his numb fingers flicked at the lighter, another strong gust of wind stole the flame. “Gods damn it,” Sanzo cursed under his breath, and he threw the useless lighter into the oblivion of white.

Of course, this earned him another worried glance from Hakkai. The man needed to give it a rest. Sanzo ground his teeth. “Watch the road, damn it.”

“There is no road, Sanzo, only deep snow drifts,” Hakkai said slowly with an eerily practiced calm as they plowed into another mound of snow. There was no forced smile on the man’s tense face, and Sanzo could see his knuckles were white as he gripped Jeep’s steering wheel.

The healer was in a dangerously terse mood, but Sanzo did not care. He was ready to pick a fight with anyone, especially the bastard who rarely rose to the challenge.

But before Sanzo could retort with any snide remarks, a whiny voice piped up from behind, “I’m cold!”

“You said that two minutes ago. Now, shut it before I make the cold the least of your complaints,” Sanzo said. He was also in no mood to be trifled with.

The other irritant in the back seat apparently also felt the need to complain. “We are all freezing our asses off here. We should have stayed in the town until this blasted storm passed. But no! His royal highness decided we had to leave today.”

“You have a death wish, cockroach?” Sanzo gripped his harisen but was halted by the sudden skidding of Jeep’s tires jerking the vehicle sideways. A sharp pain erupted in his side at the abrupt movement, causing the priest to suck in a quick rasp of air he hoped went unnoticed.

Unfortunately, the healer to his right was too astute. As soon as the Jeep was righted, he turned his worried gaze towards Sanzo once again and apologized. “Sorry.”

Sanzo growled in irritation; he did not need the man’s fucking pity. Over the past few days, he had enough of the man fussing over him. “I’m fine, you moron,” he said, still clenching the side of the Jeep with his left hand.

This seemed to get Hakkai back on track with his testy mood. All his false pleasantry dropped, and he stoically concentrated on the path in front of him. But he soon tensed as another thick cumulation of snow caught Jeep’s tires.

This time, there was no sudden movement.

There was no movement at all.

The frigid, snowy air billowing around them was nothing compared to the icy glare Hakkai directed towards Sanzo as Jeep’s tires spun.

“Hmph, I prefer that look on you,” Sanzo said as he hopped out of the Jeep and into the knee‑deep snow.

The others exited the vehicle before Hakuryuu flew to Hakkai and curled up around his neck.

Stomping through the snow, Gojyo approached the monk. “This is just fucking great. As if it wasn’t miserable enough putting up with this snowstorm in the car, now we have to walk through it! Thanks a lot, you shitty monk.”

Standing as nonchalant as he could with his arms folded, Sanzo glared at the storming redhead as he set off towards the white wall of snow. Gods, he hated that half-breed.

Watching the others as they followed behind Gojyo, Sanzo caught the stern look on Hakkai’s face. Hakkai was pissed, but Sanzo knew it had more to do with the man worrying over his goddamn health than his own grueling march ahead.

Walking through the endless blizzard sucked.

Instead of taking the lead as he usually did, Sanzo stayed in the back of the group, trying to walk through what little trail the others left in the thick powder. Unfortunately, it did not help nearly enough. The cold and endless battle of putting one foot in front of the other was sapping his strength, and he felt his legs becoming sluggish. Huffing in frosty gasps of air, the pain in his side grew. However, no one else was slowing, so Sanzo pushed himself to keep pace with his youkai companions.

Once at a narrow pass, a small, insignificant stumble that Sanzo corrected right away had been noticed by the mother hen hovering no more than a couple paces away.

Hakkai called out to the other two. “Hey, I think we should rest here for a minute, you guys. I need to warm my feet.”

’Warm my feet,’ my ass, Sanzo thought. That was the most terribly transparent excuse he had ever heard, but leaning against the stone cliff, he was grateful enough to catch his breath. The snow had let up some, but the wind still howled, wracking another unbidden shiver through the monk’s body.

With the others waiting out of earshot, Hakkai turned towards Sanzo and sighed. “You really should have stayed in town to recover another day.” He shook his head in dismay. “This is ridiculous.”

“We already wasted too much time. If we had left sooner, the pass would have been clear.”

“You were unconscious. How were we supposed to leave?” Hakkai snapped.

“You could have hauled my ass to the back seat of the Jeep to sleep it off. It was just a stab wound.”

“It was not just a stab wound, Sanzo; that youkai’s spear had pierced straight through you!” Hakkai kept his voice low, but he was letting his emotions show. “Forgive me for knowing that camping out in unpredictable weather would be a terrible idea for one’s recovery.”

Sanzo glared heatedly in the silence that followed. He had nothing to say. Hakkai would never understand.

But the fool obviously wanted to understand. Softening his green eyes, Hakkai asked, “Why, Sanzo? Why did you decide to leave and push yourself like this? Is it just a matter of pride?”

Avoiding Hakkai’s intense gaze, Sanzo looked towards the western path and ground his teeth. Pride could be blamed for part of it, but there was more. He never should have been caught by that low‑life’s spear. He should never have been the one to hold up their progress west… not when each day he felt the hands of time wearing down on him. The toll of time wore differently on humans than it did a youkai; and he was reminded of that toll with every constant ache in his body.

Pushing himself away from the support of the cliff, Sanzo said, “We need to keep going; that’s all.”

There was a heavy sigh heard behind him as Sanzo walked away, but Hakkai followed.

Up ahead, the other two where bickering about something inane and starting to get physical. It never mattered what they argued about, so Sanzo did not bother listening.

Sanzo was about to pass them by and forge his own way through the fresh snow when Gojyo shoved Goku hard enough that he stumbled into the monk, knocking them both over into the snow.

Whether it was on purpose or an accident did not matter. He was going to kill him!

Goku apologized quickly and rose to his feet, ready to pull Sanzo up.

Livid, Sanzo ignored the boy’s help and pulled out his gun, ready to shoot the idiot kappa. Gojyo recoiled, but Sanzo stopped himself before pulling the trigger. Even through his anger, he was keenly aware of what a loud noise like a gunshot could cause in a heavily snow-covered pass. Instead, he settled for tackling the bastard and throwing a hard punch to his jaw.

Wrestling in the snowbank, Sanzo guarded against Gojyo’s attempts to attack back. The half‑breed was stronger, but the priest was on top and had gravity on his side.

Suddenly though, Sanzo sensed something, distracting him enough he left an opening for Gojyo to get a punch of his own to the monk’s face, sending him backwards. If his brain had not scrambled by the hit, he may have been able to warn the idiot kappa of his immediate danger.

A massive blur of white landed where Gojyo had been, sending a cloud of snow out around it. Sanzo sputtered, trying to wipe the snow from his eyes and move towards the rumbling snarl attacking his cohort. The second he took to clear his vision had been too long though, and the monster tackled the priest back down to ground before he could see it coming. His hand grappled for his gun out of instinct and Sanzo cursed; shooting was still not an option. Instead, he raised his arm to guard against an oncoming blow. The heavy strike sent a shockwave through Sanzo, but what startled him more than the painful impact, was the icy chill he felt from it. Staring wide at his attacker, he could hardly believe his eyes. He was being attacked by an abominable snowman!

There was nothing Sanzo could do against the twelve-foot, thousand-pound, monster made of solid ice and snow as it pinned him down. Another punch came barreling towards his head, and Sanzo moved his head to the right, dodging it by a hair. However, he could not evade the crushing force of the snow monster’s hands around his neck. Using what little air he had, Sanzo struggled to push the words of his mantra through his strangled throat. The shouts of his other two companions could be heard as black clouds closed in on Sanzo’s vision. He was losing the fight. Unable to press enough words out to finish the mantra, he thought again of using his gun and inwardly cursed. He would not risk everyone else’s safety. It’s just a fucking snowman!

 Then, just as Sanzo was sure his neck would break, the snow monster was hurled off of him by a charging monkey. Hakkai had been close behind Goku and stooped down to help the monk while the other fought. Sanzo coughed and took the hand offered to stand. Shaking off Hakkai’s attempt to support him further, he stood tall and tried not to grimace at the growing pain and dizziness.

Hakkai drew his lips tight as Sanzo wavered a bit, but he seemed convinced enough that he would live. He then rushed over to help Gojyo, who Sanzo could see struggling to sit from where he had been ambushed.

With Hakkai gone, Sanzo let himself sink down to his knees. It was easier than standing. Huffing in the air he still felt deprived of, Sanzo watched as Goku fought the snow creature. The kid slammed his Nyoi Bo into its chest, blasting a hole through it. The snowman did not even react to what should have been a fatal blow, and it turned around to the dumfounded kid and grabbed him by his neck. Lifting Goku as he kicked and thrashed, the monster’s chest started to close as it sucked in snow from around it. Goku sent his staff hurling into the snowman’s neck, hitting it with enough force to cause a resounding crack, but it did no more damage than knock the packed snow off the icy center of its head.

There, Sanzo saw the same thing Goku did inside the clear ice. A talisman.

The abominable snowman was a shikigami.

 Goku grinned and was about to send his weapon straight through the snowman’s head to destroy the talisman, but the shikigami spun around and flung the kid so far down the path, Sanzo could not see where he landed.

Then, the snowman lunged towards Hakkai, who was using his chi to heal Gojyo and unaware of the impending attack. Grabbed from behind, Hakkai was tossed overhead and slammed down into the snow behind the creature. Sanzo could hear the strangled cry from Hakkai as the shikigami held him down by the throat.

Hakkai was in trouble. He was not using his chi to fight back, and Sanzo knew it was because of the risk a large blast could mean to the precarious snow in the steep pass.

“Damn it!” Sanzo cursed. He had to do something, but he was too weak to fight against that thing. The scripture was also useless against a shikigami.

Hakkai struggled under the snowman’s grasp until the creature picked him up and slammed him into the rocky cliff. Sanzo watched in horror as Hakkai let out a harrowing cry and went limp while the shikigami still pressed him into the wall with a bone crushing force.

“Fuck it,” Sanzo said. There was no other option at this point. He brought out his gun and aimed for the talisman. Bracing himself for the thunderous crack of the firearm’s shot, he pulled the trigger.

The shot went straight through the snow monster’s head and hit the talisman straight on.

Crumpling into a pile of ice and snow, the shikigami fell.

Unfortunately, Sanzo felt no relief at seeing his companion freed as the resounding echo of the shot rang through the pass and began to dislodge the surrounding snow. The rumble of the oncoming avalanche brought Sanzo’s immediate attention towards the safety of the group. Goku was still nowhere to be seen and Hakkai was by the cliff, where the danger from being swept away was lessened. However, Gojyo was close to the edge of the drop off.

Idiot Kappa!

Sanzo cursed through many expletives as he fought against the deep snow and raced over to bring the half-breed away from the edge. But he was too late to help. The wall of tumbling snow plowed into him just as he clasped Gojyo hand.

Chapter Text

The first thing Gojyo saw when he opened his eyes was a wall of white.

Gods, he was so sick of the color white already. There seemed to be no end to it; it was everywhere, coating everything and erasing everything in its nothingness.

Well, he was not going to let it erase him! Shaking his head, Gojyo brushed the snow away from his eyes, ridding himself of the blinding white. He was covered in the shitty stuff, but as soon as he moved to climb out of if it, he was abruptly halted by a sharp pain from his leg.

“Fuck!” Gojyo groaned and lay back, letting the wave of agony pass. His leg was definitely broken, but he had to see how bad. When he was able to move again, he gingerly sat up, careful not to move his right leg. The pain was excruciating, and Gojyo was only barely able to uncover himself from the insufferable snow before he had to stop and breath. Wiping the snow from his leg he began to see red taking over the white. Blood. That did not bode well. Cleaning his leg off enough to finally see it, Gojyo found his shin bone sticking out at an awkward angle above his knee.

The sight almost made him want to puke and cry. He had never seen a break that bad, and he had no idea what to do. But he was a man; he would not shed tears over a dumb, fucking leg. Instead, he grit his teeth and sniffled away the stinging in his eyes. Gods, it hurt!

Ok, pull yourself together, Gojyo told himself and looked back at the fracture. It was still bleeding sluggishly. That needed to be taken care of; he needed Hakkai.

Where was the man? Gojyo turned his head to look around, seeing piles of disrupted snow and several upturned trees down the side of the mountain edge he was perched on.

And then he remembered – he had been in an avalanche!

Suddenly, fear clenched Gojyo’s heart, and he looked around frantically for his friend. “Hakkai?”

Was Hakkai even anywhere close to him? Did he tumble down the mountain further, or get taken out by a tree or a rock? Was he buried deep in the snow somewhere?

Gods, where was he even? He looked to his left to find there was a steady slope down about fifty feet to a flatter area barely seen through the steadily falling snow. Gojyo seemed to have landed on a narrow shelf that stopped him from descending further. To his right, he looked up to see a short cliff face of about twenty feet and then more trees and sloping mountain further up.

It took him a second to realize through all the snow, and then Gojyo jumped slightly at the unexpected figure slumped at the top of the cliff, hung around a tree, a patch of blond coated in a layer of white.

“Sanzo,” Gojyo whispered to himself, and then louder he called out, “Sanzo!”

The priest did not stir, and Gojyo grimaced. With the amount of blood covering his face, it was no wonder.

Well fuck. The stinking monk better not be dead.

“Sanzo! Enough beauty-sleep. You better wake up right now!”

Nothing.

Gojyo groaned. This was just great, just fucking great!

Frustrated, Gojyo balled up some snow and threw it at the monk, hitting his shoulder. The man still looked dead. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Gojyo fought the fear building and replaced it with rage. Damn that stupid monk for getting us stuck out here and dying on us! He balled up another snowball and threw it right in Sanzo’s face.

The snowball landed hard enough Gojyo saw the impact jostle the monk’s head, and finally, he stirred. Sanzo groaned but he stilled once again.

“Ugh, wake up, you shitty monk!” Gojyo yelled while throwing another snowball into Sanzo’s face.

That seemed to finally have the desired effect, and Sanzo groaned again; this time, stirring enough he opened his eyes slightly, and cursed at the half-breed. “Do that again and I’ll blow your brains out.”

Gojyo tensed. The monk’s threat was barely audible, and he slurred his words. Whatever he hit his head on to cause the bleeding must have knocked his brains pretty good. “Hey, uh, can you get the fuck down here? I’m kinda… stuck.”

Sanzo’s eyes glanced towards the hanyou, and he made a weak sneer. “Hmm,” was the extent of the acknowledgment he gave before bringing his arms up to push away from the tree trunk holding him.

Gojyo could see it even from this distance, the look he knew all too well from Sanzo when he schooled his features and pushed himself past what most humans were capable of. There was a sting of pity he felt for the monk when his hand slipped from under his weight, and he crumpled around the tree again. He could see the pain on Sanzo’s face even if he tried to hide it. The monk was more transparent than he thought he was.

Another attempt was made, and this time Sanzo was successful in sliding down from the tree to a precarious foothold below it. He held on to the tree above him now and rested his head against his arm for a moment. The cloak’s hood Sanzo had been wearing must have slipped down sometime in the avalanche and Gojyo could clearly see the right side of his golden hair was stained with red.

After a few seconds had gone by, Sanzo growled as he looked down to find his way off the cliff. Fortunately, there were plenty of handholds and footholds Gojyo could see even through the snow; unfortunately, Sanzo was having trouble using them. He lowered himself down another step but lost his footing on a more sloped rock and fell backwards the rest of the way.

“Fuck! Sanzo?” Gojyo hoped the deep snowbank the monk fell into cushioned his fall enough.

“Fuck,” Sanzo said weakly after a minute.

At least he was still conscious.

Sighing, Gojyo leaned back on his arms. He was starting to feel a bit woozy himself. “You coming or what, monk?” There was still the urgent matter of getting his leg in order.

“Hmm.”

Gojyo recognized the response. Sanzo was not a man of many words, so you had to pick up on the inflections and tones of his grunts and ‘hmm’s. This one meant “Yeah, I’m coming, but I’m taking my own sweet time about it, so shut up.”

Another minute went by before Gojyo could hear rustling from the snowbank that was several feet away. Sanzo pulled himself up and was now sitting with a tight frown on his face. He looked more ghoulish than normal with his face half covered in blood, and he looked even more pale than usual too – which was saying something. The sluggishly bleeding gash was at his hairline above his right eye which drooped more than the left one.

Gods, it must have been a gnarly blow.

With the monk still looking spaced out, Gojyo goaded him on. “Hey, earth to Sanzo, I’m still over here with a fucking broken leg.”

“You are one hell of an impatient bastard.” Sanzo growled as he pushed himself up to stand. The few steps he took to get to Gojyo were unstable as hell, but he made it. Crouching down at his side, he looked at Gojyo’s fucked up leg and ground his teeth. “You’re going to have fun getting down this mountain with that,” he said as he stood up again and started walking away.

“What the hell, man! You are just going to leave me here?”

Sanzo started crawling down the slope along a tree that had fell, providing opportune support.

“Fuck you, Sanzo-sama!” That damn bastard. How could he be so cold and heartless? Gojyo fumed.

“I should leave you here. You are nothing but a pain in the ass,” Sanzo said, and Gojyo heard a tree branch break, followed by a grunt and a hiss from the monk. “But, Hakkai won’t leave without you, and he has the damn Jeep.” The last word was said with force, and another tree branch was broken. Gojyo could not see what the hell Sanzo was doing since he had gone too far down the slope, but he heard Sanzo curse and groan. “Gods, damn it.”

There was nothing Gojyo could hear down the slope for a minute, so he checked in with the monk. “Sanzo?”

“Hmm… Gods you’re irritating.” Sanzo sighed, and then started rustling again.

When Gojyo finally saw the splash of gold hair from the monk coming back up the slope, he sighed, letting out a breath he did not know he had been holding.

Sanzo approached holding two shorter green branches and one long sturdy one. Kneeling again by Gojyo, he set the branches down and studied the fracture in his leg. “Hand me your knife,” Sanzo said with his no-nonsense, commanding voice. When Gojyo complied, Sanzo cut the bottom hem of his cloak into three long strips.

“This is going to hurt like a bitch,” Sanzo said right before wrapping one of the strips tightly around the exposed bone to staunch the bleeding.

‘Hurt like a bitch’ it did. Gojyo howled with pain as the cloth was forcefully tied into a firm bind around his throbbing wound. “Fucking hell!” Gojyo exclaimed as soon as he could breathe again.

The wry smile on the monk’s face made Gojyo want to punch his prissy lights out. Fucking sadist.

When Sanzo set the branches to splint Gojyo’s leg and wrapped them in place, it still hurt but not nearly as bad. After the wave of agony passed, Gojyo let himself fall backwards into the snow. He stayed there, gathering his wits about him while Sanzo stared down at him.

“Get up. We need to go,” Sanzo said as he stood.

Fuck. Gojyo sighed. He did not want to move, let alone start a laborious trek down a mountain with a broken leg. “You suck.”

“Hmph,” Sanzo said as he held out his hand. The stoic lines of his lips told the meaning of that ‘hmph.’ Sanzo knew how much it was going to suck to start moving too.

Gojyo reluctantly took the priest’s hand and pulled himself up to stand.

Gods, it hurt! Just the simple weight of his foot pulled on his broken shin, and it shifted slightly, pulsing an epic amount of pain up Gojyo’s leg. He groaned and leaned on Sanzo.

The monk stiffened but did not protest as Gojyo rested on his shoulder. Gojyo hated being so vulnerable around Sanzo, but he just had to swallow it. There was nothing he could do; his body shook with the effort it took just to stay upright.

Sanzo did not wait long for Gojyo to recover and moved to his left, giving him the longer branch to use as a staff and taking his arm around his shoulder.

Leave it to Sanzo to give the guy with the broken leg the walking stick to do half the work of keeping upright himself. The monk was a piece of work. It made sense, yes, but Gojyo could also see the deeper meaning too: ‘hold your own damn self up.’ Not that he ever cared about the meaning behind people’s shit, but he could see it, nonetheless. He was keen on reading people, although he acted oblivious usually. It was just easier not to deal with it that way.

But honestly, Gojyo was surprised Sanzo was also giving him support to walk. He half expected the monk to just give him the staff and make him limp all the way down the mountain on his own.

“Come on,” Sanzo said resolutely as he pulled Gojyo forward.

Walking really fucking sucked. Gojyo tried to keep from moving his right leg at all, but that just was not possible. They made their way slowly towards the tree that led down the slope. The snow was thick, and difficult to walk through. Gojyo hopped with each stride, balancing his weight between the staff and Sanzo when he moved his left leg up and over the knee-deep snow.

Keeping to the side of the tree, Sanzo led their way down the mountain. He had been able to correct a few jostling missteps, but one misstep took Gojyo’s foot out from under him with enough speed to throw them both off balance.

All the snow in China would not be enough to cushion Gojyo’s landing at the bottom of the slope, and he cried in pain.

“Shut it, Kappa. Was one avalanche not enough for you?”

Gojyo barely heard the dry remark from the monk, but not just because he could hardly hear above the rushing of blood to his ears; Sanzo’s tone was uncharacteristically quiet for sounding pissed. He had been too preoccupied with his own survival and agony to notice where Sanzo had ended up until the sound of dry heaving to his right stole his attention. Sitting as fast as he could manage, Gojyo looked over to find his partner’s eyes glazed over and clutching around his middle. “You ok, man?”

As though he had no patience for ‘stupid questions’, Sanzo’s face deadpanned. “I’m fucking great, dumbass.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound like I cared about your wellbeing, your highness. I just wanted to make sure my means of getting around wasn’t dying on me and leaving me fucking stuck out here.”

The priest glared. “I can always leave you here and tell Hakkai you died.”

“Go to hell.” Gojyo said, lying back into snow’s embrace. If Sanzo was going to act like being tossed down a mountain was no big deal, then far be it from him to show any concern. He had enough of his own pain to worry about.

The snow had stopped, and Gojyo was not sure how long he had been watching the swirling clouds overhead before a hand finally came into view followed by a “lets go.” He grabbed onto the hand and mustered the strength he needed to rise.

After Gojyo recovered from the fresh pain induced from standing, he asked. “Any idea which way to go?”

The response should have been predictable. “West.”

Heading west, the two men painstakingly made their way through the deep snow of the ravine. They plodded along with a fierce determination for almost an hour before Sanzo was decidedly swaying too much under Gojyo’s weight. Each unsteady stride jostled pain up Gojyo’s leg to the point he had to stop. “Hey, man. I need a break,” he said, and then huffed to regain his breath.

“Hmm,” Sanzo replied, stopping by some scattered rocks and lowering the redhead to sit on one.

That was oddly congenial of the monk. Gojyo watched with concern as Sanzo took a seat on one of the rocks opposite him.

Closing his eyes, the priest swayed some more and sucked in air. At least it seemed the bleeding at his temple had stopped, but the dried blood covering almost half his face still made for a ghastly sight. The arm Sanzo held around his abs, drew Gojyo’s newest concern. He had no idea if the monk reopened his half-healed wound, the dark cloak and the low light of dusk would hide any trace of blood.

Couldn’t ask the son of a bitch either, Gojyo thought bitterly.

Gojyo waited until the throbbing in his leg eased a bit and Sanzo looked a little bit recovered before asking, “Think we will find any shelter before nightfall?”

Sanzo snorted dryly. “No.”

Even if Sanzo tended to be too pessimistic, Gojyo grudgingly had to agree on his synopsis.

A long sigh blew past Sanzo’s lips. “It will be dark soon, so we need to start moving,” he said as he moved to stand. A sharp grimace broke his stoic frown, but he continued toward Gojyo. Just as he was about reach him though, the damn bastard wavered then dropped to the snow on his hands and knees.

Gojyo was close enough he offered a hand to the shaking monk. “Gods you’re fucked up,” he said with sympathy.

“Shut up,” Sanzo said as he stood up on his own, brushing Gojyo’s hand aside.

With a lack of offered assistance from Sanzo this time, Gojyo also stood on his own. With the monk’s waiting shoulder nearby, Gojyo leaned over to take hold and was embraced in kind. Using someone in Sanzo’s condition as a crutch was something Gojyo was loath to do, but he had no way of getting around in the snow otherwise.

The next stretch was more arduous as they pushed forward. Gojyo had to lean more on Sanzo, and he felt Sanzo also have to lean on him quite a bit.

The light from the sun was almost completely gone, and the bitter cold began to seep deep into Gojyo’s bones. He was glad to have the warmth of another body close by, but even with his own hot‑blooded nature and an extra body, it was still stupid cold.

 And that meant it had to be ridiculously stupid cold for Sanzo – which the other’s lithe frame shuddering violently beneath his arm confirmed.

Gojyo scanned the area for somewhere to hole up for the night. They may just have to settle for staying underneath one of the large evergreens scattering their path.

A sudden loss of support jolted Gojyo’s train of thought and leg. “Damn it!” he cursed, clutching above the break and twisting to land his fall on his butt. It took him a moment to wrench his eyes open again after the fall – only to find Sanzo lying face first in the snow.

“Sanzo!” He scooted closer to tap on his head. “Damn you! Get up! This is no time to quit on me.”

The monk moaned but otherwise did not stir.

Fuck! Gojyo frantically looked around for someplace to use for shelter nearby. Most of the trees around them were not evergreens, and the ones that were, were pretty scrawny. The cliffside to their left may have an outcropping of rocks though. Squinting his eyes, he saw a suspiciously dark shadowing in the rocks.

Gojyo dopped his jaw. There was a flipping, fucking cave only a hundred yards from him. “No fucking way.” That shit just did not happen in real life. Nobody found caves in the middle of nowhere just when they needed shelter. But there it was, like the Merciful Goddess herself planted it there for them.

Well, he was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he would take it.

Problem was getting there.

He nudged the bastard monk’s head again. “Oi, Sanzo, come on.”

This time, Sanzo groaned and began to push himself up onto his elbows. He stared for a moment at Gojyo, as though confused as to why he was there.

“You fainted, sissy monk.” Before Sanzo could respond with more than a glower Gojyo told him, “I found a cave we can stay in for the night.”

Sanzo rolled his eyes. “Very funny,” he said, voice deep and scathing.

At this, Gojyo beamed. “I did too. Look over there.” He indicated towards the cave, relishing the opportunity to prove the great Sanzo wrong.

“Fucking hell. What in the gods’ names is a cave doing right here?” Sanzo whispered to himself.

“Don’t know, but I’d like to get in there as soon as possible. This wind is going to freeze me solid.”

Slowly, Sanzo pushed himself up on his shaking arms. He stopped halfway, trembling and panting from the exertion. “Fuck.”

For a moment, Gojyo thought the monk was going to fall back into the snow, but he somehow made it up and walked over to offer his assistance. Gojyo gladly took it, but he tried to mostly use his walking stick. Once standing, his eyes were quickly drawn to the place in the snow where Sanzo had fell. “Sanzo…”

Sanzo followed the redhead’s gaze then looked away from the stain of blood. “I’ll take care of it in the cave. Let’s go.”

He wanted to complain, but Gojyo knew it would not change anything, so he followed the monk’s lead.

Once they were finally in the shelter of the cave, Sanzo unceremoniously deposited Gojyo on an outcropping of rocks and then all but collapsed on the cavern floor. Groaning, the priest wrapped his arm around his middle.

“Oi, how about taking care of that wound now?” Gojyo prompted as he checked his own injury. The cloth around his leg to stem the bleeding was soaked through, but the splints seemed to be holding at least. Still hurt like a motherfucker though, and just looking at the exposed bone made him want to hurl.

With no response from the monk, Gojyo looked over. He had passed out again.

Damn. Passing out that much with a head injury like that is not a good sign.

Gojyo groaned before gathering himself to move towards the monk to tend to his wound. Looking at his knife, he grumbled to himself about cutting the hem of his cloak. They really had little cloth to spare in this frigid cold, and it was a nice cloak too. He bought it after his last one had been worn through in too many places. This one was a nice, thick, warm wool and a sad thing to ruin for bandages.

Pressing on the monk’s shoulder, Gojyo made sure he was fully unconscious before removing the man’s cloak, or else he may end up with gun in his face and a bullet in his brain. Sure enough, Sanzo was as unmoving as a sack of potatoes. He unwrapped the monk from his cloak and grimaced at the sight of red soaking through the priest’s robes down to the hem.

“Bloody hell, Sanzo. Why’d you not take care of this sooner?”

Gojyo gingerly removed the priest’s robe and rose the black shirt up to expose the wound. Gasping, he involuntarily drew back when he saw the stark blotching of black and purple spread across the priest’s chest. “Good gods.” There had to be several broken ribs for there to be so much bruising. It must have been from the impact with that tree he found Sanzo wrapped around.

He felt like a shit bag for not knowing. The thought of how much extra pain he would have caused the monk when he had to lean on him made him feel sick.

Even though he was unsure of what he would do about broken ribs, Gojyo went ahead and began palpating to check where the breaks were. Pretty much immediately he found the first break, which in turn, elicited a cry of pain from the monk.

Sanzo blinked at the redhead feeling him up. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I was going to dress your wound,” Gojyo said flatly and held up the strip of cloth he had cut for emphasis. “Imagine my surprise to find you have a billion broken ribs too.” He scowled at the monk.

“I didn’t ask for your help.”

“No shit. You never ask for help.” Gojyo reached out his hand. “But I’m going to help you anyway.”

Sanzo frowned but grabbed Gojyo’s hand to pull himself up. As soon as he made it up to sit, the monk cursed and grabbed around chest.

“This is going to hurt like a bitch,” Gojyo said, repeating Sanzo’s line from earlier.

Just as Sanzo’s unamused frown deepened, Gojyo wrapped the cloth around his wound, and the monk contorted his face in a grimace from the pain. It did not take Gojyo long to secure the dressing, but Sanzo looked ready to collapse again.

“Hey, you don’t think you have any internal bleeding, do you?”

Sanzo started putting his clothes back in order. “How would I know?”

“Right. Well, just don’t die on me.”

Once he was fully dressed again, Sanzo sat shivering, starring out at the mouth of the cave. He looked badly in need of a smoke.

Which did not sound like a bad idea at all. Gojyo pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. Knowing the monk had no more cigarettes of his own, it was predictable that the monk would look over and stare hatefully at Gojyo. He intended to share, but it was something of a guilty pleasure for Gojyo to see the fire in those smoldering purple eyes the monk had. He grinned slyly and held out his pack for Sanzo to take one of the cigarettes sticking out.

The shitty bastard sneered like he was picking up someone’s smelly socks as he took Gojyo’s kind offering. “You got a light?”

“Yep. I didn’t throw mine out of the Jeep,” the redhead retorted as he offered his light.

 They sat for a minute, smoking and looking out into the night. It was fully nighttime, but the reflected moonlight kept the landscape illuminated in a soft glow. The snow may or may not have been still falling; it was impossible to tell since the wind had become so fierce, blowing surges of snow across the opening of the cave.

Having reached the end of his cigarette, Sanzo put it out on the ground and pushed himself up to stand. “We’re going to need firewood,” he said.

“You can’t seriously be thinking of going out in that are you? You’ll turn into a priest-sicle in seconds.”

“I don’t intend on freezing to death overnight without a fire either. I’ll be fine.”

“Like hell you will, not with those injuries.”

“What the hell are you complaining about? You want to freeze your ass off in here all night?” Sanzo turned his threatening glare on Gojyo.

“I’m not complaining.” Gojyo waved his hand dismissively and looked away. “Go on. Go out there and pass out in the snow somewhere and freeze to death. I don’t care.”

“I wasn’t waiting on your permission, but thanks anyway,” the monk grumbled and walked out into the howling wind.

If only I could have gone out there for wood instead of the monk. Gojyo thought about it, but there really was no way. Even if he could hobble into the deep snow and ignore the pain in his leg, he would not be able to carry anything back. This whole fucking situation sucked balls. Gojyo really was worried Sanzo would not make it back to the cave.

Gojyo waited in the cold darkness, listening to the screaming storm outside. Wrapping his cloak a little tighter around himself, he wondered how the other two were fairing. He hoped they somehow escaped the avalanche and were not dead and buried somewhere. Hopefully, Hakkai and Goku were also traveling west to a point they could converge. Or, with the best of luck, Hakkai would show up at the cave tonight and they would be saved. He really needed Hakkai right now. The fact Gojyo had stopped feeling anything below the fracture in his leg was not good.

After smoking three whole cigarettes since Sanzo went out, Gojyo was about ready to go after him. He was not sure how he would get out there or drag the monk’s likely half-dead body back either, but he needed to do something.

Just as he was about to stand up with his staff, Gojyo saw the monk’s shape coming closer with a large tree branch. Once Sanzo was in the cave, he collapsed in front of Gojyo and moaned. Gojyo went straight to him and turned him on his back. Noting the blue color of his lips, he felt the man’s face for any warmth. “Hey man, you’re frozen!”

Sanzo’s eyes were barely open, but they frowned at Gojyo. “I’snot so cold… now,” he slurred.

Well, shit. “You know that’s a bad sign, right? It’s cold as balls right now.”

There seemed to be a recognition of that fact forming in Sanzo’s weak expression. “Hmm,” was the only credit he was willing to give of Gojyo being right though. Rolling over on one arm, the monk began to push himself upwards.

Gojyo held his tongue but kept a stern eye on the priest. Taking the wood, Sanzo dragged it further inside the cave, further from the reaches of the wind. The redhead followed after him, watching as Sanzo fell to his knees when the branch was where he wanted it. Sanzo nursed an arm around his ribs but started breaking off pieces of timber and setting them in a pile with his other arm.

“Here, I can do that. You got it here, least I can do is make the fire,” Gojyo said as he settled next to the monk and started snapping twigs off the sizable bough. Seeing Sanzo back off to take it easy relieved Gojyo – until he also noticed the man was unnaturally still. Sanzo was not shivering.

The urgency pushed Gojyo forward, and he built up the fire quickly. A small flame had started and Gojyo gently blew on it and fed it more twigs until it became a sturdy size. The warmth felt fantastic! He leveled his hands towards it and grinned… but he seemed to be the only one enjoying it.

Looking up, Gojyo’s grin fell into a straight line when he saw the monk slumped over and unconscious again.

“You have got to be kidding me.” Gojyo scooted closer to the priest and lowered him closer to the fire. Sanzo’s breathing had become shallower and labored. “Fuck me. Guess it’s good you are unconscious for this.” Starting to remove the man’s clothes, he added, “At least one of us is.”

There was only one thing he knew to do for someone who was hypothermic, and it was not going to be pleasant. Gojyo stripped the monk down to his underwear (he was definitely not touching those) and kept him on top of the layers of fabric. His skin was ice cold. Gojyo quickly followed suit and stripped, eyeing the soaked bandage and the rise and fall of Sanzo’s chest.

It was unfortunate Sanzo did not eat more. Gojyo had noticed for a while how the monk would sometimes only take a coffee in the morning, or only grab a few bites from the shared food he and Goku fought over. It had not concerned him until now, seeing the man so thin. Sanzo would have had more protection against this gods awful cold if he had more fat instead of just the lean muscle he possessed.

Brrrr! The cold nipped at Gojyo’s bare backside, and he shivered. Grabbing his cloak to cover them, he wrapped himself around the priest as much as possible. Youkai body temperature normally ran hotter than humans. Though even for a half youkai, the contact with Sanzo felt like hugging ice cube. Ironic, the monk has always been an icy son-of-a-bitch. At least he had plenty of body heat to give.

He prayed it would be enough.

After a while, Gojyo relaxed into his embrace with the monk as he kept watch on the fire. He seemed to have warmed quite a bit, but he had not woken up yet. It was almost nice. Just having a moment of quiet next to someone. Growing up with so little, Gojyo craved touch. One of the best parts of sleeping with a woman was holding them afterwards, waking up in their arms the next morning.

The fire was getting low.

Gojyo grabbed for a larger piece of wood he broke off of the bough and reached over Sanzo to place it on the fire. Snuggling back up to the priest, Gojyo rested his face next to Sanzo’s hair and sighed. He had such a nice smell. Oddly like sunshine underneath the heady smell of smoke. If only Sanzo was not so much of a bastard; Gojyo would have liked being close like this more often.

Sleep never came for Gojyo; the pain in his leg was too intense for that. As was Sanzo’s restlessness. Whatever was plaguing his unconsciousness, it was terrible enough that he would sometimes yell and thrash around.

Gojyo suspected it was the same dream that violently woke him on rainy nights.

Eventually, as the light of the sun started to appear, Sanzo woke. Gojyo had been watching the gently falling snow, but he brought his attention towards to the monk when he heard him moan. The priest’s eyes fluttered open with a momentarily unbridled look of pain before veiling over into something unreadable.

And then there was an obvious look of loathing on the monk as he realized his predicament. “You have a death wish, cockroach?” he asked, voice gravely and weak. Sliding his body away from Gojyo, he tried to clear his throat but ended up in a coughing fit. Which could not bode well with how many broken ribs he had.

Gojyo hovered and watched the man take in one shuddering breath after another only to have it stolen again in a hacking cough. Finally, Sanzo managed to pull in a few weak gasps and groaned as he recovered from the undoubtedly immense pain. Gojyo cringed at the raking sound coming from the man’s chest.

The hand covering Sanzo’s mouth came away red with blood.

They both stared at it for a moment before Sanzo grunted and wiped it off. “Figured as much,” he said, low and harsh in opposition to the expected dread. Shivering, Sanzo laid back down, pain and exhaustion clear on his face.

Gojyo placed some more wood on the fire and then settled down next to Sanzo underneath his cloak. He soaked in what more he could of the allowed contact, listening to the rough sounds of Sanzo’s breathing.

There was a long silence between them as Sanzo endured the necessity of the half-breed’s warmth, and Gojyo simply appreciated being intimately close to the unholy monk. Another cough interrupted, and then Sanzo cleared his throat. “We should set your leg.”

Shuddering at the thought, Gojyo’s face blanched. “Set my leg?”

“We don’t know how long it will be before Hakkai is around to heal it. Any damage we may do trying to set it can be undone by Hakkai later. At this point, leaving it alone is most likely doing more harm than setting it would.”

Gojyo grimaced. “I know. I lost feeling in my foot sometime last night,” he hated to admit it because he knew it would end his moment with the monk.

Sanzo pushed himself up to sit and started dressing. After he was fully clothed, even underneath his cloak Gojyo could see the man shivering.

Moving by Gojyo’s leg, Sanzo handed the now also dressed redhead his cloak and grimaced when he saw the purple coloring of his foot.

The break was in horrible condition. Gojyo cringed away from looking at it, trying not to think about the nightmare of resetting it.

Sanzo unwrapped the bloody bandage from the wound and felt around for the upper part of the bone.

“Ow, ow. Damn. Gods this is going to suck,” Gojyo sucked in a breath around the intense pain already coming from his leg.

“You want me to count?” the priest asked.

“No, damn it, just do it and be quick.”

“You may want to bite onto something.”

Gojyo snatched a stick from their dwindling wood supply and bit onto it.

With a nod of confirmation from Gojyo, Sanzo manipulated the bones into place.

White flashes blazed under Gojyo’s clenched eyelids as the searing pain shot through him. He was not sure how long it actually took, but it felt like forever under the immense agony before Sanzo finished. Apparently, the other bone in his lower leg was also broken and needed setting, so there were two rounds of torture Gojyo had to endure.

He liked to think he handled pain pretty well, but Gojyo soon passed out from another sudden jolt of it.

The next thing he knew, he was waking up to a low rumbling sound coming from outside the cave.

Chapter Text

With the cockroach passed out, Sanzo did not conceal his grimace or moan after setting the second bone. Letting himself lie down between Gojyo and the fire, another damn spasm hit his lungs from the movement, and he began coughing again.

He felt like dying.

But he would not. He had pledged to keep on living, and he would claw his way out of any hell to do it. His splitting head and broken bones be damned; he had to obtain his master’s scripture. He had to make it to India.

However, there was just no way he could move forward right now. India would have to wait. In his current condition, Sanzo could only lie there, next to the man keeping him alive with his warmth. Lying on his back, he drew in one labored breath after another, each one hurting more like hell than the last. Surviving for now until he could do more.

He almost dozed off again when a heavy thudding startled him awake. A set of footfalls came from outside, just yards from the cave.

Sanzo’s heartrate climbed rapidly. The sound outside was moving closer. Readying his gun, he swallowed tightly. Footsteps unhindered by the deep snow crept forward until, finally, Sanzo’s suspicions were confirmed. The shikigami snowman stood at the mouth of the cave and roared.

“Fuck.” Sanzo watched as the monstrous being entered and stalked closer.

To his side, Gojyo stirred, and when the kappa saw the creature, he echoed Sanzo. “Fuck.”

The cold steel of his banishing gun shook in Sanzo’s weak grasp. He could kill the thing – certain his aim was still sharp – but that could bring all the surrounding snow down in another avalanche, trapping them in the cave.

With every approaching step from the snowman, Gojyo visibly tensed. “We are so screwed,” he said while summoning his weapon. He too knew they had no choice but to fight, despite their poor odds.

The snowman lunged, grabbing Gojyo with an uncanny speed for its size. Gojyo thrashed in its grip, choking out a pained yelp as he tried to free himself.

Sanzo brought his arm up to aim at the shikigami, but Gojyo brought his Shakujo around and sliced through the bulky, ice arm holding him. The cockroach fell and Sanzo saw his broken leg bend once he landed, unsetting the break.

Gojyo screamed. Oblivious to anything other than the fresh agony, he did not see the snow‑monster as it grasped him again. Without any hesitation, the shikigami threw him into the wall of the cave with an audible crack. The half-breed sank silently to the ground, unmoving.

The snow-monster’s glowing pair of eyes set on Sanzo next, and Sanzo glared back. This thing would die, even if he had to kill himself in the process. He grabbed for a half smoldering branch from the fire and mustered the strength to stand.

Adrenaline worked wonders when it came to fighting, but it did not clear the waving lines of Sanzo’s concussed vision. When the shikigami lunged for him, he could not judge the location of the striking arm well and did not fully clear the strike as he swerved. The fist clipped his left side, and Sanzo growled as he thrust the burning branch into its arm.

Recoiling its arm, the snowman bellowed. Apparently, it did not like being burned.

Sanzo desperately searched the coals of the dying fire, but there was nothing left he could use without burning himself.

Suddenly, a wave of dizziness overtook him, and Sanzo fell to his knees as the pain from the impact to his ribs shot through him. Doubled over, Sanzo choked up a handful of blood and grimaced.

He was out of options. In Sanzo’s darkening vision, he saw the shikigami lunging for another attack. Squinting his eyes, he raised his banishing gun, lining it up dead center with the head containing the talisman. Consequences be damned.

Sanzo pulled the trigger.

The icy fist fell into scattering snow inches from Sanzo’s face along with the rest of its body.

Sanzo collapsed and turned to the ceiling of the cave. Sputtering, he felt the blood run down his chin. The pain was intense. But as he struggled to breath, he felt the pain begin to fade. The cold laid claim to his hands and it crept forward, seizing more. Sanzo closed his eyes and listened to the rumble of snow collapsing in front of the cave’s entrance, sealing him inside his tomb.

A whining blast hazily reached Gojyo’s ears as he woke from unconsciousness. He moaned against the piercing pain shooting up from his leg. It was definitely screwed up again.

Blinking his eyes open, he strained to see in the surrounding darkness. There was a faint light coming from the coals, and a faint green light penetrated the shadows of deep snow now blocking their exit.

“Hakkai?” Gojyo questioned as he pushed himself up to sit. A headache joined in the choir of other pains, and he groaned, placing a hand on his head before lying back down.

Another blast formed, drawing more light into the cave.

Remembering their encounter with the prevailing snow monster, Gojyo swallowed hard against the rising panic. There was no sign of their enemy. Hoping the abominable snowman had not killed the shitty monk or taken off with him, Gojyo rose to his elbow and searched the gloomy cavern. When he saw the bastard lying on the ground, unmoving with blood pooling under his face, his heart seized.

So help me gods, he better not be dead.

“Sanzo!” Gojyo cried as he attempted to crawl his way over to the priest. He tried to push through the pain, but even the slightest jostling of his leg sent bolts straight through him. After only a few feet, Gojyo slumped, unable to continue.

Fortunately, one more blast of green broke through the snow at the entrance. As though the gods answered some unspoken prayer, Hakkai rushed through the beam of light spilling in through the outside like a seraph sent from above.

“Hakkai!”

Hearing his call, Hakkai’s attention first drew to Gojyo, and he hurried towards him. The stiffness to his left side was not missed by Gojyo as he watched him approach. “Gojyo,” Hakkai voiced the concern his eyes echoed when he laid them on the mess that was Gojyo’s leg.

Before he could respond, another voice cut in from the background. “Sanzo!” The monkey had come into the cave from behind Hakkai and went straight for the priest.

“Help the monk, Hakkai. He’s in bad shape.”

Immediately, Hakkai turned around and ran to the unconscious priest.

Goku turned Sanzo over into his lap and then frantically called out, “He’s not breathing, Hakkai!”

“Move over, Goku.” Hakkai took Sanzo from the kid and placed him on the floor of the cave. Checking his pulse, Hakkai cursed and started chest compressions while also pulsing his chi into the monk. Gojyo marveled at the level of concentration his friend was capable of.

After several tense minutes watching Hakkai try to bring life back into priest, even Gojyo was grinding his teeth. That fool of a monk, getting himself wrecked into such a mess.

Gojyo cursed himself for not protecting him better. The priest acted high and mighty, but he was human. Gods damn it though, even human that monk is the strongest person I know. Or maybe it was because he was human that he had such fortitude. Gojyo never had to push himself as hard as Sanzo did.

Finally, a bone-grating moan sounded from across the cave and jolted Gojyo out of his spiraling thoughts. Looking over, he saw Hakkai jerk back as he shouted the monk’s name. Sanzo’s alive.

More blood sputtered past Sanzo’s lips as he slowly glanced around the room. When his violet eyes rested on Gojyo, the hanyou’s breath caught in his throat. A barely perceptible look of relief softened the monk’s typical steely gaze. Sanzo’s mouth then twitched in smug satisfaction before resting his eyes again. “Fucking cockroach.”

Giving a middle finger solute, Gojyo grinned. “Glad you survived too, stinking monk,” he said with no genuine malice before groaning and rolling over to rest on his back.

With the shooting pain racing up his leg, it felt like another eternity before Hakkai knelt by his side. Gojyo was in desperate need of some relief, but one look at the haggard lines on his friend’s face and the hanyou just could not let him expend himself further. “I’ll be fine without the chi for now Hakkai. Just give me some pain meds and fix my leg later. You’re in no shape right now.”

“I am a little bit drained right now, yes, but you’re worse off than I am. I can recover after,” Hakkai said with a smile.

Gojyo wanted to argue, but he had no strength for it. The healer was more than ‘a little bit drained.’ The stiffness from earlier was more exaggerated now and Gojyo could read the pain in his eyes. He played poker for a living, and Hakkai had the best poker face he had ever seen. If he could actually see something was not ok, it was most likely pretty bad.

Hakkai moved to his leg, and with well-practiced restraint, he did not even twitch at the mangled break. “I’ll have to set the bones in line before I heal it.” He gave Gojyo an apologetic look.

“Gods fucking hell. I never wanted to do that again.” Gojyo rested his arm over his forehead. Stupid fucking snowman. He could kill it a hundred times over for unsetting his damn leg.

Turning towards the monkey currently playing nursemaid to the monk behind him, Hakkai shrugged out of his cloak. “Goku, could you go out and find some more firewood and build up the fire again? We should probably stay here until tomorrow. You can take my cloak.”

Leaving Sanzo to rest under his own cloak, Goku walked over to take Hakkai’s. “Sanzo passed out again, Hakkai.” The kid was pretty worried, and Gojyo could not blame him; he did witness the priest dying just minutes ago.

Hakkai looked over at the monk and dropped his smile. “I’ll check on him again after I attend Gojyo. I healed what I could, but brain injuries are not something I can do much about with my chi. Sanzo is not out of the woods yet, but he will be ok until you get back, Goku, I promise.”

With a nod, Goku headed out with the borrowed cloak.

“Now, lets get this leg of yours taken care of.” Hakkai replaced his smile when he turned back to Gojyo.

“Oh gods.” Gojyo gulped and clamped down his teeth as his friend examined the break, preparing to manipulate it into place. Fortunately, Hakkai used his chi to sooth the nerves before pulling the jagged ends of his bones apart and then placing them back in line. Still, it hurt like blazing hell. Gojyo would have screamed if he had any air in his lungs, but he could not breath. When Hakkai began knitting the bones back together with the energy of his life force, the pain graciously began to remit to a more tolerable level.

Exhausted, Gojyo lay against the stone floor and relaxed the tension he was holding while Hakkai continued to heal him. He was safe and the group was all together again. “How did you find us? Are you and the monkey alright?”

Hakkai continued working, and answered, “We are alright – mostly just bumps and bruises. The snow buried me, but I used my chi to shield me from debris. Goku was thrown outside of the avalanche area and only had some bruising from his landing. We found each other easily enough, and I knew you and Sanzo must have been swept away down the mountain, so we followed the ravine. There was another shikigami that gave us some trouble though.”

“Is that when you got injured?” Gojyo asked sleepily, startling Hakkai with his perception.

He chuckled, trying to blow it off. “It’s not bad, I already healed the worst of it.” His green eyes softened a bit. “You notice more than I give you credit, Gojyo.” Then he reached over and gently held Gojyo’s hand, apparently done healing the wound. “Thank you.”

“Someone’s got to look out for you. You’ve got your hands full always looking out for everyone else.”

“Indeed. What would I do without you?” He smiled a little broader.

There was a moment there, Gojyo could feel it in Hakkai’s deep emerald eyes. But it was nothing more than a tease, bringing a deep pang to his chest. Hakkai would never be more than a friend; he would never want to love someone who was just a no-good punk. He was nobody. Even on this trip he did not really fit in. At best, he was just extra muscle; at worst, he was a dead-weight being dragged around with a broken leg.

“Hey, I’ve seen that look before,” Hakkai said, taking his shoulder in hand. “Your being here is just as important as mine. The gods told us both to go with Sanzo, so we went. You’ve saved all our lives more than I can count. Each of us is just as important to this journey as the rest of us.”

Gojyo rolled his eyes but smiled.

Drawing back, Hakkai chuckled. “Well, except Jeep. I think we can all agree Jeep is the most important member of our group.”

With that, the little white buzzard perked his head up next to Hakkai’s and ‘Kyuu’d.’

The wind howled fiercely through the tunnel of snow leading to the entrance of the cave, but despite its angry protests, it barely grasped the tendril of smoke leaving Sanzo’s mouth. He watched nearby flames of the fire dance to its long, harrowing song, flickering up and down. Incessantly, the whistling gusts blew its dynamic ballad through the night. It was like the world’s shittiest opera, and Sanzo hated opera.

At least the smokes were his – Hakkai earned a couple points for keeping a stash of Marlboro inside Jeep. Cigarettes were the only thing keeping him sane through the long night. Lighting another, Sanzo grumbled at the half empty pack. After smoking a whole pack already, those eight were the last he had.

Breathing in a few puffs, Sanzo felt his nerves settle again. His lungs still burned with every breath, and Hakkai was quite unhappy he still chose to smoke when his lungs were still healing, but it was worth it. He coughed a little but held his breath to stop the onslaught. At least he was no longer coughing blood. His head was still splitting with the force of a jackhammer though.

Leaning his head against the cave wall, Sanzo closed his eyes. He was so fucking tired. Surely, he was a hundred years old already and not twenty-four. The journey he was charged with was like a crucible, testing the very limits of his endurance. Pushing forward sometimes felt impossible, but quitting was not an option, so he continued on. He had pushed this far anyway; he could push everyone through the rest of the way.

They would leave in the morning to continue their journey West. Push through the snow and eventually find the next town.

Sleep relaxed Sanzo’s grip on his cigarette, and it began to slide from his lips. Just before it fell, a sharp thwack hit the priest’s forehead, waking him with a violent start.

“Bastard!” Sanzo growled, picking up the pebble Gojyo flicked at him. In anger, he moved to throw the stone back, but the crushing pain in his ribs seized him and he missed Gojyo’s leg.

The half-breed looked much less dead than he should from the murderous daggers Sanzo glared at him. Instead, only a touch of fear hid behind his smug grin as he tossed another pebble up and down, taunting him. “Hakkai said to make sure you stay awake, and I intend to do just that – however I have to.”

Hakkai was definitely at net-zero points. Healing him and giving him the Marlboro’s were one thing, mothering him and setting up Goku and then Gojyo to sentry his night-long torment was another.

“Fucking just say something next time, damn it. You throw another rock, and I’ll shot your stupid hand off,” Sanzo ground the words out slowly so the first-grader could understand it, but quietly enough not to wake the other two.

The delinquent just shrugged and leaned back on his elbow, sidling closer to the man sleeping next him, but still watching closely as he smoked his own stinking cigarettes.

Sanzo grunted as he slumped deeper into the stone behind him. How he got stuck with Gojyo during the graveyard shift could only mean the gods hated him.

Another screech of wind stoked the fire into a short-lived burst of flame, but then the coals radiated only embers. Clenching the stub of his cigarette between his teeth, Sanzo glared at the dying fire, taking its extinction as a personal offense. His arms felt like lead and moving at all seemed too monumental a task right now. But it was too cold to let the fire go out, and Gojyo was not in a position to reach it.

Reaching over to place to wood on the fire stirred to boy clinging to Sanzo’s legs. His face twisted with something unpleasant in his sleep, and Sanzo rubbed a hand through the kid’s shaggy hair. Goku was exhausted, and he needed his rest so he could be strong in the upcoming trek. Sanzo needed his strength, probably more than the kid knew – he would keep it that way if he could.

Running his fingers through his monkey’s silky locks in rhythm with his slow breathing began to lull Sanzo once again towards sleep. The weight in his eyelids became too heavy to fight.

Another fucking pebble flicked him in the face.

This time Sanzo drew out his pistol. “You son-of-a-bitch, I’ll kill you!” He aimed square at the bastard’s left eye and stared him down. He would pull the trigger too, damn it, just to wipe the grin off his face and to shut up that gods damned wind with another avalanche.

“You do that, and you’ll wake Hakkai,” he gestured down to the youkai beside him. “You know what kind of mood he’ll be in after the kind of day he’s had.”

Grunting, Sanzo put his gun away. “I owe you three bullets next town we find.” Dirty tactic, using Hakkai against him. Sanzo knew Hakkai needed whatever sleep he was actually getting right now due to whatever injury the idiot was trying to hide.

Pulling out another cigarette, Sanzo lit it by the fire. Placing it to his mouth, his long fingers straddled the cigarette more gracefully than the tremor in his hand would suggest. The nicotine hit, and Sanzo had to stifle another cough. He scrunched his eyes closed as he tried to breathe through it, letting out a small hiccup of a cough.

“Damn,” he said as he gingerly placed his head against the wall. It all fucking sucked. Fighting sleep against the throbbing in his head was a battle he was losing yet again.

At least this time, a rock did not slap his face, but Gojyo talking was almost just as annoying. “It’s a good thing Hakkai and Goku found us when they did, eh?”

Giving him only a sideways crack of his eye was all the response Sanzo was willing to offer Gojyo’s lame attempt at keeping him awake.

“’Killed by Snowman.’ Would be kinda funny putting that on a tombstone. The youkai didn’t getcha, just a lame-ass snowman. How does it feel to have died, Sanzo-sama?”

Honestly? “It felt no different than living. No reason to be dramatic about it.”

“Pfft, sounds like your tight-ass needs to live a little, cherry-chan. Slow down and smell the roses sometime. We don’t have to keep pushing forward so hard. All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.”

“I’m not Jack. I’ll slow down to smell whatever roses are left after we get to India and finish this mission.”

Gojyo rolled his eyes. “You’re like a man possessed. Would it kill you to take an extra day to recover for once?”

“Our mission is to get to India. Or did you forget and think we were on some sort of vacation?” Sanzo glared.

“In this five-star resort? Let me get back to you on that after I order room service.”

“Che’, Jerk-off. Order me some peace and quiet while you are at it.”

A soft moan and slight stirring of the cloaked bundle resting along Gojyo’s side silenced both of them for a minute until Hakkai settled and his rhythmic breathing signaled he was soundly asleep again. Gojyo placed an arm around him but directed his attention back at Sanzo. “Seriously man, maybe you are some superpowered masochist, but the rest of us need some fucking rest. This trip is draining on all of us.”

Sanzo inhaled another breath of smoke and let the cigarette hang between his fingers. The half‑breed was not wrong, but he would never say as much out loud.

Now the only problem was, taking a break in the next town and not letting Gojyo think it was his idea.

~End