"ch" the onk ubled "at least you got our asses out of there once piece"

tenpou shrugged "your wele"

they were by the ke now, far fro the battle that was still ragg farther up the ounta fro the sounds of it- the seals of dyg youkai- gojyo and goku hadn't been touched

"so" the arshal said, gettg up and walkg to the edge of the frozen water "do you thk she's fished with ?" sanzo followed suit, violet eyes scanng the darkness and fdg nothg but the grg oon

"doubt it she seed really pissed"

"no thanks to you"

the priest didn't dignify the nt with an answer, nor did tenpou see to be expectg one the kai was too deeply engrossed the reflection starg back at hi lit by oonlight and fireflies kneelg, he saw that it was his own- the one with o good eyes, long hair and a bat the fool who thought that he uld change heaven by hiself

"an idiotic desire" tenpou sffed ietly, unaware of konzen's reflection starg critically back at hi

"well you've always been an idiot" shot sanzo "you alill be, whether it's this life or the next not that i b you too uch it takes a crapload idiots to take on the jobs we do"

"touché" the arshal replied with a sad sile, pettg the dragon's head as the creature nded on his shoulder to nuzzle hi "at least i won't go alone, right?"

"a wise an never does"

tenpou ughed, probably ore than he should have, but it felt nice and rather silly to be ouitted by a huan scratch that, it was aazgly ridiculo to be ouitted by konzen, out of all people!

at that ont, he ughed at everythgthat the credibly dense bureaucrat would bee an enlightened priest that the highest rankg general of the western ary would bee a backwater gabler that the ssiest, ost powerful arshal that had ever existed would bee hoewife obsessed with cleanless that his own ander would bee his pet

"kyuuuu!"

friend

at that ont, he ughed at fate becae fate had a wonderful sense of huor that restored his spirits sowhat; for it ant that heaven's ti would e as well that it would transfor to sothg halfway decent

sanzo snorted, "baka" then went as if to return to where the battle was he didn't hear the soft beatg of gs that lood overhead, or aybe he thought it was hakuuryuu becae when he heard tenpou shout out his na, he didn't knoas happeng until strong hands phed hi sharply to the side and the god was blown clear across the ice

"agh! dan" tenpou cursed before atteptg to pick hiself up everythg hurt and he only ended up fallg aga on the ice, the gravity of his ndition revealed by the blood he sared across the shirg surface it was so ldthe weight of the weather brgg his very thoughts to a standstill, teptg hi to siply close his eyes

perhaps he would have done it too, if he hadn't heard the ice crack beneath hi

"tenpou! don't ove!" sanzo ordered he sted his eyes and looked for her

there was a pond right outside tenpou's study; one that was always so still that it was a delicate and perfect irror of the heaven's fwless sky he rebered journeyg to under heaven, siply to get four or five fish to stick there so that the water would always ove, so that it wouldn't be such a perfect irror of death now here he was, on the brk of death, spyed out and frozen, and feelg as feeble as a fish out of water- yet beg out of the water would not be a proble for very long, judgg on how fast the ice was crackg under his weight like breakg gss, it had a nice lody

a rose scented breeze tickled his sk g fro behd above the breeze, he uld hear fppg the darkness curio, he thought, why the sweet attention? then he rebered what sweet attention was fro a witch like this one he was beg seasoned up to be eaten stricken by paralysis, tenpou uldn't even njure up the energy to screa when she dove his direction

what a horrible way to die, he repeated to hiself pitifully until a gun pierced the ice ches fro his body sanzo fired aga, this ti near his feet aga and aga and agaand the cracks the ice spreadand there was a spsh of water as tenpou fell through

the god didn't reber uch after that, siply a voice that shook the waters, surroundg hi gold light the dyg cry of the witchand a hand that reached and grabbed his ownan cantation filterg through the surface and to his earsand then he heard nothg

"tenpou!" he heard gojyo callg hi "where the hell are you?"

"h" it was so hot that the possibility hit hi that he ay have gone to hell, that not even the pretty gold light uld save hi fro the evitable oh it was one of those, tenpou ntepted, his eyes reag closed- one of those effective odes of sub-under-heaven torture where the victi can still hear the livg voice of his lover, friend or whatnot