A/N: Okay people, here's something... interesting for you to do if you're bored.

Find out what your chinese zodiac symbol is!

Lol, maybe it's weird, but when you're really bored and have writers block, you'll try anything!

You can take a look at this website to find out yours if you like... h t t p // pages . infinit . net / garrick / chinese / -- (without the spaces of course) ... If not, then... well whatever... It's just for fun after all!

Okay, so what else is new... Oh yeah, this story made a c2 list! It's now part of the C2 "myriad sorts"!

It's kinda interesting, since this C2 seems to both insult and praise the stories it adds to itself ... "...why not share some of the stories that grew from nothings to the best on the net." --- Now c'mon, I know "chained" won't ever win a pulitzer or anything, but was it really nothing? Lol, never mind, don't answer that.

Woosh, well I'm in a very weird mood and apparently I actually decided to rant a little without talking to one person directly... been a while since I did that...

Anyway, now I'm gonna get back to the most important part of this-- The reviewers!

-Clouds of the Sky - Damn... caught onto my plan did ya? Hm... I'll have to find some way of silencing you... Lol, I actually have no interest in world domination (at least as far as everybody else is concerned) or in making you my slave. Just so long as people keep on readin, that's all I want...

-xolovexinuyasha - Yeah, I knew it was either Kanna or Kana, but it's hard to tell sometimes... And I've seen quite a few people spell it "Kana" so I just revert back and forth between the two and hope one day I'll figure it out... Gatorball... Soccer and Football combined? Woosh... well that sound interesting. I myself have never played Gatorball, but... Y'know, if you say it's soccer and football combined to some people who consider football and soccer to be the same thing, you could very easily cause a good deal of confusion... I personally prefer the term "Football" since it makes more sense (despite the fact that I'm not from england or anything)... as Craig Ferguson said "I don't know why they call it soccer-- maybe they play it in their socks..." Anyway, you're talking to me about pain and misery in your review now, and here I am ranting away about soccer/football thing ... Hang on, give me a second to get out of rant mode and into sympathetic mode... Okay, I think I did it ... Ouch, that sound really painful. I actually am not a sports fan so I don't really know all that much about soccer anyway, but I do know about the sun and it can really hurt like a bitch when you get burned... Lol, no offence, but you're experience isn't exactly all that encouraging to us non-sport types. Yeah, come out, kick a ball around, fall and hurt yourself repeatedly and then go home and clean the floors!... Hm. Wow, I guess I'm not in full-on sympathetic mode yet... gomen... I'll try harder next time... Seriously though, that does sound painful... Maybe this'll make you feel a bit better though-- have you ever walked into a door? Like I mean a sliding glass/screen door? Well I have. I've walked into both. The screen door though is what I'm telling you about. Not because it hurt though, but because this story usually makes people laugh. It was really dark outside and it was summer, so we had the sliding glass door open. I had come inside a minute ago and I think I left the screen door open so that I wouldn't have to open it again when I got back. Only when I came back it was no longer open. And because it was night, I couldn't see the screen. So I walked right up to the door... and went right on through it. Well, actually, I didn't go so much through it as I tore it right out from it's track and sent it crashing to the ground in front of me. Just goes to show you what a good-quality screenng we had-- surprisingly enough, the screen didn't tear under the pressure... I'm not sure why I decided to tell you this story since it had no relation to what we were talking about, but if it made you laugh (even if you're already in a good mood) then it was definitely worth telling! -- Oh, and I'm glad to here about you and your sister... only I'm a little confused... aren't all siblings in a never-ending feud? Or do you mean a feud like Inu and Sess's? -- BTW, I don't mind if you "stole my idea" since it's not originally my idea. I'm not the first person to tell people what music I currently want to listen to and I won't be the last. Besides, I enjoy learning what types of music other people listen too anyway. -- Woosh, how was that for a rant? oo 0.o oo

-Bluer Sky - Lol, ooooookay, well maybe I should give you sometime to think about what you've said... Actually, I think I understand what you're trying to say, and I know where you're coming from... I'm trying to get more of Kag and Sango in here, but it's really difficult since my muses have all practically gone on strike and are being real asses about how I write this story out anyway. And that's author-goddess to you!

-Inume-Blue - Yeah... That's all I guess...?... Sorry again that I can't help you... I ain't no good at being a beta though... Still, again, if you want, I can ask some of the people here, I'm sure some of them would be glad to help! -- Oh, and thanks for the virtual pills! I don't know if they did anything, but this chapter is up now, so maybe they did actually help... in which case, you could really have something going there...

-Jtmscola - Well, you're not "sitting out of life" per se, you're just not interacting with other people or doing anything that's physically active. And that's not even completely right, since you're technically interacting with me and whoeever else you may talk to while reading through this... Did that make any sense? Yeesh, all that work and it doesn't even make a difference since I get what you're saying anyway. -- I'm glad that you enjoy reading this stuff and that it can make you feel part of the writing-- I am trying to accomplish something along those lines. A story is only as good as it's reader's after all, and if I can't make the reader's feel like they're part of it, then how can I ever hope to make it at all good? Besides that, I just enjoy talking to you people . Anyway, now I've lost my train of thought... Okay, so let see... scans over review to find place ... Oh yeah! Okay, so I get why you don't talk to them about it-- I feel the same way about a lot of things (like nobody I know knows I write fanfiction ) but not all that much. As I said before, no matter what you're doing, chances are, if you were able to think up doing it, then there's probably someone else out there doing it too. Hows that saying go? -- "Do what you want in life. You'll never please everybody, but if you do what you want, then at least one person will be happy." But then again, doing what you want and talking about it are entirely different matters. And if I was in your situation, I probably would have found something similar to that that I wouldn't want to talk about. Then again, I usually just rant off about anything I want to no matter who I'm talking to, or I simply don't talk at all. A-- Oh, hang on a second, my sister is tearing apart the ceiling. Literally! -- Bleargh! Now I've got flaky ceiling crap in my eyes! -- Lol, okay, so I can't remember anything I was saying, but I think I was rambling on again, so I'm gonna start over and hopefully make it shorter and with more sense-- I understand why you don't talk to your friend about it since it can get kinda awkward when you're trying to talk about something everyone else dislikes for some reason... Even if it doesn't make sense why they don't like it. Cause when you think about it, there are lots of things out there that should be declared immature and aren't-- Well, like LotR for example... Think about it, basically it's about some pointy-eared midget people (for lack of a better term at the moment ) that have to take a magic ring that could destroy the earth to "mount doom" before it falls in the lands of their greatest enemy, who happens to be a giant eye. Not a very flattering summary, but fairly accurate nonetheless. However, in that the "deeper meanings" that you talked about happen to be much more obvious, and they are more appealing to older audiences. Where as in anime you have to look a bit harder for them. Anime is made typically for enjoyment-- there's not exactly a lot of major angsty plots behind it, and I think most "mature" audiences find it harder to grasp and sit through things like that. But then again, I may just be looking too much into this... And I have similar experiences with the "I'm going to watch a program" thing. I've done it with my parents before. I don't know why, I just never really cared to tell them I was watching a japanese cartoon about a half-demon and a girl who could travel back in time. I have now though, and my mom has given me the talk that "just as long as you know this isn't real." I told her that I understood it was a cartoon/comic book and wasn't really gonna happen (parents!). However, I also informed her that, should I ever meet Inuyasha, I shall either have to retract that statement, or inform him that he isn't real and turn myself into the mental institute. (Woosh, bet you're wishing I'd shut up now, but I'm not done yet! ) -- Media art? That sound really cool! So you're learning to design like computer game things and stuff like that? That sound really awesome! I myself am a sketch artist. My weapons of choice: A mechanical pencil and printer paper. Lol, what can I say, colour is not my friend. My mother has been pestering me lately to try and get into some sort of art program, but, in all honesty, I don't think I could stand it. As Avril Lavigne once said "I hate guitar lessons. I hate lessons in anything. I hate that somebody tries to teach you something." I actually consider that quote to be very true, since I've never liked to be taught things. If I want to learn something, then I'll damn well learn it on my own! Lol, what can I say, it's one of my personal little quirks. -- And again, I get what you're saying -- Anime, art and games or sports and frats? Hm. I'd probably go with the first one as well, though not just because I don't like sports or Frats much. You probably get enough of the sports topic when you're with your friends, and there you can get a change and talk about pretty much anything without drawing unwanted comments of immaturity. But then, that's like exactly what you just said isn't it? Frig! There you go! My rant-mode is on overdrive right now! Yeesh. I really need to learn how to shut up... Anyway, I'm glad that I can help you "get some of this stuff of your back" -- I seem to be doing that a lot with people lately, and have turned this area above the story into a one-on-one chatroom more than a little rant place. Still though, if you ever want to just talk about anything not related to the story (or sports, since I'll probably drop dead because I have a very low attention span for them) you can always email me-- -- Your real life name is James? What's wrong with that?

-Punk Rock Miko2 - Lol, yep Sess is showing a bit of emotion now, even if it is OOC. Although, now that I think about it, Sess showing emotion is very likely a sign of the apocalypse.

-Almandine-Azaleea - Lol, well that's a funny thing. I actually think what cured my writers block was writing out another one-shot fic (although I don't know if I'll post it-- I'm not very happy with the ending). I'm glad you like my little "one-liners"

-wolfygirl13 - So, basically what you're saying is the chaos and disorder is starting to slow down just a little bit at the Choc factory? Although, I do think you ought to make chibi-Naraku an appointment with his psychiatrist sometime soon. Even though I don't much like psychiatrists. So maybe you should just borrow a straitjacket and some medication from one instead of actually taking him down there... Or you could just cut off his sugar supply. That might actually do it! -- Yep, everybody's heard of that book, although now they might have to change the title "Chibi's are from mars, and women still rule venus (even after being attacked by Sesshomaru's army" Actually, I think the other way was catchier. Maybe we should just leave it alone. -- Chibi-Sesshomaru. Helium. In the chocolate factory. Why is this setting off little panic alarms in my mind? -- Anyway, hope you find Rin and Shippo soon (although he is a fox, and they do tend to be good at hiding) and I certainly hope this ranting is contagious-- at least then I don't look quite as bad and I'm not alone in doing it!

-RamblingPhilosopher - Lol, yep the bastard is back! But now he'll probably drop off the face of the earth again for a while. I'm fairly certain Kagura's alive, but I can't be sure. I haven't decided whose dead yet-- for all I know the Shichinin-tai could be alive! Again. You'd have to ask my wacky out-of-control muses, but I doubt you'd get a straight answer from them anyway. -- Two months... yeesh. Sorry, that's probably not so bad to some authors, but to me, considering how bad the need to update usually strikes me, that's like telling me you didn't update for a year! Still, I know of some authors who only update once or twice a year...

-lunerfox - Oh... I do? I don't write my chapters because there's nothing else to do though, I write my chapters because that's what I want to do. I love writing, and to me it's an actual entertaining thing, not a way to pass the time. That's an interesting question. To tell you the truth, it all depends on what story I'm writing. For this story, I just type it out (which might explain why the chapters are shorter) but on my other stories I usually write them out and then type them out-- which is quite the triumph, considering I can barely read my own writing. -- A vampire story huh? That sounds interesting. I haven't seen very many good vampire stories out there lately, but there's always time to change that. Alison? What's your real name? Unless your real name is Lunerfox, in which case I can understand why you'd say that. -- Yeah, I think you did ask, but I don't mind repeating myself. I don't exactly watch any given show on a regular basis besides Inuyasha-- I just don't have all that much time. Maybe that is where I find the time to write my chapters, instead of watching TV. However, I have seen a few episodes of Yugi-oh gx, .hack/sign and Full metal alchemist. However, Yugi-oh seems to have switched it's time around or something so I'm not sure when it comes on anymore, Full metal alchemist I think I've seen a grand total of four episodes, and I have no idea when it comes on. Bascially .hack/sign and Inuyasha are the only ones that I can honestly say I watch on a regular basis.

-Wings of Fayth - O-kay. Lol, I wouldn't know, I've only listened to the one song by them. And I'll try and get Kagome and Inu together soon, just be patient! Yeesh, so much pressure, my muses just want to screw everything that I said before and make it a bit simpler to get her out... which they very may well do since I have no control over them or the story.

-Box Queen - Well that's definitely good to hear. Lots of people getting sick lately. I'm just waiting for spring to come around so those male trees can start spreading that spore stuff and my nose can go crazy on me. But then, that's an allergy I suppose, not a sickness... -- Yeah, it does suck, but I think I may have discovered my cure for writers block-- write a one-shot. Writer's block, when I get it, usually only extends to one story, so I was able to write a one-shot, and then I came back here and was inspired enough to pump out another chapter. Go me!

-Sexy Kat - Lol, well I don't know if Inuyasha would ever have a best friend (he's just not trusting enough) but they are definitely close. At least in this fic they are. In the anime Miroku seems a little too much on Kagome's side and Inuyasha seems a little too introverted and rash for them to really consider each other as close. Friends, yes, but not really all that close. Also, I don't think you're a baka, but I also am not certain what you mean. Is there any particular part of the chapter you don't get, cause if it's just the whole chapter in general... that could create some problems cause I'm unsure how to explain that... Let me know though and I'll do my best to clear it up for ya! -- Lol, oh, and I like the way you worded that "when are the girl's getting out?" Lol, you make it sound like they're criminals in prison...

Woosh!

I talk too much!

Still though, it's hardly my fault!

There's just a lot of interesting people here to talk to!

Plus, I'm a ranter by nature.

No other excuse for it.

Easy to Manipulate

Sango stared intently at Miroku in the cell across from her.

He gave a little shift, making the candle light flicker over his face, highlighting the beads of sweat covering his forehead.

She sighed.

The illusion really was good.

Maybe a little too good.

It was making her wonder if maybe she had just imagined Amaya coming and taking all the other's away.

Then again, other than those little shifts, the mirage the sorceress had set up hadn't moved in nearly the two days that they'd been gone.

She was actually surprised that the guards hadn't noticed anything, but the bumbling idiots seemed to stupid to even have a single brain-cell split between them, let alone to have the capacity to notice something as complex as mirages set up to hide the fact that they were now guarding empty cells.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the dungeon door creaked open, and turned to look at the figure descending the stairs, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was only Amaya.

Immediately a million questions flew to her lips, but Amaya held up a hand, and Sango's voice was cut off before it could exit her mouth.

The sorceress moved and quickly opened the cell with the same spell she had seen her use on Miroku's cell countless times before.

She moved to stand up and, with a little aid from Amaya, managed to get to her feet.

'We must hurry and keep silent.' Amaya said, as she trailed a thick, black cloak over her. It shimmered with silver and then the next thing Sango knew her body was no longer there.

Well, not really, but she could no longer see it.

She was not concerned by this, though, since she had seen the sorceress do the same with Miroku, Shippo and Kirara.

'You can walk?' Amaya asked as she crouched down in the corner where "Shippo" and "Kirara" were resting and began to conjure up a "Sango" to take her own place.

Sango moved around a little bit, her legs trembling and weak beneath her, but holding her up nonetheless, before offering the sorceress a small nod.

Amaya nodded.

'Good. I do not want to carry you if I don't have to. Do you think you can survive the stairs?' She asked. Sango glanced at the dark corridor-- the one she had been unconscious the one time she had traveled down it, and had never been through since as far as she could tell.

The sorceress gave another nod, and then brushed past her, moving toward the stairs. 'That's good as well, though I put the guards to sleep just in case you could not.' She said, moving up the stairs slowly, but, for Sango, still at a rather swift pace.

They reached the top, and Sango blinked as they exited out into the corridor.

It wasn't necessarily bright, per se, the dim and rather sickly looking torches being the only means for light, but, when one had been in the dark as long as she had, it was still enough to make her squint. She could hardly imagine what it would be like to see the sun again...

If there even was a sun.

From what she could tell, Naraku had all but sealed the sun from the earth with his miasma, and there was nothing left anymore.

She must have stopped walking without realising it as she considered this, for the next second she felt a gentle but firm shove on her back (which must have been magic, since Amaya was still in front of her) and she was urged into motion again, the force not leaving her again until they reached their destination-- a small glade of stone among a forest of rocky pinnacles, where two fire-horses stood staring at her, waiting for them.

Sango blinked at them.

She had, of course, encountered Fire-horses before, these breed as well perhaps, but that didn't explain why they were here.

Or why she could feel a strange presence among the younger one... not evil or powerful, per se, just... strange. Distrustful almost. Not normal for most animal-youkai.

She was not given time to consider this, for the next second that force was urging her onto the back of one of the youkai, and she moved to comply, before hesitating a moment, looking back at Amaya.

'What about Kagome?' She asked.

Amaya blinked, and then frowned at her.

'What about her?' She asked, and Sango stared at her in slight disbelief.

'You are getting her out too, aren't you?' She asked. Amaya glared.

'Stupid girl! Did you think I was so incompetent as to forget about the miko? I will get her out... I just do not know when...' She trailed off slightly, before fixing Sango with a hard gaze, the force returning to urge her onto the horse. But Sango didn't move, fought against it as best as she could in her weak state.

'I'm not leaving without her.' She said firmly, defiantly. Amaya stared at her.

'I'm sorry?' The sorceress asked in disbelief. Had she not, putting aside her own life and doings, gone to all the work of devising a plan to get all of these wretches free, and then put that into action? Had she not already freed five of them and placed them in a place that assured their safety from Naraku? Was she not now working to set this wench free, as well as the other, all at the risk of her own life and everything else? And now, after all that, this girl still had the audacity to tell her she wasn't going to comply?

'I said I'm not leaving without her. She's been cut off from us for too long-- I can't just leave her behind like that, alone... not again.' The slayer said, her eyes getting a faraway look in them, before fixing once again on Amaya, lit with determination. 'I'm not leaving without her.' She said firmly.

Amaya stared the girl down for a moment.

She could see the determination in her eyes, feel it radiating off of her in waves, and she could tell that, magic or not, this girl was not going to move or leave without her friend.

Amaya mentally sighed, and then narrowed her eyes in a sharp glare.

Dammit it all, why was she always stuck with the resilient ones? Couldn't they just do what she said for once without all their mindless questions?

Sighing, she glanced up at the highest pinnacle of rock there, trying to figure out how she could do this.

There hadn't been enough time yet-- she hadn't been able to device a plan to make certain that she could get Kagome out without being detected soon after...

But she couldn't just leave Sango there-- nor could she really take her back after going to all the trouble of getting her out.

Her only option then, was to retrieve Kagome in the same fashion as the others and hope that, in the end, that worked as well as it had with the others.

She sighed again.

The chances of that were slim to none, which was why she had avoided doing it thus far.

But, when she looked at Sango again, she could tell that she didn't have any other choice.

She turned hardened and angry eyes upon the slayer, who met her gaze without waver, and for several moments they just stared one another down, before Amaya let out an angry huff and turned away, muttering 'Wait here, and do not move nor make any sound while I am gone.' To the figures behind her, and began storming her way back through the maze of rock, back toward Naraku's castle, back to Kagome.

Sango blinked in surprise, not really having expected the sorceress to comply, before sinking to the ground, her legs refusing to support her anymore for the time being.

She let a weak smile cross her face.

Miroku had told her, in one of his moments of strength during this battle against his curse, that Amaya did not seem to have any evil about her-- simply wore it as a facade against the real world, and that she was likely good inside, easy to convince of what was right if she found someone to convince her who could break through her dark exterior.

She hadn't been fully comprehending of his words until now, but now she thought she might have it finally.

'Basically, what you were saying, Houshi, is that, if you're stubborn enough, Amaya is easy to manipulate.' She thought, her smile widening at the thought as her eyes drifted closed, sleep claiming her for the time being while she awaited for Amaya and Kagome to come back.

Glossary

Youkai - Demon

Miko - Priestess

Houshi - Priest (I find this a little strange, since I always considered Miroku a monk, but I suppose this works as well...)

A/N: Lol, I think it only took me an hour and a half to get this chapter ready to put up this time.

DOMO ARIGATO TO: Clouds of the Sky, xolovexinuyasha, Bluer sky, Inume-blue, Jtmscola, Punk Rock Miko2, Almandine-Azaleea, wolfygirl13, RamblingPhilosopher, luner fox, Wings of Fayth, Box Queen and Sexy kat -- Can't even begin to say how helpful you've all been with this story just by reviewing!

CMoC - Savin' me - Nickelback ( -- I love the music video for this!), So far away - Staind, For you - Staind, Brand new world - V6, Grip - Every Little thing, One day, One Dream - Tackey and Tsubasa, I write Sins, not tragedis - Panic! the disco, Right here - Staind