Kneeling down, Miroku holds Sango's back upright, her forehead leaning into his shoulder as to steady her, as Kaede's good eye surveys over the bite mark, tapping along the edges.
Sango shutters in pain as Kaede's finger comes across an aching nerve.
Kirara, nuzzles one of Sango's legs, concern shining through her crimson eyes and in her somber mews.
Pressed against the Houshi's chest, a faint blush darkens ashen white cheeks. Her arms hang limply at her sides. Heavy lidded eyes struggle to remain open, fighting off the near desperate need to sleep off the pain.
Kagome twiddles her fingers nervously. "Will she be alright?"
"It may have been a poisonous spider." Kaede's eyes meet Miroku's.
"We need to bring her back to the village. I have just the thing
to draw out the venom."
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Black Widow
Chapter 2: Venom
by Sango-sama
Author Type Notes: Alright. Being a Biology/Anthropology
major, I'm fully aware that Black Widows are an American arachnid species.
Not Japanese. However, I went through the listing of common Japanese
spiders and come up with nothing on actual poison content in their venom.
Besides, Black Widows have some rather interesting characteristics that
help push my ideas here. So let's just pretend that Black Widows
were somehow introduced onto the Japanese mainland by foreigners during
the Sengoku Jidai. Okay? ^_^
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The morning sun creeps across the wooden panel floor, clambering over the two priestesses and settling on the eyes of the taiji-ya.
Bringing an arm up over her eyes, Sango timidly opens her eyes and looks around. She has been dressed in a modest robe and her hair is fanned out across a pillow, one of the few niceties brought from Kagome's time.
"Sango!" Kagome smiles widely and turns around. "Kaede-baasan, she's awake."
"So she is." The old priestess slowly lowers herself to the ground with Kagome's help and checks Sango's eyes and pulse. "She's still fairly weak, but she seems to be doing much better."
"Do we need to reapply the poultice?"
"I can do that. You go check on the others." Smiling conspiratorially, she adds, "Some of them did not rest too well, I think."
Sango looks between the two suspiciously, meeting only two knowing smiles.
"Rest, Sango. I'll tell you all about it later." And with that, Kagome slips out the front door.
***************************************************************************************************************************
Shippou sleeps soundly on Miroku's lap, as the Houshi's darkening eyes look expectantly to the door of Kaede's cabin, as Inu-Yasha watches, seemingly nonchalantly, from a tree overhead.
Slowly, Kagome emerges, stretching her arms above her head to pull the cricks out of her neck.
Looking at Miroku and then to Inu-Yasha overhead, she smiles. "She's awake. Still a bit tired, but she'll be okay. She's resting for now."
Even Inu-Yasha let out a brief sigh of relief.
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The Houshi sat against the wall of Kaede's house in his usual sleeping position, legs indian-style and head tilted against the shajaku clenched in his fist.
Sango, having just awoken, was sitting up. Her strength was, little by little, coming back to her, so she climbs out from her pallet and crawls over to the sleeping monk.
Curiously, she observes his sleeping face. Almost childlike in its innocence, but definitively adult in its jutting angle of his cheekbones and his chin and the small patch of shady stubble that shadowed it all.
'Kagome said he waited up all last night. And that he even turned around when I was naked.' Smiling, she shakes her head. 'You know, I just can't figure you out, Houshi-sama. How you can be so lecherous one moment...and in the next...sweet and unassuming. Are you trying to confuse me?'
Sitting on her feet, she reaches over to brush a loose piece of hair out of his face, placing it soundly behind his ear. Two tiny golden earrings clink at the tiny movement, rapidly awaking the sleeping priest.
"Sango?" he asks sleepily, eyes still drooping heavily. "Why are you out of bed?"
Blushing slightly, she stutters, "I..I, um...well...thank you."
"Eh?"
"I wanted to thank you for helping. And for not staring while I was--"
"Was that all?"
"Huh?"
Sighing slightly, he set down his shajaku. "Sango, you're ill. You shouldn't be crawling around here. You need your rest."
"But--"
"No buts. If you need something, call for me. That's why I'm in here."
"I'm not an invalid, you know. I can take care of myself."
Somberly, his eyes lock onto hers. "You couldn't yesterday, Sango."
Biting her lip, she knew that couldn't disagree.
Rising to his feet, he moves to help her back to her sleeping pallet, bringing an arm around her waist to support her in case she were to lose her balance. Helping her sit down gently, he slowly released his hold on her waist. "There you go. And I'll be right over here if you need something." To demonstrate, he walks back to his spot and sits down. Closing his eyes, his head tilts back onto his staff.
Sango watches him go back to a light sleep.
Without warning her vision goes hazy and she feels the room spinning, in spite of the fact that she instinctively knows she is lying still.
If for but a moment, her pupils widen and the color drains from her irises, leaving her eyes a milky white, before their natural color returns.
Her right arm suddenly rises on its own, and the left follows suit. Blinking, she looks at her arms, mystified. She tries to set them down, beads of sweat popping up on her forehead as a testament to her effort, but it was as if her body was not listening to her mind. All she can do is blink until, minutes later, both arms drop on their own.
She moves both her arms experimentally and then wiggles her legs and toes just to be sure. Now, it seems, there is no trouble at all.
'What in the Hell is going on here?'
