Chimera -- (n.)
1. Something totally unrealistic or impractical: a figment of the imagination, for example, a wildly unrealistic idea or hope or a completely impractical plan.
2. A fanciful illusion or fabrication; imagination or immense creativity; hallucinations
3. A substance, such as an antibody, created from the proteins or genes or two different species.
4. (a) A fire-breathing she-monster usually represented as a composite of a lion, goat, and serpent. (b) An imaginary monster made up of grotesquely disparate parts.
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"Sango, you look tired. Are you sure you'll make it?" asked a concerned Miroku. As Sango struggled to take another step forward, she replied, "Yes, I'll be fine. I think...I just..." Her sentence was interrupted as she felt her energy drain from her, and she felt her knees grow weak. Miroku caught the falling demon exterminator just in time. "Sango!" he cried out, as she fell safely into his arms.
Kagome ran to Sango's side as Miroku gently laid her down
on the ground while cradling her head in his lap. Inuyasha just stared at her,
unsure of what to do. "Feh! Well, we can't just sit here all day. The village where
we're traveling to is about three hours away now. If we want to get there
before sun-down, we can't stop." he said gruffly. Miroku looked up at him, and
expounded upon the situation to the intolerant dog-demon, as patiently as he
could, "Inuyasha, we're all tired. We've been in battle non-stop, and we need
time to rest. Why don't we stop at a village closer to here, and then tomorrow
go to the one in Asahikawa? We can't possibly make it there tonight. I know of a village
that's only a few minutes away from here. It would be better for Lady Sango if
we stopped there for tonight."
Inuyasha crossed his arms over
his chest, and sat down on the ground. After streaming out a few lines of crude
obscenities, he finally answered, "Fine." He added crossly, "It's just for
tonight though. We get up early tomorrow and continue on our way." Sango gave a weak smile and quietly said,
"Arigatou gozaimasu.", as she tried to get up.
Miroku, ever the valiant hero, hoisted her up into his arms. I suppose that his
hand must have slipped, or there was some other explainable reason I'm sure,
but it some how found its way to Sango's rear end; I suppose Sango's hand must
have slipped as well, for it soon found it's way to Miroku's face.
"There is no way that Furyou Houshi is carrying me all the way to that village!", Sango exclaimed. Miroku feigned indignation, and said, "Lady Sango, I assure you that I have no ill-intentions toward you. My hand simply slipped and..."
Suddenly everyone was looking at him, with an expression that said 'Yeah, right, do you actually think we believe that crap?' Kagome then spoke up, "Why don't you just ride Kirara to the village?" pointing to the furry animal next to Sango at the moment. Sango shook her head, explaining, "Kirara has been injured in battle, and needs time to heal as well as I do. I can't ride her; it would just aggravate her wounds further."
With another 'Feh', Inuyasha stood up, and then in one swift movement put Sango on his back. "Can we go yet?" he asked with a hint of evident annoyance. "Grab Kirara and Sango's Hiraikotsu, and let's go!" commanded Inuyasha to Miroku, who was still sitting on the ground.
It was obvious that something was irritating Inuyasha today, so Miroku grabbed Sango's possessions without arguing. Sango just shrugged helplessly. Kagome stood on one side of Inuyasha along with Shippou and Myouga, while Miroku took his place next to Sango, meaning next to Inuyasha also. The six walked on without complaints and in silence.
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The rest of the group watched disinterested as Miroku began his familiar routine. "I sense evil spirits here. It seems that there are two water demons and a fire demon residing here. I would be happy to expel them for you, sir. But I would be required to stay overnight, as to wait until the demons come out from hiding."
The poor unsuspecting man welcomed the monk and his companions inside, and offered them rooms for the night, dinner, and a small sum of yen, not realizing what the monk was planning.
They were shown to their sleeping quarters, and as soon as the door was shut, Miroku explained to his companions the reason why he had chosen this house. "I was not simply finding an easy victim to lay prey to my... ahem...fabrications. In actuality I did indeed sense not only multiple demons here, but several shards of the jewel as well." Kagome nodded her head in agreement. "Yes, I sense them as well. They are really close by." Inuyasha opened the door, and put a hand on the Tetsugaiga's sheath. "Good. We'll go search for them right now before some other scum gets to them."
Sango shook her head. "No. It will be better to wait until it becomes night. I assume that the owner will not want his whole house destroyed, nor does he wish to witness your acts of mass destruction. It will be better to attack under the veil of darkness." Inuyasha scowled at her, and walked out the door to go to his own room. Miroku and Shippou followed him, while Kagome stayed in the room with Sango. "I wonder what's up with Inuyasha lately?" Kagome questioned out loud.
"It could just be the strain of multiple battles bearing hard against his soul. It would be wise of him to take time off and rest as we are doing." Sango laid back on the floor mattress and closed her eyes as though she were going to sleep, though she was actually still very much in deep thought. An image kept repeating itself in her head: after the last battle, she saw Kikyo hand Inuyasha a small bottle with some sort of liquid inside. What disturbed her the most was that it was not Kikyo at all, and yet Inuyasha did not realize that. What was in the bottle? And why didn't Inuyasha realize it wasn't her?
After so many battles with Naraku, Sango had easily recognized his spirit energy. But why hadn't Inuyasha? It was quite a mystery indeed. As soon as night fell, Sango would speak to Inuyasha of this matter. But for now, she must relax to recover as much of her strength as she could. As Sango started to lay her head back down on the pillow, she became acutely aware that Kagome had left. She sat up and looked outside. When had it become so dark? The last hint of the sunrise was just beginning to wane. She instinctively grabbed her Hiraikotsu as she heard footsteps making their way towards her. Sango laid her head back down on the pillow, hoping to fool whatever intruders there were into thinking she was still asleep. The footsteps suddenly stopped at what sounded like outside her door. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, and she instinctively raised herself up in preparation to strike whoever it was.
"Inuyasha!" she exclaimed, as she came face to face with the intruder. "What is it you desire?" she demanded of him, still breathless from fear. Inuyasha seated himself next to her bedding, and crossed his arms over his chest. "I just came to tell you that Miroku has gone to expel the demons, and Kagome has gone with him to help him sense the shards. They told me to stay here and keep an eye on you." Sango pulled the Hiraikotsu closer to her, and stubbornly said, "I can take care of myself." At this Inuyasha laughed, but then a solemn expression came over his face. "I know you saw."
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After an immensely long period of silence, she finally managed to stammer out, "Sa-Saw what?" Inuyasha frowned. "Don't act stupid with me, Sango. You know what you saw." Sango looked down. "What was in the bottle?" she asked quietly. Inuyasha shook his head. "I'll tell you later. Right now I'm gettin' me some shut eye. 'Night." He then laid down on Kagome's bed, and closed his eyes as though he were going to sleep. "What's that suppose to mean!?" asked Sango. "Feh. Just go to bed. I'll tell you later." Knowing she shouldn't argue with one as obstinate as Inuyasha, she laid back down on her bed also.
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"Ah...!" Sango woke up, and struggled to scream for help, but a strong hand enclosed around her throat made it difficult to breathe, much less scream. She felt another hand grab her waist and flip her over, so that she was facing the pillow. As she felt her face being forced downward into the pillow, she glanced up at her assailant. "In-Inuyas...!"
"Why...?" was all that she could think of.
Suddenly the pressure of the hand was lifted off the back of her neck. She turned over and realized that Kirara had attacked him. She grabbed her Hiraikotsu, and threw off her customary kimono, and donned her battle habiliments. She ran outside to rescue Kirara, and then stopped short.
...What?...Inuyasha was...a full demon??