InuYasha Fan Fiction / Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ In Pursuit of the Green Dragon ❯ Chimera ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Musashi's Domain, 16th-century Japan

There was dirt beneath him, and the sound of birdsong somewhere far away.

Ed sprawled on the remains of his carefully-chalked transmutation circle, gasping for breath as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

Had he miscalculated something? Had that explosion been an alchemical backlash?

Oh, shit. What had he lost this time?

He moved his arms and legs experimentally, and gave a sigh of relief. Everything was still there.

A terrible thought occurred to him. Where's Al?

"Al?" Edward asked, his chest tight with dread. "Al, are you okay?"

A shape stirred next to him, then exploded into motion.

Ed found himself pressed flat on his back as a heavy weight landed on his chest, choking off his air. Blinking, he stared up into furious eyes the same shade of gold as his own.

"Where's Kagome?" his attacker asked, in a rough voice.

"Wha--who?" Ed saw the animal ears perched on top of the other's long, silvery hair, and the fangs showing in a snarl.

Shock coursed through him.

A chimera! Did we make it back home to Amestris?

"Kagome," his attacker repeated, giving him an impatient shake. "What have you done with her?"

"Who's Kagome?" Ed tried and failed to heave the chimera off his chest. "Where's my brother?"

The chimera leaned close, and Ed noticed that its golden eyes were slit-pupiled, like a cat...or a homunculus. He tried again to dislodge his attacker, but even his automail was no match for the thing pinning him down.

He felt claws pricking his flesh shoulder through his jacket and shirt.

"Give it up," the chimera growled. "You ain't going anywhere until I get some answers. Now, for the last time: where is Kagome?"

"I don't even fucking know who fucking Kagome is!" Ed howled. "Now, get the fuck off me!"

He twisted violently, but to no avail. The chimera glared down at him, obviously debating which of Ed's body parts to remove first.

"Inuyasha, you're back!" a high, boyish voice echoed down the walls of the well.

Ed looked past the chimera, to see a circle of blue sky framed by vines overhanging the lip of the well straight overhead. The well-house was gone.

There was an auburn-haired little boy peering down at them. "You'll never guess what happened! Someone stole the jewel from Narak--hey, who's that?" the boy interrupted himself. "Where's Kagome?"

Kagome again? thought Ed.

"Dunno," growled Ed's attacker, who was apparently named Inuyasha.

Without releasing its hold on Ed, the chimera reached over and scooped up a large yellow rucksack sitting on the floor of the well.

Then, before Ed could react, it hauled Ed to his feet, grabbed him roughly by the collar of his shirt and sprang upwards.

It's jumping? This far up…?

A moment later, Ed found himself sprawling on grass. He blinked, disoriented. What kind of chimera is it? Part frog?

Then his surroundings caught his attention.

He was in a clearing surrounded by trees, the square mouth of the well an arm's length away. No buildings anywhere. There were no familiar sounds of streetcars, automobiles, or machinery---no matter how he strained his ears, Ed heard only the sound of the wind, and a few birds.

The Sunset Shrine--in fact, the entire city of Tokyo--had vanished.

Just where the hell had he ended up this time? And where were Al and Professor Higurashi?

Ed's heart began to pound, and his stomach jumped unpleasantly.

Had he been sent into a lonely exile, yet again? Finding himself stranded in Europe had been bad enough--at least he had had hope then, that his sacrifice meant that Al had been restored to his human body back home.

But now…What if the alchemic rebound had claimed Al again, and once again it was all Ed's fault…?

I can't think about that right now, Ed told himself, swallowing down the panic rising like vomit in his throat.Gotta focus. Gotta find out what's going on here.

There were two people staring at him with undisguised surprise: a young Japanese man, about Ed's age, clad in the flowing black-and-purple robes of a Buddhist monk, and a pretty Japanese girl wearing a long kimono and an apron.

He looked around, and found the chimera sitting nearby, cross-legged, its hands tucked into its wide red sleeves, its golden gaze fixed intently on Ed.

The little kid hopped onto chimera's lap with the boldness of long familiarity, and Ed noticed that the kid had a large, auburn fox-tail to match his auburn hair, and fox-paws instead of feet, though his hands looked human.

Another chimera? Poor thing!

"Inuyasha, who is this person? Is he a youkai?" asked the monk.

The chimera--whose name was apparently Inuyasha-- shook its head. "He smells human."

"But look at his hair! His eyes!" the kid sitting on Inuyasha's lap protested, pointing at Ed.

"Hey," said Ed, indignantly. "Look who's talking! I'm not the one with a weird tail, or ears."

"Fuck off," growled Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, why didn't Kagome-sama come back with you?" asked the monk, a little anxiously. "You didn't make her angry at you again, did you?"

"Nah," Inuyasha replied with disgust. It pointed at Ed with a clawed finger. "She was with me in the well, then some kind of weird thing happened. And now he's here, she's not. Keh."

"Perhaps he is a youkai, after all," the monk mused, studying Ed. "There's something about him..."

"He smells kind of funny. Like the way Kagome smells sometimes, but a lot stronger. And there are strange sounds coming from his arm and leg," the fox-tailed chimera kid piped up.

Inuyasha sniffed in Ed's direction, and Ed saw its ears twitch.

"Hey, you're right, twerp," it said, giving the kid a light bop on the head. "He smells like one of those iron-carriage things in Kagome's time. And I hear that weird sound, too. I think he's wearing armor under his shirt--I felt it, before."

"So he is a youkai?" asked the monk. He glanced at the girl. "What do you think, Sango?"

"He has no youki, houshi-sama," the girl said, then turned to address Ed. "Who are you?"

They were speaking Japanese, but an odd form that sounded a lot like the archaic Amestrian that Ed had encountered in some of his alchemy research books.

Ed sighed, and stood up. "My name is Edward Elric, and I am not a demon."

He took off his jacket, stripped off the glove from his right hand, rolled up his sleeve, and flexed metal fingers. "I lost my right arm and left leg in an accident. They were replaced with something, ah, similar to armor." He looked around, and decided the monk looked the friendliest. "Okay, now that I've answered your question, how about you answer one of mine: where the hell am I?"

The girl approached him cautiously. "I've never seen armor like that before," she said, looking eagerly at his exposed automail. "Kagome's world is filled with wonders, or so Inuyasha tells us, but to replace missing limbs with something like this? Amazing!"

Well, her reaction was better than some he'd gotten over the years, but he still hated the attention that his automail drew. Ed hastily rolled down his shirtsleeve and pulled his glove back on.

He shrugged, and sat again. "It's okay. I'd rather have my real arm and leg back, though."

"Of course," murmured the girl, backing away a little. "Forgive me if I made you uncomfortable. It's just that the smiths in my village were always trying to find some way of crafting things like this, for all the men who lost limbs in the war..."

"But, to answer your question," the monk stepped in smoothly. "You are in Japan. And since we have been told that the well allows certain people to travel through time, I should also tell you that it is currently the 25th year of the reign of Emperor Go-Nara. Kagome-sama tells us that our era is known as the Sengoku-jidai in her time."

Ed gaped at her. Still in Japan, but nearly 350 years into the past? Shit.

The Bone-eater's Well wasn't a gate between worlds, after all.

"Did--did anyone else come with me? A boy with hair almost the same color as mine, or a Japanese man wearing clothing like mine?"

The monk and the girl both shook their heads, and Ed's heart sank.

Okay, so the possibilities were: One, Al and Professor Higurashi were still back where they had started from. That was the best possibility, because it meant that Al was safe. Or as safe as he could be, with that creep Ikeda hanging around.

Two, Al and Higurashi had ended up in another time altogether. That would be bad.

Three, the Gate had swallowed Al, soul and body, and Ed was stranded here alone, and his brother was dead. That was…well, Ed didn't want to think about it.

If he didn't think about it, then maybe it wouldn't be true.

Don't panic! Just find a way out of this.

Besides, the chimera--Inuyasha--looked like it was doing enough panicking for the both of them. It began leaping in and out of the well with desperate energy, an impressive string of curses floating up from the bottom of the deep pit every time it landed.

The monk shifted his staff, topped with a gilded metal ornament and several chiming metal rings, and sat, gracefully cross-legged, next to Ed.

"And I have neglected to introduce myself," he said gently. "My name is Miroku, and I am a Buddhist monk and companion to Inuyasha." He inclined his head in greeting, and Ed returned the gesture.

The girl was watching Inuyasha with a troubled frown, but she turned and bowed politely to Ed. "And I am Sango, a youkai-taijiya...that is, a demon slayer. I am also companion to Inuyasha."

"And I'm Shippou, a kitsune!" the fox-tailed chimera said exuberantly. "I'm going to be a mighty taiyoukai when I grow up!"

"Who--or what-- is Kagome?" Ed asked quietly. "Is she a youkai, or a chimera?"

"I am not certain what a chimera is," Miroku answered, "but Kagome-sama is a human girl, and the reincarnation of a powerful miko. She travels through the well from her land, which is also Japan, but in another era."

"And this thing?" Ed indicated Inuyasha with his chin, "What is it? Her pet?"

Miroku looked displeased, though his tone remained gentle. "Edward-sama, Inuyasha is not a thing, nor is he anit. He is a hanyou, half-human and half-demon, and--"

"Not a fucking animal," interrupted Inuyasha, leaping out of the well, having apparently overheard Ed's last question.

Inuyasha landed in front of Ed with a sweep of wide scarlet sleeves, and grabbed the front of Ed's jacket, hauling him to his feet. "I've heard enough out of you, you bastard. Whatever spell you wrote into the dirt down there fucking broke the well. Now fix it!"

Ed felt his temper snap. He'd been trying to act like the grownup here, but to be blamed for this? When he'd rather die than be separated from Alphonse again? When he didn't know if his brother was still alive or not?

"Get your fucking hands off me," Ed snarled, driving upwards at the weak point in Inuyasha's grip with all the strength in his automail hand.

It worked--Inuyasha stumbled back a step, releasing Ed's jacket.

Ed flowed immediately into the fighting stance that Izumi Curtis had beaten into him years ago, and spun, lashing out with his leg--the flesh one--and catching Inuyasha in its--his--midriff.

Inuyasha should have folded and gone down. Should have.

Instead, Ed's kick didn't do much more than force him back another step.

Inuyasha cursed, and rushed forward, leaping up and kicking out in a move that Ed knew well from hours of sparring with Al.

He ducked the callused foot aimed at his head, and it missed him by millimeters.

But the move had brought Inuyasha within arm's reach again, and Ed sent his automail fist crashing into the hanyou's jaw.

Once again, the blow had little or no effect.

Ed was able to parry Inuyasha's return punch, but the incredible force of the blow sent him skidding across the grass on his ass.

"He has a very refined fighting style, houshi-sama," Ed overheard Sango remark.

"Indeed, his form is very elegant,” replied Miroku, “but as a mere human, Edward-sama doesn't have the strength to inflict any real harm, and Inuyasha knows it."

"Indeed, houshi-sama," said Sango. "He's not using his claws, nor has he drawn his sword."

What the hell? He's going easy on me? Ed thought, furious, but over the next few minutes, as he continued to trade blows with Inuyasha, he found himself grudgingly admitting that the monk was right.

He was landing a lot more blows than Inuyasha, but none of his strikes appeared to be doing more than occasionally rearranging Inuyasha's flowing silver hair, and perhaps mussing his clothing a little.

Ed, on the other hand, was slowly being crushed by Inuyasha's brute strength.

Only one blow in eight was landing, but each of those blows, even the glancing ones, connected with bruising force. Ed tasted blood and felt loosened teeth in his left cheek after failing to completely dodge a punch to his jaw, and his eyesight was marred by bright speckles as he backflipped out of range.

Ha! he thought, hoping for a second to catch his breath and clear his vision

Then a heavy blow between his shoulderblades sent Ed sprawling forward. How had Inuyasha gotten behind him so quickly?

He tried to get up, but hard, heavy pressure--Inuyasha's knee, most likely--dug into Ed's spine, crushing him against the grass and dirt. "Okay, you bastard, now I'm gonna make you lift the spell you put on the well."