"It's time for me to go my own way, don't you think?"

"Maybe, but it isn't up to me."

I laughed, "You're right there! We'll meet up eventually. Until then," I waved to my old partner. It definitely was the right time. Princess just got her license and Sven didn't need two partners. I figured I had mooched off him enough. It was time to make my own way in the world. All I needed to do was take the first step.

-`-,

"My real name is Tsubasa!"

We said it in unison. Then Clow was gone, along with Princess Tsubasa. I knew I'd be back, it was only a matter of time with Mokona and his new earring. Now the battle was over. We had finally succeeded! We could live the rest of our lives free of fate, our futures undetermined.

I was thinking that exact thought when we landed in front of The Shop. Watanuki stood in front of us with a worried expression, "There's still more that needs to be done, Syaoran-kun."

-`-,

"Maria Thompson, a.k.a. Precious. Class B criminal. She's not very lethal, in most cases at least, but has stolen 6 of the 7 most valuable jewels in the world. Most likely she'll go after the last to finish her collection. Of course, you didn't hear this from me," the thief-for-hire winked.

"Looks like you're getting jealous Rins, especially if you're asking me!" That comment served to get me punched on the head.

"This is strictly business, Train! Although she refuses to be hired, people are still asking. I have to make money to live so you better catch her!" I gave her a bored look. I didn't care about her little grudge, but she knew that already. What I really wanted to know, "Her bounty is 30 grand."

"You got a deal!" I get 30,000 bucks and she gets her clients back. Seemed fair to me.

It had only been a year since I left Sven and the Princess. Providing for myself wasn't easy and I still had the enormous debt to pay off, but I did well. Every now and then I'd meet up with the other two to swap stories and make sure we were all alive. Princess always seemed to somehow mature; I blamed the books.

It was still weird to not have them around anymore. I was back to riding my motorcycle because of it. Cars were too spacious for one guy. I guess it was a little lonely, but just a tad. I liked my life. I was a stray cat laying down my own path, not the path of an owner.

Anyway, back to the point! For this particular target, I traveled to Caffe Cait Sith for some information. "Hey Annette!" I yelled as I threw open the door.

"Always have to make an entrance, huh?" she replied. Then she poured some milk and started shaping the rice balls.

"Always! Anyway, got any news on a thief named Precious?"

-`-,

"So we have to find a man we've never seen, save a girl who was kidnapped, and retrieve the remaining feathers along the way. Did I get everything?" Kurogane steamed. He wasn't particularly fond of this new quest, even though he had agreed.

"And get the feather the man has with him! Don't forget that, Kuro-sama!" Fai added to the list. He received a deathly glare from the taller man but seemed not to notice, "I think we can talk about this later, though. I would like to know where we are first." he continued, not dropping his smile.

He was right, of course. The new world we landed in was very strange. It seemed as though a carnival was occurring. Men and women in bright colored outfits walked down the street or rode on floats while people crowded the side walk.

We had landed on a bridge overlooking the parade. It looked like thousands of people were here. Those around us looked suspiciously. It was understandable. We hadn't change since we arrived and all donned clothes from Clow Country. We looked like we should be in the parade, not watching it.

We moved on and found a more secluded spot to discuss our current objectives. We decided on an abandoned street and stopped in front of a closed store called 'Lisky.'

"We were followed," Fai was the first to voice it, but we all knew. "Who wants to confront them?"

"You do it."

"But Kurgy, you're so good at this type of thing!" After a grunt from Kurogane, Fai whistled. A stack of boxes a few meters away toppled over revealing a tall green haired man in a white suit. He looked pretty stunned by the sudden movement. "Who might you be?" Fai spoke with a chuckle.

Regaining his composure, the man answered, "Someone who's more than a bit suspicious of three weirdoes meeting in and alley."

Before Kurogane could go off on him, something came out of the sky. It was aimed directly at Fai, but he didn't even flinch. Kurogane's sword was out and blocking the threat. Fai had his eyes closed and chuckled at this.

Suddenly, a net was shot at us. Another whistle sounded and the net hit an invisible barrier, landing at our feet. "Now, Now. That wasn't very nice."

"Tch, wasn't very creative either," Kurogane said, smirking at the girl he had blocked. She had short blonde hair, red eyes, and no weapon. I wondered how she attacked us at all.

"We don't want to fight! If you're willing to listen, I can explain," I told them. They looked like the listening type so I had to give it a chance.

"That all depends, are you part of the 'Mohawk' Gang?" The man spoke. I remembered the Mohawk Gang from a few worlds. Apparently they had one here, too.

"No. We're not part of any gang. We came here searching for something."

"Oh yeah? What exactly are you looking for?" he questioned. The man wouldn't give an inch. I considered my options. I couldn't tell him the whole story, but he'd just attack again if I didn't reply. "Well, spit it out!"

"We're looking for something that his girlfriend lost," Kurogane said, pointing his thumb in my direction. Fai looked away from me and tried to hide a laugh.

"Kurogane-san!" I yelled, embarrassed. I could feel my face heating up.

Kurogane ignored me completely and stared at the man. Both of their stares were unwavering, as if they were just testing each other. Fai was doing the same with the woman. She ran over to her elder and whispered in his ear. Fai's eyes darkened at this sight. With his vampire self still intact, he could probably hear every word.

"Well, you don't seem to be lying about that," he smiled and the kid eased up a bit.

"Well now that that's over with, would you mind telling us where we are?" Fai asked, expression unchanged.

"Elsida City," she replied. Her voice was kind, "My name is Eve."

"I'm Sven, nice to meet you," he said in what could only be described as a gentlemanly voice.

"A pleasure, my name is Fai D. Flourite. This is Syaoran and-"

"Kurogane," he knew Fai would make up some random name and decided to introduce himself. Fai pouted a bit. He hated to lose a chance to poke fun at Kurogane.

"And I'm Mokona Modoki! Mokona for short!" I hadn't noticed that Mokona had climbed out of Fai's coat and onto his head.

"Nice of you to join us," Fai laughed. Sven and Eve looked at Mokona like every other person had, wide eyed and surprised.

"I had a good dream! We saw all our old friends and then I heard Fai whistle so I woke up!" Mokona then jumped into Eve's hands. "You're strange, strange, strange!"

"I'm strange? What are you?"

"Mokona is Mokona!"

"He's like our mascot," Fai looked her in the eyes, "If I may ask, how did you attack us like that?" We were all wondering the same thing.

Eve's eyes were untrusting. I didn't blame her, it took me some time to get used to his deadly, vampiric aura. Without talking, she extended her arm to the side and morphed it into a mallet.

"Wheet-whoo! Impressive!"

"Didn't I say not to make that stupid sound?!" Kurogane growled. Fai feigned fear for a moment.

"Now now, it would be bad for me to whistle! Who knows what would happen?" he gave a look that said 'I dare you to talk' before continuing, "Perhaps we could talk elsewhere? We seem to be too suspicious here."

Sven laughed, "Well I have someone to meet up with anyway! We'll have to take the train, though. Got enough money?"

I shifted uncomfortably, "Currently, we have no money. We just arrived here."

Sven raised an eyebrow at this but, thankfully, decided not to ask. "Well I guess I can cover you this time. I did mistake you for gang members after all," He chuckled.

The train traveled through desert land on rails and cables. It jostled much more than the ones we had previously encountered. Sven and Eve didn't seem to care at all; they were too used to the constant shifting. Kurogane was standing outside the bathroom. Fai was in it, most likely throwing up. I was getting a headache.

"First time on the train?" Sven smirked at me.

"Yeah," I said without thinking. They looked at each other before turning the stare at me questioningly. "Um, like I said, we're new here…"

"Yeah, right. So, what is it you're looking for?" Sven, thankfully, changed the topic.

I thought about how to answer for a moment. Could I just tell the truth? "Well, it's hard to explain, but we're looking for… feathers. We got information that someone with one of them came here, kidnapped a woman, and disappeared," I recounted the information Watanuki could give us after we paid for a lead. "Have you heard anything like that?"

"Well that would depend on names. Many criminals just fall off the radar, it could be any number of people. Who was taken?"

"I think her name was Echidna Parass-"

"Echidna?! How the hell could that happen?" Apparently, Sven knew the girl very well, "She's not easy to take down, and she has the power of Tao."

"Tao?" I had never heard of such a power, but it sounded like a word from my home language.

"It's a martial art. Well, sort of anyway. Echidna could open gates in the atmosphere. She can pass from one point in space to another."

"That's probably why she was targeted. With a power like that and the feather," I shook my head. The man hadn't just disappeared, he left this world entirely.

"We're almost there. I'm meeting someone who will be more help to you. I think it would be good for you to meet him."