Tsubasa : Manga Chronicles
Chapitre 1
- The Kingdom of Leaves -
"OOMPH!"
The five dimension-travelers fell on the ground in a forest somewhere unknown, a place with a warm breeze that rustled through the leaves.
"Where are we?" Syaoran asked, rubbing his head as he got up.
"Mokona does not know," said Mokona. "But Mokona senses a feather!"
"Already?" Fai said, pleased.
"Yes, but it is very far away," said Mokona.
"Hey, what are these?" Sakura said, holding up a metal slate attached to a dark blue ribbon that she had found clutched in her hand when she landed.
"I dunno..." said Syaoran, looking at the one he had found in his grasp. A strange design of a spiral with a sort of arrow attached was engraved on it.
"They're rather pretty," Fai said, admiring his own. "Look! Kuro-san and I got the same ones!"
"Oh, we do..." Kurogane said, getting up and looking at the slate engraved with four squiggly lines in the center.
"What do you think they are?" Syaoran said.
"I don't know, maybe it means something," said Sakura.
"They look almost like hitai'ates..." Kurogane said.
"Hey, I hear people! There's people, this way!" Mokona cheered.
"It sounds like a city's nearby," Syaoran noticed, walking toward the sound.
All of a sudden, he broke out of the forest and onto a path, before running back.
"Everyone, look at this!" he said, pointing in the direction of the path. The rest of the crew followed behind him, to see a magnificent sight.
"Hyuu..that's huge!" Fai declared.
An enormous gate with two strange letters written on either door stood in front of them, a bustling city beyond.
"Oh, wow..." said Sakura.
"Who goes there!" someone from atop the gate said.
"Umm...us...?" Syaoran said nervously.
"Have you forgotten protocol? State your name, country of origin, and purpose clearly!" the person said.
"Umm, I am Syaoran, of the Kingdom of Clow, and Sakura-hime of the same country! With me are Fai D. Flourite of Ceres and Kurogane of Japan! Umm...we don't know how we got here, so I don't suppose we have any business!" Syaoran said.
The guard on top of the gate sighed. There was silence for a while.
"Where did they go?" Fai asked.
All of a sudden, a tall man with a green vest jumped down from atop the gate and stood in front of them.
"Excuse me," he said. "I'd like to ask you some questions. What's this, here?"
He pointed to the slate in Syaoran's hand. Syaoran looked at him oddly and handed it over. The man examined it and looked at Syaoran with a strange look on his face.
"According to this, you're from this village. Is that true?" he asked.
"Huh? I have no idea what this place is, I was found with this...thing in my hand when I found myself here." Syaoran replied.
"We have some too, but they're different..." Sakura said, trying to be helpful. She offered hers with Fai and Kurogane, and the man looked at them with interest.
"Sand and Mist...what were your names, again?" he said, looking back at them.
"I'm Syaoran, and this is Sakura-hime. Fai and Kurogane are the others." Syaoran said.
"And I'm Mokona!" Mokona said. The man looked at it, a bit disturbed, before returning to the decidedly human portion of the group.
"And you said you've never been here, yet you have one of our country's headbands in your posession?" he asked. Syaoran shrugged.
"I guess." he said.
"Very strange...come with me, please." he said, and returned the strange slates to them. "Here, take these back. Open the gate!"
The gate opened and the man began to walk, so they followed.
"Don't suppose you could tell us what this place is called, could you?" Kurogane said.
"Either you're excellent actors or you're really not from here..." the man said. "This is Konohagakure - the Village Hidden in Leaves. I'm taking you to see the Hokage, our leader."
"What were those metal things we were found with?" Sakura asked.
"They're hitai'ate's; a calling-card that signifies which village you're from." he said. "According to these, one of you is from here, another from the Sand region in Wind country, and two are from the Mist region in the Water country."
"What? That doesn't explain anything, we're not even from this world." Kurogane said.
"Very strange...perhaps Hokage-sama can explain." he said. "No more questions, we're nearly here."
The group walked on in silence, until they came to a rather lavish building.
"Here we go, you're entering into Hokage-sama's presence, so I'd mind your manners while around her." the man said. They walked through a door and came to a circular room that had windows as high as the walls themselves, but with no glass to keep things in or out. In the center there was a large desk, where someone sat behind in a tall chair.
"Leave, please. I'll be speaking with our visitors alone." a feminine voice said from behind the chair. The man nodded and left. There was silence for a while.
"So, you are the strangers?" the Hokage asked. "How did you get here?"
"Through me!" Mokona said, cheering before anyone could say anything. "We travel through dimensions!"
The chair turned around and a buxom woman that looked to be in her mid-twenties looked at them.
"You travel through dimensions using that thing?" she asked, pointing at Mokona. Mokona nodded.
"Yup! That's what we do!" said Mokona. The rest of them were a bit too embarrassed to answer.
"So you're from another dimension, and you're not just spies from another country?"
All five of them nodded at the same time. The Hokage grinned.
"You passed your test." she smiled. "I was reading your chakra lines and life signals, and you aren't lying at all. The only thing that's got me confused is how you're able to get to dimensions, I'd like to talk with you on that sometime."
"Wha...?" was the near unanimous reply.
"Let me formally introduce myself." the Hokage said. "I am Tsunade, Fifth Hokage of Konohagakure, and I welcome you here."
"Are you the leader of this place?" Fai asked. Tsunade nodded.
"And one of the most powerful ninja you're ever likely to meet here." she added. "Now, I'd like to know about you four."
"And me!" Mokona added.
"Yes, firstly you." Tsunade laughed. "Are you some sort of...chakra-concentrating device, or a summon of some kind?"
"No, Mokona is Mokona!" Mokona replied. "Mokona was made by Yuuko-san, but we can talk later. Syaoran wants to talk, he does!"
"Syaoran?" Tsunade said.
"I'm Syaoran, and my homeworld is the Kingdom of Clow." Syaoran explained, a tad embarrassed at Mokona's outgoing nature. "This is Sakura-hime, the Princess of Clow."
"Royalty! How interesting!" Tsunade said. "And who are you, big boy?"
"Me?" Kurogane said. "I'm Kurogane, head bodyguard and shinobi to Princess Tomoyo of Japan."
"A shinobi, are you?" Tsunade said, a pleased look on her face. "Are you of the nin- and genjutsu-using kind, or are you more of a taijutsu-user?"
"Eh...?" Kurogane said. "I have no idea what you just said." Tsunade laughed.
"I guess that I will have to speak with you more in-depth of it later." she said. "And lastly, you, the blonde cutie. Who are you?"
"Fai D. Flourite, madam." Fai said, bowing. "I am a magician from the land of Ceres."
"Charming." Tsunade smiled. "Well, that certainly sounds interesting, but how and why are you here?"
"We're here because of Sakura-hime." Syaoran explained. "She's lost her memories, which have been turned into feathers and scattered everywhere. They're very powerful sources of energy, and people who are against us are after them, so perhaps someone here might be after them as well."
"Maybe the Akatsuki...as impossible as that sounds, I believe you." Tsunade said. "So these feathers...they're your memories?"
"Yes, and parts of my soul too, I think..." Sakura said. "Unless I get them all back, I only have bits and pieces of memories in my mind, and I keep falling asleep at the worst times..."
"Oh, you poor dear!" Tsunade said. "Well, I promise you, I will do everything in my power to find your feather!"
"You will!" Syaoran said.
"Of course!" Tsunade said. "As leader of Konohagakure I will ensure your safety and provide anything you need. Also, I feel obligated to teach you in a crash course of our arts, to make sure you are able to defend yourself, should something arise."
"That sounds wonderful!" Fai said.
"If I might ask, would you mind coming here tomorrow morning for your lesson?" she asked Kurogane. "As a shinobi of your own world, I'm rather interested in what your arts are like."
"Sure, I guess." said Kurogane.
"All right then." Tsunade smiled. "Shizune!"
A woman with dark hair hurried into the room.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"
"Provide our guests with suitable shelter, and take them shopping, those clothes are so outlandish!" she said. "Kurogane-san, I'll be seeing you tomorrow for our discussion."
"As you wish, Tsunade-sama." Shizune said. "If you would please, come with me."
The five of them followed her out of the room and to the spacious hallway, then outdoors.
"Well, I see that Tsunade-sama gave you quite the warm welcome, didn't she!" she exclaimed. "I guess it just reinforces the fact Konohagakure is one of the most peaceful cities here..."
She turned around and looked at them, and blushed a little bit.
"Oh goodness, I should introduce myself, I'm so rude." she said. "I am Shizune, Tsunade's assistant. If there's anything you need, all you need do is ask me, and I'll try my best to help you."
"Oh, that's so nice of you!" said Sakura.
"Quite true." Fai added. "We have found a few worlds that are rather welcoming, but this one...my goodness, what service!"
"Outo was a lot like this, but then again, it wasn't real." said Syaoran. Shizune listened in awe.
"You mean, you go to other worlds all the time?" she asked.
"Well, we've been to quite a few." said Fai. "It's all for Sakura-chan, we just love her so." This caused Syaoran to blush a little bit.
"Oh, wow! That's amazing!" said Shizune. "Now, I heard through the wall that you were called Sakura-hime, are you really a princess?"
"Well, I'm not sure. I think I am, at least, that's what Syaoran-kun says." Sakura said, blushing a little. "My memories really aren't that complete."
"Ohhh, sorry!" Shizune said, a bit embarrassed herself. "Hmm...ah, I think I know where you can stay! Naru-kun would love to have some neighbors for a change."
"Naru-kun?" the four travelers said.
"He's a good friend of Hokage-sama." Shizune giggled. "He's gone at the moment, but I believe you'll meet him tomorrow, whether or not you really want to."
She stopped and quickly calculated something in her mind for a moment.
"It's quite a while off, do you suppose you could follow me?" she asked.
"What's a while off?" Syaoran asked.
"Your home, at least, your temporary one." Shizune said. "If you can't run very fast, then it'll be quite some time before you can get there. Want to try and keep up with me?"
"I suppose I can, what about you?" Kurogane asked Syaoran.
"Maybe, but I don't know about Fai-san and Sakura-hime." he replied.
"Don't worry about us, who knows!" said Fai. "Perhaps we can, right, Sakura-chan?"
Sakura nodded meekly. Shizune smiled and tilted her head.
"Okay, I'll come back for you if you can't keep up." she said, and jumped high into the air.
"Holy crap." Kurogane said. The kunoichi then darted forward onto the nearby roofs and began to dash forward.
"Well, never know until you try!" Fai said cheerfully, and bent his knees.
"You can't be serious." said Kurogane.
"Oh, but I am!" said Fai, and jumped.
Instead of reaching only a few feet, Fai soared splendidly into the air and stayed there for a few seconds.
"Hyuu...how about that!" he exclaimed, and dashed forward.
"Unbelievable." Kurogane said. Syaoran, amazed as well, bent his legs.
"You're going to try too, Syaoran-kun?" Sakura asked him.
"Of course! Let's see what this'll do!" he said, and jumped into the air. Immediately, he soared into the air as Fai did, and dashed forward.
"Wow, Syaoran-kun!" Sakura cheered. "Kurogane-san, are you going to follow them?"
"Not unless you go." he replied gruffly. "If the runt can do it then you can too, I guess."
"You can do it!" Mokona cheered, who was sitting in Sakura's arms. With a smile, Sakura ran forward and leapt, finding herself soaring in the sky and bounding over the roofs with the rest of them.
"Cripes, this is one strange world." Kurogane sighed, and leapt in the air; it was easy to him. Being Tomoyo-hime's guard, he was used to leaping high in the air, and found the feeling quite lovely for a change; the sky here was accepting of people wanting to fly.
Next
- The First Day