a rewrite of the first chapter, so for those who have already read this, read the ending again! it's a little bit longer than the other one, and more details. wee!!
-sheeps go baaa
Disclaimer : I hereby announce that I do "not" own Card Captor Sakura. Thank you.
Brief Summary: She made an oath with the Prince to always protect the Princess. Although her love for him is genuine, she still follows his command. Even if it meant for her to give up her life to the Pirates, she still kept her promise.
Overall Summary: Yes, it is the time. The unbelievable era of piracy, where the ocean rages on, destroying the mother earth. There they stand at war, hoping to reign as almighty kings, dreaming to rule the world. Their first journey has just begun. Making their way to Okinawa, the world's number one feared Pirates, The Me-Hearty Pirates emerge from the coasts to take in all the "booty" they can get their hands on.
Nami no Monogatari
A Wave's Tale
Chapter One: Cry in the Night
"Sakura."
"Yes, my Lord."
"Keep this oath."
"Anything, your Highness."
"During the period when I am gone, you must protect the Princess."
"Yes, my Lord."
"I have my trust in you. Even if you must dive into the sea for her, protect her. Even if it requires you to dodge a bullet for her, protect her. With all your life, you must protect her."
"As you command, my Prince. I will not fail you."
XOXO
November 18, 1806
Today, my Prince ordered me to do the impossible. Yes, he "ordered", not "requested" like how every other normal being would when he or she was desperately asking for a favor. Instead, he deliberately stoned me with every aching word he was able to utter out. Those obliviously formed sentences succeed to enervate me even to this very moment.
"With-all-your-life-you-must-protect-her."
Do not misunderstand, please. I am not frightful to risk my life, or even to end it. Crumpling my life and trashing it away concerns me the very least. It is all just love-sick. Throbbing chest. Crying heart. Tear-streaked face. Broken soul. Veiled emotions.
I am only in love with him. The Prince.
And he commanded me to kill myself (depending on the situation) in order to save his beloved Princess, his lovely future wife.
His request sounds so very ludicrous that I want to fill myself with laughter and burst into tears. Yet strangely, I am doing so.
The sky seems to have joined along with this game, and now we are playing Follow the Leader. Who is the leader? I am not sure. After taking a short glance out the window, I notice the wetness. Everything the droplets have touched are completely soaked. It must have been pouring longer than I have. Sometimes, I wonder, why do I always happen to be the second one? Why must I always be number two?
XOXO
"And you said what?"
"I already repeated myself four times, Mama Lin. Please, do me the favor and enough with the unnecessary bombardment of questions. Your same repetitive question is making me grow insane." I sputter as the chilly November wind slaps my face from every corner of directions, shamefully imprinting noticeable shades of red all over my cheeks. My remains are all covered in endless layers of faded brown, grey, and white raiment.
Mama Lin looks straight at me. We have our eyes locked with one another, but that icy glare of hers makes me flinch.
"You look at me as if I am a criminal." She states although I had no intention to send messages especially mixed ones. I believed the only appearance that was caked on my face was bewilderment. I mean… "You're the one looking at me as if I am a hopeless widow."
"Not precisely. Then again, it is the truth. Widows are hopeless. Look at me." Mama Lin covers her face with both her hands, and pretends to wail from the bottom of her heart. Putting on an act, she suddenly drops down, her bottoms buttressed by the boulder beneath her. She sobs harder and louder, making a ruckus around the neighborhood.
"Oh, please." I begin. "Just wake up the whole town, why don't you?" I kneel down aside her attempting to halt her from making any further needless disturbance.
"Tell me. Who would nap before the moon even rises?" She then stands up from the ground as everything was perfectly normal, and neatly straightens the creases from her dress. By the time she finishes and raises her head high, her hair is in shambles. However, her long streaks of black hair flying about freely in the air makes her face glow like that very moon pinned on the sky. No, it is not the hair giving her all the credit. Mama Lin is beautiful. Not only that, but she looks potent, free-willed, independent, confident, and sharp. She follows her heart like none other, and becomes excessively ambitious when it comes to her duty as the Captain of the Marine Corps.
It is a pity that she has to conceal her true beauty behind the thick blue army uniform and bands that tie back her silky threads. If her fellow troops had any knowledge about her feminine side, they would furtively favor her as their wife, and lust after her like the common wolves they are. Even better, like Them, those lowly Pirates.
"You constantly think only of yourself." Standing back up, I stop with the silent praises.
"And that is how I became Mama Lin, isn't that so?" She blurts as if to state what she is doing is an overtly good deed. Which I have to admit, it is. Her arms are crossed and lips pursed. She is trying to make a point. She makes a very fine one. After all, she is our Mother Meilin.
"I surrender. Your victory." I soon raise my hands high up in the air, and hail as if she is the Virgin Mary.
"Isn't that expected?" She laughs alone as I take more rapid steps, putting an effort to leave her behind. I make my way to our foster home.
"Sakura." She calls out to me, but I do not bother to turn back around. It is not that I do not want to wait for her. My legs won't obey. Instead, she catches up to me. She soon begins with another conversation. First, she informs me with the undeniable truth. It is the sad truth that shatters my heart into million pieces. She has the nerve to tell me face front, "You do not match with the Prince."
My mind convinces me to cover my ears, ignore the things that are difficult to accept, but my arms also fail to obey me. It could be due to the lack of rest. Unfortunately, I am sleep-deprived. It began exactly seven days, a week ago. After every dream, nightmare, even vision, strength disappears from my system like an untreated wound. I feel like a walking corpse that might dissipate with the slightest contact from another being. Thinking about the Prince should be the least of my worries.
Like a ghost, Mama Lin interrupts my train of thought, and knowingly asks, "Did you see something?" Every movement in my joint comes to a gradual end, and we both stand staring at each other in silence. "What happened? What did you see?" She demands to know.
"Okinawa is so peaceful, don't you say? Look at the sea. Look at the sky. Truly, a nature's gift. Truly, a wonderful blessing."
Her eyes follow the crashing waves from the coast. It moves forward then backward in a hypnotizing pattern, but makes a blast like the roaring thunder. The wind howls almost inaudibly into our ears, sharing secrets that have never been told to anyone else. The lucid sky pacifies every living soul, putting their mind at ease for the rest of the day.
If only I did not know about the depressing fact, I might not be so restless, troubled, and apprehensive. My dream washed it all away. Everything we had here; peace, joy, security, it was all broken into limitless fragments. It has now become impossible to attach the pieces back into place. I cannot tell what the dream really signifies, however, Okinawa will fall like it never did before.
"There was a disastrous tsunami. It carried in many beasts of the sea, typically sharks, and it ate away any living flesh it touched. The waves came in drowning the population. I was there, the last one to stand. They surrounded me with hungry, blood-thirsty eyes."
"When? When did you first vision this?" The nervousness took over her once-before composed body. She could not help but to tremble. Panic arose.
Strange and unusual as it may sound, if my dream has a greater symbolic meaning, it usually takes seven days for it to take effect. In simpler, more understandable terms, it will naturally become reality in a week.
I finally have the force to reply, "November 11, exactly seven days ago…" My voice rings hopelessly. My next movement is to take a glance at her face that is filled with absolute horror. With regret, I see myself reflected back from her widely opened eyes. Why the regret? That is mainly because I am also able to see the mere image of this Sakura Kinomoto as a weakling with dreaded fear spread all over her face.
I move closer to her in order to send warmth down her frozen body. I decide to comfort her in the best way possible. Moments later, we both hear people hollering from a nearby distance.
The feet that were planted firmly on the solid ground starts to power up on its own. Then slowly, little by little, it begins to move without my permission. Instead of moving forward, with each step, I see myself moving backwards. I feel like my soul is in a different body. I tell it to do one thing; it does the opposite.
Strangely, my heart races faster than the new spinning wheel Mama Lin brought home the other day, which in fact, is impossible. Especially with all the new technological devices that are contained in the machine, the wheel keeps going and going, faster and faster. The speed is incredible. It is like our spring waterfall where our monks train.
With concern in her tone of voice, she asks, "Are you okay? What is wrong?" I feel light-headed. Although I word out the phrases, my mouth is dry. The sound is indistinct. Without heaven's warning, I become orally speechless. Soon, Mama Lin shakes me with brute force, demanding me to let her know what the matter is.
What is the matter?
My voice cracks, but I am able to deliver the message by simply stating, "It is coming."
"The tsunami?" her voice dies away along with the wind. With that, every source of energy from her body leaves, and there she stands perfectly still as if she is the grand prized doll. Hope is gone. I see the pure color of amethyst in her eyes gradually fading away as if her life is being sucked out of her.
Bloody Hell!
Now it hits me.
"No." I all too suddenly speak aloud. Taking in the unexpected shock, she flinches a little. "It is not a tsunami," I continue. "It is worse…" And with that, she looks at me with a doubtful expression pondering about what could be worse than a tsunami. Her queries are written all over her face. For a brief moment, her face lightens. Unfortunately, it does not last too long.
The mumbled noises that we were unable to decipher earlier, now marks clearly in our ears. With panic, they shout on top of their lungs, "Pirates! Pirates! Pirates are here!"
Poor, Mama Lin. I can literally see her face falling to the floor.
"Captain!" we hear a nearby cry from a short distance. There, Mama Lin's second lieutenant comes rushing to her side. Realizing Mama Lin's true beauty without her uniform, the man pauses for a brief moment, then salutes. It must have been a shock on him. I would understand. "The pirates are emerging close to our shores. The naval forces formed a temporary blockade around every shoreline, but as we can see, with the prince, general, and half of our troops currently gone, we are lacking sufficient amount of manpower," he manages to state in a panicked tone.
"American?" she asks bluntly.
"Judging by the carvings of their ship, no we believe it's…"
"They're from the east which leaves us with one answer." I interrupt and finish my line, "the Chinese."
"Where are the marine forces?" Mama Lin demands with that coarse authoritarian voice of hers while tying back the unleashed hair.
"They already took their positions after spotting the ships. All we are waiting for now is your final command."
"No…" I speak. They both stare at me with the same puzzlement. "We've been fooled. They're already here. Every ninety percent of them. They've been here hiding. They've been waiting for the right moment to invade. Unbelievable. This has been planned since seven days ago. How could I be so foolish?" My head starts to spin. Must save the princess. Must save the princess. Must save the princess. Must keep my promise. I turn my back ready to make my way to the castle.
"Sakura, where are you going?" Mama Lin gets a hold of my arm. "Do not tell me you're going to the castle."
"I have to." I attempt to break free.
"No. No one has to die for a selfish prince who cannot even cherish the goods he has in front of him." She makes a nasty point.
"I'd rather die for my love with fame and honor than as a heartless traitor." She reluctantly lets go off me. Never leaving my gaze, she adds, "Fine. Go. But you better not die on me. Even if you dive into sea or get shot by a bullet, live."
"Of course. Be sure to take care of yourself. And let us meet back at home."
"I will be waiting…" Her last phrase rings in my ear no matter how many steps I take to further my distance from her voice. Yet, she continues even louder, boisterously. "I'll be waiting! I will be waiting for you!"
To have someone wait for me…I want to live.
hey, people!
thank you for reading from top to the bottom and even this tiny little message. i'm thrilled! kukuku!!
well, i'm aware of the fact the first chapter isn't all too great, the heroes of the story are missing, and it's somewhat slow for the beginning, but for those who are thorougly enjoying this newbie writing, you guys are "the" shiz. i respect you all. so, bless you.
until i feel like writing again,
TATA.
OH! and please do leave reviews. i'll be more hyped to send a touching message back :D
thanks. gomabda. arigatou. gracias. and whoever knows any other way to say thank you, please send me a message and tell me.
-sheeps go baaa