Syaoran watched without blinking as the pack of wolves devoured the convulsing man. One of the wolves nudged his leg and looked up to him. Syaoran silently nodded and within a second the wolf ripped the man's arm off as the other wolves began pulling the rest of his body to pieces.

Syaoran's eyes connected with the tortured soul's briefly but there was no sympathy in his glance. That man had chosen his path and this was the result of it. That's all there was to it.

Another group of men appeared farther out in the desert and began to run on seeing the wolves. Syaoran easily transformed into his wolf form and caught up with them, barring his teeth as they wheeled back right into the rest of his pack. Arms, legs and other various body parts flew in the air as their sinful souls cried out their eternal suffering into the cold, bloody evening.

"Good job, Syaoran."

A hand appeared on his head as soon as Syaoran reverted into his human form. Syaoran frowned up to his creator. Fei Wong wasn't smiling either. The two silently watched as the other wolves feasted on the remaining pieces of the sinners. Syaoran felt like he was looking past the scene more than at it.

"It's a dirty job," Fei Wong said under his breath. "But in order to keep the world in balance there has to be a price for the sinners."

Syaoran didn't agree or disagree with this. He could care less about the world of humans and order. He made a low whistle and all the wolves gathered around him and his master. Syaoran smiled a little and petted their blood-stained fur.

"There's more sinners than usual," he told Fei. "The wolves are getting fat and twice as thirsty for blood."

Fei Wong absently patted Syaoran's head again before turning to leave. Syaoran reverted back to his wolf form and trailed after his master while all the other wolves followed him. Syaoran didn't know and didn't care why the other wolves followed him and not Fei Wong. They obeyed the master, but they worshiped Syaoran and could sense his feelings with just a look.

The next batch of sinners were an easy kill. They all wanted to die and just sat and let themselves be picked to pieces in the bloody sands. There was only one runner and Syaoran took that one on, far past the normal Ring of the Damned and towards the Immortal City.

"Please!" the sinner screamed, dropping to his knees and clasping his hands together. "Please!! Please! I want to live!!"

Syaoran incinerated the man with Hien. When he looked up he saw that he was being watched by the girl who ruled the City. The two stared at each other before Syaoran turned away, dragging the remaining soul for his wolves.

"If he wanted to live that can't be a sin."

Syaoran looked over his shoulder to see the girl still there.

"It's the greatest sin," he replied darkly. "To cling to something so desperately is to taint your soul. If you cling to your current life then your soul will not move from that spot and you'll be your own prisoner forever."

"How do you know that if you've killed everyone who clings?"

"I don't. Fei does. He knows everything."

The girl frowned peevishly. "But you lead the wolves so if you tell them not to touch someone, they'll listen."

"And I listen to Fei."

He didn't let the girl continue. He reverted to a wolf and ran off with the body in his jaws.

The feeling of not caring was growing deeper with each slaughter. When Syaoran was created he loved ripping souls to pieces, he exalted in it, took pleasure in it and that's why Fei Wong had granted him this human form and even a sword to lead the others. But now, as he watched soul after soul being torn apart limb by limb….Syaoran felt nothing.

Instead of watching more blood soak the sands of the desert Syaoran found himself wandering near the Immortal City.

"What's your name?"

He looked up to see that girl again. Syaoran silently reverted to his human form and walked up to her. Or as close as he could get. There was a glass field that acted as a barrier between the In Between World and the Living World.

He just looked on quietly as she kicked her feet in a little pond.

"You don't have to stand! Come sit with me!" She patted the ground. Syaoran remained standing. "My name is Sakura."

"I know. You're the tree that allows them to live until they're reborn."

"Yes." She smiled. "If you knew, why haven't you ever said hi to me before?"

"…our goals are different, Sakura-san."

"Maybe but that doesn't have anything to do with me and you being friends. Friends differ in opinions all the time!" She giggled and kick up her feet in the water. "Besides….it's just me and you out here all the time…it'd be nice not to be so alone…to have someone to talk to….someone who didn't need to be with me….but wanted to…don't you think that'd be nice?"

"You have a whole city."

"Yes but...though I love them each very much….it's not the same." She blushed a little. "I've been watching you for a long time….even before Fei Wong-san gave you a human form…and I would really like to be your friend."

"Why?"

"Because I like you, of course!"

Syaoran regarded her smile for a long time before diverting his eyes to the water. He noticed that Sakura tried to splash him by kicking her feet up but the water just bounced off the glass and struck her instead. She lost balance and fell into the water. Syaoran absently watched the explosion of sakura petals before walking away.

More blood stained the sand. More than Syaoran remembered there ever being before. As he walked through the Ring of the Damned his paws became drenched in blood. His whole coat of fur was dripping to the point of weighing down his movements. As he glanced around him he saw that some of the wolves were getting trapped in the bloody quick sand. He reverted to his human form to free them and cleaned them in the water near the Immortal City.

Sakura stared at the bloody water as Syaoran slipped into the pond himself after having removed the blood from the wolves.

"Were you hurt?" she asked.

"Hurt?" he repeated.

"Feel pain. From all the blood."

"I can't feel anything. And the blood isn't mine."

Sakura absently walked about in the water on her side of the glass before drawing near him again. "They won't leave."

"Won't leave?"

"...two of souls won't leave the City, Syaoran-kun. No matter how much I talk to them or how much I comfort them...they won't will leave." Sakura's eyes started welling up with tears. "What does that mean for the mortal world?"

"Whatever it means....it has nothing to do with us."

"B-but! If the souls don't leave then people are giving birth to soulless children!"

"Send the souls out here. I'll kill it and the thread will be severed."

An unexpected pang of guilt struck Syaoran when Sakura's eyes filled up with more tears. She dissolved into petals, leaving Syaoran alone in his bloody water.