In the Past
Chapter One
"Well… I'd say that landing ended in a failure…~" a blonde man chuckled. He winced when the Japanese he was lying on elbowed him in the ribs.
"Quiet, Fay. And get off while you're at it," Kurogane muttered angrily. "Hey, furball! What the hell happened?" He snorted in annoyance as Mokona jumped on his head, giggling uncontrollably.
"Kirgy's mad! Kirgy's mad!"
"Shut up!"
Fay blinked and looked at the two young people next to him. The boy pushed himself up and gasped when he was lying on the other young person; a girl. "A-ah…! Princess! Are you okay?"
"Mmh… Syaoran… you're heavy…!" she mumbled. The boy named Syaoran squeaked and leapt off of her. Syaoran offered the girl a hand and she took it, standing up.
"So… where do you think we are?" Fay asked, getting up as well and looking around. The party was in a heavily wooded forest, but Syaoran could see grassy hills outside of the woods. Smoke furled into the sky from a town hidden behind a hill.
"I'm not sure where we are, Fay, but I see smoke over there. Probably a town," Syaoran said. Kurogane pushed himself up and readjusted the sword at his side. Mokona's ears perked up and turned towards the interior of the forest.
"Mokona senses something! Something coming to us!" she said quickly.
Kurogane laid a hand on his sword and furrowed his brow. "I hear hoofbeats. Horses, I'd bet," he murmured.
"We should get out of the forest. Now!" Syaoran said urgently. He put a hand on the Princess's shoulder and said, "Let's go!"
"Okay, Syaoran!" She nodded. Fay chuckled and poked Kurogane.
"Kurgerburger! We're leaving~"
"Fine… wait, what?! Kurgerburger! The hell?!" Kurogane snarled, turning around to glare at the magician. But he, Syaoran, and Sakura were running towards the hills.
"Kirgy! They left you!" Mokona giggled. The black haired Japanese man grumbled and followed after the three. Five horsemen emerged from the trees, pursuing the party of world jumpers. They all had dark skin and black hair. Three of the men carried spears and the other two had hatchets.
Syaoran looked behind him as he was running. Who are they…? What do they want with us? he wondered. He stopped running and gave a glare at the horsemen. "Why are you chasing us? We've done nothing to you!" he shouted.
"Syaoran! Come on!" Sakura called, turning around to run to the young man, but Fay held her back. The five horsemen stopped and held their weapons threateningly.
"Tell me why you're chasing us. Please! We haven't done anything," Syaoran repeated. "We mean no harm. I promise." He took the sword at his side and threw it to the ground in front of him. One of the men, presumably the leader, leapt off his horse and pointed his spear at Syaoran.
"You white men… leave our land now!" the man growled.
"White men…?"
"You and your men have defiled our land for long enough. Leave!"
Syaoran raised an eyebrow and asked, "We aren't part of the… white men. We're simply travelers. We don't want any trouble, and we'll be leaving."
"Be sure that you do. And stay away from that village. I wish nothing but ill will for those who live there," the man said, his dark eyes narrowed. He jumped on his horse and motioned for the other horsemen to head back into the woods. The five of them galloped into the trees, disappearing from sight. Syaoran breathed a sigh of relief.
"Syaoran! Are you alright?" Sakura asked, running up to the young man and grabbing his arm.
"Fine. But, I wonder… what have those people in the village done to those horsemen?"
"Perhaps it's something to investigate while we're here~" Fay said, walking up to the two young people. "Oh, I never asked, Mokona… but do you feel a feather around here?"
Mokona's ears perked up and she looked around. "Hmm…!" The little puffball's eyes opened wide and she said excitedly, "There is! There is! Mokona feels one of Sakura's feathers! It's that way!" She pointed to the town.
"Then that settles things~! We'll look for the feather and figure out this issue between those horsemen and that village~" Fay concluded, nodding. "What d'you think, Kirgykins?"
"Whatever you say. And stop giving me those crappy nicknames. It's annoying," Kurogane muttered. Mokona jumped up and down on the black haired male's head, laughing.
Syaoran nodded and said, "We might as well. What do you think, Princess?" He looked expectantly at Sakura. It was her decision, after all.
"I think we should help!"Sakura said. A small smile crossed her face. Syaoran smiled as well and picked up his sword.
"Then let's go, shall we~?" Fay asked, pointing to the town. He, Kurogane, Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona started their walk to the small town. There were only a couple buildings lined up on a single street. The group quietly walked down the street. People in their homes shut the window shutters quickly.
"Is it just me, or do the people here seem… afraid of us?" Syaoran asked to no one in particular. Sakura nodded and moved closer to Syaoran.
"It does seem like nobody here is too excited to see us. I wonder what's going on?" the blonde magician wondered aloud. His blue eyes darted from window to window, trying to catch the eye of someone.
"They probably hate strangers… kind of like those dark skinned people. They seemed to hate us as well," Kurogane said, looking about the windows as well.
One brave soul came out of a building. He had dark brown hair and green eyes. The man wore a white shirt and black slacks. He wielded a pistol, pointed it at Syaoran and said loudly, "I wouldn't take another step if I was you." He cocked the gun.
"Hold on a minute! We've done nothing wrong!" Syaoran protested, putting his hands in the air. Sakura pressed herself against Syaoran's back. Fay and Kuragone followed the young archeologists lead and put their hands up as well.
"Turn back now. We don't want outsiders here," the man growled. He fired a shot near Syaoran's feet, but the young man didn't flinch. The older male with the gun loaded another shot.
"Please. We're just looking for something. Then we'll leave. I swear it," said Syaoran. He blinked slowly and took a step forward, hands still raised. Sakura and the others looked with concern on as Syaoran approached the man with the gun.
"What… is it that you're looking for, stranger?" the man asked, not lowering the gun an inch. "Tell me or you die."
Syaoran glanced back at Fay and Kurogane. They both gave looks that said, 'Go ahead and tell him.' "We're looking for any magical source. Or unusual phenomena. Anything like that," Syaoran said.
"Unusual phenomena? The only 'unusual phenomena' around here is you. Now leave before I kill you."
"Wait! There's something else I need to ask."
"No! Leave now!" The man fired a shot. The bullet grazed Syaoran's shoulder, but he barely finched. Sakura yelped as if she'd been the one shot.
Kurogane growled and drew his sword. "I'm not taking any more of this crap. If they don't want us here, then let's leave this damn place already." He advanced towards the man.
"Stop, Kurogane. It's fine." Syaoran forced Kurogane's sword down with his hand. He looked at the man with the gun and said, "Sir, if you grant us just a few days to look for what we came for, we'll leave. Please." Syaoran's brown eyes were firm.
"Alder!" a voice called from a house. The man, Alder, whipped his head around to look at a woman in a white dress. She had light brown hair and brown eyes to match. "Why are you terrorizing these poor people?"
"They're strangers, Marianne! We cannot trust them!" Alder growled, reloading the gun and pointing it at Syaoran again. The woman called Marianne stormed out of the building and grabbed the pistol out of Alder's hand.
"They are in need of shelter if they are to find what they seek. Let them stay, Alder. I can tell they will cause us no harm," Marianne insisted, glancing at the group of travelers.
Alder looked at Marianne and back at the group. He sighed in defeat and grumbled, "Very well. They may stay. But if I see so much as a toe out of line…"
"I promise, we'll do no such thing, sir," Syaoran said. "Right?" He looked at the others. Fay and Mokona (who had jumped from Kurogane to Fay some time earlier) nodded, Kurogane snorted but said nothing, and Sakura nodded quickly, sticking close to Syaoran.
"Fine. Come. I'll show you in," Alder muttered, heading into the house the woman appeared from.
Marianne strode up to Syaoran and his group and said, "My apologies for my brother's actions. He's just tense." She laid a hand on the young archeologist's shoulder. "Oh, you're wounded," she murmured with concern.
"N-no, it's nothing." Syaoran winced. Sakura pressed up against the young man again, also concerned for his safety. "I really am alright."
"Then please, come inside. I'll be sure to keep Alder away from you travelers and help you, young one."
