A/N: I believe that a true adventure story needs everything! Anger, revenge, loneliness, jealousy, attraction, hatred, love and lust. I hope you read and review to give me the inspiration to write more. I think this could potentially be a really good story so help me out with the comments and support!

SUMMARY: Sakura is the commander of an army that has been brutally slaughtered before her eyes. After losing her powers, Sakura is found by Syaoran, the Li Prince, heir to the most feared Kingdom, who disguises her as a peasant. Sakura must thwart his interest and the death wishes the witches and sorcerers of the kingdom throw at her while trying to complete her mission of saving Princess Daidouji and defeating the sorcerers of Sorlor. Full of magic, anger, revenge, love and lust.

Chapter One:

Alone and Angry

It seemed like the world was disappearing before her eyes; everything she had lived for, everything she had fought for. In that moment, she felt the full impact of the regret she had been shunning to the back of her mind for days; the regret she had suppressed with her stubborn, human, determination. It banged against her chest with great force and she felt like she would be brought to tears, though that remained impossible. The regret ate painfully at her heart and she realized that it would continue to grow until she could no longer take it, until she could no longer will herself to live. 'Perhaps this is his plan', she thought with disgust. 'Perhaps I do deserve such a cruel death.'

This was true and absolute torture. The people she had lived for were vanishing before her, and she had been frozen. She was paralyzed not out of fear, but by magic. Her green eyes alone roamed over the terrifying scene, his magic keeping her eyes open to watch the night of death she had led her men into. She felt as if her eyes were catching fire; that they were being burned by the blood of her men, and she vaguely believed that her eyes too had become crimson like the sky.

'Is this not fair?' She tried to force the accusing question out of her mind. 'Do I not deserve this?'

'Yes I do, but those people do not.'

Long brown hair whipped her face and struck her eyes. They stung unbearably and watered only because of the strain, though she imagined the ghosts of real tears; tears of pain, tears of fear and tears of sheer guilt.

--

She awoke to a ravaged land. Bodies were strewn every which way and the green grass had become a musty red. She stiffly lifted herself from the ground only to be knocked back onto it. The wind had escaped her. Suddenly she could hardly breathe, remembering what had happened to her and her army. The memories flooded back to her in such a rush that she was disoriented. She was freezing and unable to move, weak from the exhaustion of her tormented soul. How long had it been? The rank smell of dried blood and death loomed in the air and engulfed her cold, shaking body. How long had she been lying there?

This was her punishment, she knew. She stared out across the dark red plains and at the bordering trees; trees she knew stretched for miles. There was no escape.

This was how she would die: alone.

She felt her chest heave as her breathing accelerated. She wondered if she would cry. At first, fear was all she felt, and then anger. 'Tears are for the weak,' her mind decided. And thus she replaced her grief with anger, an anger which rested in her heart easily; in the place it was accustomed to. She would keep her feelings from ever pouring out, for Sakura Kinomoto had never cried in her life, and never intended to.

--

'How long will it take for night to fall?' Sakura wondered as she peered at the night sky. It was clear and resolute, reflecting the opposite of that which she felt inside her. She was plagued by vicious thoughts: thoughts of murder, conviction, lies and treachery. But the most prominent of all were thoughts of death, the death of her comrades and the looming death of – herself.

'What am I going to do?' She was lost in the dense forest. She had left the forsaken land on which her army had taken its defeat. At first she had wandered aimlessly, a body without a soul, looking for nothing. Then she collapsed again, having been tripped by the root of a very large tree. She now sat in between its massive roots. Its branches hung low and it leaves were large and dark green. They looked alien to Sakura, leaves she had never come across before on her days of trekking through the forest searching with her soldiers.

Her soldiers…

Her friends…

Daniel, Oren, Lewis...

She bent her head down and heaved in what one would call sobs, but there were no tears. Sakura breathed in and out, her heart aching for her soldiers, her students, her comrades. She lifted her head to bang it against the hard bark of the tree in frustration. But there was no use for mourning now. She was lost and needed to figure out what to do next. Yet she could not think straight, she was full of much too many disturbing thoughts.

She tried to think straight; she breathed in the cold musk of the forest. Oh how she loved the smell of the earth. It filled her lungs and calmed her.

Who was she to break down like this? She was a respected leader. Her soldiers had followed her without any doubt, without any questions. She was Merlin to them.

She was immediately angered by the name. She was enraged. She was a fraud.

Her soldiers had named her so because of her peculiar and admirable abilities. They were certainly not like the powers of witches and sorcerers; they were not as dark or disturbing. She had the powers of the earth. She had the elements under her control: fire, wind, rain, thunder. She could make swords out of thin air, bring light to dark nights, help them dream happy dreams when loneliness crept up on them, call out to them so that missing soldiers could find their way back to the group, erase the litter of the forest floor so that their path was made easier and so many more small but wonderful things. She was more than their commander; she was like a mother to them.

But she had failed. She had failed to trust her instincts. Her nerve and determination had gotten in the way of obeying the signs that told her they would fail. And now her men were gone.

'We had needed to cross the great forest to get to the Princess,' she reminded herself. 'We hadn't had any time to waste.'

'No excuse!' Another part of her shouted in heart ache. 'Look at what you've done!'

She was alone. She was alone and she could not feel her aura at all. It was as if it had died along with part of her soul… along with her soldiers, her family, and now slowly and painfully, her heart was dieing too.

And the girl without hope sank into a heap and began to silently sob, as the ghosts of tears fell onto the dark forest floor.

--

Sakura awoke to a bright Sun. But however warm she felt from the rays resting on her skin, the sadness of reality hit her like a wall and she crumpled to the ground again.

Then she felt the breeze caressing her face. She was taken aback by this thought. Had the wind just tried to soothe her?

Sakura could not help the small but strong feeling of joy that entered her heart. Were her powers back? Then she felt skeptical and confused. Never before had the elements reacted to her. They had always done her bidding and that alone.

But now the wind was unmistakably calming her, gently flowing along her skin, as if it were trying to caress her…

And then Sakura looked down at where she was lying. She had had a cold night but was comfortable. To her surprise, the ground on which she lay was covered in a thick bed of leaves. She did not remember making it so before she fell asleep.

Sakura's mind was drifted away from the sorrow of yesterday's defeat by the curiousity that filled her. No doubt her powers had changed.

She stood up slowly and looked around at the forest. It was much brighter than the day before, almost cheerful.

Then she heard cracking of forest litter as someone made their way towards her. Sakura froze, uncertain of what to do. Never before had she been caught so off-guard. Her senses had definitely weakened, and now she was trapped.

She hid behind the massive tree she had slept by the night before. She was appalled that she had to resort to such amateur methods but there was nothing else she could have done at the moment. She hadn't had enough time to test out an illusion.

The sounds of the creeping men grew closer and closer, and Sakura did not dare to breathe. From their shadows she could she that they were very close…

Then she sensed someone behind her. Sakura spun around too late. A hand clamped over her mouth and pushed her against the tree. Cold amber eyes stared into hers. She was terrified. Was this a Li soldier? Was this one of the men who had killed her comrades?

Then an anger pierced through Sakura's soul, an anger that burned through to her eyes. She could feel some of her aura again.

Time froze as Sakura willed it to. She could no longer hear the men moving around the tree, could no longer feel the breeze on her face and could no longer feel the warmth of the Sun.

Yet this man was still staring into her soul and his grip on her hadn't lessened.

Slowly his cold eyes lost their depth. Shock covered his face and he let his hands slip from their tight hold on Sakura. She took the moment to shove his arm away from her and punch him in the chest. He keeled over in pain and staggered backwards, eyes wide.

She started to make a run for it when she felt her knees buckle and saw the ground come rushing up to her. But she could not break her fall. Her arms were stuck at her sides in a binding curse. As she fell, a mixture of sadness and anger rushed through her. Yet again she had been paralyzed. And the image of the day before became vivid in her mind.

She felt time unfreeze and heard a man with a low and husky voice say: "do not touch her; I will carry her back myself."

"What's a peasant woman doing here in the middle of the forest Sir?"

"I do not know, but we are going to find out. Go and get my horse."

"Yes Prince Li."

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. It's only the beginning. Please review and tell me what you think!

-ImmortalWishes