Tsubasa is owned by Clamp, and the song "Hotel California" is owned by the Eagles. if you haven't heard this song, i highly reccomend it, but you don't necessarily need to listen to it to understand the story.
i got the idea for this fic while listening to this song and thinking "hey, this would really work as a Tsubasa fic." but, sadly, nobody had written one, so i took it upon my self to do so. i hope you like it :)
this is my first fanfiction, but i write plenty of original fiction, so i can handle critique. critique is LOVE.
California, 1977
If anyone besides a lone coyote had been watching the stretch of highway snaking through the desert of eastern California, lined with weeds, cacti, and sand, they would have thought the nondescript black compact car speeding down the westbound lane to be remarkable only in the fact that people rarely traveled the road at twilight, or at any other time of day, for that matter. When cars came, they were few and far between, and with nobody to enforce the speed limit, it was unremarkable that this particular car happened to be going at about a hundred miles an hour, with no sign of slowing. The sun was just disappearing behind the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the peering eyes of the night creatures had just begun to appear. The air was heavy with leftover heat and the heady scent of the native colitas. This far from any towns, most signs of civilization ceased to exist, and if anyone had been observing, they would have found that all things about the particular night seemed completely unremarkable. That is, until they looked at the group of people in the car currently barreling towards the mountains.
"Roll up that damn window before I rip you a new one!" the driver yelled at the man in the passenger seat, startling him and the other three passengers as well. The waif-like man in the passenger seat grinned as he cranked down the window, the wind making his feathery blonde hair flutter. His blue eyes shone with amusement as he glanced at the irate driver.
"But, Kuro-pi, it's sooo hot here!" he exclaimed, making the driver's crimson eyes flash in annoyance as the wind tried to mess up his short black hair.
"I don't care if your insides boil, idiot! Just put up the damn window. That smell is making me sick."
"Mokona likes the smell!" chirped a small white creature in the back. It looked for all the world like a rabbit crossbred with a steamed pork bun. "The smell reminds Mokona of the pine trees people decorate at Christmas time!"
"I don't care what it smells like, manju!" the driver thundered. "Just roll up the damn window, mage!"
"But the wind feels nice~" the blonde whined.
The two men continued to bicker for a few minutes before the girl in the back put her hand on the blonde's shoulder. He turned to face her.
"Don't worry, Fai-san. I used to live in the desert. It gets very cold at night there." She turned to the boy sitting behind the driver's seat. "Right, Syaoran-kun? It'll cool down in no time!"
He just smiled and nodded before looking back down at his map. The blonde, Fai, took the girl's hand.
"Oh, Sakura-chan, you're so sweet. Unlike a certain big puppy up hereā¦" He looked pointedly at the driver, who growled, but said nothing.
"Oh, I'm sure Kurogane-san's doing his best to drive this. It must be rather difficult." Sakura looked flustered, her green eyes darting between the two.
"Not really. If it's gonna cool down soon anyway, then shut the damn window. I'm suffocating." Kurogane cut in. "And what the hell is that smell, anyway?"
Everyone shrugged and ignored the irate man. For several minutes, they drove on in silence as the sky steadily darkened. Finally, Sakura couldn't hold back a large yawn. This, in turn, caused Fai, Mokona, and Syaoran to yawn as well.
"Your turn, Kuro-rin," Fai said, poking Kurogane's arm. Instead of yawning, however, the driver just squinted out the windshield at something in the distance. He stared at it for a few seconds before leaning back in his seat. Curious, Fai glanced in the same direction, looking for whatever had caught Kurogane's interest.
"Hyuu, I see a light! Good job, Kuro-puu! We're almost there!" he exclaimed, startling Sakura and Mokona. They both craned their necks to look out the windshield.
"Do you think that's the place we're looking for, Kurogane-san?" Syaoran asked as he, too, glanced out the windshield.
"I hope so, kid. I'm getting tired of driving this thing, and I think the princess needs to go to bed." Kurogane grunted.
"No, Kurogane san, I'm fine, really," Sakura protested, but her argument cut short due to a large yawn. The ninja gave a small chuckle and Syaoran patted her shoulder.
"It's ok, princess. You still don't have all of your memories back, so we understand that you need to rest often." he gave her a soft smile, and she blushed.
"thank you, Syaoran-kun..."
as the car continued down the highway, the passengers found themselves feeling drowsier and having more and more trouble staying awake. Mokona and Sakura both finally succumbed to their state and drifted into dreams, Mokona snuggled tightly in Sakura's arms. Syaoran smiled drowsily at the sight, doing his best not to follow their lead. Even Kurogane was having trouble keeping his head level, and he began to blink rapidly in an effort to clear his vision of sleep. Something was strange about this, he could tell. He glanced at the mage, and was surprised to find that he was as wide-awake as ever, humming lightly to himself. Kurogane growled and looked away. At this rate, they really would have to stop at the place ahead, regardless of whether it was what they were looking for. He felt the insane need to yawn, but held it in. he wouldn't give the idiot the satisfaction.
"What's wrong, Kuro-growl?" Fai turned to look at the tired ninja. He was obviously trying very hard to keep his eyes on the road. "You look tired. Want me to drive for a while?"
"Hell no. you'll crash before we get five feet." Kurogane growled. Fai laughed his annoying fake giggle and slumped down in the seat.
Soon, the light in the distance grew close enough to reveal that it was some sort of building, a long, Spanish style building, no more than four stories high, but with a large bell tower. It was some distance from the actual highway, and had a long driveway connecting to the nearest exit. Kurogane turned onto the exit ramp without bothering to use a turn signal and barely slowing down.
"Eek, Kuro-rin, don't kill us!" Fai shrieked jokingly, grabbing the handle above the passenger door.
The speeding car slowly lost momentum when Kurogane removed his foot from the accelerator and allowed the car to coast down the stretch of road as they neared the building ahead. Finally, a large wrought iron gate reared up imposingly and Kurogane braked heavily. The car jerked to a stop mere inches from the iron bars. Nonplussed, the ninja looked around for someone who might open the gate. He finally spotted the night man dozing in his tollbooth. Sadly, whatever sleep the guard had hoped to get was cut short by a loud blare of a car horn. He jumped, and then looked sleepily at the car. For a moment, he looked as though he were debating whether to go back to sleep, but another beep got him to get up and walk over to the black compact.
"Welcome to the Hotel California, sir." he said, leaning over as Kurogane rolled down the driver's side window. "Are you planning on staying here, or are you just looking for directions?"
At the mention of the name Hotel California, Syaoran perked up. He leaned over and whispered in the ninja's ear.
"This is the place, Kurogane-san. This is supposedly where the rumors stem from, about people hearing voices and acting strangely."
"You think it's the feather, kid?" Kurogane muttered back, ignoring the sleepy night man.
"Well, it's the best lead we've got," Syaoran said. The other man nodded and turned back to the night man.
"Yeah, we're planning on staying here. You gonna let us in?"
The night man, intimidated by Kurogane's fierce glare, nodded and scurried back to the booth, where he pressed a button that caused the gates to open. As the car rolled into the parking lot and found a space, Syaoran gently shook the sleeping princess awake.
"Sakura-hime, it's time to get up. We're here."
Sakura blinked and looked around. Slowly, she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car, carrying Mokona in her arm. The small white creature took a moment to wake up before looking around as the slowly walked towards the front entrance of the old mission building.
"Moko-chan, do you sense anything?" Sakura asked Mokona, and it scrunched its nose in concentration.
"There's definitely some weird power here..." it began in its adorably high-pitched voice." But there's so many different things... it's weird, but Mokona thinks Mokona can feel the feather."
They paused at the front door, a heavy, intricately carved slab of wood, and Syaoran glanced up at the faded black letters painted above the door.
"HOTEL CALIFORNIA," they read, and painted underneath were the words "established 1877."
******
by the way, i looked up colitas and it would seem that they are the very tip of the marijuana plant, and are very full of the plant's sap, so therefore extremely potent. they grow rampant in northern California, and smell very much like pine, which is why Mokona compared the smell to a Christmas tree.
so there it is, the first chapter. i'll try to be good about updates, but with high school... you never know.
please review if you feel like it :)
