The Heart's Hitsuzen

Chapter Two: Attack from the Night

By: Eviltiger

Author's note: I do not own Tsubasa, only this story. I'm Baaack. Didja miss me? Probably didn't since I uploaded both in the same day. Sigh. Oh well. Ps. Ya want the rest of the story? YA GONNA HAFTA REVIEW! At least five reviews please.

STORRRRY!

A young girl looked up at the sky. Her jade eyes were wide with wonder and awe as she saw the pure moon and twinkling stars. Her mouth was parted in a tiny, breathless smile.

"The sky is so beautiful!" The little auburn haired girl exclaimed in a soft whisper. A young boy with amber eyes next to her also looked up at the sky with wonder, but he kept sneaking glances at the young girl.

"Yes, it is." The boy said, smiling at the girl.

"I wonder what it's like, to be one of those people who sail the skies. You know: those sky pirates."

"Sky pirates are vicious, evil people my dear!" Her father, who had walked over where the two were sitting in the grassy field, had overheard what the young girl had said.

"We can maybe take a sky ship someday to visit your Aunt and Uncle in the world of Shura. However, you should forget about those silly tales of sky pirates. Now come, it's getting to be the time for you to be in bed." The young girl's face scrunched into a pout and then started walking away. She stopped and ran quickly back to the brown-haired boy. With a slight blush, she whispered in his ear,

"I still would like to know how it feels like to be a sky pirate, though. But shh! It's our secret." Then she said out loud,

"Bye, Syaoran! See you tomorrow!" The boy blushed while smiling, waving good-bye and replied,

"Good night, Sakura. Sweet dreams." Once the girl was gone, the young boy looked at the sky once more. He too, wondered what it would be like to be a sky pirate.

&0&

Syaoran opened his eyes. Sitting up slowly from his bed, the 20 year old man's eyes hardened as he remembered what he had been dreaming about. It had been no ordinary dream of fantastical things. Syaoran never dreamed of anything, and on the rare occasions when he did dream, it was only memories of his past. He chuckled sadly, anger written on his face, and whispered harshly,

"Well, Sakura, I know what it's like now."

&0&

Syaoran, fully dressed, walked out of his cabin and onto the deck of his ship. There wasn't any activity on the deck, but that was a given since the time was the first hour of full darkness. (AN: meaning 10:00) Syaoran was famous for doing this kind of thing. It was rare when he actually woke up and went to sleep on the times of a normal person. Walking up a few steps he approached Fai, who was steering the ship.

Syaoran moved over to the blonde male's good side, allowing Fai to see him. There wasn't really any need to, though. Fai had already known Syaoran was there, and turned to face him.

"Yes, Captain?" He asked. Syaoran nodded to the steering wheel while saying,

"Go get some sleep Fai, I'll take over now." Fai smiled respectfully while he nodded. After the evening drinking a few nights ago, the crew had given him a little more space, and while Syaoran didn't mind the added privacy to his past, they had given him a little more space in general, and it was already lonely being a captain to begin with.

"Thank you, Captain." The blonde had replied, while he slowly walked away, allowing his Captain to take control of the ship. Syaoran gripped one of the smooth, cool handles on the wheel, and held it there. How he loved his ship. Looking on the bright side, he had a good life for a sky pirate: he is Captain a wonderful crew, and the best ship he could ever wish for: his beloved Tsubasa is sailing in his command. With a sigh he let go of the handle and walked over to the edge of his ship. He looked out at the completely black sky.

Syaoran was gazing into the comforting black sky when he noticed a bright soft glow coming from behind him. Whenever it was night, the ship was rimmed with lanterns emitting a soft golden glow, so it wasn't hard to see. However, the glow coming from behind him wasn't the glow of the ship's lanterns. He smiled and turned around to see one of the most mysterious sights in the skies; the vanishing mist stars.

There were many types of stars in the dimensions, and all types of stars had different uses. Some were used for healing, some for cooking, some for money, some for magical purposes; the list went on and on. Some stars were rarer than others, however, and the vanishing mist stars was an example of one of the rarest types.

These stars were used to heal all kinds of physical injuries and some mental ones as well. They were extremely useful and very precious. Many people went without seeing them once in their lifetime. The vanishing mist stars appeared and vanished as they pleased, staying in an area for only two hours, and never revisiting a place they've been to until the summer cycle has passed for that dimension 13 times. The Tsubasa had been fortunate enough to see the rarity more than once.

Syaoran held his hand out and let three soft misty spheres land on his hand. Taking out two small empty jars from out of his coat he placed the orbs into the jar and after gently catching three more, the Captain closed the lid on one of them tightly. He then repeated the process with the other jar. If he remembered correctly, Tomoyo had been running low on this type of star.

Gently taking the two jars, he walked down the steps and onto the deck. His ship could manage on her own right now. After opening the hatch he walked down a flight of stairs and down a hallway. Stopping at the last door on the right, the Captain opened it slowly and quietly, as to not awaken anyone who might be in the room. Tomoyo always had a tendency to sleep at her table in the sickroom.

Sure enough, the short, raven haired woman was asleep right where Syaoran predicted she would be. Fai always slightly scolded his fiancée when he found her there. It was usually Tomoyo who did the scolding, though. He gently set the two jars down on the table in front of Tomoyo, so when she awakened the healer could put them in their proper place.

Suddenly, as he was slowly closing the door to the room, all the lanterns, including the ones below deck, went out. Syaoran gave a little surprised yelp, covered his mouth when he realized his mistake, and listened for any noise that might show he had woken up one of his crewmembers.

Hearing nothing, Syaoran relaxed and started fumbling in the pitch black dark for a lantern muttering a few quiet curses. Upon finding one, he took out yet another small jar from his pocket, although the jars he had taken out earlier where considerably larger.

This jar contained two tiny golden stars. Taking one of the glowing orbs out of the jar, Syaoran put the sphere into the lantern, and then closed the lid. After a few seconds the orb inside glowed very bright, and Syaoran proceeded in finding the other lanterns. When he found the desired objects, the man opened the lid to his lantern once more and allowed a tiny bit of light escape into the unlit lantern.

Syaoran repeated this process until every one of the lanterns aboard the ship was lit and the male was left with a very dim lantern. He then let the question that had been bothering him the whole time he was relighting the lanterns float to the top of his mind for pondering. Starlight was a more reliable source of light than fire, as it couldn't be doused out by water, blown out by wind, or snuffed out by the human hand. They dimmed when the sun came out, and returned to their original glow when night enveloped the sky.

The only reason all the lanterns would go out were if the pure stars came in contact with a very powerful dark magic. That meant… !

No sooner had Syaoran realized what had happened, an overwhelming gritty aura, thick as smoke, and as tainted as hell, hit the Captain. Darkness flooded the man's eyes while he staggered backwards a few steps. The lanterns he had just relit were snuffed out again, and the vanishing mist stars had disappeared.

Tendrils of some kind started to snake around and up the Captain, slowly hindering the amber eyed man from any movement. An unbearable coldness started searing through him, crushing his soul. Feeling his legs and part of his arms go numb, Syaoran accidently let go of the lantern he was holding. It fell to the ground and burst into hundreds of pieces with a loud crash. The tendrils that had been making its way around his body loosened with surprise, and Syaoran took his opportunity by unleashing his own aura.

Fiery flames burst from the man's body, encircling, warming, and healing the man, while at the same time pushing back the other aura. Syaoran cursed a little louder now, at himself. He was unprepared for the attack, and he couldn't do much except make defense walls and basic healing without his sword to counterpart his aura. Why hadn't he brought it on deck?

Jet black clashed against scarlet over and over again. Syaoran gritted his teeth as he felt the impact of the enemy aura attack. It was growing steadily stronger after every blow, whereas the Captain's was weakening just as fast. With a start the male realized he was facing not just one, but three auras combined! Clenching his fists harder, the man pushed himself to his limit.

Suddenly, and much too late, Syaoran realized while he had been busily fending off the three enemy's' combined attacks, a fourth, sneakier aura had slipped under his defense and was currently taking over his senses. Flickers of black fire began dancing in front of his eyes, clouding his vision. Searing pain started to seep through him, working like a slow poison. The amber-eyed man was in agony. As the fourth aura started attacking his mind, Syaoran felt massive waves of attacks crush his body as his own aura started to disappear.

Numbly, the man realized he had been slammed against the side of his ship. As attack after attack hit him, Syaoran dimly wondered if he was going to die like this. The Captain felt warm liquid soaking his clothes and running down his body. Was it blood? He couldn't tell anymore. The man almost chuckled as he realized this was the end. His crew would find him dead, mangled, and would be left without any Captain. Who was going to kill the sky pirate captain Syaoran Lee? If only he knew… He wondered who would take over… Would they still live the life of a sky pirate? ... Of course they would… after all… after all… what was he going to say? … It was growing steadily darker. This… This was it… S-Sakura…

Then, as if the enemy auras knew this was it, they drew back for the final hit. Rushing forward they were about to hit Syaoran with the mightiest hit yet when-

BOOM! A huge bright blue wall expanded in front of the amber-eyed man and absorbed the impact. Syaoran opened his eyes and after a few seconds managed to focus on the person in front of him. He was blonde, and Syaoran mistook him for Fai. Then, seeing the man had two blue eyes instead of one Syaoran realized who it was. Yui. Syaoran could hear thumps and crashes all around him when he tried hard enough. Voices shouted and encircled him. This could only mean one thing: His crew was here.

"Holy shit that's strong! CAPTAIN! Are you okay? H-Hang in there! HEY, TOMOYO!" Yui shouted over the noise of thumping boots and crashing sounds. The raven haired lady quickly ran over to the mangled captain and her eyes widened slightly at all the damage.

"I'm on it! Yui, get Fai to wake up Kurogane, and barricade us if you can!" Tomoyo said steadily, regaining her composure fast and already starting to heal the injured Captain. The lady's aura started flowing out of her hands, spreading over Syaoran and emitting a warm glow. Yui signaled to Fai with one hand, the other hand busy creating a huge light blue wall to hold against the continuous battering of the enemy's attacks. Fai nodded, and turned to rush below deck when a slithering tendril of grey aura shot out and wrapped around his right leg. Much to Fai's horror, the tendril split a couple times, and began wrapping itself around his whole body, immobilizing him. Fai gave a shout of pain and surprise as his twin yelled,

"FAI!" Unable to do anything, Yui could only watch as a fine, spear-like brown aura changed course from attacking the light blue wall to aiming itself at Fai's head. A flimsy wall of dark blue aura attempted to protect Fai, but panic made his defense full of holes and gaps. There was no way his aura wall could protect a mouse at the moment, much less a human. Tomoyo screamed, seeing the aura shoot toward Fai. The male's eyes looked at the arrow hurtling toward him, and closed his eyes, unable to move, unable to struggle, unable to accept his fate…

Then, there was a sudden flash of green, and a quick movement. Fai opened his eyes, still very much alive and looked up in shock, a smirk creeping over his features when he saw the reason the arrow aura hadn't reached him. Swaying casually up on the rigging, the moon cast a shadow on him, showing only the outline of the man's figure. His sword, however, was shining in perfect detail, gleaming in the moonlight. One hand was holding the rigging, the other resting a deadly sword on his shoulders, also channeling a forest green aura, encircling the sword like a dragon. A feral, almost inhuman grin was on his face and the man's blood red eyes were filled with anticipation for battle. Not many wished to face the former assassin Kurogane in battle.

"Kurroooo-tannnnnn! What took you so long? I almost died because of your laziness!" Fai called out teasingly with a huge grin. Kurogane rolled his eyes, and let go of the rigging, dropping onto the deck of the ship right in front of Fai. All the while, he blocked every single one of the attacks heading toward him by barely moving his hand to adjust the position of Ginryû.

"On second thought, I probably shouldn't have saved your life. You're gonna keep yakking away and I'll die from being talked to death. I had to get something from the Captain's room, stupid mage." The black warrior stood up, and walked over to where Syaoran was slowly struggling to sit up; ignoring Tomoyo's nagging to rest a little before he went into the fight again. Passing into Yui's aura wall, he offered his hand to Syaoran.

The Captain looked at him and gratefully accepted it, letting the warrior pull the Captain up to his feet. Once Syaoran was standing without any swaying, Kurogane tossed to his Captain the object he had been keeping tucked in his sash. Syaoran caught his sword with ease, and walked out of Yui's protection, causing it to vanish. The Captain drew Hien, determination filling his eyes and flames flickering around him. The attacking auras had ceased, and it was eerily silent when out of the night, a ship started materializing before the Tsubasa. Raising Hien, Syaoran pointed his sword at the sky ship that had fully appeared and was steadily approaching. Every sky pirate knew the ship approaching his vessel, for only one ship in all the skies was entirely robed in black, containing a crew destined to be damned, and a captain destined to be the next ruler of hell. The Black Wings. Captain Fei-Wang Reed's ship.

"Gents, Ladies," Syaoran said to his crew, never taking his eyes of the tainted ship, "Load the cannons, and ready your weapons."