Chapter 3 The Travelers
"It's been four months already. So where are they?" I thought to myself.
"Tamike, Can we go faster?" Lilly said breaking into my thoughts. "I guess we can go faster," I said, nodding to Night. Night nodded back and galloped over the meadow. "Whee!" Lilly squealed. We rode all the way back to the village behind Kyle's house.
"So how was this run?" I asked Lilly when she got off. "It was better than yesterday," she replied. "That's what you say everyday." She giggled. "I know, but it's for real. Night was faster today."
"If you say so Lilly."
"Who are you people?!" I heard Mark yell.
"Hm? Let's go see what your daddy is doing Lilly," I said looking at her. "Ok."
She held my hand and we went to see what Mark was yelling about. Which was in front of the building When we got there we saw Mark and some of his friends arguing with four other people that I don't know, but they seemed familiar somehow.
"Look, we're not here to cause any trouble," a teenager with brown hair and eyes said looking at them. "Leave right now!" Mark said, pointing his gun at them.
"Not again."
"Lilly stay right ?" I said looking over to her. "Ok."
"See that's the good thing about her. She listens, but her dad doesn't. How the hell does that make sense?!" Wolf yelled. I ignored her and said, "Now, now Mark. We have another solution."
"Tamike? What are you doing here?" Mark said confused.
"Just seeing what the problem is. Is that wrong?"
"Take Lilly and leave."
"I just want to know their names."
"Well my name is Syaoran. This is Fai," Syaoran pointed to the tall blonde guy with blue eyes. "And that is Kurogane," he then pointed to another tall guy with black hair and crimson eyes. "And the girl is Sakura," he pointed at the girl who had light brown hair and jade-green eyes. And I swore I heard someone in a high-pitched voice say, "And Mokona is Mokona!"
"It's nice to meet you all," I said with a smile.
"We're here to write a book about the legend."
"Really? Who's writing it?"
"Fai is. Sakura is his sister and Kurogane and me are helping him."
"Well, I don't know about you, but they can stay at my place," Kyle said walking up to them. "Thank you," Syaoran said. "Lilly, let's go back to your house, ok?" I suggested. She nodded and went to get Night. I couldn't blame her, she loves Night. I started to follow her, but someone grabbed my hand. I looked to see who it was and saw Fai.
"Tamike, right? Um, are you and Mark together or are you related to him?," Fai said nervously. I looked at him questionably and shook my head "No."
"Mark is just a friend of mine. I'm just helping him out."
"Oh. Ok. Sorry for stopping you."
"It's fine. You don't need to apologize."
"Ok, can we talk later?"
"Sure. But you're going to ask Kyle where I live."
"Tamike! Night is ready!" Lilly called.
"I'm coming Lilly!," I called to her.
"See you later then Tamike," Fai said letting go of my hand. I nodded and went to Lilly.
"So where are we going this time?" I said getting on Night. "We're going to my house," she chirped. "Ok then hold on." She nodded and held onto me. I clicked my tongue and Night gallop to their house.
Fai's Pov
"Here's the next world," I warned them. Of course they neglected the warning and we fell on the ground, again.
"Watch where we're landing you pork bun!" Kurogane yelled at Mokona.
"So where do you think we are Syaoran?" I asked, ignoring Kurogane and Mokona. "I don't know this world, but we should go and find some information first."
[Twenty minutes later]
"Well look at that," someone said.
"That's some luck. I wonder if she can beat her," another said. "What's going on Syaoran? Kuro-puu and I leave for twenty minutes and see this," I said, walking up to Syaoran who was next to Sakura. "Well these men asked us to play and, well, Sakura-hime won all the games that they suggested."
"Really? How?"
"Well they just finished this game called Poker, and they said that getting four kings is almost impossible. Then they mentioned a girl who came here about four months ago who did the same."
"Boy she's lucky. When that mystery girl comes back you should play against her. Now that would be a really good match to watch," the first guy said. "But like we promised there is a village, and in the village, there was a castle in which a beautiful princess lived with her family. One day a bird flew to her room and left her a feather that, according to him, would grant her mysterious powers. The princess accepted, afterwards the queen and king died, leaving her as the only ruler. As if the feather would exert some kind of attraction towards them, the children in the village left for the castle and they were never seen again," the second guy said, gathering up the cards.
"A feather?" Syaoran said. "Yeah and the village's name saw Spirit. Speaking of which...Hey Bartender!" the first guy yelled. "Yeah?" a guy walked up to them and looked at us. "Didn't you say that the mystery girl was going to Spirit?"
"Yeah, she asked me that and I said that if she had a horse she could get there in no time. It was funny how she beat you two just to get enough money to get a horse."
"Yeah, don't remind me."
"But boy, she was cute."
"Huh I guess I missed that feature anyways good luck if you're going to Spirit. I heard that they'll kill anyone if they seem suspicious."
"Thank you," Sakura said getting up.
"Well now. Let's go to Spirit, shall we?" I said getting on a horse that we got.
When we got there we were confronted with a group of people said "Why are you here?!" Syaoran tried to convince them that we weren't any trouble, but failed and I thought that I may have to use magic to get us out of here. Until someone said," Now, Now Mark. We have another solution." A girl about 18 walked up to the guy who was presumably Mark.
"She must be the one that came here four months ago. The other villagers seem more tense now that she's here," I thought. She was pretty cute now that I think about it. She wore an unusual cloak that had violet and black markings. She also had soft brown eyes that matched her brown hair, that had blue highlights at the ends of her hair.
"Hey mage, what the heck are you looking at?" Kurogane said looking at me. "Nothing," I said turning away from his view because I think I was blushing.
"Tamike? What are you doing here?" Mark said confused. "Just seeing what the problem is. Is that wrong?"
"Take Lilly and leave."
"I just want to know their names."
"Well my name is Syaoran. This is Fai," Syaoran pointed to me. "And that is Kurogane," he then pointed to Kurogane. "And the girl is Sakura," he pointed Sakura. And I heard Mokona say, "And Mokona is Mokona!"
"I hope she didn't hear that."
"It's nice to meet you all," she said with a smile.
"We're here to write a book about the legend."
"Really? Who's writing it?"
"Fai is. Sakura is his sister and Kurogane and me are helping him."
"Well, I don't know about you, but they can stay at my place," a guy said walking up to us. He had the normal clothing as Mark and wore glasses.
"Thank you," Syaoran said.
"You're welcome. And my name is Kyle," Kyle said. I looked around for the girl and saw her walking to a black horse. I quickly went over to her grabbed her hand and she looked back at me.
"Tamike, right? Um, are you and Mark together or are you related to him?" I asked nervously. She looked at me questionably and shook her head "No."
"Mark is just a friend of mine. I'm just helping him out."
"Oh. Ok. Sorry for stopping you."
"It's fine. You don't need to apologize."
"Ok, can we talk later?"
"Sure. But you're going to ask Kyle where I live."
"Tamike! Night is ready!," a little girl called. "I'm coming Lilly!" she called to her.
"See you later then Tamike," I said letting go of her hand. She nodded and left.
"So she isn't with Mark. I think. Wait, why am I worried about that?" I thought, confused.
"There you are Fai-san!" I turned around to see Syaoran walking towards me and I faked a smile for him. "Hello Syaoran-kun. Did you need me for something?"
"Well, we all agreed that you and Kurogane-san and I will all share a room while Sakura-san and Mokona will be in the room across from us. Does that seem ok?"
"Well, I would prefer a room to myself, but the arrangement seems ok."
"Good. And, um, Kurogane-san wants to talk to you about something."
"Ok. I'll be over there in a minute." Syaoran nodded and left to a certain house.
'I guess that's Kyle's house, but where is Kuro-pipi?'
"You can stop wondering where I am because I'm right here," a gruff voice said.
"Ah! Kuro-chan! There you are. I was thinking about our room arrangement."
"Stop with the act. Now what's on your mind?"
"Aww! You really like to do that. Anyways you know the girl named Tamike?"
"You mean that girl with the strange accent?"
"Accent? She had no accent."
"She did. She talked with a heavy Japanese accent with some other strange sounds. Like back at the Hanshin Republic when we couldn't hear each other."
'Have I been that distracted by just how she looks?'
"I know you're thinking about something in that thick skull of yours."
"What?"
"Exactly."
"So anyways, Tamike seems to be the one who arrived here four months ago."
"And how can you tell?"
"The villagers seemed scared of her when she approached them."
"Is that it?"
"It's a good guess. And we can ask Kyle when she arrived here. A nice and simple solution, just like she said."
"In other words you like her."
"Ye-I mean no. Kuro-pi stop making me say such things." I faked a smile at him, hoping to cover up what I said.
"Tch. Whatever and stop calling me by those names!"
"Aww! But I know you love them."
"I do not!"
Tamike's Pov
When we got home, Mark was already there waiting for us.
"Why are you being so friendly to them Tamike? They could be the ones who've been kidnapping the children," Mark said when Lilly left to get ready to go to sleep.
"If they were Mark, then why were they clueless about this place?"
"They must be acting."
"They aren't Mark."
"That's what you say. Lilly are you ready?"
"Yes daddy." Lilly came out and hugged Mark, then me.
"Goodnight daddy. Goodnight Tamike."
"Goodnight sweetie," Mark said with a sigh.
"Goodnight Lilly," I said with a smile.
When she left again, Mark said, "If you had children, you would do anything to protect them. Right?"
"Yes I would, but they'll grown up sometime later."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"Of them growing up?"
"Never mind. Just go to your house and get some rest Tamike," Mark said going to his room. I sighed and went outside to Night.
"Let's go home girl," I said patting her neck. I got on and trotted home. When I got home I put Night in the stables with Raven, a wild horse who is part-trained, and locked the door. When I was done, I turned around and saw that it was snowing.
"Well, it's snowing and that's when they start moving. Let's go Wolf."
"I'm always with you. In the good and bad times."
"That's really reassuring."
"Yep. That's me."
I sighed and took out a silver flute and began to play a sleeping song, so the village couldn't hear the children. (A/N: she wasn't the bad guy, so no pointing fingers at her.) Sometimes I would sing along to make the magic stronger. I walked to the village and saw Princess Emeraude. I always saw sadness in her eyes when she saw the children. Of course I knew why she was so sad and I tried to break the spell on them once, but it didn't work. I smiled sadly and waited for them. When they were ahead of me, I started to follow them, but I stopped when I felt eyes watching me. I looked around and finally saw someone looking at me. "Is that Sakura?" I shook my head and continued to follow the children. When we arrived to the river, I saw someone very familiar.
"Lilly?!"
She didn't hear me and continued to walk to the castle.
"Now how am I going to explain this Mark? I'm going to get slaughtered by him."
"Tamike. Stop fooling around and sleep now," Wolf said.
"Yeah, yeah, Wolf." I went back home and tried to sleep it off. But I knew that Mark would find out.
Fai's Pov
"So what is it that you want to talk about Fai?" Kyle said walking to his office.
"Well I was wondering if you know when Tamike came to Spirit?" I said walking behind him carefully. I sensed magic from him, but I couldn't tell if it was used for good or evil.
"Now that I think about it she did appear in this town about four months ago."
"Four months ago?"
"Yes. She just came out of no where claiming that she was waiting for a group of travelers, but the curse drew more children as she stayed here. So it could be her."
"I don't think it's her though."
"Have you seen the group of people that are scared of her? It's because they believe that a demon has gotten her and has forced her to kidnap all the other children."
"I still don't think it's her Kyle-san. If it was, shouldn't she stay away from all of us and the villagers."
"No. Haven't you heard of people pretending to be your friend then later on, when you need them most, they abandon you and leave you to die or suffer. That is what I think she is doing. The way she is acting is her trying to convince you to be her shield, so she can leave you when you need her. So what do you think about that?"
I just stared at him. He just defined what I was doing here.
"What if she wants to be our friend and help us?" I asked.
"Then that's even better. But do you really think that she would really want to be your friend? What if she hurts you or your friends? What is going to happen after that?"
"She won't hurt anyone. When Tamike makes a promise, it happens. Always," a soft voice whispered.
"There's that voice again."
"She won't hurt us. She'll never hurt us," I said strongly.
"I know you like her Fai. Everyone does until they see what she really is. And she's going to break and hurt you so badly that I can't help you."
"She won't. He's lying," the voice said.
"She won't hurt or break me."
"Suit yourself Fai. If you want to know where she lives, go to the river and go downstream. You'll find a house with a few dark-colored horses. That's where she lives."
"Thank you."
He nodded and left. I sighed and went to our room, after all Kurogane, Syaoran, and myself are sharing a room. I sat on the bed and asked myself, "What is wrong with me?"
I had promised myself, before I left Celes, that I would stay distant from everyone in the group. And now I think I like someone from this world.
"Baka, baka, baka," I muttered. "I'm not suppose to like anyone."
"So you admit it?" the mystery voice said. I swear I could hear it smile at me.
"Yeah, so what?" I told the voice angrily.
"Nothing. It's just that I know Tamike." Ok. So now the voice is taunting me.
"You're just a voice. You can't do anything."
"Or can I? I don't know Fai. If you knew me then you would give me some respect."
"How do you know my name?"
"I have my ways. But like you said I'm just a voice what do I know? Oh, I know how Tamike looks like."
"You don't."
"Really? What about her soft brown eyes and blue streaked hair? What about the way she talks? What about-"
"Ok, ok, I can see your point."
I was glad that no one else was awake with me, otherwise they would ask me what was I blushing about.
"You like her that much that the thought of her makes you blush?"
"N-n-no I don't."
"…"
"…"
"Well I should be going."
"What?! Where?!'
"To my owner. She's really tired right now. Talk to you later Fai."
"Who is your owner?"
"...I'm sorry Fai. Can't talk right now."
I sighed. I was frustrated and laid on the bed. A few minutes later I heard a flute playing in the distance and a soft voice singing along. I felt tired and closed my eyes.
"So soft and so gentle. And yet so sad in a way," I thought while listening. I soon fell asleep for no reason, but before I did I feel magic somehow.
