not mine, not mine. do i have to keep saying those painful words?
The threesome walked on for about an hour, the scarecrow occasionaly losing straw, but putting it back in. They chatted and laughed, Mokona riding on each of their heads in turn. But soon Sakura noticed hunger pangs deep in her stomach. At first, she suppresed them, not wanting to be a burden and there was alos the fact that none of the travelers had any food at all. Fai probably didn't need to eat, being made out of straw, but the last time Sakura had eaten was hours before, in the country of Clow.
"Sakura, look!" Mokona called from Fai's head. "You like apples, don't you?"
Sakura looked, and there was indeed a grove of the trees, limbs heavy with the fruit. They were red apples, a variety that were rare in Clow, but Sakura had tasted them before, and they were just as delicious as the yellow ones that she was used to. So she ran up to the trees, grabbed an apple that was easy to reach, twisted it off the tree, and was slapped in the hand by a smaller branch, causing her to drop the apple. "Ouch!"
The tree turned around to face her, for it did indeed have a face, an mad face. "What was that for?" The tree asked angrily, her voice rough like bark.
"I'm sorry!" Sakura squealed, startled. "We've been walking for ages and I was hungry so when I- wait. Did you just say something?"
Ignoring the question, the tree continiued, "How would it feel if someone came along and pulled something off of you?!"
"Oh," Sakura gasped as she stepped back toward her friends. "I keep forgetting I'm not in Clow Country anymore."
"Don't worry Sakura," Mokona said, jumping to her head. Then in a whisper, "We came up with a way to get apples."
Fai put on a mock stern face and said in a very mock stuck-up way, "Come on Sakura-chan. We wouldn't want any of those apples anyway."
"What?" The tree sounded even more offended now. "Are my apples not good enough for you?"
"Oh, no. We just don't like little green worms. It looks like all of you have worms." There were angry mutters around the grove. The fist tree was no longer offended though. She was completely furious. "Worms!" She shrieked.
"Oh, sure you got worms. Worms, catterpillars, and," The straw man said casualy and reached out to take an apple, not pulling off the branch, but to inspect it. "And yep, a whole bunch of wood lice too." He flashed them his best smile.
The trees all shrieked in pure outrage and stared to pick their own apples and throw them at the travelers.
Sakura and Mokona wisely took cover in some bushes on the opposite side of the yellow pathway. Fai howvever, danced in front of the trees, dodging their apples and laughing until one hit him in the stomach, bowling him over. Sakura gasped, but being made of straw, Fai wasn't hurt at all.
"How do you like them apples?" The tree shouted, satisfied now that she had hit him.
"We like them just fine!" Fai called back, flashing an innocent smile at the trees. "Come on Sakura-chan! You can collect as many as you want!"
At that, the tree closed her eyes like she had a bad headache. "They've made saps out of all of us, girls." She called to her friends. "I think it's time we boughed out." (gettit? gettit? boughed not bowed! That was the line in the play!)
As Sakura searched the bushes where the apples had rolled, she saw an oil can in the grass. Next to the oil can was a metal foot. Attached to the metal foot was the rest of a dark metal man. He looked like a fighter, and there was a sword on the ground near him. He appeared to be rusted badly, an ax in his hand as if he was chopping wood. Sakura called Fai and Mokona and as the three approached the stiff figure, it let out a moan that sounded like it was trying to make words, but couldn't open his mouth. "Mmmmml mmmmn. Mmmuil mun."
The straw man was the first one to figure it out. Grinning, he told Sakura the words that the frozen man was trying to say. "He said 'oil can' "
"Oil can? He must mean this" Sakura picked up the oil can. "Where do you want to be oiled first?"
"Mmmu muff"
"His mouth" Fai translated.
Sakura quickly oiled his mouth and jaw so that the metal man could speak again, then started to oil all of his joints.
"Mmmmml, mm, mohh, well." The man had gained control of speech again. "Finally someone comes. I've been sitting here forever, and nobody has noticed me. I've rusted so badly that I probably won't be able to swing that sword at all." Now able to move fully, he threw the ax into the bushes, picked up the sword, and unsheathed it. The handle, crafted into the shape of a dragon, was a bit rusty, but the blade was perfect.
"So, tinman, why were you all rusty anyway?"
"I'm NOT made out of tin!" The metal man really had a short temper. "And I have a name. It's Kurogane."
"You're right about that."
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
"You're made out of black steel. The name suits you well. Can you answer my question?"
The steel man, Kurogane, tried to roll his eyes. Finding that he couldn't, he took the oil can from Sakura and oiled aruond his eyes so he could move them. Then he explained. "I was a bodyguard for a munchkin maiden, by the name of Tomoyo. Her mother hated me though, and hired the Evil Western Warlock to send people to kill me. However, the first time they tried, they only cut off my arm. Tomoyo's cousin sent a fake one, but the stupid thing didn't fit, so I had a very skilled blacksmith make me one out of black steel. Actually, Tomoyo chose black steel, because it fit my name.
The assasins came again, and cut off my other arm. I got another relacement. Again the assasins came and chopped off both my legs. The blacksmith made me new ones.But the next time the enemy came, they split me right down the middle. Luckily, the blacksmith made me a new head and body, exactly like the old ones.
Then Tomoyo sent me out here to chop wood. I... well... I got lost. I'd never been here before. And then it started to rain. Then nothing happened until today."
"Well, Kurogane is perfect now!" Mokona jumped to Sakura's arms, then head, then to Kurogane's head.
"HEY! Don't get comfortable, dog!" He grabbed the little dog off of his head and dropped it to the ground. "You look like a little manjuu bun."
"Yay! Mokona is a pork bun!"
"That was meant to be an insult, fuzz ball," the steel man growled. And I'm not anywhere near perfect. It'll take months of training for me to be able to use this sword again. And I don't have a heart, but that's not such a terrible thing."
"B-but Kurogane-san," Sakura asked. "How can you not have a heart?"
"The blacksmith forgot to put one in. But I've got bigger problems than worrying about hearts and stuff. I need to find my way home." He turned into the woods and started to walk away.
"Kuro-tintin!"
The steel man stiffened and turned. "What did you call me?"
Fai ignored this and held up the oil can that Kurogane had dropped when Mokona had jumped onto his head. "How far do you expect to get without this?" He called, smiling. "One rainstorm and you're done!"
The steel man held out his hand. "Give it to me."
"I don't think so. But what will I do with it?"
"Mokona can hold it. Mokona can store things in Mokona's mouth!"
"Hey! HEY! GIVE THAT BACK!"But the tiny terrier had already taken the vital oil into it's mouth.
"Kurogane-san, if you come with us, the Good Witch of TsubOza could probably get you home. I'm going to get her help in returning home to a different country, and Fai-san is going to get a brain."
"He sure needs one." the irritated steel man muttered as the scarecrow grabbed him and the girl by the elbows and skipped down the glittering path and sang the little song, "Weeee're off to see the won-der-ful witch of Tsu-bOz-a"
"Kuro-tin, you sing too!"
"What!? NO!"
"Mokona can imitate voices, Mokona will sing for Kurogane. Weeee're off to see-"
"SHUT IT, FUZZ BALL!!"
yaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwn. i'm tired. it's 11:32. i have school tomorrow. 'night. oh yeah, 5 more reviews needed
