Princess Mononoke and Cardcaptor Sakura
Chapter 4: A Victory
Cargo rapidly turned his head to see who had spoken. To his shock, but most of all horror, he saw Kaya throwing her sword right at him. Only his immediate reaction saved him from having the sword rip through his spine. It would have been a rather triumphant and humiliating escape, triumphant for him and humiliating for Kaya, if the blade had instead killed Syaoran. Thankfully for the boy, Cargo, in his frantic state, held onto his hair for a moment too long; which resulted in Syaoran being thrown in the opposite direction to Cargo.
The green haired assassin stumbled to one side, while his father stared at Kaya in astonishment. The young princess cursed under her breath. She then tensed, there was nobody speaking, but it felt as if someone was asking her why she yelled to Cargo, giving him a chance to survive. 'Who are you,' she thought.
"How did you escape the maze," roared Thiazzi.
Shrugging, Kaya replied, "To be honest, your guess is as good as mine," She said matter-of-factly, "I just somehow knew which route to take." 'As if someone was telling me but I could only just hear them.' She added inside her head.
"But how did you move so quickly," yelled Cargo.
"I didn't need to," Kaya smiled, "I wasn't too deep in the maze to start with, and since I knew the way, there was no problem." Cargo was about to advance on her, when something else caught his attention.
"Hey, Cargo," Syaoran called. Cargo turned and glared at them. Sakura's staff had transformed into a sword, and Syaoran's sword had also materialised in his hand.
"Do the little kids want to play," taunted Cargo. "Now it's time to finish you."
"Cargo, stop," yelled his father, but Cargo was deaf to even his instructions. He darted forwards towards the female cardcaptor. Sakura stepped forwards and brought her sword up to meet Cargo's. He had been expecting the twelve year old to be knocked back by the force of his blow. That's what he thought would happen. Instead, the moment the two blades met, his cracked and broke in half. He was so stunned, he barely managed to jerk backwards in time to avoid Sakura's blade.
"How did…" He gasped, staring at his broken sword.
"The Sword card can cut through anything," Syaoran explained with a grin, while pulling out an element card, "God of wind, come to my aid." A strong gust of wind erupted from the card, sending Cargo crashing against a tree. The force would have shattered his spine had it not been for his armour cushioning the impact.
"You shouldn't have done that," sneered Thiazzi raising his left hand, planning to send a fire ball at the male cardcaptor.
"Wanna bet," smiled Kaya. Thiazzi threw her a confused look.
"Father, lookout behind you," cried Cargo. Thiazzi turned one hundred and eighty degrees and saw San, who in his overconfidence he had forgotten about, moments away from slicing through him. He managed to move back in time to avoid being killed, however, he did not remember to lower his arm, allowing San's blade to cut neatly through his wrist. The sorcerer fell to his knees in pain, dropping his staff in the process, yelling words so vile that I will not repeat them.
Cargo staggered to his feet. Even he wasn't fancying his chances in this situation. Two of his enemies had magical powers, and the other two were some of the finest swordsmen he'd ever faced. To add to that he had dropped what remained of his sword when he was thrown through the air, and was still in a great deal of pain after his crash. "Get us out of here Father," he yelled.
"I cannot use m… my magic like this," Thiazzi gasped, clutching his stump.
"Must I do everything myself," Cargo scowled.
"You're done Cargo," Kaya yelled, as she let an arrow fly towards him. Unfortunately he caught it with ease, and then ran over to his father.
The green haired assassin grabbed the emerald around Thiazzi neck and immediately black mist began to form around them. Just as he disappeared from sight Cargo threw San and Kaya one last glare. "This will make no difference. I will kill all of you." Kaya shot another arrow at him, but the mist had already consumed the two men and the arrow passed straight through.
"Shit," San swore, when the mist faded to reveal that Thiazzi and Cargo were gone.
"Hey, where are you going," Kaya yelled, when she saw Syaoran and Sakura quietly trying to slip out of sight.
"Away from you," said Syaoran, turning to face them.
"What?" Kaya cried in disbelief.
"You don't have to be afraid of us," said San, "We can help you."
"And how do we know you're not just after the Sakura cards?" yelled Sakura.
"We're not interested in power, our goal is to bring peace," said San, hoping to calm them, but she was in for a disappointment.
"Forgive us for not believing you," said Syaoran with a frown.
Sakura nodded in agreement and then yelled, "Time card, release and dispel." Then, in the blink of an eye, they were gone.
"What the… where'd they go?" San said in astonishment.
"She said time card, right?" Kaya began, and San nodded. "I guess she must have stopped time and run off."
"Then how do we find them?"
"They went," Kaya paused, closing her eyes and letting her sixth sense take over her body, "that way." She finished, pointing.
"Are you sure?" San questioned.
"No," replied Kaya with a soft giggle, and then started to run in the direction she'd pointed, pausing momentarily to retrieve her sword.
"Now where are you going?" asked San with a scowl.
Kaya skidded to a halt and turned back to San. "To find the cardcaptors, it's not safe out there with Cargo around. Tell Ashitaka I'll be back by sunset tomorrow."
"And what should I say if Cargo finds you?" San asked, not liking the danger Kaya was putting herself in one bit.
"Tell him I'd like to be cremated," the Emishi princess replied, and ran off before her friend could respond.
San watched Kaya leave, mouth hanging open at her last joke. "I don't believe her sometimes," She muttered.
The princess of the forest was about to follow her friend when something else caught her attention. "San!" She looked back and her eyes lit up with joy when she saw Ashitaka riding his elk, her wolf brothers by his side. She felt relief wash over her upon seeing he was unharmed.
Ashitaka dismounted Yakul and was about to ask where his sister was, but didn't get the chance. A moment after his feet hit the ground San threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss.
Unbeknown to both of them, someone other than the animals was watching. A young man, invisible to everyone but himself, stood a short distance away. He gave a small sigh as he gentle push his blue hair out of his face, revealing his missing right eye.
Cress still couldn't be sure what had happened to him when he died. Instead of passing to the spirit world, he had remained trapped in the forest, unable to touch or communicate with anything or anyone. Eventually he had concluded that this was his punishment, forced to watch the horrific chain of events he had set in motion, powerless to intervene. Even his wounds had not healed.
Some good had come of this, however. Thanks to Kaya's sixth sense it seemed she had the ability to pick up what he was telling her, even if she couldn't actually hear him properly. It had of course been Cress she had been sensing, and it was only thanks to him that she and San had made it out of the maze in time to save Sakura and Syaoran.
Giving one last glance at the two lovers, Cress began to follow Kaya, hoping he could find some other way of helping out.
The sun was slowly setting over the forest as Syaoran finished gathering sticks and stones to make a "camp" fire. Sakura was sitting with her back against a tree and was grateful when Syaoran started the fire with one of his element cards. The coldness of the night was slowly creeping into the forest, which wasn't very pleasant when you were wearing a skirt.
"You know," Sakura began, "If you removed the people who brought us here, this wouldn't be such a bad place to be. It's so peaceful." She blushed as she couldn't help but notice how amazing Syaoran looked when his face was illuminated by the orange glow of the fire.
"Yeah," agreed Syaoran, "I bet you wish your boyfriend was here to protect you."
Sakura blinked. "Boyfriend?" she repeated.
"You know, Yukito," said Syaoran. Unfortunately Sakura failed to notice the slight jealous tone in Syaoran's voice
"Yukito?" Sakura laughed, "You can't be serious. That was just a stupid crush I had. And that was over a year ago." Then slightly more seriously she added, "Anyway, I've got my eye on someone else now, and this time I know I'm in love with him."
"Really, who?" asked Syaoran sitting down next to her.
Sakura smirked at him. "Why should I tell you who I love, when you won't tell me who you love?" Sakura questioned.
"Oh come on. I won't tell anyone, I swear," Syaoran promised.
The female cardcaptor stuck her tongue out at him and turned away, "No, I not telling," she said childishly.
Syaoran mimicked her actions, "Fine then I not telling either." There was a pause, before both started laughing.
A silence followed until Sakura cleared her throat, "Syaoran."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we'll ever get back home?"
"What?" he said, taken aback by the question.
"You said yourself, we might be in a different time," said Sakura tears welling up in her eyes, "How are we supposed to get back?" She blushed as Syaoran put his arms around her.
"Sakura please don't cry," Said Syaoran soothingly, "I don't know how, but I promise everything will be alright. I'll make sure of it."
"Really?" said Sakura, blinking away her tears. Syaoran nodded, and then it was his turn to blush as he felt Sakura slip her arms around him and gently rest her head on his shoulder. "Thank you Syaoran," she whispered. And they soon fell asleep in each other's arms.
Night had fallen as Cargo glared at his father, who looked back calmly. "We don't need any help," yelled the green haired assassin, "I can handle this."
"So you say," replied Thiazzi without raising his voice, "but this was not part of the plan. If everything had gone smoothly, the prince and the princesses, along with those cardcaptors, would be dead by now."
"How was I supposed to know that girl could escape that maze without magic," Cargo spat.
"Your recklessness nearly got us both killed," said Thiazzi, glancing down at his hand which had now been restored.
"You're forgetting Father that this is my game and I shall decide how it ends," Cargo replied, "I still have even better ideas to make them suffer."
"I don't care what you have planned for them, I order you to send for help!"
"I will not be ordered to go crawling to my brother for assistance," yelled Cargo reaching for his sword.
The black orb on Thiazzi staff glowed brightly. "Is that so," his father replied and watched as Cargo fell on his knees clutching his head. Small birds flew from their nests as Cargo's screams echoed around the nearby parts of the forest.
"Please, please stop it! I give, I give," Cargo cried while agonising pain shot through his head. Thiazzi watch his son begging for mercy without as much as a hint of compassion in his eyes.
"You were always stupid, never could be trusted with a task that didn't involve killing everyone you saw," said Thiazzi coldly. "You were weak until I gave you your powers and put you through that special training." Then he finally released Cargo from pain.
"Yeah, I remember," hissed Cargo, "You locked me in a cave until I went mad. Although that was paradise compared to what you made me do next."
Thiazzi shrugged, "I needed to be sure that my training had worked." Ignoring the glare his son threw him, Thiazzi used his magic to summon a purple inhuman like creature. It listened to the message it was to send, and then the wind carried the creature away to find Cargo's brother.
To Be Continued…
