Fate Guides My Steps

Chapter Four: Falling

Author: YoseiAmbereyes (Jade)

Yanit, Capital City of Hummai

6th of the Third Moon Month

Sakura was torn between being furious, and being heartbroken. Six days, it had been six days, Sakura thought to herself. They had come to where ever they were trying to reach. The twelve year old knew the soldiers had taken them pretty far south, they had to be in Hummai. Sakura shuddered at the thought. All the years her mother had spent running and hiding, and she and her brother ended up in the hands of who they had run from. Not just that, but the thing the High Lord had hunted for all that time, he finally succeeded in getting as well.

The soldiers had split her and Toya up. She had been dumped in this livestock shed with a herd of sheep. Sakura struggled to sit up, wincing as she did so. It was getting dark out, but shafts of sunlight were filtering through the boards of the building. Leaning heavily against one of the walls, Sakura pulled up her shirt and looked at her stomach and abdomen. She groaned. It was as bad as it felt. Dark and mottled colored bruises covered her tanned skin from below her collar bone all the way to her hips. She touched her wrists where the ropes had rubbed the skin raw, then reached down and checked the same at her ankles. Sakura had spent the entire trip bound and thrown over the front of someone's saddle like a sack of grain, which is where her extensive bruising came from.

She ran her fingers through her matted auburn hair and pulled it from her sweaty face and neck, trying to cool off a little. It was hot in Hummai. Coming from the farther north, Sakura was used to cooler temperatures. She idlely touched a spot around her neck, and frowned deeply when her fingers didn't come in contact with what usually hung there. She thumped her head against the wall in frustration, and then winced and rubbed the self inflicted bump. Carefully, she drew her knees as close as she could to her body and tried to make herself small. Laying her head against her bent knees she took a deep breath. She wouldn't cry. Bare toes scrunched up with effort and her small hands formed small fists. How did it come to this? Why did she have to turn around? Why didn't she just keep running? It was all her fault. All of it. Toya and her getting captured. Completely her fault. Sakura went over what happened in her head for the millionth time, again trying to figure out what had made her stop and turn around in the first place.

FLASHBACK

They were running. Sakura's bare feet pounded after her brother as he lead the way through the thick forest. Moonlight lit their path, guiding them like a kind friend. Toya had shaken her awake, when the screaming had started. Unsure what to do, but not wanting to get trapped in the hut, Toya dragged Sakura from their home. Sakura was beside herself with worry and fright, her cards, The Cards, were missing. Sakura only left the hut without tearing it apart looking for them, after she made sure it was securely locked, window included. They wanted to find their mother, but when the sound of the heavy tread of horse hoof falls began to draw close, Toya had kept his promise to his mother and hauled his younger sister through the brush, away from the hut and the village.

They weren't far from their home of six months, just out of ear shot, when Sakura found herself stopping short and turning on heel to look back the way they had come. Toya heard her stop and halted his own steps, fear creeping into his heart.

"Sakura...?"

He asked, looking at her tense form with suspicion. Her feet began to move, slowly at first, hesitantly too. Then she was running again, back towards the hut. Sakura couldn't explain it, but she had to go back. Someone needed her, someone was calling out to her. There was a pull on her heart, her soul, and her body willingly followed.

"Sakura!!"

Toya chased after her, his longer legs overtaking her quickly. He wrapped an arm about her waist and lifted her off her feet. She struggled against him in vain, he was three almost four years her senior and much taller. Grunting with the effort he began to walk back in the original direction they had taken.

"What are you thinking?! You want to get caught?! Sakura! Stop it!"

He yelled at her, trying to still her with his arms and words. But Sakura just couldn't. She had to get back, she had to go back. Something was happening, she could feel it. Magic, huge amounts of magic were rolling like waves, coming from where the hut was. A familiar aura, their mother. And somebody else, someone she didn't recognize. Sakura could still feel the pull, her mother was in trouble, no other reason for her to be using so much magic. What was she doing? Maybe she was trying to heal someone! Sakura gasped, that had to be it! Someone was gravely injured and Nadeshiko was trying to heal them, so that they could escape these soldiers. But why the pull? Why the undeniable sinking feeling of her heart as more time passed? Sakura couldn't think, she just had to get there.

The two siblings were so busy with their own troubles, they never saw the General Asagawa approach until it was too late. Toya heard the crunch of leaves behind him, but before he could turn, his world went dark. The last thing he felt was Sakura's hair in his face, and a painful shattering feeling at the back of his head. Toya fell to his knees and then tumbled forward, right on top of his sister. Sakura squawked out an response to being squished before realizing there was something wrong with her brother.

"Toya!? TOYA?!"

She screamed, wriggling from under him and then turning him over on to his back. She cradled his head, her eyes widening as the sticky sensation of blood spread across her fingers and legs. She looked up at his attacker, staring, shocked into the eyes of the man she and her family had struggled to avoid for three long years.

"Y-You!"

She looked, stunned from her brother to Asagawa. Suddenly her eyes grew dark. Pain and anger, and overwhelming sadness enveloped Sakura. The lithe twelve year old launched herself suddenly at the General. She bit, scratched and kicked for all she was worth, just wanting to cause pain to the man that had just killed her brother.

"Bastard! Murderer! You killed him!! You killed my brother!!"

The General flailed about trying to push her off, but to no avail. He finally grabbed her by the hair and yanked her off, throwing her to the ground. Sakura rolled away, turning up the leaves on the ground. The General touched his cheek, that had three long gashes running down it.

"He's not dead you stupid whore!"

Asagawa roared at the green eyed youth. He pointed his sword at the unconscious boy, the hilt being what he used to hit him in the first place.

"But I will slit his throat if you try that again."

Sakura glared at the General, but crawled back to her brother, checking for vitals like her mother had taught her. She sighed with relief as her brain processed the feeling of a thready pulse under her finger tips. More soldiers, mounted on horses with naked blood stained blades rode into the clearing. One lead a horse with no rider, Sakura assumed it to be the General's. She suddenly felt a presence she knew all to well, she snapped her eyes to the saddle bags of the horse with no rider and narrowed her eyes. She couldn't stifle her gasp. The Cards, HER Cards were in that bag! Sakura felt hope surging up in her. She would be able to get away! She could save herself and her brother!

They made short work of her and her brother, tying them up securely. Toya was slung over the front of one of the soldier's mounts, while Asagawa took Sakura's face in one hand and made her look at the sight. Blood dripped down Toya's unconscious face, making little red lines across his skin, made pale in the moonlight.

"You two are coming with us, Miss Kinomoto. And let me make this perfectly clear to you. Try to run, escape or harm myself or any of my men, and I will end your brother, and then I will end you. Understand?"

Sakura clenched her teeth but nodded. In her mind, she tried to decide which card to use on him. The General snorted, satisfied with her non-verbal answer. Then he hauled her up and threw her across the front of his own horse, none to gently either. Sakura nearly bit through her lip as the silver chain around her neck slipped past her ears and now hung precariously around the crown of her head.

'No...no...don't fall...don't fall. My only chance, please...don't fall.'

Her silent prayers went unanswered. The General mounted his horse, and the horse shifted to the right just enough to jar the necklace loose the rest of the way. It fell to the ground without a sound, laying amongst the yellow and brown leaves. Sakura stared at it, it was only a couple of feet away, but she knew it might as well be at the bottom of the ocean. She couldn't reach it, and she couldn't draw attention to it. Not with it being what it was. Her eyes locked on to the familiar sight of the key like pendant that hung from the chain, its top in the shape of a single star. Without it, Sakura realized, there would be no escaping. Without that key, the Cards in the saddle bags, were little more than pretty pieces of paper.

END FLASHBACK

Sakura traded her fists for digging her fingernails into the skin of her lower legs. All was lost now. Without the pendant, she couldn't use the Cards how they were truly meant to be used. And as for the fate of her brother, and herself, she had no idea what the General had in mind for them. Lifting her head, Sakura stared out through a crack in the boards of the building she was trapped in. One of the sheep finally got up the courage to come over and investigate the addition to their home. At the nudge of her elbow, Sakura looked around into the liquid brown eyes of a sheep. She reached out slowly, making sure it wasn't scared by her movements, and stroked its head between the ears. The sheep let out what the twelve year old could only assume was a content 'baa' because before she knew it she had several of the wooly animals all nudging her for the same attention. A small smile found its way to her lips, as she worked her hands around the circle of sheep. Her eyes began to well up with tears, as the full weight of the heavy unknown settled on her shoulders. Lambs ambled over, now completely assured of Sakura's non-threatening nature. They settled next to her, while the other sheep found their own places to down for the night. Sakura wouldn't be able to remember when she stopped crying, or when she fell asleep. But she would remember the touch of brisk night air against her wet face. And the comforting feel of small heartbeats against her legs, the lambs asleep around her. Sakura would always remember how she was so grateful to not be alone on that first night.

The High Lord used the ambassador's cloak to clean his sword. The ambassador from Arcadia, arrived only that morning to question the High Lord for his actions against the country of Arcadia, now lay dead in a pool of his own blood on the white marble floor of the High Lord's throne room. The High Lord smirked and sheathed his sword with a fluid movement, then he stalked back over to his throne. Once he was sitting, he crooked a finger at one of the guards standing at the door of the throne room. The seasoned warrior marched forward, and stood just behind the ambassador's body. He gave a stiff bow and awaited orders.

"Call in a scribe, and servants to clean up this mess."

The guard said nothing, but bowed again, then turned and marched back to the door. Moments later, several women came in with rags and buckets, followed by two more guards to drag away the body. The women shook as they cleaned up the pooling blood, and the men tried not to gag as the head flipped backwards and hung, just barely attached to the neck as they picked up the arms to drag the body away. The High Lord smiled at the sight, however, an idea forming in his head. He would send a proper and undeniably clear message to the King of Arcadia.

"Wait."

He said softly, but everyone in the room heard him perfectly. The guards froze and looked to their master.

"Leave me the head."

Cornith, Arcadia

11th of the Third Moon Month

Eriol Hiiragizawa, the first and only Prince to the country of Arcadia was troubled. He, like most Cornith citizens, was haunted by the thought of invasion. It had been eleven days, a week and a half since the night of the start of the attacks. On the fourth day after the attacks on the western boarder began, refuges began to trickle into the capital, telling their stories. By the next day, that trickle had turned into a mass exodus as the western forests emptied themselves of inhabitants. All bore the same story, Vasan soldiers sacked and destroyed their homes. Eriol's father sent out ambassadors to Vasan and Hummai with questions that demanded answers. That had been seven days ago, messages from them should be arriving soon.

Eriol thought back to a particular meeting he had with a particular western villager, Syaoran Li. He was fifteen and forced into the position of leader thanks to that bloody night of the full moon. He too told a story of soldiers and the death they brought, but there was one key difference in his story from all others. He and his villagers claimed to be attacked by Hummai forces, not Vasan. The teen described the armor and colors of the Hummai perfectly, but their presence there did not make sense to Eriol. Why would Hummai forces travel so far north to attack? And why just that village? No other villages claimed to be attacked by Hummai soldiers. However, he worried since they had recieved no word from other villages around Li's. The young prince could only hope for some answers when messengers from the ambassadors arrived.

The Prince looked to be quite old for his age of sixteen summers. He was tall and evenly built, a bit on the skinny side. His pitch black hair had been cut in a bowl fashion, his long bangs hanging over the top of his round glasses, and around his ears. His eyes were the shade of dusk colored sky, a navy blue, gray color. The gave off the correct impression of a sharp and intuitive mind. Eriol, like most courtly folk, was pale, his skin constantly covered up by the heavy and uncomfortable robes he was forced to wear. At the moment he was please to report a lighter outfit, since everyone, his father in particular was very busy, he had been able to get away without wearing the cumbersome clothes of his station.

Eriol was currently thinking of retreating to his chambers to meditate. He had not done so in a few days, with all the activity that had taken place everywhere since the refuges came. The Prince had been helping the staff of the palace find housing for all those who came to Cornith for sanctuary. Most of the inns were full up, paid by the royal coffers; and several of the dignitary rooms in the palace were occupied by whole families. Anyways, Eriol could feel the need to calm himself, he was wound tighter than a spring and his magic was beginning to be affected. Born a sorcerer, Eriol had luckily recieved the teachings of a master before the old man died. Magic on this island continent became more and more scarce with each passing year. As a result, the Prince cherished his powers and sought to know them better through meditation and study.

"My Prince?"

Came a melodious voice from just behind Eriol. Said prince turned and faced a servant girl who was bowed at the waist, awaiting his command to rise.

"Yes, good miss?"

Eriol responded, politely, trying to hide his surprise. If he didn't know better, he would swear that the staff of this palace had magic powers. They had the uncanny ability to travel from place to place inside this building without being heard or seen. Quite the talent, Eriol always thought. The servant rose, but continued to look at the floor where his shoes occupied.

"His highness, the King, wishes for your presence in the War Room as soon as possible, sir."

Eriol didn't recognize this servant, she was younger than he, probably just turned thirteen. She was a good deal short than him, the top of her head barely reaching his chin. Her long raven colored hair was braided back, and a kerchief had been tied about her head.

"Thank you. I'll go right now."

The girl curtsied and was gone, disappearing on silent and nimble feet around a corner. Eriol shrugged and continued in his walking, heading now for the War Room near his father's chambers. He would have to meditate later. He sped up, wondering suddenly if the messengers had finally arrived from Vasan or Hummai, or even both. By the time the young Prince reached the doors of the War Room, he had been jogging. Pausing outside for a moment to catch his breath and straighten his clothes, he then pushed open the doors and entered. His father, the King of Arcadia, was sitting foreword in his chair, leaning over the contents of a large table. His generals, numbering four in total were circled about the table, studying the table as well.

It had always been said that Eriol had been made in his father's image. Same wiry build, same hair and face, but Eriol had his mother's sharp eyes. The very feature, his father claimed to have been captivated by when he first met his one day bride. Eriol's mother had died a few years ago, but not before her son could know her.

Eriol always had a high opinion of his father's generals. They were loyal men, and his father relied on them heavily for advice in military affairs. General Komatsu was a swords master, he had in fact been Eriol's teacher for years. He was a towering figure, with broad shoulders and square cut face. He could also drink anyone in the palace under the table, and that included the cook. Eriol smiled inwardly at that memory, he had made a nice hunk of money that night placing bets. General Tachkawa didn't look like much at all. He was a plain, slight, and quiet man whose eyes told nothing of his extreme intelligence. The opposite of him was defiantly General Rashid, a foreigner who'd worked his way up through the ranks. He was dark, and very tall and had a more imposing presence than that of Komatsu. He also had a more impressive voice. When he spoke it boomed through your ears like thunder. The last General was the oldest, and the fattest, but he had the most experience. He was General Makai. Graying hair grew in patches on his head, but a full beard covering half of his face.

"Eriol, there you are. Have the refugee families been seen to his morning?"

Eriol nodded, having helped out a bit himself, carrying water and clothes for some of their guests. The King nodded and gestured for Eriol to approach the table. Once there, the Prince saw that a large map of the continent had been spread out. Placed on top of its surface were little colored pieces, representing each of the three forces left on the island. Vasan had been colored blue, Hummai yellow, and their own forces were green. Hummai was a country ruled by the law of the hoard, meaning their strongest warrior became leader. They were a country of fighters, and that was reflected in their army's numbers. They out moded both Arcadia and Vasan put together two to one. And today, Arcadia stood alone. Arcadia's only hope, was that Hummai was not going to join with the Vasan. Eriol prayed that the young villager he had spoken too, the one from the Li Clan family was wrong some how. If Hummai was indeed planning an invasion, Arcadia would not be able to last. Not with their population still recovering from the civil war they suffered just a hundred years ago.

Everyone looked over the map carefully. The continent of Isha was shaped something like a fish, but with little distinction of the tail. A string of islands, belonging to Hummai stretched from the south to the east. The continent was divided into three countries. Hummai was the biggest, having conquered two other countries in the past twenty years to expand its boundaries. Vasan was the second largest, but only by a few square miles of land. Arcadia, was the smallest, but it held the northern mountains, the most daunting strongholds of Isha.

"From what we have gathered, your highness, Vasan forces have moved though most of the Western Forests."

General Tachkawa said in a voice that hovered above a whisper. He gestured to the blue pieces that had crossed Arcadia's western boarder. They formed a solid line across the short distance, leaving only the most northern part, the area riddled with snowy mountains empty.

"However," then General continued, "They have slowed their invasion down in the past two days. If I may speak freely, I believe they wait for Hummai to attack from the south, forcing us to split our forces."

The king frowned, looking neutrally at the yellow pieces that remained in their own Hummai lands.

"Let's not assume Hummai's involvement, until there is proof."

Eriol spoke up.

"Father, there is proof. The Li Clan village was decimated by soldiers in jet black armor, bearing the flag of Hummai."

The king glanced at his son appraisingly.

"So they say. But they are the only village attacked by Hummai, why?"

Eriol had been asking himself that same question. He suspected the young man he talked to, Syaoran Li knew more than he said. But Eriol had not pressed the issue, not when their losses were so fresh in mind. Now, Eriol began to think differently. The information that Li now withheld could be pertinent. The Prince made a mental note to track the young man down.

General Rashid went on to explain what their forces were currently doing. Because the Vasan forces were slowing their invasion, the generals were confident that they could have their armies in place to hold the line just outside the western forests. They would push to defeat the Vasan quickly, so that if Hummai did attack, they could maybe hold a southern front long enough for negotiations to be made. This would all have to be done quickly and decidedly, Arcadia did not have the resources required to fight a double front war.

Their meeting was suddenly interrupted when an armed guard burst into the room. He supported a bloodied peasant, arm under the man's shoulders, half dragging him across the room. The king leapt from his seat and pulled it from the table.

"Here, put him here."

The peasant sank gratefully into the chair, but his whole body was shaking. Another guard entered just behind them, he bore a wicker basket. The second guard crossed the room and placed the basket on the edge of the table. Both guards bowed, and stood at attention to report.

"Sir," began the first guard, "this man entered the city gates ten minutes ago, claiming to be a messenger from the High Lord of Hummai. Since you gave orders any such person is to be brought to you, we carried him and this basket which he said is for you."

The peasant bowed his head, unable to summon the strength to do anything else. The king and his generals looked to the young man, waiting.

"My lord, I don't know where to begin."

"Start with your name, son."

The man nodded vigorously. Eriol went to one of the side tables against the wall and poured the man a cup of ale. The peasant accepted it and drowned it in one go.

"My name is Kyo of Satsuma. My village is settled on the southern hills of our country, two days ago, that village was sacked and burned to the ground."

The man's blue eyes were welling up, and he took a few steadying breaths to keep from sobbing. What he had seen, no person should have to live with.

"Our attackers were Hummai soldiers, my lord. They pillaged, raped and tortured our women and little girls. The men and boys were made to watch, and then made into sport. Forced to run through their fields as target practice for archers, or mounted horsemen. I was spared my lord, so that I could bring you that message from the High Lord of Hummai."

Kyo pointed to the basket on the table. The king stormed over to it and made to rip the top off; but General Komatsu stopped him with a hand on the King's arm.

"Allow me, your highness. There might be treachery afoot."

The King hesitantly complied, a little uneasy about putting his General in danger. General Komatsu gently picked off the lid of the basket. All present in the room had to raise a hand to their noses as the stench of rotting flesh and stale blood reached them. General Komatsu blanched as he looked at the contents of the basket. He reached in slowly and drew out the head of the ambassador sent to Hummai by the hair. The King stared in shock at the forever frozen expression of horror on the man's face. Nailed brutally to the man's brow was a piece of paper. A neat script spelled out in perfect letters: You are next.

The General returned the head to the basket and replaced the lid. The King turned to the peasant, who at seeing the head paled considerably. The dirt and blood on this skin now looked three times more prominent.

"Son, tell me now, did you see how many of the southern villages were attacked?"

Kyo swallowed, his throat dry once again. Eriol found he couldn't make himself move to refill the man's wine glass. Shock and fear had paralyzed him. Tears began to escape from the peasant's eyes.

"All of them, my lord. The Hummai soldiers themselves carried me within a day's travel of this city."

The King gaped, and the Generals' could only gasp. Mean while Eriol finally began to move. He walked slowly over to the table with the map and the pieces. His eyes roved the familiar outlines of his country. The western forests, the eastern plains, the southern hills, where Cornith sat, and the Northern mountains. With shaking fingers he began to move the pieces about.

"Why have we recieved no word? Where are the refuges? Where are the survivors?!"

The king cried. Kyo shivered, and sank his head into his hands. With his eyes closed, horrific images played in his mind, torturing him.

"There were none."

Kyo whispered in response to the King's question. Eriol closed his eyes as the full weight of the truth crashed down on him, on them all. All the generals yelled for guards. Once the subordinates entered, the generals gave them quick orders to send out scouts to the southern lands. They would need an accurate count of how many and how close the Hummai forces were. The King walked numbly to the table where his son was and braced is hands against the hard surface. The King's eyes rested on what Eriol was still doing.

"I thought your magic wasn't strong enough for foresight."

The King remarked, looking at the new arrangement of pieces on the map. The yellow ones now dominated the southern lands and were poised to move with the blue pieces in a perfectly orchestrated trap. They would close their ranks, and snap shut the jaws of the vicious beast that bit savagely into their country. Eriol held the last yellow piece in his hand.

"It isn't."

Eriol answered in a ragged voice. He heavily placed the last piece on top of a dot marked "Cornith".

"This is just common sense."

A/N: I do not own any of the characters used in this fictional piece, nor do I stake any claim on them with the publishing of this work.

As always, please, please forgive my humble, and shitty editing skills. I try very hard to catch all of them, but please excuse any grammar or spelling mistakes that I missed.

I know this chapter is a little late in coming, but surprisingly, it's not my fault. (gasp) Something funky was going on with the doucument uploader, and it wouldn't upload my work. I've been trying since Sunday, it only just worked today. Go figure.

Oh, and I have added the time stamps, a nice little shout out to kaipanther, for recommending that I also include where as well as when. You'll notice the way the time stamps are being used, since this is an unknown civilization sprung from my idle thoughts, I've just decided to use a moon calendar to describe the dates. There are 12 moons in a year cycle, and the months have names, but since there are three different countries involved, I've just settled for generic titles. Just to make sure it's clear, Third Moon Months translates to March, Fourth would be April, and so and so forth. Also, each month begins with the full moon and ends the night before the next full moon. That is 30 days, give or take a day. Good? Good.

The next chapter, and the last of Part One, will be "Where the Pieces Fell". This will probably end up being the longest chapter thus far, so please be pacient with me.