Chapter 7: When Strange Couldn't Get Stranger
That Night…Sakura stood by the school all alone. She was only taking a walk when she suddenly got a frightful feeling inside. Something horrible is going to happen. I just know it! Sakura took a wary step along the trail but stopped when she heard a noise from behind. Biting her lip, she turned around fearing the worst.
"Hello Sakura." A thickly accented voice said from behind her. Sakura spun around and saw Chali, perched on the chain fence. She smiled her peculiar smile and jumped from the fence being at least 10 feet high and landing gently on all fours like a feline. She wore a red lace dress with a black corset. Her dread locks hung around her face, giving her an eerie look and the same creepy smile was plastered on her face, giving her a very cat-like appearance.
"You seem surprised Sakura. After all da clues I've been giving you, I would dink dat you would realise dat I have a part to play in dis game." Chali spoke English yet Sakura could understand every word.
"No." Sakura replied rather sheepishly, "I don't suppose you know what's making all the trouble in Tomoeda?"
"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. You must wait and see." Chali smirked, "I will give you clue dough, yes? Your enemy is a boy. Yes, a boy wid powers of controlling da weader, yes." Chalandra's eyes were closed and her face was pointing to the skies with her arms outstretched. A light sprinkle rained from the sky and fell onto Chali's skin; "It rains tonight. We see who it is, shall we?"
Chali took a few steps then looked behind her at Sakura who was staring at her with 'huh?' written all over her face. Chali rolled her eyes, pulled a handkerchief out of a pocket while she walked towards Sakura and smacked her across the face with it.
"You awake now? You follow me. Let's go." Chali grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her along. Chali moved at a curious speed, gunning it for a moment, then slowing down to a tip-toe, then right back to a mad dash. Sakura had no trouble keeping up. She was a very fast runner. They stopped by the side of the school in the middle of the yard.
"You feel it?" Chali yelled because of the falling rain. It was crashing upon them harder and harder.
"Yes." Sakura whispered, closing her eyes and sensing her surroundings. There's definitely something here.
"Feel what?" They both spun around and met face to face with Syaoran who apparently had no clue what they were talking about.
"Ah, Li Syaoran. So glad you came. You are a cute boy, yes." Chali looked him over, walking around him then taking the ivory shell on her necklace and sticking it up by his face. Syaoran gave Sakura a 'wtf?' look, which Sakura replied with a shrug of the shoulders and an odd face.
"You have quite a future, yes." Chalandra turned to Sakura and winked. Hoe, this woman is weird!
"You keep a hold of your true desire. Do not let your foolish family get in da way of what was destined to be." Chalandra whispered into Syaoran's ear. His expression was emotionless before contorting into a pained grimace.
"How can I keep them out of my hair then?" Syaoran asked slowly.
"You'll figure out boy, but right now you must focus on important dings. Dere are problems for you in da near future. We must find da real culprit behind dis mess. Keep on your toes." Chali grinned her strange grin and stepped back to Sakura who was dancing in the rain. Syaoran's expression softened as he watched Sakura spin around and splash in the small puddles. Inside, his heart began to race.
"You like her don't you?" Chali gazed up at Syaoran with cunning eyes. For the first time, Syaoran noticed that her pupils were more like slits.
"I-uh…that's none of your business." Syaoran retorted, turning red. Chali laughed heartily.
"Oh you're so cute." Chali grinned.
"Oh my god." Came a low and gnarly voice. All three teenagers looked over to where the voice came from. There stood Kero staring with absolute shock and bewilderment written all over him with eyes wider than dinner plates.
"Chalandra?" Kero managed to say, even with his jaw dropped, "Daughter of Patia?" Chali face darkened and her body tensed.
"Who are you, Cerberus, to speak my name?" She spat petulantly, a growl emerging through her gritted teeth, strangely spiked. Syaoran and Sakura backed away quietly.
"She always said she would name her daughter Chalandra." Kero said thoughtfully, more to himself than to anyone else. Chalandra's face softened.
"You knew my moder?" Chalandra asked, her voice not as vicious.
"Yes. She was a wonderful friend of mine." Kero replied lightly. Chalandra abandoned her defences and relaxed.
"How is your mother?" Kero asked softly, anxious to know what had become of Patia.
"She is ill." Chalandra said sadly, her words dripping with sorrow and pain, "We can speak of my family later. We must attend to da growing matters ahead." Chalandra looked away. She soon regained herself and paced over to Kero, gazing at him with marvel. Though she had heard of Cerberus, she had never actually seen him in his full splendour.
The rain got heavier and heavier as the moments passed. The heavy drops soon turned into sheets of rainwater falling from the sky. Chalandra growled deep in her throat. She absolutely despised the rain.
"Watch it!" Syaoran dived onto Sakura and they fell onto the concrete with a thump. A massive drop of rain with a circumference the size of an average sized kiddie swimming pool crashed down where Sakura stood only seconds ago, causing a few small cracks in the concrete.
"Thank you." Sakura sputtered, going pink in the face. Both of them realised the suggestive position they landed in and Syaoran rolled off her quickly, pink in the face as well.
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"Dey are so cute, yes?" Chalandra snickered as she stood beside Kero who was peevishly scowling.
"No," Kero snorted, "The 'kid' is a nuisance. I don't like him and I never will. He's only caused trouble for Sakura." Chalandra looked at him with amusement in her eyes.
"You know, dey are destined for eachoder. Poor you, having to live wid da inevitable, yes?" Chalandra laughed heartily. All Kero could do was grumble.
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Syaoran sat up feeling very embarrassed. I was just lying on top of her…wow.
Sakura sat up shortly after and gazed over at Syaoran who was staring out into space. He was just on top of me…wow. Another massive raindrop smashed down a few meters away.
"Come on." Sakura touched Syaoran's shoulder lightly and got to her feet. Syaoran snapped out of his daze and got up beside her. They ran towards the nearest shelter, a group of trees.
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"It's going to get worse. I suggest we do da same." Chalandra pointed to Syaoran and Sakura who were running towards the trees. She and Kero took off in that direction and they met under that clump of trees. Just as Chalandra and Kero made it beneath the shelter, raindrops, as big and some even bigger than the one that almost fell on Sakura, plunged from the sky. In a matter of minutes, they got more and more numerous and the tree branches above them began creaking against the weight of the water. The tree above Sakura was the first to give in.
In one swift movement, Syaoran grabbed Sakura by the forearm and flung her towards him, out of harm's way. She fell into his chest and lingered there for a moment, numbed from shock. She regained her thoughts and pulled away, blushing again.
"We've got to get out of here. It's not safe under here anymore." Syaoran grabbed Sakura's hand.
"What about Kero and Chali or whatever her name is?" Sakura looked over towards the tree. It had split them off.
"We'll run into them later. Come on." Syaoran pulled Sakura and they ran in a frenzy towards the south doors of the school.
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Chalandra jumped away from where she once stood with inhuman acuteness and landed on all fours. In an odd transformation, her already long finger nails grew longer and sharper and her hands got significantly larger and turned into paws. Two furry kitty ears popped up atop of her head and three long whiskers grew on each cheek. Her bodily proportions turned cat-like and to top it off, a furry brown tail sprouted from her lower back through an unnoticeable hole in her red lace skirt. Kero couldn't help but think about how much like her mother she was.
"We have to get out of here." Chalandra hissed, motioning with one of her paws to the north doors of the high school. Kero nodded and they both dashed at top speed towards the school.
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"We have to find a way to get in!" Sakura wailed, pulling on the locked door handle of the South door of the school.
"Let's check some of the windows." Syaoran ran to the right side and reached up to a few windows and tugged on the handles. He tried a few more windows but they were all locked. Sakura did the same on the left side but found them all locked too. They ran back to the door that was sheltered by a small roof.
"Damn it! Come on, let's try the shed." Syaoran pointed to the gardening shed about 100m away among the trees. Sakura nodded and side by side they ran to the shed, dodging the huge drops. As they ran, Sakura got a horrible feeling in her stomach. Listening to her intuition, she looked up and spotted an enormous raindrop quickly approaching and dived onto Syaoran, pushing him down.
The weight of the water pounded onto Sakura's back like a bag of bricks. She collapsed and squished Syaoran who was underneath her. Sakura groaned as the pain racked through her body.
"Are you alright?" Syaoran asked all panicky. Syaoran pulled himself from underneath her and knelt down beside her. He curled his arm underneath her arms and across her back, lifting her upper body off the ground. Sakura's body was limp and her beautiful face was contorted in a pained expression.
"Ouch." She moaned, "I didn't know water hurt that much."
"Come on." Syaoran said softly, sympathy in his eyes. He picked her up and set her lightly on her feet, "Get on my back and I'll carry you." Sakura lifted up one of her legs and Syaoran grabbed it, holding her thigh. With a pained grunt, she hoisted the rest of herself onto his back and Syaoran started running again towards the shed. He reached it and kicked the door open and ran inside. He looked around for a place to set Sakura and spotted a wooden stool. He ran over and let Sakura down. He helped her down onto the stool and squatted down beside her.
"You alright?" Syaoran asked. Sakura slumped over and groaned.
"I've been better." She replied quietly, "How is my back?"
"Umm," Syaoran shifted to her side and warily took the bottom of her shirt and lifted it up a little bit. He gazed with sombre eyes at the big purple bruise developing already.
"It's really bruised." Syaoran said, shifting back to Sakura.
"Figures." She grimaced.
"You could use that new card?" Syaoran suggested.
"No. It uses too much energy. I need it to save it so I can capture and destroy this stupid rain." A fire burned in Sakura's eyes. Her lithe frame shuddered with sudden fury.
"I'm going to destroy this stupid rain." Sakura growled. Syaoran shifted away from Sakura, a bit of fear evident in his eyes.
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"Damn it! It's locked!" Kero exclaimed, slamming his paw down angrily.
"Not for long." Chalandra smirked and stuck one of her claws into the keyhole. With a flick of her wrist, she pulled out her nail and pushed the door open casually with her paw. Both of them ran into the corridor, grateful of the dry sanctuary as they relaxed onto the floor.
"Did you know my moder well?" Chalandra asked quietly, sitting upon her haunches.
"Well enough. She was a splendid woman to be in the company of. I'm very sad to hear that she is ill." Kero replied, trying to lie comfortably on the hard stone floor.
"How did you meet her?"
"I met your mother a long time ago when the Clow Book and I were in Osaka. She was in a fight with an assassin or something because someone was jealous of her. It was a pointless quarrel but none the less, I distracted the assassin long enough for her to escape and we met on a rooftop. Her paw was injured from a swipe of a dagger so I led her to the basement the Book and I was residing in. Conveniently the owner had left for a week to Tokyo so we had the whole house to ourselves. We had long talks over tea on our lives up to the present moment. I spoke of the Clow Book and how I was its faithful guardian and in return she told me about her gypsy heritage, her cat alter-form and how she wished to see her grandmother in Jamaica. Did she ever find her?"
"Yes. My moder lives wid my grandmoder and dat is where she remains."
"That is so unfortunate," Kero sighed downheartedly, "There is something about your aura that is different from your mother's."
"Da only difference from me and my moder is my psychic gift. Dough sometimes I dink of it as a curse. Sometimes I hear people's doughts widout realising it, know da future before it happens and see dings that normal mortals wouldn't see. Eider way, I am a half-human, half-feline like my moder and a gypsy spell weaver." Chalandra raised herself and began to pace.
"Tell me, why are you in Tomoeda?"
"My grandmoder sent me here after she viewed da predicament in one of her voodoo spells. She told me dat da Card Mistress and da Li boy would need some guidance or else day would fail."
"Fail to what? Do you know who is behind all of this?"
"I know not of da magician dat is making so much trouble. I do know dat he is a boy in disguise. He's a shape-shifter dat can manipulate da weather to do his bidding. He will cause many problems like dis for Sakura until he gets what he came for."
"Do you know what that is?" Chalandra gave Kero a dark glance.
"He's after da Cards and he'll do anything for dem, even if it means killing Sakura and Syaoran just to get possession of dem."
"Kill them?" Kero whispered, his eyes downcast. What would happen to the Cards, to us?
"Don't worry Cerubus. Have hope dat Sakura will defeat dis evil," Chalandra put a comforting paw on Kero's shoulder, "And Syaoran too. His part in dis drama is long from over."
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Sakura released her staff and used the Float Card to help her to her feet with as less pain as possible. The Float slowly set her down on her feet and Sakura cringed painfully.
"You okay?" Syaoran asked warily, taking a careful step towards her.
"I'm fine but this storm won't be in a minute." Sakura replied with an angered grimace. Syaoran kept his distance from the raging Sakura. It's been a long time since I've seen Sakura like this.
"And it won't be the last with the nerve this magician has." Sakura snapped fiendishly. Syaoran smacked himself on the forehead, I forgot she could hear my thoughts…I wonder if she knows how scary she is when she's angry?
"Thank you for enlightening me." Sakura muttered dryly. Syaoran shook his head and decided he would stop thinking all together.
Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated on how she was going to capture this troublesome storm. I need to find the source of this storm but how? It could be anywhere. I could use the Arrow to pinpoint the source and weaken it so I can capture it in the Shadow. Let's try.
Sakura released the Arrow Card and a spirit materialised beside her with a bow in her hands. Her eyes darted around for a moment then steadied on a target. Without hesitation, Arrow let go of her missile and it flew to the belly of a massive black cloud right above the school building. In less than a second there was a deafening rumble of thunder and all the storm clouds disappeared except for the one the Arrow Card pierced. As quickly as she could, Sakura set the Shadow on it and consumed the looming cloud in a ball of impenetrable shadows. It sunk to the ground in front of Sakura. She was about to capture it when she stumbled helplessly to the ground.
"Gotcha." An arm snaked around Sakura's waist and caught her before she hit the ground. Sakura turned her head and stared up at her rescuer whose face was not far from hers. He smiled and pulled her upright.
"Capture it. I have you." Syaoran held her by the waist and spun her in the direction of her enemy. With sudden confidence, Sakura held her staff in front of her.
"Mysterious force I bring you to thy end! Defuse your magic and disintegrate!" Light shot from her staff and overtook the churning cloud with the white illumes. Syaoran held her steady against his body as her legs began to falter. They both watched as the cloud screamed and began to disintegrate into the air. Sakura's beam of light began to falter.
"Keep going." Syaoran whispered, nuzzling his head by hers. He closed his eyes and focused his mind on lending her some of his powers.
Sakura suddenly felt a burst of energy. She gazed over at Syaoran whose eyes were closed and calm as if he was meditating. He's lending me his powers… With this extra burst of energy, she created a beam of light three times the size of the one she had previously and obliterated the cloud in a deafening blast. Syaoran's eyes snapped open and he gathered himself, not being exhausted but tired none the less.
Sakura collapsed into Syaoran's arms with an aching groan. He picked her up bridal style with gracefulness and began walking towards the place they last saw Kero and the Chali girl. Sakura's head lolled onto Syaoran's arm as he walked and he looked up at him with glittering eyes. Oh Syaoran…
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"Hey! It stopped!" Kero got up off the stone floor and started walking to the front door, Chalandra bounding up from behind him. They both ran outside and looked up to the clear skies.
"Da storm is gone!" Chalandra observed. She dashed farther out and gazed around. She spotted the cloud above the school being attacked by a dark spirit. Kero ran up beside her and watched the spectacle. The cloud disappeared behind the school. They paused for a moment anticipating what was going to happen next. Just as they were about to run to where Syaoran and Sakura were, there was a white light that shone from the other side and crept across the sky. It started to fade.
"We've got to help her. She doesn't have enough power to do it by herself." Kero began to run.
"Just wait my friend." Chalandra put her paw on his and he faltered, looking to Chalandra and then to the sky. There was a sudden burst of blinding light and a massive bang echoed all across Tomoeda. Kero held his breath.
"What happened?" He whispered, watched the light disappear.
"Da storm is gone. Sakura just needed a little help finishing it off, yes" Chalandra smirked.
"Huh?" Kero raised an eyebrow.
"I told you little cute Syaoran would play a big part. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have destroyed da storm." Chalandra grinned happily. Kero scowled grumpily.
"Why him?" He grumbled with distress as they started walking towards the back of the school.
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Orion stood on the balcony of his apartment and heaved over from exhaustion. Once again his spell had been foiled because of that stupid boy. That stupid, stupid fool. I will kill that useless, moronic twerp before this is over. Then, I shall get my sweet prize from the ridiculous excuse for a Card Mistress without a significant effort. Orion grinned maniacally and threw his head back. He started laughing maliciously, quietly at first but then louder and louder his chuckles grew until his twisted snickers echoed off the surrounding buildings.
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Far away Syaoran jerked his head towards the sound of a contorted chortle in the distance.
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Woot! There were a loy of POV changes in that story. That was one of my special extra long chapters. I actually didn't realize it was 3500+ words. Anyways, thanks for the reviews and i would do all your homework for you if you would give me more! Thanks!
P.S. I don't own CSS