Suzie: Sorry, people. I know this is really late and even though we had the whole summer, we didn't do anything. We were too busy being lazy. But its finally here, and has a bit of foreshadowing... ooooooohhhh We are also busily working on Love Again (our other fanfic) and a new one called Promise, although I can't promise (see the pun? eh, eh?) you that that will be up soon. Enjoy.

Rem: Oh, you kill me with your humor, Suzie :P LOL, anyway, we didn't spend the whole summer doing being lazy... we were very busy! LOL. Anyway, yup, here's chappy 7! Yay! (: So, Love Again IS being worked on and WILL be up soon. Before winter break ends, hopefully. Ehhh... well, enough about that. Hope you enjoy this chapter! XD

Disclaimer: We don't own any aspect of CCS ):


CHAPTER SEVEN

Reunion

The thought that had been niggling at Sakura's mind suddenly clicked into place. Their situation, at that split-second, became all too clear – and it wasn't good. They were in the lair of a kiri family.

The kiri were vicious, carnivorous animals whose favorite meat was human. They created a network of tunnels and caves for their extensive family. One kiri family usually consisted of about a hundred of the little buggers. They started out at about 8 inches long to grow to be more than seven feet long and five feet high. They bear a striking resemblance to rats, apart from the fact that they have long and floppy rabbit ears that endowed them with the ability to detect the even the slightest of sound. To counterbalance that incredible gift, they were cursed with complete blindness, unable to see anything. It was said that the species had died out long ago, so they, like Sakura, were mystical and mostly unknown.

Sakura and Tomoyo could do nothing but stand stone-still, transfixed by the eyes of the horrendous creature, shaking in fear. Then, a long thin tail shot out of the darkness. It swept the girls aside and knocked them against the wall.

Sakura grunted and glanced around, bleary-eyed from pain, trying to spot Tomoyo. Suddenly, looming in front of her was the face of the kiri. She screamed and crossed her arms out in front of her as a shield, but the kiri took no heed, viciously flinging her up towards the ceiling. Sakura cried out as her back struck one of the glowing rocks, shattering it. She fell to the ground, lying limp as a rag doll while rock shards continuously rained down upon her body.

She lolled her head around, her body numbed by pain, her vision hazy; nothing she saw was comprehended. She felt like nothing was real and everything had been horrible dream, that nothing could touch her in her own little world. For one clear moment, she saw Tomoyo sitting against the opposite wall, her knees curled up to her chin, looking fearfully at Sakura.

Sakura wanted to tell Tomoyo to run, that there was a dangerous floppy-eared rat, but that struck her as funny, hilarious even, and she desperately wanted to laugh but all that came out pitiful wheezing. Her mouth was too dry to laugh and her sides hurt too much, so much that it felt like her ribs were broken.

All of a sudden, an image of a kiri try to hop like a bunny popped into her head and she smiled with delirium. It was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.

---

Pain shot thorough her right arm and she screamed like a banshee, her back arching in agony. Then, numbness swept through her and black dots danced in her eyes as Sakura turned her head and saw… a long, blood-splattered tooth glinting in the light. Alarmed, Sakura squinted to see beyond the tooth. What met her gaze was… a human arm? Her eyes trailed down to see large hands clutching the tooth that was plunged into her arm. The blood pooling around and staining everything… it was hers. It took a while for this information to register in Sakura's brain, but when it did, her eyes widened in shock and her mouth opened to scream bloody murder. Instead, she only gasped – the pain was so great, she could not even voice it.

Sakura desperately thought, "I don't want to die. I have so much to do!" Then, her thoughts turned a sudden one-eighty and her panic turned to anger. How dare this creature try to take her life? Did it think it could control who died and who didn't? All of this anger concentrated into a single point in her chest. Slowly, the feelings seeped outward in a wave until it covered her whole body in its warm embrace.

A voice in her head chuckled and hissed, "Succumb." ...a red flash invaded her vision and then rapidly, the red turned to black. Faintly, she could hear a voice screaming at her angrily. "Damn! You may have won for now, but I'll be back. I'll be back…" Why did the voice sound… oddly familiar? It was her last thought before Sakura fell unconscious for the final time that day.

---

"-kura! Sakura!"

Sakura's eyes jerked open, and she came face-to-face with a worried Tomoyo. Slowly, memories of the cave trickled back into her mind. Sakura bolted upright, glancing around frantically for the kiri. On the way up, she heard a sharp crack and the top of her head burst with pain. Whimpering, she turned around to see— "Syaoran?!"

Syaoran could only groan in response, holding his now-bleeding nose. "What are you laughing at?!" he growled at Eriol, who was rolling on the floor laughing.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" Sakura said, completely mortified. "Here, let me," she insisted, ripping off a piece of cloth from the hem of her skirt. She used that cloth to wipe up the blood and pinched the bridge of his nose, forcing his head back. After a few minutes, Sakura let go of Syaoran's head but he couldn't move it. After being in that position for so long, it was too stiff to move. This, of course, made Eriol erupt in another convulsion of laughter.

Syaoran rolled his eyes. When they landed on Sakura, he grumpily asked, "Is it your life's goal to make a continuous fool of me?"

"Of course not! How can you think that of me?" Sakura gasped, tears springing to her eyes. "All that has happened was purely incidental," she swore.

Seeing the tears, Syaoran became alarmed and tried to sooth Sakura by using conciliatory words. Instead, he just made an ass of himself, reminding her of the bad things she did to him, which, in turn, just made her cry harder.

Finally, he tried a new tact, trying to distract Sakura by saying, "So, well, wow. How did you do it?"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura sniffled.

"Well, you killed that kiri inside, right?" Syaoran asked, perplexed.

"Of course not! I blacked out, and then someone... my arm…." Sakura trailed off, staring at her arm as if it was hanging in tatters from her bones. In fact, the opposite was true. It was whole and looking healthy as ever, even though Sakura could have sworn that it had been stabbed back in the cave.

"Who? What's wrong with your arm?" Syaoran asked, puzzled, seeing nothing wrong with it.

Sakura jumped, startled by Syaoran's voice, and squeaked out, "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about something else," while unconsciously stroking her arm. "So, what are you guys doing here?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"We're looking—"

"It's a secret," Eriol butted in. "Sorry, but we can't tell you."

"He's right," responded Syaoran, looking abashed. "We're not allowed to tell."

"Well you can at least tell us where you're headed. Maybe we can travel together. You can be our protection," said Sakura, warming up to the idea quickly, thinking of Ryander.

"Well, actually, we are headed to where we pointed out to you before. Y'know, the town north-west of here. So I guess that works out perfectly."

"Hmm… yeah," said Sakura distractedly while still thinking about the kiri. What had happened to it? How could she still be alive? Syaoran said that she did something to it but that was impossible. She was knocked out cold and wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway, even if she wasn't. So where did he get the idea that she had anything to do with its supposed death?

Tomoyo's voice broke into her thoughts. "Sakura? What are you doing, standing there like an idiot? Let's go already!" She reached back to grasp Sakura's hand and whispered in her ear, "Before any more fairy hunters can find us."

Sakura's gaze shifted to Syaoran and Eriol who were standing a ways away waiting patiently for them to catch up and she saw a glint of metal at both of their necks. Why do the chains of their necklaces look so familiar? Sakura could have sworn that the fairy hunters' necklace chains held the same distinct silver hue that Syaoran's and Eriol's did, but that wasn't possible! If they were fairy hunters, wouldn't Sakura be dead by now?

Sakura ran up to Syaoran and Eriol with Tomoyo in tow and chirped, "Let's go!" Her voice and manner revealed nothing of what she was pondering. When she reached out to hold Syaoran's hand, she cried out in pain and collapsed onto the floor, her face twisted in agony.

"Oh my God! Sakura!" Tomoyo screamed out.

Syaoran stood there for a moment, shocked into stillness. Then, acting quickly, he reached down and poured some liquid into Sakura's mouth from a vial he retrieved from his pocket. Sakura seemed to calm down as she swallowed the amber liquid and opened her eyes, still shaking a bit from the pain. Tears spilled down her cheeks. Syaoran helped her up and held her steady with one arm around her waist, the other on her elbow.

"What was that stuff that you fed Sakura?" Tomoyo asked, suspicious.

"That was an extremely strong painkiller. It was my last bottle," Syaoran responded wryly. "It'll make her feel lightheaded for a while, though."

Sakura look up at him appreciatively. "I am eternally grateful. It felt for a moment like the pain would never go away." Sakura turned to look at Tomoyo and said shakily, "I need to talk to you. Privately."

Tomoyo nodded and helped Sakura to a nearby stream, keeping them hidden from the boys by a stand of trees. Sakura reached up to slip off her kimono, and with a trembling hand revealed her shoulders. On her back was the birthmark that labeled her as a fairy. The delicate mark of the butterfly was graceful and elegant; the lines on its wings created a pattern that bewitched the watcher. Sakura winced as she touched it, saying, "This is where it hurt. I wanted to ask you if there is anything wrong with it, but I didn't want the boys to see."

When she heard nothing, Sakura turned around to see Tomoyo, wide-eyed with her hands at her mouth. She was, unsuccessfully, trying to hide her shock. "It's… black," she whispered, her voice trembling.

"What?!" Sakura yelped and ran to the stream too see her for herself. She turned her head to look over her shoulder at her reflection and was met with the biggest shock of her life.

The butterfly that used to be a pure light pink color was now an ugly, evil, sinister, beauty-marring


Ooo... cliffhanger XD Anyway, thanks for reading! And sorry for the very late update u.u

Cheers,
Rem & Suzie