The Land of Dragons
Sakura Hanamoto
Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS!
The Witch called in two girls. They entered and kneeled before her. "Go to the town of Sanamil and place this seal on the boy." She said conjuring the seal. "The moment he transforms he won't be able to turn into anything else for eternity." She said as her two lackeys departed.
The party entered the last town they'd be seeing fro a few days. They were on edge of the Great Desert and would be soon striking southeast for the temple of Volante. The town seemed to be in the middle of a festival or some sort of festivity. "What's this place called again Li-kun?" Sakura asked him. Syaoran peered at his map to look for the name of the town.
"It's called Sanamil." He said looking up at her face. Toya was looking over his shoulder at the map.
"We better stock up on water and supplies before heading out. We won't be seeing civilization anytime soon after this." He commented squinting at the map.
"It looks like there's a festival going on here." Meilin said looking at all the bright colors and stalls lining the streets.
"Either that or the traders just arrived." Yukito said nodding toward a stall where a wrinkled old man was selling jewelry.
"Could be both." Tomoyo added glancing around. She turned to Meilin and at that moment they seemed to be communicating telepathically because a moment later they nodded in unison.
"We have an idea, why don't we relax today," Meilin suggested looking up at Toya and Yukito.
"Yeah, we can head out tonight, when it's cooler." Tomoyo added.
"Well a little R and R couldn't hurt." He decided, Tomoyo and Meilin nodded and ran off into a throng of people. Toya and Yukito walked off leaving Sakura and Syaoran alone together.
"How about we look around for a bit?" Syaoran suggested, offering her his hand. Sakura nodded and took his hand. They weaved in and out of the townspeople and the traders looking at the wares of others. They passed by a stall where a young man had set up a game similar to a ring toss.
Sakura noticed that one of the prizes was a stuffed animal with large ears, beady eyes, a long tail with a tuft of fur at the end, and small wings. "Hold on a second." She said letting go of Syaoran's hand. She stepped toward the stall and got the attention of the young man.
"Hello there, what can I do for you?" He asked her. Sakura pointed to the peculiar stuffed animal.
"How do I win that one?" She asked him. The young man glanced at it. It wasn't large but it was a very strange plush toy.
"Eight out of ten rings and it's all yours." He told her. Sakura dug into the pocket of her skirt and slapped the money on the counter. The young man took the money and handed her ten rings. Sakura took aim and tossed the ring to one if the catches standing straight up. It fell short and bounced off the base. She tried again but failed. Eight more times she tried but only managed two. Dejected she walked away and beckoned Syaoran to follow.
"You go on ahead." He said, he approached the stall on tapped the young man on the shoulder.
"Back again?" He smiled at Syaoran. "Trying to impress your girl?" He asked.
"Actually she isn't-." Syaoran began but the young man cut him off.
"She really wanted that toy; I'll let you try for free." He said handing Syaoran the ten rings. Syaoran stared at the rings in wonder. "Well you gonna try or not?" He asked Syaoran nodded his head.
A couple minutes later Syaoran caught up to Sakura who was examining some jewelry. "Oh, Li-kun where'd you go?" She asked him when she saw him approaching. Silently he extended the stuffed animal towards her. Sakura took it and thanked him. Syaoran flushed but remained silent. Sakura hugged the doll and flashed Syaoran a sunny smile. Syaoran turned an even deeper shade of red. They walked away from the stall to look for one selling food. Sakura spotted one selling nikuman. They ordered and Sakura dug into her pocket once again but Syaoran stopped her.
"I'll pay." He said simply at her dazed expression. He handed the money to the woman who in turn passed them two nikuman. She smiled at his generosity and they searched for a bench to sit on while eating. While they ate a pair of girls came to the same bench and sat down as well. Sakura and Syaoran paid them no heed until they started to giggle and whisper pointing to Syaoran. After a while Syaoran got annoyed with the non-stop giggling. He stood up and grabbed Sakura by the wrist and pulled her away from the bench.
"Where are we going Li-kun?" She asked.
"Just away from those annoying girls." He said still holding onto her wrist. Sakura looked back but saw no one. She shrugged and quickened her pace to keep up. "Oh, there's Meilin and Tomoyo." Syaoran said pointed out the two raven haired girls from the crowd.
Tomoyo and Meilin were admiring some home made dresses a kind lady was selling. "They are so beautiful." Meilin gushed admiring a pure white wedding dress. She imagined one day wearing that wedding dress standing before Syaoran on their wedding day. However, Tomoyo was admiring the craftsmanship not the beauty.
"The seams are practically invisible. I've never seen such expertise in anything." She said speaking to the woman.
"Tomoyo-chan, Meilin-chan." Sakura called to them standing next to Syaoran. He was still holding her wrist. Tomoyo acknowledged them first and saw their hands linked together. A second later Meilin looked towards them and did not notice a beet red Syaoran with both his hand s in his pockets.
"Hey you guys so what have you been up to." Tomoyo asked them when they reached her. Syaoran turned redder if even possible and Sakura smiled.
"Syaoran won me this really cute stuffed bear." Sakura said holding it aloft. Tomoyo smiled at Sakura's declaration. 'The Syaoran Li winning carnival prizes for some one?' Tomoyo thought. 'I never thought it possible. Then again he is a bit of an enigma. Not even Eriol-sama knows where his shapechanging abilities come from.' She continued smiling passively at Syaoran. He looked away and soon found the dirt very entrancing. Tomoyo had to suppress to giggle.
"Syaoran, why don't you ever win me things like that?" Meilin asked him in dismay. She glomped him, wrapping her arms around his neck nearly choking the life out of him.
"Meilin, I'm not around you enough. Besides, I've never actually been to-." The rest of his words were cut off by his lack of oxygen. Meilin clutched at him even tighter.
"I knew she would try to steal you away. I shouldn't have let you leave." She declared.
"But Meilin, I didn't have a choice. I was bound by oath." He managed to gasp still grappling with her in hopes of being able to breathe. Sakura just watched the spectacle in surprise not really knowing what to do.
"You guys," A voice called in the distance but they paid it no heed. "Hey, gaki! Kaijuu!" Sakura and Syaoran bristled at the sound of their nicknames. Toya and Yukito came up to them carrying all there supplies.
"We have a problem; Sakura's got a price on her head." Yukito said.
"What?" Tomoyo gasped.
"Yeah, we were in a shop when the owner asked us if we knew who she was. We said no but he didn't look convinced." Toya said. Sakura blanched as far as she knew, everyone who knew of her existence was her friends and Eriol-sama.
"We need to get out of here now, before she's noticed." Yukito added. They all nodded and together they made their way out of Sanamil. Once out of the town they picked up the pace to distance themselves as far away as possible.
That night, they stopped to camp several miles away from Sanamil. They had been able to leave undetected. They sat around the fire eating dinner when Tomoyo brought up the subject of Sakura's stuffed animal.
"It looks like a bear with wings." Sakura stated the obvious. Without warning the bear launched itself from the ground and onto her plate of food quickly gobbling up all of it in a matter of seconds.
"You call that dinner?" It asked looking up at Sakura. Sakura backed away from it in surprise. Syaoran picked it up by the tail and let it dangle in front of his face. "Hey put me down." It cried.
"A talking stuffed animal? Interesting." He said prodding it on the belly.
"Who you calling a stuffed animal?" It asked indignantly bringing his teeth down on his finger. Syaoran yelped in surprise and tried to shake it off.
"It looks more like a bath sponge." Meilin said keeping her fingers close to herself not wanting them to fall to the same fate as Syaoran's. The flying stuffed animal let go of Syaoran's finger and glared at Meilin.
"I think it looks cute." Sakura said.
"Why thank you." It said. "My name is Kerberos, sun guardian to the Great Silver Dragon." He said with relish.
"You don't look much like a guardian." Syaoran mumbled.
"This is my false form; I can get bigger when, all four spirits have been collected." He said crossing his arms.
"He looks more like a Kero-chan. What do you think Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded in agreement.
"So now we shall call you Kero-chan when you are in this form." Sakura said scooping him into her arms.
"Fine, just as long as that brat and witch don't call me a bath sponge or stuffed animal." He said shooting a death glare at Syaoran and Meilin.
"Deal and welcome to our little group." Sakura said, opening her arms wide.
The Witch sat in her seat watching two girls kneel at her feet. "It is done." They said in unison.
"Excellent." She said, she snapped her finger and a young girl with short brown hair, and glasses appeared form the shadows and curtsied.
"Yes your highness?" The Witch shoved her cat off of her arm rest and snapped her fingers again. The cat let out a yowl and transformed into a tall bespectacled man with auburn hair.
"Yanagizawa, take Fujitaka back to his cell." She said watching as the young girl led the man down to the dungeons.
One more chapter completed! Please R & R!
Thanks to: yongweeperson, The Insane Blue Rubber Ducky, Stephie 23 for their reviews. CYA!