It did not take nearly as long as I thought it would to get to a town called Spirit. The entire time we walked it did not stop snowing. I had to keep the hood of my cloak up in order to keep my hair from becoming soaking wet.
"This place has a weird feel to it." Kurogane said.
"Perfect for the story we heard earlier." Fai replied.
"So you actually believe the old man's fairytale?" The man in black asked him.
"Well, it is about a magical feather after all, and from what we've seen Sakura-chan's feathers do, I wouldn't be surprised."
"But Mokona isn't sensing any feathers." Mokona said, sadly, jumping from Sakura's arms to mine.
"Yah, but still. It couldn't hurt anything to look into it, right?" Syaoran asked. I found it funny how he could sound so mature and yet, so childlike at the same time.
As we walked into town, everyone shut their doors and windows as if they were rejecting us entirely from their town.
"Well, that's not very nice." I said, feeling a little rejected by perfect strangers.
"They're not exactly sending us a friendly welcome are they?" Fai noted.
"Maybe they're just scared, or cold." Kurogane grumbled.
"But if we can't get anyone to talk to us, how will we learn about the feather?" I asked.
"If we could just get someone to tell us where the castle is, that'd be a good start." Syaoran pointed out as we walked further inside the town. I stayed in between Fai and Kurogane, feeling safe between the two of them. Fai had an aura that made me feel comfortable and I knew Kurogane was strong and could protect us if need be. It was a smart choice because soon villagers holding riffles and other weapons surrounded us. I felt Fai gently grab my hand as if to reassure me that we were going to be all right.
"What's going on?" Sakura asked, just as startled and afraid as I was.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" The leader of the group with a mean looking face demanded.
"We uh… We're writing a book." Syaoran explained. Well that caught me more off guard than the villagers but I did my best not to show my surprise.
"What?" The leader asked, not believing him.
"Yah, we're traveling around different countries studying old legends and strange events and we're using what we find out to write a book on the subject." The young boy continued to explain, sounding more and more like he knew what he was talking about.
"Really? A kid like you?" The leader was skeptical.
"No, he's writing it!" Syaoran said, motioning to Fai.
"Oh, yes. I'm the author." The blonde smiled, going along with the lie, "The kid is my assistant and this little girl is my baby sister," He motioned to Sakura, "This man is here is just tagging along," He pointed to Kurogane who seemed to have a problem with his identifier, "And this lovely woman," Oh shit, it was my turn. I worried a bit about what he would identify me as, but he simply said: "My fiancé." What!?
I had to force a loving smile to hide my complete shock of having to pretend to be Fai's fiancé. I guess it made sense since we were already holding hands. Or was that his plan from the start!? He couldn't have realized this was going to happen, could he? I had to stop letting my mind race and just play along until we left this world.
"Gentlemen, please." A man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail said appearing amongst the crowd. He wore a long dark blue coat and small glasses that perched on his nose. I couldn't tell what, but there was something off about him to me.
"Dr. Kyle!" The leader said, shocked. So he was a doctor? Of medicine maybe? Maybe my instincts were off and he was fine, but I couldn't shake this feeling I had.
"These people are just travelers and do not realize the gravity of our situation. Calm down." It was nice to have someone on our side in this situation. The doctor offered to take us in while we stayed in their town, which was greatly appreciated seeing as it was still freezing cold! We started off down the road towards the doctor's home, Fai's hand laced in mine the entire time.