Sakura yawned as she and the others made their way through a canyon. Mountains, cliffs, and boulders covered the area for miles. The landscape was filled with mountains, and hills. Cliffs covered the canyon, and boulders seemed to be everywhere. Not too far away was the massive crater that was once the forest of Situra. Sakura reached into her pocket, and pulled out the Kamikaze necklace, and the two strange cards she had gotten all of a sudden. She sighed mentally as she looked at them.
'I never would have thought mom's necklace could cause so much trouble. Ever since Tomoyo and I started to travel with Li, demon after demon just keeps coming after us,' she thought. 'Why though? I know the jewels Li is trying find are special, and increases someone's power, but does it do more than that when all seven are joined together?'
"Hey Sakura are you okay?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura nodded as she stared at the jewel and the cards.
"It's just that, I just don't understand, what's the big deal with this little jewel? I mean right now it just looks so normal."
"Yeah, but in the hands of a demon, that little jewel could give it a major power boost, remember that one demon, the one that came after us the day we met Li?" Tomoyo reminded her.
"Yeah, he was pretty strong, but compared to demons like Mudo, Situra, and Hido that guy was nothing," Sakura said with a laugh.
"Yeah," Tomoyo agreed. "But have you noticed that the more jewels we get the more powerful the demons? I mean, the demon back home, Tugio, and Siga weren't all that powerful. But the Thunder Warriors, that Viga guy, Mudo, Hido, and Situra, you and Li just barely stopped, in fact, Viga and Mudo are still out there."
"So are you saying that the more we have these jewels, the more careful we should be right?" Sakura figured.
"Yeah, you never know what kinds of demons will be coming, or how powerful. So yeah, be more careful."
"Don't worry Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said with a smile. "I'll be fine." The girls were suddenly snapped out of their conversation when Li suddenly got into a fighting stance and was ready to draw his sword.
"What is it?" Tomoyo asked. Li's intense amber eyes scanned the high cliffs around them; small pebbles fell from the cliffs as a swift black shot across the cliffs in a blink of an eye.
"I thought I saw something," Li replied as he slowly came out of his stance.
"Whatever was there is gone now. Either that or you're just going insane," Kero said. He suddenly kissed the ground as Li walked passed him.
"Shut up you damn stuffed animal," he growled. Tomoyo scooped up Kero from his small hole in the ground as Sakura laughed.
"God I hate that guy," Kero mumbled.
OOOO
Meanwhile back on top of the cliffs, a middle-aged man was running for his life. He looked behind him; only to find the creature he was running from was only seconds behind him. The man tried to increase his speed, but the creature was too fast. In the end, the monster ended up in front of him, smiling at him with its fangs poised to bite.
"P-please spare me, I'll do whatever you like! But please spare me!" the man pleaded as he went to his knees. However, the creature ignored his pleas, and devoured him in a second. The monster smirked as it spat out the bones in a pile filled with the bones of humans, animals, and demons. It was about stand up, and go back when a mysterious figure appeared behind it.
"Stuffing your face again? Witmua?" the figure asked as the demon crouched down, and went into a human form. As it turned around, it turned out to be a woman. She had long white hair with a red cloak draped over her body. The woman known as Witmua hissed when she spotted the middle sized figure.
"What do you want, you know I don't like to be interrupted when I'm eating!" she exclaimed.
"I bring news," the figure said simply as it held its weapon at its side.
"News, what news?" Witmua asked.
"Situra, and Magabura have both been defeated and killed by the one called Li, and his little friends. Also, Erim-sama says they will be passing through your area soon, so be on your guard." Witmua chuckled as she turned around.
"Handling that kid will be a piece of cake," she said as she twirled her long white hair.
"Are you sure, there have been many who have said that, and they all have been killed." Witmua scoffed and started to walk away.
"Don't worry I'll get the job done."
"Lord Erim says that Lord Viga wants Li alive, so don't eat him."
"Just shut up, and let me do my job," the woman said, and faded away.
'I should probably keep a close eye on her,' the figure thought, and then disappeared.
OOOOO
By dusk, the canyons were slowly becoming pitch black. The once clear blue sky was only orange red patches in the now approaching nightfall. The stars were slowly making their entrance in the dark sky, and the half moon was replacing the sun as the big orb of light went down like a tired old man. The high orange cliffs were dark blue, and blended in with the night, making it harder for the small group to see.
"I'm hungry," Sakura complained.
"Same here," Kero said.
"Now that I think about it, we haven't had anything truly decent since the last time we're in town. How long ago was that?" Tomoyo asked.
"Weeks ago," Kero answered weakly. "During that whole Cli incident."
"Aw man, it's been that long? I'd give anything to have anything besides instant noodles," Sakura groaned. Li rolled his eyes as he walked ahead, he couldn't stand their wining. He stopped when he saw something red on the ground. The young man reached into his cloak, pulled out a fire talisman, and created a small fire to see. In front of him was a small red apple, and near it were some berries and grapes.
"Fruits?" he said as he picked it up. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero were suddenly behind him, and looked at the food on the ground.
"It beats instant noodles," Sakura smiled as she picked them up. Tomoyo gasped when she looked up the cliffs.
"Hey guys look, there's some kind of giant tree on that cliff!" she exclaimed. The tree was tall, but thin. The leaves covered the entire top of the thin tree, making the branches close to impossible to see. The leaves were filled with different kinds of fruits, and next to the tree was a small house with a fire burning in the window.
"And there's a house to! We don't get this lucky. Let's go see if there are any people there," Kero said. The small group was suddenly inside of one of Kero's shields and floating to the top of the cliffs. Sakura looked at Li in confusion when she saw him analyze the house with his intense amber eyes.
"Hey Li is something wrong?" she asked.
"It's all too convenient," he mumbled as he scanned the house for any demonic activity. When he didn't sense any demons or any other magic inside of the house or in the area, he still didn't calm down. When they reached the top of the cliffs, Li had his sword ready for anything. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero started to eat the fruits from the tree, and even saving some for later. Suddenly someone stepped out of the house, Li whirled around and drew his sword in an instant. The one who stepped out of the house was a woman with long white hair, and red robes wrapped around her. Her blue eyes looked at them with confusion.
"Hello there, you kids are new faces around here," she said kindly.
"Oh, we're sorry, we didn't know there was someone still living around here," Sakura replied as she placed the apple in her hands down.
"Oh it's okay. If you want, you kids can stay here the night. By the way, my name is Aumit," the woman said. Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero all smiled brightly at the offer while Li just scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"We'd love to!" Sakura exclaimed. They were soon led inside of the small house, while on the roof, the figure from earlier was watching the whole scene intensely.
'You'd better not mess this up, Witmua.'
OOOOO
The girls and Kero smiled brightly when Aumit brought out their meal. When she set it down, they started to eat hungrily. Li on the other hand, just sat in the corner, only take few bites at his food. Aumit smirked as she watched them eat.
'That's it kids, eat it all up. It's filled with a strong sleeping powder. Once they eat it, they'll be out the entire night. Giving me more than enough time to take the jewels.' Li suddenly stood up, and walked outside.
"What's his problem?" Tomoyo wondered.
"Ah, I'm more worried about that last piece of fish!" Kero exclaimed as he grabbed it.
"Would you like some more?" the woman asked.
"Of course. It's not everyday we get to have a meal like this on the road," Tomoyo replied. Sakura looked at Li as he stared at the stars deep in thought. The young man stared deeply at the stars as he stood outside, feeling the cool wind of the night.
'It's all too convenient,' he thought as he stared at the stars. 'A woman can't live here by herself. It's too rough of a terrain. Not only that, but powerful demons can reside here.' Suddenly a cold feeling ran through Li's body, in one motion, he spun around, and drew his sword. The person who was behind him was just Sakura, who yelped, and jumped back at the sight of Li's sword in her face.
"What do you want?" he asked coldly as he sheathed his sword.
"I was just wondering if you wanted anything to eat," Sakura said. "You didn't have to stick your sword in my face!" Li eyed the roof of the small house when he thought he saw movement in the shadows. He tried to sense the aura of whoever was up there, but he didn't sense anything.
'That's weird,' he thought.
"What is it?" Sakura asked him.
"It's nothing, and forget about the food, I'm not hungry." The two suddenly picked up heavy snoring coming from the house. Sakura looked in, and giggled when she saw Tomoyo and Kero flat on the floor sleeping.
"They used up more energy than I thought," Sakura thought out loud. Suddenly, a blue mist slowly blew into the room. Li instantly drew his sword, and covered his nose.
"Hey, don't breathe in the fumes, you'll be out like a light for hours," Li said. Sakura instantly covered her nose, and mouth, but the mist kept coming until it covered the entire room.
"Still awake eh?" a harsh voice growled from nowhere. "No matter, you'll both soon be out like lights." Aumit suddenly walked into the room with a smirk on her face.
"Why are you doing this Ms. Aumit?!" Sakura exclaimed. Aumit just laughed as she walked into the room.
"Foolish girl, my name is not Aumit!" she laughed. She suddenly started to change. Her head became smaller, and much more round, her tan skin was slowly replaced with deep red skin, and yellow stripes. The bottom part of her body became rounder like the abdomen of a spider. Her arms became thicker, and longer, along with her tongue. Below her new abdomen, eight long, and hair legs sprouted out along with a long stinger from her backside. "My name is Witmua!"
"Damn!" Li growled. "I should have known!" The chestnut haired boy rushed towards the Spider woman, and thrust his sword forward. Witmua just chuckled, and blew more blue mist at him.
"Spider Mist!" Li quickly jumped back, and got into a ready stance. He removed his hand from his nose, and mouth, and started to hold his breath. Witmua laughed as she watched him. "You might try to hold your breath, but it won't last! This mist will last as long I wish it to!" Li gripped his sword tighter, and attacked again. Witmua chuckled as she dodged his wild sword strikes. Li growled softly, and attacked with a swift veridical upward strike. Witmua laughed, and jumped to the side. The young man was suddenly knocked into a wall by one of her hairy legs.
'Damn! The mist keeps coming! I'm not sure how long my breath can last! Not only that, but with all this mist, I can barely see what I'm doing! Damn it!' Suddenly a strong wind blew out of nowhere, and started to blow the mist away. Li, and Witmua turned around, and saw Sakura using her wind power to blow the mist out of the room.
"Damn girl! She'll ruin everything!" Witmua suddenly leaped towards Sakura, and grabbed her by the neck. The Spider Demon pinned her against the wall, and squeezed her neck tightly. Sakura grabbed her hands, and tried to pry them off of her, but she was too strong. The young girl gasped for air, but she could barely breathe. "Get ready to die!"
"Element Fire!" Witmua screamed as the fire started to burn her skin. The Spider woman was suddenly kicked through the screen door of the house, and slid out of the house. Sakura fell to her knees and gasped for air.
"Thanks Li," she said with a smile. Li ignored her, and started to pursue the Spider Demon. Witmua was outside trying to get up, but Li's fire attack did more damage to her than she thought.
"Ready to give up?" Li asked as he stood over her with his sword ready to slice her head off.
"Damn you," she growled. She looked around her, and saw that she was near the edge of the cliff with Li in front, and a long way down behind. Witmua then spotted a cave in the middle of the cliff that was across from the one they were on. The Spider woman smirked, and made a fist.
"Last chance do you give up?" Witmua suddenly kicked the young man back with one of her hairy legs, and jumped towards the cave.
"Is she crazy!?" Sakura exclaimed when she saw her jump. Witmua suddenly shot out a thin thread of webbing that stuck to one of the rocks. The demon spider then swung on the thread like a rope, in an instant, Witmua was at the entrance of the cave, and ran in.
"Damn, how are we going to make it across?" Li growled. Sakura looked around, and saw the tree not too far away. She pulled out the Wood card, and held it up to the tree.
"Wood card, make a path for us out of this tree!" she exclaimed. The Wood sprit came out calmly, and gently out of the card, and slowly started to wrap itself around the tree. The tree suddenly grew longer, and fell. It was so long that it created a makeshift bridge that connected the two cliffs. Sakura smiled as the Wood sprit went back in her card. But when she went back to put it in her pocket, she felt that something was missing.
"What are you waiting for! Move your ass!" Li shouted as he made his way to the tree bridge.
"Witmua has my necklace!" Sakura exclaimed.
"What!!!" Li shouted. "How!!!!"
"It must have happened when she grabbed me!"
"You moron!!! How could you let that happen!?!!" Li shouted.
"It's not my fault!! I wasn't sure what was going on!" Sakura shot back.
"That's no excuse! You should always be a where of what's going around you! Especially if some damn spider is stealing one of the jewels!"
"Why do you care so much about those things! What's so special about them!" Sakura shouted.
"It's none of your business!!" Li snapped. "Now shut up, and let's go!" Sakura huffed, and followed him as they walked across the tree bridge. The anger and frustration Sakura felt from before vanished as she slowly made her way across the bridge. The bottom seemed nonexistent as she looked down through the darkness. Her legs felt like stone when she tried to move, the end seemed just too far way. She dizzy as she stood in the middle of the bridge, the end was too far away, and only getting further away, while the darkness of the seemingly bottomless pit came closer.
"I can't," she whispered softly.
"What the hell are you waiting for!" Li shouted when he made it across. "Move it!" Sakura tried to take a step, but her legs just wouldn't listen.
"I can't," she said again, only a little louder. Li groaned, and suddenly jumped in front of her.
"Damn it," he growled, and grabbed her arm. He then roughly pushed her across the bridge. Sakura sighed with deep relief when she was on the other side.
"Thank goodness," she sighed. "Thanks Li."
"Whatever," Li replied dryly, and without hesitation entered the cave. Sakura was about to enter when a cold feeling ran through her body. She shivered as she peered into the cave. "What is it? Don't tell you're afraid of caves too."
"It's not that, I'm getting a bad vibe from this place," Sakura replied.
"That must be Witmua's demon aura. Either that or you're feeling the souls of all those who have died here. But it could be both." Sakura hesitantly went into the dark and damp cave, holding her arms like she was in the cold, and constantly looking over her shoulder. The walls were moist, and filled with a green sticky liquid that covered some of the stalagmites and stalactites. Water ran down the stalactites, and hit the ground making the small puddle below it bigger. Dark red eyes watched her from the ceiling, and the ground. When she ran her hands against the wall she pulled back in disgust, on her hands was a clear white sticky substance with the same green liquid on the edges.
"Yuck!" she exclaimed. "What is this stuff!?"
"It must be her webs, and judging by how far they go in the cave, she's in pretty deep," Li said as he examined the walls. As they went deeper in the cave the more dark and confusing it became. The many twists, turns, side paths, and slopes could make anyone confused. Li created a fire by using his fire talisman, which made a small to guide them. Sakura looked around and saw many strands of spider webs, and spider trails that Li just seemed to not notice or just ignore, either way he wasn't mentioning them at all, which Sakura found odd. Eventually they made it to a fork in the rocky path. Li was about to go left until Sakura saw something shine through the darkness of the cave. It was some kind of red glow that lit up that entire section of the cave. Mixed in with the red glow was a faint pink shine that created a light that Sakura couldn't ignore, she decided to take a chance and go right.
"Li, I think we should go right," she announced.
"Why?" Li asked coldly.
"We should head for the red and pink lights, maybe that's where Witmua is."
"What lights?"
"What are you talking about? They're right there!" Sakura exclaimed as she pointed to where she saw the lights. When Li looked all he saw was a regular cave wall.
"Did you breathe in Witmua's poison fumes or something?"
"I know what I'm talking about Li! You may not be able to see it, but I can!"
"What so I should just suddenly do whatever you say just because you can see a couple of lights? Forget it." Sakura growled softly, he was so frustrating. She had never known anyone could be this selfish or cold.
"Well would be in your best interest if you did since you're probably missing something important!"
"Shut up, I'm doing things my way. You can go that way if you want, me I'm going this way," and with that Li disappeared down the dark path of the cave. Sakura huffed, and went down the other way without hesitation, using the light as her guide.
OOOOO
Li examined the walls of the path he took, the spider webs seemed to be getting stickier the deeper he went. He figured he was getting closer to the main web. As he walked his foot suddenly hit against something hard and long. He lowered his fire to the ground and saw a bone in front of him. Near it was another bone, only it was a finger. Li followed the bones thinking they would lead him to the main web. When he turned a corner his eyes widened, in front of him were countless human skeletons trapped in webs. In their hands were old weapons that showed they tried to fight back, but the spider seemed to have gotten them trapped. Against the walls were broken skeletons. Their bones scatted near them like a puzzle, and their skulls crushed.
"Must be where that spider witch devours her victims," Li figured as he walked past them. He suddenly stopped when he heard something. He spun around, and in a flash drew his sword, but he didn't see anything. Then the sound of footsteps coming down the path echoed off the walls. Li faced the entrance with his hands holding the hilt of his sword tightly. Eventually a man with long black hair in a high ponytail, and dark purple eyes stepped out of the darkness.
"I see a human," he said as he walked closer. "I haven't seen one in a while."
"Who are you?" Li asked as he went into a defensive stance. The man wore a purple gi with light armor over it. On his belt was a double-edged sword, and on his wrist was a bracelet. It was made of a dark gold that blended in with the darkness of the cave, there was a strange form of writing written around it. "A jewel."
"I would ask you to leave little human, but I haven't tasted your type in the longest time," he said as he licked his lips.
"Are you some kind of demon?" Li asked when he noticed his long ears.
"Yes. I am Yuotoku the lord of these mountains. And I believe my mate Witmua led you and your little friends here."
"Maybe she did, maybe she didn't," Li replied. Yuotoku laughed suddenly.
"It's good that you and your little girlfriend split up, it'll be easier for Witmua to devour her and take the rest of the jewels. Then, she'll kill your other friends too! I bet you're worried." The lord however was taken aback when Li just scoffed.
"Yeah right. To be honest I don't of any of those stupid girls, or that damn stuffed beast as my friends. Friends don't do anything for you. The only one you can trust is yourself. The only thing I'm interested in is that bracelet on your wrist." Yuotoku looked at the bracelet and smirked.
"What this, I found this about three or four years ago. It has given power beyond my wildest dreams. I can cause landslides, earthquakes, avalanches, and any part of the ground I can control! And I plan to keep it!"
'The Terra Bracelet,' Li thought. "Too bad for you, you got all this power from one jewel, and once I take it away you'll be nothing but lowly spider demon."
"And what makes you think you're going to take it away from me?" Yuotoku asked as he was about to draw his sword. Li smirked.
"I have a hunch." Yuotoku suddenly drew his sword, and went into a stance.
"I've had enough for this! You, human, will not take this jewel from me! Instead I shall be taking your life, and using your organs as my meals!"
"If that was supposed to intimidate or disgust me, then sorry it didn't work."
"Maybe, but this will!" Suddenly the spider lord shot out a blast of webbing from mouth. Li quickly jumped to the side, but the lord was already in front of him, and knocked him back with a swift kick to his stomach. Li clutched his stomach, and took a knee. "HA! On your knees already!" The lord walked closer, but suddenly the young man jumped to his feet, and slashed him across his chest, then stabbed him through his shoulder.
"You demons are always so easy to fool," Li said with a smirk. Yuotoku jumped back as he felt his wounds. Green blood oozed from his two wounds, but they didn't seem to bother him.
"It seems this maybe harder than I thought. But nevertheless, I will kill you!" he shouted and charged.
"We'll see about that!" Li yelled, and readied his sword.
CLANG!!!!!
OOOOO
Sakura made her way through the path following the bright light. She wondered why Li couldn't see it, or was it that he just didn't want to follow her for once. Whatever the reason, she was sure he wouldn't say it to her or anyone. Sakura decided to just forget it and follow the light. When she reached where the light was the brightest, she turned the corner, and readied herself for anything. In front of her were two high cliffs, not nearly as high as the ones outside, but still high for a cave. They were filled small rocks and ledges, perfect for climbing, but in between them was a grand spider web, the biggest Sakura had seen. The outside webbing was long and thick. They were stuck to four points in the cliffs giving the web support, then in the middle the webbing was thin, and filled with the green liquid from earlier. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw countless skeletons and decaying bodies trapped in the center part of the web. The expressions of fear, shock, and terror was still on their faces. In their necks and chests were two large and deep holes, most likely bite marks. The green liquid dripped from the wounds to the ground making a small puddle above the web.
"Impressed?" a cold, venom filled voice asked from above her. Sakura looked up, and saw Witmua appear on the cliffs. She suddenly jumped to her web, and smirked. "These humans were pathetic, hardly any taste on them. But you, I can feel the magic in you, I bet you'll taste delicious." Witmua slowly descended to the ground on a thin line of webbing with a dark smile on her face. She was giving off a strong red glow, and in her forehead was the pink glow.
"My necklace!" she exclaimed. "You put my necklace in your forehead!"
"So, what are you going to do about it kid?" Witmua asked slyly as she made her way close to Sakura. The young girl looked around until she saw a stick behind her. She quickly grabbed it, and turned it into her weapon.
"I'll show you what I'll do about it!" she shouted, and rushed towards the Spider demon. Sakura yelled with all her might, as she brought down her weapon, but her attack was stopped when Witmua caught it just above the blade. Sakura struggled to bring it down further, but Witmua was too strong. The young girl was suddenly knocked back by a strong kick from one of Witmua's hairy legs.
"Pathetic," she said with a laugh. Sakura got to her feet, and readied herself for another attack.
"I'll show you pathetic!" Sakura exclaimed, and charge again.
"Bring it on little girl!" Meanwhile watching from above the cliffs was the cloaked figure. He smiled under his hood as he watched Sakura and Witmua begin their fight, and in a small mirror in his hands he watched Li's fight with Yuotoku.
"This should be good," he mumbled as he watched.
AN: I am so, so, so, so, so sorry for the delay. I would have gotten this chapter out much sooner, but High School is a major killer. Homework, projects, and tons of other stuff. Not only that, but I had a lot of ideas for this chapter, and I wasn't sure which one to chose. First I had an idea to center this chapter on Li's past, but I reveled a little too much so I deleted that idea. Then I went for another appearance of Mudo, but that reveled too much about him too so I decided to do a Spider Demon fight, and a new jewel. I'll save those other ideas for much later. And for those of you who are waiting for Li and Sakura's fist kiss anytime soon, don't get your hopes up. It's been 21 chapters and Li has yet to call Sakura by her name, he's just been calling her stupid, idiot, etc. I really don't know when I'll put that in, maybe I won't. Nah, I'll do it sooner or later, most likely much, much later. Well anyway how will Li fair against the Spider Lord, Yuotoku? Will Sakura get her necklace back from Witmua? And who is the cloaked figure watching them? You'll just have to read the next chapter of Seven Deadly Jewels. SEE YA!!!!