Something Else To Reconsider

Written by Karinda Stellare Yosheru

Chapter 23. Another attack, more pain to follow.

Forest debris snapped, crunched and crackled under Sakura's feet as she sprinted towards the village's stream. Something had told to go, go to the stream as something was coming. It was not good, it was not bad, one could say that it was neutral. If the meaning of neutral still remained with the same meaning. God knows what it meant now.

She felt some what stupid and selfish for running off without a proper reason before, she now wondered what Syaoran was thinking when she did take off, but the feeling that had hit her when she sat at the table was so overpowering, that she had to go, never the less.

The air all around her grew strangely cold as she neared the stream, as if something else was telling her not to show, to turn around and go back the way she had came. A part of her, her adventurous side however, begged to differ. Trees, twigs and forest bits and bobs swirled into strange patterns as she picked up her pace, if she were a horse she would have been galloping.

She came to a halt, some ten meters away from the embankment, and slowly crept down one of the slopes. Her thoughts about what was calling upon her were soon answered as her eyes fell upon a dragon, grey in colour, looking incredibly like Kieba. She frowned as she stepped forward. She, the dragon, looked absolutely exhausted, her sides rising up and down at a frightening pace as she tried to bring her heart rate back down to normal. With a distressed look upon her face, she turned on her side, and looked in Sakura's direction. It was as if she knew she was there, watching her. The pain in the dragon's eyes reflected in the young woman's, she had once felt desperation like her. Not giving another thought, Sakura ran to her side, and cupped the dragon's face in her hands. She looked down, scanning over her, to see if she could do anything for her.

"What happened to you?" She asked, bringing her gaze back to the dragon's face. There was no answer. Sakura feebly raised a brow, and realised that the dragon was looking straight behind her, with a expression of sheer terror. Something dire was behind them both...

The hideous dark mist that had claimed Zezzabellina Quintessavera's life was back for another round. This time, it needed a new target, and it had seemed to have found it. It hovered there, as if it was thinking about its next move, its next attack.

The dragon seemed desperate to try and move Sakura away, and tried to do so by nudging the woman's arm with her nuzzle, but she just sat there, her legs paralysed as her eyes seemed to be mesmerised by the force that was before them. She sat there a little longer, before reality set in. And all she did was scream.

~*~

Syaoran fell off his seat, literally as a scream ripped through his head. He gripped the side of the table as he tried his best to steady himself, to try and pull himself back up onto the benches. Reili looked over at him, her sarcastically featured face turning into something worrisome.

"Hey! Are you alright?" She asked, as she watched the colour drain from her brother's face. He nodded slowly and regained himself upon his chair, his mind running like crazy. He had heard a scream like that before... When the creature, Ry came for his beloved... His Ying Fa. His amber eyes flew open with shock, a single name was emitted in a loud, frightened scream.

"SAKURA!"

~*~

Sakura was thrown into the water, her body beaten and bruised. Her body ached as she tried to get herself afloat, her eyes scanning for the small dragon that she had only met moments before. She spotted the creature, dodging the force's many attacks, she seemed to know what she was doing. Another frown appeared on Sakura's face. The force was acting in a playful mood, it was not letting off any full scale attacks, and the damage that they were receiving were mostly from when they hit the ground, not from when the force actually hit them. She swam to the shore, her legs throbbing with pain every time she kicked. Eventually, she dragged herself upon the embankment, and instantly, the force was back in front of her, this time, looking far more aggressive. It flickered, and Sakura cried out as it turned itself into an arrow...

Ikira was quick. Quicker than quick. With the Fire-spitter dragon blood that she had been fused with when she was first created, her speeds were well and truly over seventy kilometres an hour. She had spotted the force change into it's proper attack position, and it aimed itself carefully at Sakura.

'Oh hell no.....'

With a surge of adrenalin, created by her fear, Ikira threw herself at Sakura, knocking both her and the target out of the shadow arrow's path. Ikira shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, if that arrow came back for another turn, who knows if she would be able to keep up with its attacks. She breathed in, quickly glancing to her side to see if the woman beside her was alright.

The arrow turned around, the air grew colder - it seemed annoyed that it had missed its target. There was a shout to be heard, a shout that seemed human, and the air soared back to its normal temperature. Ikira and Sakura watched on, confused and bewildered as the arrow vanished from sight, leaving nothing but the bruises on the female's bodies to remind them of the ordeal.

"Sakura!"

Sakura did not even have the energy inside of her to look up towards her love as he entered the scene, his eyes filled with pain and worry. She took in a sharp breath, her eyes rolled up in the back of her skull, and she fell to the ground, Syaoran catching her at the very last second. He cried out, and slowly pushed the hair from her eyes, leant over and kissed her forehead as he mentally cursed himself for not being there, for not watching over her and taking proper responsibility for her. Looking up, he snarled as he saw the dragon take a feeble step forward, as if looking for herself if the woman that he held so close in his arms was alright before collapsing herself, her energy too, depleted.

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