Seven Deadly Jewels
Chapter 53
Sakura, Tomoyo and Kero watched in awe as another large group of bandits fell to only three fighters. The girls' mouths hung open as the sky began raining with the bandits, who received the full blasts and Li and other's attacks. And what the girls found even stranger was that the three fighters were having fun. As if it was nothing more than a game.
"HA! That makes 95!" Meilin exclaimed as she pushed herself up from her handstand. "Beat that Eriol!" The doctor just smirked as another large set of bandits went flying from his staff.
"I already have 106. You're falling behind Meilin-chan." The girl just growled and sent an incoming bandit flying into his recovering comrades like a bowling ball, with just one nonchalant kick.
"Damn it! I'll never catch up at this rate!" Her attention was shifted from the screams of another set of unfortunate bandits.
"102," Li announced, wiping the blood from his sword.
"Nothing less from Syaoran!" Meilin squealed running towards him, obviously forgetting about the bandits. The remaining thugs saw this as well, and took this as an opportunity to attack the girl, who had her back to them.
"Meilin-san look out!" Sakura yelled. With no effort whatsoever, Meilin's foot slammed into one of the bandit's chests, making him collide with the incoming others. Meilin whirled around in time to see twenty more bandits, who had recovered from Eriol's staff, rush at her. Within seconds they were on the ground nursing new bruises as Meilin pushed up from her handstand.
"HA! Too easy!" she declared. "How much more is that? Like 37?" Eriol just chuckled as he sent another group flying with his staff.
"I don't think guys that have already been beaten once count." The cheerful doctor slammed his staff into the chest of one of the thugs, whirled around, and spun his staff, making even more bandits fly back.
"What!" Meilin yelled. "That's no fair! Who came up with that stupid rule!"
"You did," the boys answered in unison.
"Well now forget it!" she yelled kicking another bandit in anger. "What a dumb rule!" Li and Eriol sighed as they watched the girl kick at conscious and unconscious bandits in her anger.
"She's so short-tempered," Li sighed.
"Your one to talk," Eriol chuckled.
"What was that!"
"See what I mean?" Li growled and looked away earning a laugh from Eriol. "Now there's only a couple left. I suggest you put your all in this last set if you want to win."
"No problem. I just hope your stomach is ready for a night of starvation," the swordsman smirked. The two nodded at each other, and rushed towards the final bunch of bandits.
"Hey!" Meilin yelled. "No fair you bastards!" The girl quickly followed after them, determined to win their little competition.
Sakura, Tomoyo, and Kero could not believe what they were seeing. In a matter of minutes an entire force of 600 bandits were defeated by three teenagers, who, as it seemed were hardly putting any effort into it. It was just a big game to them.
"They're just amazing aren't they," Tomoyo whispered to Sakura, who could nod as she watched the three pick apart the last bunch of bandits like they were nothing.
"I don't think Kirto can believe it either," Sakura said as she looked over to the leader, whose jaw was practically on the ground. An odd doctor and his two argumentative friends defeated his entire force with complete ease! What was this world coming too?
"Im….Impossible…..!" he muttered. His attention was caught when one of his men grabbed his leg.
"Master…..help….me….." he cried weakly, but his only reply came in the form of a fist square in his face.
"You're worthless," he growled. "You're all worthless! How in the hell did you morons lose to a bunch of damn kids! Is there one competent bandit among you bastards!"
"Don't worry boss," a calm voice said from behind him. "We'll handle them."
"Yeah, yeah, and when we're done with them, I'll have their blood for my drink!" a sadistic, insane voice said excitedly. Kirto turned around and smirked.
"I'd expect nothing less from you two," the bandit leader smirked. Behind him were two men, one was tall with short black hair with gray pants and jacket with a green shirt beneath. On the back of his jacket was a skull with a sword going through its head. Behind him was a short blonde who was crouching on all fours like an animal. There was an insane look in his small black pupils as he pulled out his sword from his blue gi. Eriol looked on at the two new comers and smiled.
"Looks like the main meat as arrived."
"'Main meat?'" Li repeated in disgust. "What the hell are you some sort of weird meat lover? Where'd you get something that lame?"
"From a book, I thought it was a nice phrase." Li slapped his forehead.
"This is proof that whatever you like turns out to be completely stupid." Eriol pouted.
"That wasn't a very nice thing to say, Syao-kun." Li quickly reprimanded the doctor with a fist in his face. Tomoyo and Sakura just sweatdropped at the scene. Two guys their opponent had absolute confidence in show up, and they still couldn't stop fighting each other.
"So just who are you guys?" Eriol rubbing his surpassingly un-bruised face.
"Iron Ball Tsume," the tall one replied.
"Mole," the short one said as he bit into his own hand.
"We're Kirto's officers, so we're going to be a hell of a lot tougher than the pussies you guys beat," Tsume said confidently. Mole looked over to Li, who just gave him a glare. The insane bandit let out a crazed yell as he pointed to Li.
"I don't like the way you're looking at me! I'll gorge your eyes out right now!" With a single jump, Mole was nose to nose with Li in a matter of seconds. The young man quickly jumped back, barely dodging the slash.
"Damn! Fast little bastard!" he exclaimed. Eriol and Meilin back up to where Sakura and Tomoyo were. "Where the hell do you're going!"
"This is clearly your fight now Syaoran! Please don't lose!" Eriol said. "We'll just be over here where it's safe!"
"You bastard!" Li's attention was shifted when he heard a loud yell. He whirled his around just in time to dodge another slash from Mole, who jump again for another chance. Li ducked, and nailed the small man in the chest with strong kick. Mole flipped to feet and let out an animalistic growl.
"Just for that, I'm going to skin you once your eyeballs are gone!" Mole placed his sword in between his mouth, and got down on all fours. Within seconds the bandit launched himself at the swordsman, making himself like a bullet. Li quickly jumped in the air, but Mole slid against the ground, and launched himself upwards. The bandit appeared above the swordsman, and in a flash brought down his sword. Li managed to block, and pushed his opponent's sword out of the way, and connected with a strong punch. Li raised his leg and slammed it against Mole's head, making him crash into the ground.
"Nice one!" Meilin cheered. "You nailed that bastard!" But Li couldn't help but feel uneasy at the hole Mole made when he crashed. He looked over to Eriol, who shared the same look as he did. When the swordsman landed he looked around, searching for his opponent.
"You fool," Tsume chuckled. "You just put Mole in his playground." Li raised his eyebrow. "Why do you think his name is Mole?"
"Bad taste in names?" Eriol piped up.
"I was going to say they lacked creativity," Tomoyo said.
"Well there's that too," Eriol agreed.
"Shut up!" Li yelled. "I can't sense his aura with you chatting your damn mouth off!" At that moment Li's foot was grabbed from below. The young man looked down just in time to see the bandit's head burst up from the ground.
"Here I am!" Mole's sword shot towards Li's stomach, who tried to jump back, but the bandit's grip was so strong, he fell on his back. Mole stood over the swordsman and raised his sword over his head in a stabbing position. "First your eyes!" The young man moved his head out of the way, and slammed his forehead against Mole's nose, making him stumble off of him. Li got up and rushed for his sword, but Mole was quickly gaining at his heels. The bandit leapt into the air for another attack, but Li grabbed his sword and thrust into the air.
Mole didn't have a chance to dodge. Li pulled out his sword and wiped off the blood with a smirk.
"Troublesome little bastard," he muttered as he went to rejoin his friends. Tsume growled as he reached into his jacket.
"You had better not lose," Kirto growled at him. Tsume nodded, and walked onto the unofficial battlefield.
"I dare any of you to try that with me." Meilin smirked and cracked her knuckles as she went to meet the challenge.
"I'll take him," she said simply, cracking her neck along the way. "I've been wanting a one-on-one for a while."
"Be careful Meilin-chan. He's not like that Mole fellow," Eriol warned, which only earned him a glare. "Okay…. never mind then."
Tsume just laughed as he pulled out two very short sticks, about two inches each. He twirled them around his hands as he looked over Meilin.
"You must be kidding! My opponent is this foolish girl! HA! Why do you just give me a puppy to kick? What's wrong girl? Where's your dress and fan? Shouldn't you be looking for an engagement or something? Or learning how to cook? A pathetic girl like you is no match of me!" Li and Eriol slapped their foreheads as an extremely large vein popped on Meilin's head as a just as large killing intent radiated from her body.
"I'M…. GONNA…. KILL…. YOU!" Tsume just laughed as his two sticks suddenly extended into two, two feet long staffs with a large iron ball at the top of each one. Meilin raised her eyebrows, but shifted into a stance.
"I'd like to see you try little girl." The vein on Meilin's head finally exploded as she dashed towards her opponent. The girl started the fight with a fast straightforward sidekick, but Tsume easily dodged. The girl pushed off from her support leg and twisted into a airborne round kick. Tsume ducked under the kick, and swung his mace towards the girl's back. Meilin shout out her foot behind her, stopping the incoming iron ball. Tsume swung with his other mace, making Meilin jump back.
"Give up little girl, you don't stand a chance against me," the iron ball bandit said as he began to twirl his maces. Meilin just spat at his feet. "Fine then. Die!" With that Tsume dashed towards Meilin with his maces spinning faster than ever. The black blur of the iron spheres were so fast, that the girl almost didn't dodge when Tsume attacked. Meilin used a cartwheel to avoid the downward blow of Tsume's iron ball, and stayed in her handstand position to slam her leg onto the bandit's skull, making him collapse to the ground. But on his way down, he whirled around and his black sphere collided with Meilin's ribs. Both the girl and the bandit flew off in different directions and landed with loud thuds.
"Ouch," Sakura winced. "That looked like it hurt. For both of them." Eriol just chuckled.
"Well it should. Meilin isn't like other fighters at all."
"What do you mean? Does she have a lot of magic or something?" Sakura asked. Eriol laughed while Li just gave a sarcastic snort. Sakura gave them a clueless look.
"Meilin has no magical powers whatsoever. She doesn't even have a sixth sense to sense auras." Sakura and Tomoyo gave the doctor bewildered looks. "How has she gotten this far you ask? Well….fortunately, this girl was so stubborn and determined to fight by Li's side and prove she can still be an effective fighter, that she completely devoted herself to training in the martial arts. The result….."
"Her kick has the same amount of power as ten horses," Li finished.
"Are you serious?" Sakura exclaimed.
"Is that even possible?" Tomoyo asked. Eriol laughed again.
"Of course it is!" he replied. "Just look." At that moment, Meilin got to her feet clutching her left ribs that were completely broken. Tsume managed to get to his feet as well, but his legs were barely keeping him standing.
"Damn," the ruby-eyed girl muttered. "I must have held back too much on that last kick."
"I refuse to be defeated by a weak girl!" Tsume declared.
"Says the guy who's barely standing," Meilin scoffed.
"Silence!" the bandit yelled, rushing towards Meilin. The kung-fu girl whipped out her leg in a fast round kick, but Tsume blocked it with his mace. Meilin winced in pain as her foot collided with the metal of the weapon, making her freeze for a split second. Tsume smirked, seeing this as his chance, and thrust out his other iron sphere into her stomach. Meilin flew back four feet as blood gushed out of her mouth.
"Damn it," the girl muttered as she struggled to get up. She was on her hands and knees when Tsume suddenly appeared at her side, and raised his two maces.
"Die!" With that, the bandit let his maces drop towards the girl's spine. At that moment, Meilin spat in his face, making him pause for a fast second, giving her the opportunity to slam her foot in the bandits face. The mace-welding thug flew back twenty feet before his body began to drop to the ground, but before he could reach, Meilin suddenly appeared below him, and kicked him further upwards in the air.
"Now take this!" she yelled as she back flipped into the air, positioning herself directly over the airborne bandit. "Triple Dragon Twister!" At that moment, Meilin brought her feet together and spun faster than any of them had even seen before. She slammed into Tsume's stomach like a drill, making the bandit spit out gallons worth of blood before he crashed into the ground.
"Dumb girl…." He whispered, Meilin gave him a swift kick to his face to shut him up.
"Well I just happen to be the dumb girl who kicked your ass," she scoffed, and climbed out of the hole. "Damn bastard busted my ribs!"
"Amazing," Sakura said in awe.
"See, you dumb stuffed animal. That's what would have happened to you," Li pointed out to the shocked beast.
"M-m-maybe so. But she's still nothing compared to me!" Kero exclaimed.
"Yeah right."
Kirto gritted his teeth, and completely destroyed the rock he was sitting with one punch. His entire band of bandits defeated by three kids! Kids! Kids who weren't even taking it seriously! Mole, killed by some rookie swordsman who probably just got lucky! And Tsume defeated by a girl, a girl of all people! The leader let out a loud yell before ripping off his cape, revealing his thick golden armor. If you want something done, do it yourself.
"ARGG! I AM TAKING THIS LAND AND NO MERE CHILDREN ARE GOING TO STOP ME!" Eriol laughed as he walked onto the battlefield.
"Looks like it's my turn." he said with a smile.
"So you're the first to fall by my hands eh?"
"Yes. So please go easy on me Mr. Kirto." Kirto chuckled darkly as he cracked his knuckles. In terms of size, he towered over Eriol. The young doctor barely made it to his hip, and from the looks of his thin stature, he had no muscle power whatsoever. This would an easy win in Kirto's eyes.
"Since you didn't really do anything, I'll make your death quick and painless." Eriol's smile didn't waver at all instead he just bowed.
"Thank you, because in the end, isn't that all what we wish for?" Kirto just scoffed at the cheerful doctor in front of him. He made a silent vow to wipe that smile clean off his face.
"All right then! LET'S GO!" With that, the massive man hurled his fist towards the doctor, who made no effort to defend or dodge. Kirto smirked; the kid must have had a death wish. But right before the fist hit its target, Eriol suddenly vanished. "What!"
"Over here!" Eriol called. Kirto whirled around to find the teen standing behind him. The leader attacked with another punch, but Eriol disappeared again. This time, he whistled to get the bandit's attention. He was now about three feet to Kirto's right. The doctor let out a chuckle as he heard Kirto's growl of frustration before he charged towards him. Eriol disappeared again, but Kirto couldn't him anywhere this time.
"Where are you!" he yelled. Suddenly, something tapped him on his head. Kirto looked up only to find Eriol standing on his shoulder with that stupid smile still on his face.
"Hi!" he waved. The bandit swung upwards, but Eriol once again disappeared. But this time he reappeared inches away from Kirto's face. "Boo!" The bandit impulsively went to punch the doctor, but right before the fist landed, Eriol vanished again, and Kirto's fist slammed into his face.
"Damn it!" he yelled, clutching his face on his knees.
"Why are you hitting yourself?" Eriol asked innocently, as he stood over the bandit. Kirto growled deeply before lunging towards the teenager, only to fall back on the ground when he vanished again. Li slapped his forehead as he watched his friend's antics.
"I'm not sure what's more pathetic, the so called great bandit falling for Eriol's every trick, or Eriol completely beating him without lifting a finger."
"Either way, Eriol is making him look like an idiot," Meilin said.
"Hiiragizawa-san is just playing around right?" Sakura asked. Meilin just scoffed.
"Of course. Why would he waste any of his power on this moron?" The spectators attention to the fight was reestablished when they heard another savage yell from the bandit leader, who had just swung and missed again.
"I'm over here," Eriol called from behind him. Kirto swung behind him, but stopped just as the doctor disappeared. The second he reappeared in front of him, Kirto's fist collided with the doctor's face, making him fly back into the wall of his own house.
"Oh no!" Sakura exclaimed. She was sure she saw the doctor's neck twist all the way around as he flew back. She began to run over to check to see if she could do anything, but Li grabbed her wrist. "Li! What are you doing! He's hurt! Aren't you concerned at all?"
"No. He's fine, look." Sakura looked over to the rubble, and saw Eriol get up as if nothing happened. But from the look of his body, something indeed happened. His neck was indeed in a position that told Sakura it was broken, and so was his right arm. Blood was coming out from his forehead, and from the looks of things, his left arm was completely dislocated. But what struck Sakura as odd was, despite all of that, he was still smiling.
"Oh my," he chuckled. "Quite the punch you have there."
"How can he smile after all that?" she asked. "In fact, how is he still standing?" Her question was answered with Eriol snapped his neck back in place, relocated his shoulder, and repositioned his right arm so it wasn't broken. And to top it off, the bleeding on his forehead stopped entirely.
"Impossible!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "How did he do that? Some sort of healing spell?"
"Something like that," Li shrugged. "I don't really get it myself either, but, ever since he was a kid every time some of blow or injury occurred to him, his body just instantly healed itself within seconds. Almost as if its automatic." Sakura and Tomoyo's eyes widened in awe, if they hadn't witnessed this occurrence, they never would have believed it.
"But… how…?" was all Sakura managed to say. Li just shrugged.
"He's always been weird." The fight continued when Eriol held up his staff.
"Looks like I'll have to use this after all." Kirto just scoffed.
"I don't know what the hell that staff means, but there's no way I'm going to let you come close enough to use it!" With that, the two breastplates of his armor opened, and began firing rapidly extremely sharp stakes. "Let's see you avoid these!" The firing speed of the stakes was very similar to that of a Gatling gun, impossible to even see the projectiles, let alone dodge, but Eriol still had his smile.
"I see no need to dodge," the doctor said simply as he started to spin his staff. The projectiles were instantly knocked off course upon hitting the staff, which made Kirto fire more, and at a faster pace. But no matter how many, or how fast he fired, they couldn't hit Eriol, who had made his spinning staff into a shield as he made his towards the bandit.
"Damn it!" he growled. The bandit reached into his armor and pulled out a small stick that extended into a spear that was just as tall and massive as he was.
"Oh dear, that's never good," Eriol said looking over the spear when stopped spinning his staff. Kirto smirked as he started to spin his weapon wildly.
"Let's see you stop my infamous Battle Spear!"
"Battle spear? That's a creative title," the doctor chuckled.
"SLIENCE!" the leader bellowed, and slammed his spear towards Eriol. The doctor instantly dodged, but just as quickly realized his mistake when he was hurled back by a powerful explosion. Just as he was recovering, Kirto appeared over him and swung the spear again. Eriol vanished again, but Kirto pivoted on his foot, and swung behind him. Just as Eriol reappeared, he received a direct hit from both the blade of the spear, and the explosion.
"That idiot!" Li growled.
"Quit messing around Eriol!" Meilin yelled at the smoke. Kirto just laughed.
"Your friend is dead! He took a direct hit from my Battle Spear, which is filled from head to base of gun powder that explodes on impact!" The bandit leader's laugher subsided when the smoke cleared, to reveal a now shirtless Eriol. But what had the bandit leader shocked, not only him, but the others was well, was not that he survived, it was what was on his entire upper body.
Eriol's upper body was covered with seals, symbols, talismans, and other kinds of writing all woven together by some extremely odd and confusing pattern. Sakura couldn't for the life of her begin to follow that odd pattern, but it seemed to start from a rather large symbol in the middle of his back and ended at his heart. On Eriol's wrists were two sliver cuffs, almost like shackles that radiated with some odd power that went along with the strange writing on the doctor's body. But rather than making him stronger, the power was making him weaker.
"Just what the hell are you!" Kirto yelled.
"Li, just what is that?" Li just shot her a look that she knew meant not to ask. Sakura looked over to Tomoyo, who seemed to have the question burned into her head as well. Eriol waved his staff, and the rags that were his shirt floated towards him, and reformed back into his shirt.
"Never mind that," the doctor replied, his voice flat before he broke out into smiles again. "I have to beat you remember? Now about that spear."
"HA! With the sharp blade, and the explosives there is no way you can get past my Battle Spear! And even if you did, there is no way you would be able to harm me! My armor is one of thickest in the country, no man can penetrate it!" The bandit looked over at his young opponent who was digging out his ear with his pinky.
"Such a loud voice you have there. I think I'm deaf in this ear now. And would it kill you to bush your teeth at least once a day?" Kirto growled and charged with his spear thrust out.
"Shut up!" he yelled.
"So with that spear, as long as I touch it, I'm going to get hurt right? So looks like I'll have to avoid touching it."
"And just how will you manage that?" The leader's question was answered when something suddenly wrapped around the spear blade. The object pulled the spear out of the bandit's hand; Eriol spun into Kirto's path, and slammed his palm into the golden armor. The bandit slid back and ran his hands along the struck area.
"See, I got to you without touching the spear," Eriol replied. In his hands was his staff, but not like it was before. It was divided into three sections connected by a chain, a three section staff.
"What the hell just happened?"
"You see my staff can be whole, or I can make it into a three-section staff that can extend and shrink according to my will. How I got past your spear was simple. I just made the first two sections wrap around the blade, pull it, and then turn into an attack range." Kirto just laughed.
"Like your little attack did anything! It didn't get anywhere near penetrating my armor!" Eriol smiled mischievously.
"Maybe it did, maybe it didn't." Kirto growled before reaching into his cloak and grabbing what a looked like a large smoke ball.
"I've had enough of this! I'm through playing around you! I am going to end this once and for all with my Poison Ball 65!"
"Eh?"
"This poison is so powerful it even penetrates the skin, so if you do hold your breath you'll still be poisoned, the effects are long and painful, and to top it off, this bomb with cover this entire area with the poison! Good luck avoiding this!"
"Oh dear."
"Now! Farewell you brat! Poison Bal 65!" With that Kirto hurled the bomb and placed a gas mask over his face with a dark smile. Kero quickly grabbed the others and flew into the air, but Eriol didn't move.
"What's he doing? Why isn't he moving?" Tomoyo wondered.
"Move you moron!" Li yelled. Eriol looked up with a smile just as the ball exploded and the entire area was covered with green smoke. The heat of the gas was close to unbearable, and just the general air of it burned Li's nose. Just by being around it he could feel the air from his lungs escape his body, his throat swelled up, and he could feel a slight increase in his temperature.
Sakura thrust out her hands and blew away the green smoke, to reveal the grass that had once been lively green had become a dead brown. The knocked out bandits' bodies were completely wrinkled like raisons, and their skin practically stuck to their bones. Those who were still conscious coughed up pints of blood and gasped frantically for breath. And in the center of this was their so-called leader, kicking at those who came at him for an antidote. But what had the group looking around was, they couldn't find Eriol. Kirto seemed to notice this as well as he tried to locate the doctor.
"How did he escape? There is absolutely no way he could have used that teleporting trick! And that dumb staff couldn't have helped either!"
"On the contrary. It actually worked wonders." Kirto looked down and saw Eriol submerged in the bandit's shadow like it was water. "Hi!"
"HOW THE HELL-!" But Kirto didn't have a chance to finish since Eriol knocked him into the air with his staff. The doctor jumped up and hit his staff against the leader's face to make his back horizontal to the ground.
"Time to finish this!" he declared.
"HA! As if! My armor is impenetrable! There is no way your little staff can harm me!" But Kirto was proven dead wrong when Eriol slammed his staff into the golden armor, and shattered it to pieces.
"Too bad." The master bandit crashed deep into the ground and was knocked out instantly. "Looks like I get to keep this house after all." Kirto struggled to get up, but it took all his strength to even lift his head.
"How…. did…. you…"
"Well it's simple really. Remember when I got passed that Battle Spear of yours? Well my attack was really a spell. It transformed your armor into a thinner and lighter metal, which was why I was able to knock you into the air. And how I escaped your poison bomb? I used a simple spell that allowed me to submerge myself in the shadows. It wasn't hard at all." The doctor explained with a good hearty laugh.
"Why…. didn't…you…. kill…. me?"
"I'm a doctor," Eriol replied in complete seriousness. "I save lives, not take them." Kirto let out one last grunt before his head dropped as he fell into unconsciousness.
"He did all of that within seconds," Sakura could help but whisper in awe.
"And he fought as if it was one big show," Tomoyo added. Who were these people? One with sword skills, and strange powers that surpassed everything she had heard in stories, a girl with a kick of superhuman strength, and a doctor with amazing powers. The world was truly a large place for such people to exist.
"I told you he was weird," Li replied with a scoff. Eriol looked up at the onlookers and smiled.
"Who wants tea?"
OOOOO
Sakura collapsed on the bed in Yukito's house. After restocking them with some supplies and pinpointing where the stolen jewels were located, they were in the north; Eriol sent them off with a smile. Of course it took a lot more to get Meilin off of Li's arm. Eriol had to hit her with a sleep spell before they could go.
She had an eye popping three days. Yukito was some sort of human form of the moon guardian, who had some weird connection with Mudo, one of the most powerful demons she had ever seen before. And to top it all off, she met Li's childhood friends who were just as powerful as he was. While it may seem like they argued and yelled at each other all the time, she could sense the deep bond between them something that words couldn't really describe. It was similar to what she and Tomoyo had.
Watching them fight together was just amazing. She couldn't help but wonder, would she ever get that strong? The thoughts and possibilities of what she could do with that kind of power accompanied her as she drifted into sleep. Although, they did mostly revolve around beating up Touya for all those monster remarks.
OOOOO
The next morning, the group decided to disembark. Fujitaka, Touya, and Yukito were there to see them off. Fujitaka had made them meals to last at least a month, or a week knowing Kero's appetite.
"Be careful. And don't talk to anyone you don't know," her father said half jokingly.
"I know dad. I'll be sure to write you," Sakura replied taking the meals.
"It feels like I barely spent anytime with you at all," Yukito sighed. "Oh well, the next time we see each other, I'll be sure we spend plenty of time together, okay Sakura-chan?" Sakura's face became tomato as she nodded shyly.
"Keep my sister out of trouble," Touya glared at Li, who just shot one back.
"Yeah, yeah, and be sure to get that sister complex of yours under control as well."
"What was that you brat!"
"Who are you calling a brat!"
"Well it's obviously you, you kid," Kero chirped in.
"Shut up you damn stuffed animal!" The other laughed as they triple threat began, but was cut off by Li suddenly getting tackled.
"Syaoran! Don't leave without me!" a very familiar voice squealed.
"Sorry. She broke her leash two meters ago," another familiar voice chuckled.
"Meilin! Eriol! What the hell are you guys doing!" the bewildered swordsman yelled.
"We're coming with you of course!" Meilin yelled back as if it was obvious. "You suddenly disappear for two years, now that you come back you're leaving again? Hell no! I'm coming with you this time!" Li narrowed his eyes before sighing, when Meilin was like this, he didn't even bother trying to argue.
"What's your excuse?" he muttered at Eriol.
"Well I've been stationary for so long now. I could use my fair share of adventure. Plus, I need to keep you in check."
"Thanks," Li sarcastically replied.
"But what about your house Hiiragizawa-san?" Sakura asked. Eriol held up a small crystal ball that had his massive house locked within.
"It's right there. Oh and since we're traveling together, you can drop the formalities Sakura-chan. I don't mind."
"Sure Hiiragizawa, I mean Eriol-kun." Eriol instantly smiled.
"Now that has a nice ring to it." Li smacked him over his head.
"Don't get too excited." Fujitaka just smiled at his daughter's companions. He knew he had nothing to worry about, she and Tomoyo were good hands. Somehow, he just knew that was true.
"Great now I have to put up with this stupid girl for the rest of this!" Kero groaned.
"What was that you bath sponge!" Meilin yelled.
"You heard me you brat!"
"This is going to be such a lively journey," Tomoyo remarked.
"I have a feeling it's going to be a lot more than that," Eriol chuckled. Li let out frustrated growl and started walking.
"All right enough of this! Let's just go!"
"Syaoran you're so cool!" Meilin squealed, instantly glomping him.
"Arg! Meilin get off!"
"Looks like you'll have to be putting up with annoying ball and chain too eh kid?" Kero said.
"What was that!" Meilin yelled.
"Oh god!" Li sighed.
"Let's not fight guys," Sakura piped up.
"You're so cute Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo squealed.
"Quite a lively trip indeed," Eriol chuckled. For better or for worse, they had gained two new companions.
AN: (Big sigh) Finally! This chapter took wayyyyyyyyyyy longer than I had hoped or expected. Mostly because, as you may have guessed, homework takes up almost all my time, and even when I'm done, I have to study for quizzes and tests! Plus since my Physics grade isn't so great I have to study in that even more. FYI: PHYSICS SUCKS!XP! Especially my teacher! But I won't go into that. So finally the group is complete! I've wanted to add Eriol and Meilin to the group since the beginning, but they seemed like characters that would show up later, so that's what I did. But with them in the picture, as you can see, they add a dynamic to the group. I'm quite pleased at how their fights turned out, could have been a little better in my opinion, but I thought it was fine. Where I got the ideas for their styles came mostly from the show and from other Animes. Meilin, for example, is a mixture of the one in the original show, Sanji from One Piece, and Rock Lee from Naruto. You can tell she's like Sanji because of her powerful kicks, and she's like Rock Lee because she can't use magic, and has to focus on physical fighting. Eriol is a mix of, the one from the show, Hakkai from Saiyuki, and Fai/Fye/Fay (however the hell you spell it) from Tsubasa Chronicles. I guess you could say this was a long chapter, and the ending seemed kind of rushed to me, but I guess you guys deserve it for your patience (or impatience in some cases). Anyway, enough of my ranting here's the preview of the next chapter!
Sakura: We come upon a town famous for it's public Marital Arts matches and challenges, and they have one undefeated fighter everyone is so proud of! So why does his daughter want him to lose?Tomoyo: It seems he only accepts challenges from only worthy challenges. Is an infuriated Meilin a worthy enough challenge for him?
Sakura: And can Meilin-chan really beat someone like this, with her short-temper?
Kero: 1000 gold on the champ!
Sakura: (sweatdrops) Well that answers that.
Tomoyo: So be sure to join us for: "Temper vs. Pride" in the next Seven Deadly Jewels. See you then.
