Cards, Love, war, and rebellion
Chapter 5
Authors note: Ok in this one we are going to have our truly visualized fight scene however it's not gonna be much of a fight. I took inspiration from a European comic series which is comical as well as entertaining. The plot of the comics is basically about two French warriors having a set of adventures while dealing with their Italian invaders roughly 2000 years ago. Those who don't know what I'm talking about I'll explain once the chapter is done. Those who do well good for you. Remember I don't own CCS and now onto the story
3rd POV
"What a fine day for privateering fight captain? Nice and easy pickings and we can get rich of it." The figure cackled in the morning sea breeze.
"I would rather be in a naval convoy rather than this privateering business of yours Liu Chen" the captain said under his breath. Long Liu Chen is a member of the branch families in the long clan with a direct relation to the head family. He sports black hair that's tied in a topknot and has a mustache on his tanned face. He wears a red and black hanfu and carries a whip on the side and a set of butterfly swords of a stabber design with a 14 inch blade length. He is well known in the clan to be an excellent tactician however despite his talent he's a full on coward. When he entered the privateering business a few years back attacked many unarmed merchants vessels and has gained quite of an ego and amasses a lot of wealth. For that he earned the title of Cyclone Liu
"Come on captain Lei Yun, don't be like that!" Liu Chen said. Lei Yun is the captain of the galley that Liu Chen is commanding. He's a former marine of the imperial navy and an expert sailor. However his last skirmish with pirates ends in a disaster. It was a costly victory but in the end more than half the ships in his admiral's command had been sunk to the bottom. The admiral he served was a glory hunting bastard who's just as smart as he is reckless. During that skirmish he lost his leg and an eye in the process. Now he's been discharged and jobless. He tried trading but the moment he got his ship Liu Chen barged in and forced him to join his crew as the ships captain. Lei Yun may have been the captain of this ship but ever since Liu Chen came onto his ship, he hasn't been in control of the ship ever since he'd been forcefully drafted. He's wearing brown trousers and a maroon hanfu signifying him as a second in command. And he carries a niuweidao on his side. For 4 year now he wanted to get out but he didn't know how or has found the opportunity to escape. Little did he know is that his chance may come sooner than he'd thought?
"With the money we make we could even have enough for a fleet!" Liu Chen countered.
'True he had made allot of money but still this man is a maniac' Lei Yun thought.
"Merchant just off of the bow!" the crows nest shouted. Just right off in the distance a merchant ship could be seen. However this merchant ship isn't carrying just cargo but a set of dangerous type of passengers. The Merchant ship turns out to be the ship that was carrying the gang. They have been at sea for 2 days now and this was their third day. They had a quick breakfast and decided that it was a good Idea to spend their time practicing their martial arts. Syaoran was helping out Sakura with sword practice since she has the sword card. Sakura is not a proficient martial artist since she never had any training in her childhood. But she has gotten some practice and was getting better. With the help of Syaorans proficiency with the sword she's stating to get the hang of the basics. Boa was sparing with Tomoyo since she was the only one that knows how to use a polearm. Bao had left his favorite monkey style Bo staff at home since he went out in disguise. If anybody would see him he would immediately recognized since his Bo staff was custom made though people would recognize him for his hair and eyes. so Bao had to improvise with a 6 foot long pole that the crew use to salvage floating crates and barrels. Tomoyo was very proficient with the naginata. And she somehow has brought one with her in her luggage. How she managed to carried a 6 foot long polearm in a small bag was beyond anyone. It's common in the Ni-hon-Kaido archipelago for a woman of noble birth to be taught in Naginatajutsu to protect their family, lands, and assets. To Baos' surprise Tomoyo was as grafull as she is skillfull, he also learned the hard way that she was no push over. Meanwhile Meiling was Teaching Ryouma some basics in wing chun. It turns out that he was a fast learner, and his perception was top notch. The best part was that the two of them were getting closser by the minute. Everyone was having fun practicing till the crows nest shouted that there was a ship at the bow and was heading for them. Ryouma went to the bow of his ship and focused a little more till he realized what type of ship it was and who's it from.
"Nuts! It's Han-cho Galley, Probably Cyclone Liu. That bastard is well known among us merchants." Ryouma observed.
"Cyclone Liu" Boa wondered "His name wouldn't be Long Liu Chen by any chance?"
"The same one… He's been preying on unarmed merchant ships for years in these waters. And has never been caught by the navys." Ryouma informed.
"Well Ryouma that's because the man is a coward. He would never go against any form of military and would rather bully the weak." Boa informed.
"Why am I not surprised?" Ryouma asked. Sakura walked up beside Ryouma as she looked on at the incoming ship.
"Has been giving you trouble Ryouma kun?" Sakura asked
"Plenty Kinomoto san… in fact he's the reason why I haven't been selling much lately. He's been harassing my ship on more than one occasion. To make matters worse he sent my father to bottom of the sea 3 years ago!" Ryouma looked on with an angry look in his face. He wanted to make Liu Chen pay or atleast have some form of justice. Meiling knew the entire story as she placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Why didn't you hire at least a ronin or some mercanaries to handle him?" Tomoyo asked.
"They're expensive your majesty. Also my village is mainly peaceful as a matter of fact, so samurai or ronin are scarce. We couldn't even afford the luxury of at least hiring a shinobi clan for that matter. Besides my village doesn't like violence so practicing any form of combat is forbidden by the elders." Ryouma said.
"That's sounds noble, yet stupid at the same time." Meiling said.
"I agree. One of these days if we're ever going to get raided we would all be dead within a matter of minutes!" Ryouma said with frustration.
"Well look on the bright side you've got 5 people who had atleast some experience in combat. You could get payback right here right now." Syaoran pointed out
"Seniors Xiao has got a point, plus we could humiliate them by taking their silver, weapons and armor! Besides we need the exercise." Bao added
"You know what! I'm with guys on this" Ryouma said, and then he turned to his crew and shouted. "Alright boys prepare for boarders, we're gonna have some payback."
Back on the Galley Liu Chen looked on and regonized the ship as Ryoumas trading vessel. Ryouma was one of his favorite victims, and he always came back for more.
"My my Ryouma you want some more? This time I will make sure you learned your lesson this time time." Liu Chen said with a cocky attitude.
"It's best not to take any risks Liu." Lei Yun warned.
"Risks? A fully armed galley against a puny merchant ship?" Liu Chen asked.
"He may have hire ronin or something this time. You know how these Ni-hon-kaidos are." Lei Yun explained.
"HAAAA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! Just wait till you hear him squeak in terror" Liu Chen laughed.
"ALRIGH BOYS PREPARE THE KAGINAWA! WE'RE GONNA BOARD THEM, IT PAYBACK TIME!" Ryoumas' voice was heard. Liu Chen and the entire crew were confused as hell, never before in his career has he ever been boarded himself.
"Did he say board us, what's going on?" Liu Chen asked while confused. However his fears are revealed as he sees the tall and lean figures of 3 well known enemies of the Long clan along with 2 armed dangerous yet beautiful looking young women, one of those he realized was a mage while the other was probably of nobility judging from the naginata.
"Heaven help us… It's Flying Monkey Bao and Li Xiao lang!" Liu Chen cower as he started gnawing on the wooden railing. The gang looked at the surprised armed apponents and decided to have a little fun. Sakura use her finger to pull her eye lids and stick out her tongue. While Tomoyo waved and smiled while spinning her naginata while Meiling and Syaoran took a stance and singled the enemy to come over, however Bao did something really "mature" he turn his back and bend down while looking at their foe through legs and he shook his butt. The crew however was not disturbed by the childish display their new found enemies are giving. But they were more afraid of the reputation some of the gang have. They screamed in fright, dropped their weapons and started running away though there is little to go. Bao started to chase after them as they ran in circles. Keroberos saw some rope on the side of the ship. He flew to the rope, grabbed the end of it and flew to the mast. He tied the rope to the mast creating a makeshift trip wire. As the crew made ran to the trip wire they all tripped over in dog pile. Bao however jumper over the rope thanking Keroberos for the help and started his beat down. Making it more humiliating he took one soldier and continually slapping him in the face. Syaoran decided to join in and took 3 of the goons out in a single flying kick. Sakura summoned the sword card into its physical form and fought 2 of the crew at the same time. One tried a fatal thrust at Sakura however she dodge it and took a huge swing knocking both out. Meiling had no trouble dealing with one of her opponents as she kicked him straight up at the chin. She didn't bother to find as she did a sideways flip and kick another straight into the wall of the captains quarters.. Ryouma decided to join in on the fun; he took as stance and dared his first opponent to take him on. The privateer thought that he would be easy pickings but as he raised his weapon in an over committed swing, Ryouma never gave him the chance to commit as he scored 5 rapid punches on him, 2 in the chest and 3 in the face. From a distance the fight or beat down as one might expect, several passing ships and sailor could have sworn that they were using black powder weapons or something exposions and whistling could be heard. The beat down ended quickly with only two remaining poor souls left. Liu Chen was cowering as Ryouma slowly walked up to him. As he was cornered he tried every excuse in the book just to get out.
"L-l-l-lo-look Ryouma ths is nothing personal it's strickly business. Just take my money if you want, take it all if you want!" Liu Chen rambled in fright.
"You're lucky that I'm gonna let you live and take your loot. Next time I won't be as merciful." With that he gave Liu a head but to the face and knocked him out cold. Ryouma stripped Liu Chen of his butterfly swords and turned to Lei Yun.
"You want some cripple?" Ryouma asked. Lei Yun smiled and did something no one in the gang expected. He surrendered.
"You can take me as your prisoner. You can torture me all you want just please get me off this bloody ship." This surprised everyone. Ryouma took a good look at Lei Yun and asked him something.
"Why would you surrender, aren't you one of the crew?" Ryouma asked.
"An unwilling one, He drafted me without consent." Lei Yun answered.
"So you wanted to get out?" Ryouma asked.
"Yes" Lei Yun answered.
"Alright boy let take him prisoner, I'll interogate him myself." Ryouma called out. As Ryoumas' crew took Lei Yun in. Ryouma though it best to double check for stragglers.
"Anymore marines about?" Ryouma called.
"Only little old me!" A straggler called pooping out from a barrel he's hiding in. realizing his mistake he tried to hide himself again. However the gang knew where he was, so Ryouma gave Sakura the Ok to take care of him. Sakura pulled out her wind card and prepared here spell.
"WINDY" Sakura shouted. And the barrel with the poor marine went flying. Ryouma took his time to check for more stragglers.
"Any more marines not around? No! not one teeny marine?" Ryouma called mockingly "All gone? Good cause I can't see any more."
Once they had Lei Yun tied to the mast they along with the others searched the ship and everything of possible monetary value. Ryouma decided to take Liu Chens' butterfly blades for himself; After all they are of good quality. They even took the weapons and armor and put it all in the cargo hold. Now it was filled up and they could make a nice profit out of them. The biggest haul they got was a chest full of silver yuabaos. Apparently Liu Chen took his money with him where ever he went. As the gang and the crew returned to the ship they released the galley from the junk and sailed off. As the Junk was a good distance away from the galley the gang is wondering what to do with the captive.
"Say Ryouma san, do you have any Idea on what to do with our captive?" Tomoyo wondered while indicating to the captured Lei Yun who is now tied to the mast.
"I'm gonna ask him a couple of question and see what he has to say." Ryouma answered. He walked up to Lei Yun and sized him up. Through his years of watching his father negotiate and what little experience he had, he could tell when someone was being honest.
"I don't mean to be blunt captain but tying a prisoner to a mast like this? I thought you were going to put me in the brig. A bit old school don't you agree?" Lei Yun commented.
"Sadly we don't have that luxury; all because of your boss's meddling we have little money in our pockets." Ryouma said.
"For that I'm terribly sorry." Lei Yun answered. He knew what he had done was wrong all the way but he's willing to repent for his actions.
"Now try not to Lie cause I can tell when someone is being honest or not." Ryouma warned
"Telling me not to lie while I'm tide up like this? I like you! Don't worry I've got nothing to lose." Lei Yun assured
"So why did you surrender my friend, you said you wanted out and you were forced. Care to explain?" Ryouma questioned.
"I'll give more than an explanation; I'll give everything I know and possibly some muscle you could hire for things like this in the future." Lei Yun said. Ryouma smile at their captive, if he played his cards right he not only would have some extra business deals but also he wouldn't have to worry about Liu Chen anymore. Speaking of Liu Chen, 8 hours later as the sun was setting the crew of the battered galley was waking up. Liu Chen has gotten a massive concussion and was coming by slowly. As he drank some water his head cleared from the pain he's having. He's sitting in his cabin with one of his trusted officers treating their wounds. He lost all his silver, any cargo he had hoarded and hasn't sold yet is now taken away. Including his silver yuanbaos he had been saving over the months. As his headache from the concussion loosens up he can think clearly now.
"They've gone so we won't see them again for a while. Once the crew has gotten over their bruises we'll get the ship repaired first and see what we'll do later." Liu Chen told his officer. The Officer looked at his superior with look of worry.
"What do we do about Ryouma?" He asked.
"Next time we see him at sea, we will kill him and his crew. And we won't talk about this again." Liu Chen seethed with anger.
"Sir I highly disagree with you. There is something that I must tell you." The Officer said.
"If it's about killing Ryouma then tell me, if not just don't waste my time." Liu Chen dismissed.
"Actually it's more important than that. We must talk about it even though it has something to do with what happened today." The Officer informed.
"What's more important than that?" Liu Chen asked.
"There was a mage among Ryoumas' friends you see." The officer said.
"And?" Liu Chen wondered.
"That mage uses card magic. And there is only one set of cards that can do magic like that!" The officer explained.
"You're telling me that the mage in the group is using the Clow cards? That's an old wives tale. How could it even be true to begin with?" Liu Chen denied.
"Sir they are real and she used two cards. I wouldn't be surprised if she has more in her arsenal." The officer said.
"Are you sure that these cards are the real deal? Aren't just exaggerating on the power of these cards?" Liu Chen asked.
"No sir I'm not exaggerating. And I'm serious about this matter" Liu Chen looked in his officers eyes and he could tell the he was telling the truth.
"All right we will return to Hong kong." Liu Chen said disheartened. He was told about the Clow cards ever since he was a little boy. But he thought of the Clow cards as nothing more than a story you tell to children, an old wives tale. However if what his officer said was true then the Long clan are in a world of hurt. Liu Chen still has his doubts but decided to go to Hong kong immediately.
'It's just a ruse, a silly legend told by silly old men.' Liu Chen thought. How wrong he was, little did he know that his ignorance could've cost him his life.
POV: Syaoran
I must admit, beating down a bully is just as fun as it felt good. Sakura felt a little bad for them since it was one sided but she didn't mind since they were and I quote "bullying Meiling chans friend." However I get the feeling that Meiling and Ryouma are getting closer to each other by the minute. I have a feeling that he could be a good guy for her. Where he lacks in status he makes up for it with his rough good looks, honest personality, work ethic, and of course a potential future. I was worried that Liu Chen could warn the Long clan that we are coming in. However Bao assured me that it would take him at least 1 to 3 days to make it to Hong kong after we made land fall. We arrived at the port village just of the outskirts of Hong kong in the early sun rise. As we got off of the ship we all said Our good Byes to Ryouma.
"Ryouma thank you your help" I thanked.
"Ah it's nothing, we're all friends Syaoran." He answered.
"No." Sakura walked up "if Meiling chan haven't contacted you, we would have waited for another ship for days. Arigato Ryouma kun."
"Ha Ha Ha! I can see why you like her Li san. Take good care of her." Ryouma laughed.
"Hoe?" Sakura said confused
"I will." I answered wrapping an arm around Sakura. I don't know why but her cute expressions always make my heart race. We started to walk away then I noticed Meiling walking up to Ryouma and I overheard their conversation.
"Ryouma Thanks for helping us out." Meiling said.
"Like I said don't mention it." Ryouma answered. Meiling held her hands together diverting her gaze from Ryouma as if she was trying to tell him something.
"Um Ryouma… Listen… about what I told you earlier after we left port." Meiling tried to tell.
"No need to. I already know." Ryouma interrupted.
"HEH!" Meiling shouted in surprise.
"I'm good at reading people remember?" Ryouma smiled.
"Cheater." Meiling said deflated as blue line came over her face.
"But Like I said before Meiling I'm not gonna force you." Ryouma said. I noticed Meiling looking up at him. I couldn't see her face so I don't know her expression. Then Ryouma said the most crucial thing to her.
"Remember get feelings straight first, and then we can talk of our relationship." Ryouma assured.
"I will. Will I see you again?" Meiling asked.
"I'll be in Hong kong before you know it." Ryouma answered.
"I'll see you them… Let's have tea when we meet again." Meiling Said while regrouping with us.
"See ya!" Ryouma called. As she walked up I couldn't help but smirk.
"What?" Meiling asked.
"Nothing." I answered "I was just thinking that Ryouma is a nice guy and all, he may have potential."
"What do you mean?" Meiling shouted as I walked to the group. Meiling kept on shouting and asking what I meant. As we regrouped with Bao and the girls, we went off on our merry way. Being back in Han-cho feels quite nostalgic, I'm glad to be back in my ancestral home but this is not for pleasure. The demon situation in Hong kong is getting worse, and the Long clan are becoming more active recently. If what my mother wrote in the letter was true then we may have more than a clan war on our hands. Armed conflicts between clans must be approved by the emperor if there are no other options for a diplomatic solution. However right now I must worry about getting to Hong kong safely. We walked through the woods as we were walking to the nearest village close to Hong kong. It's quite a bit of a walk as we continued on our way. It took us the entire day of hiking and we were on the brink of exhaustion when arrived at the village. However we were very carefull since it was crawling with Long clan hired muscle. Sakura managed to cover us using her mist card to make a fog like cover for us. As we walked through town we are at a nearby inn, Bao motioned us to come with him.
"Come on, to the inn." He whispered. As we came up to the inn we took up positions to keep an eye on upcoming patrols. Boa gave us a smile of reassurance as he was about to knock the door.
"Don't worry, this handsome fellow is a good friend of mine." Boa whispered to us and gave the door 4 good knock
"Knock knock." Boa said, I couldn't believe he was using a knock knock joke as a greeting. We all looked at him with questionable look but immediately after he said that a voice was heard from behind the door.
"Who's there?" the voice asked.
"It's us." Boa loudly whispered.
"It's us who?" the voice asked again.
"If you open it I'll say it." Bao said. Then the door opened slightly to show a skinny man in his early thirties. He has short black hair and mustache but from he's dressed he's probably the inn keeper.
"Oh Boa my boy, what fair wind brings you here?" the inn keeper said loudly with glee.
"Ssshh… the village is swarming with Long clan patrols. I've got four friends with me. Two of them are Li clan and the others are Ni-hon-kaido elites. Can you give us a place to stay for the night?" Bao informed.
"Oh my bad, quick come in." The inn keeper whispered. Sakura canceled her card magic as she walked in. As we all walked in the inn keeper decided to greet himself.
"A pleasure to me you all. My name is Bolin but everyone calls me mr Yunan. Because I'm from the southern Yunan region. And this is my wife Ting Shu. I Came here to start a business and have people try Yunan delicacies." He talked allot as we walked to the bar area. He would have continued till Bao interupted him.
"Yeah yeah yeah yeah, that's great buddy. It's nice to see you again but we're in a bit of a doozy here. Can you give us some rooms and some of your scrumptious meals? And we need some disguises so we wouldn't be recognized by the long clan." Bao explained. I saw the inn keeper make serious face realizing the situation. I hope this man is as smart as he talks.
"Don't worry kiddos, I was about to prepare dinner anyway. You're in for a royal treat, Yunan ham and cheese are on today's menu, and stir-fried yunan pork as well. You're gonna love it." Ting Shu Said behind the counter.
"Don't worry about the rooms though. Lucky for you I have no customers today so I'll give you my best and comfortable rooms for tonight. Also I've 6 sets of northern nomad clothing for both men and women. You could pick up in those as right now, they're in the basement down below. And lucky for you they are the right size!" Mr Yunan chimed in as he was picking up our luggage. For a skinny looking guy he's quite strong.
"They were given to me by trading nomads as a barter trade along with hide from goats and hunted animal, and skins of mare's milk… I traded the hides at a local trading guild but the mare milk interests me so I experimented with it and mad cheese of it and sold it for lunch and dinner as a special. I've also kept some for myself. It's got a distinct aroma and flavor. I even wondered if it went well with Yunan ham. An odd flavor profile if you ask me." As Mr Yunan walked up to our rooms we couldn't help but stare at him in interest as we sweat droped. Bao was the only one who's smilling like he's used to it.
"Wow" Meiling said.
"He's quite friendly" Sakura chimed.
"And he sure talks allot." Tomoyo said.
"Bit of a blabber mouth if you ask me." I added.
"Remind me why you married him Mrs Ting Shu?" Bao asked.
"It's not his mouth though; I married him for his honesty. Plus we we're childhood friends so we knew allot about each other." Ting Shu explained. "Follow me to the basement; I'll let you choose from there."
As we followed Ting Shu to the basement we were greeted with a colorful set of high-end nomad clothing. And a good number of them have cloacks on them as well. I could see Tomoyo's eyes sparkle with inspiration and anticipation. All of us but Bao knew what she could be thinking. This is going to be interesting indeed.
Authors note: sorry for the second cliff hanger. Can you guess where I got the inspiration I took from? I'll let you know later on. Until then see you next chapter