Chapter two: Resonant fields
"This is the life! No homework, no chores, no Tori! Well, maybe the Tori part's ok." cried Sakura,
"Ha you said it! After long weeks of final exams, this is the least the school could do for us. Field trip for 3 weeks in Quebec!" exclaimed Tomoyo.
"Well we DID have to pay for it you know!" Takashi added as he ran past them to a maple tree where Chiharu, Li, Naoko and Rika were sitting underneath. Naoko was waving to the two girls, yelling,
"Come on you guys! Stop dawdling!"
Tomoyo and Sakura ran after Takashi and plopped down between Chiharu and Li. "So, why don't we play something?" asked an eager-eyed Sakura.
"Like what?" Naoko was pulling blades of grass from the ground simultaneously while looking at a picture Ms.Mckenzie had given them.
"Hey what's that?" Li asked. Sakura was feeling giddy and excited, whether it was due to a fresh new day for doing anything she wanted, or to the boy sitting next to her, she didn't want to know. Li noticed that she was looking at him from his peripheral vision and felt as if his nerves suddenly tightened, and his face getting hot.
"Oh, it's just a picture of a spot near the stream. It's really pretty!" Naoko answered.
"Let's see!" Takashi said, clamoring to get a look at the picture, as did everybody else.
"Why don't we go see what it's like? If that's the Voeux stream which our french teacher mentioned once, then it should be very close by!" suggested Tomoyo. "Ms. Mckenzie said we could wander about today, just not too far."
Everyone looked at the picture for a second, turned their heads up and smiled in unison. They set off for the stream they had passed along the way yesterday.
****
The soft green fields sloped a bit upwards as the friends walked on, only to descend slightly again. Far ahead, big dark green trees seemed to form a border. They traveled across two more sloping expanses of grass before they could see a little stream, trickling down a mound. Near it was a cherry blossom tree, standing out as a neon-pink dress would, among dull-colored clothes.
Strange, Sakura thought. I didn't know cherry blossoms were found around here. The picture didn't have one in it either. Maybe the picture was taken a long time ago. But. the bridge. it should at least look old and worn by now if it had been built before the tree was planted. and the flowers surrounding the tree. somehow they look more alive, more colorful, than the ones beyond. Sakura shook her head. Probably just my imagination.
The others didn't seem to find anything strange about it. In fact they were running towards the bridge. Sakura decided to join them.
"The cherry blossoms remind me of home, Sakura." Li said quietly. "But somehow, there seems to be something more to that tree than what we see. It's strange."
Sakura looked up at him in surprise. "So, you feel it too. But I don't know what."
"Hey guys! Come on! It's refreshing!" Takashi called out, as he removed his left shoe and sock then dipped his foot into the stream with his right one. Chiharu, Rika, Naoko and Tomoyo were doing the same, splashing the water about with their feet. Li and Sakura looked at each other. For a moment, neither one remembered the green fields, the little stream, the other students at the hotel, or somewhere else, the cherry blossom tree, nor the bridge they were standing on, so close together. Then it shattered, as a scream penetrated the moment and Li ran to the others, followed by Sakura.
Takashi, Rika, and Tomoyo were frantically reaching out to a gasping Chiharu. Her head bobbing up and down in the middle of the stream which was not very wide. Her hand shot upwards as she strained to keep her head up. Takashi dived in and was stunned at how deep the stream was. Streams were supposed to be fairly shallow. And Chiharu knew how to swim. Finally he was able to grab Chiharu's arm and drag her to the surface, where he was helped by the others to lay her down carefully on the grass.
Naoko still had her hands clamped on her mouth, the way she had frozen right after she had screamed. Chiharu merely waded in a little more, because streams were never deep. Then she just seemed to be suddenly pulled down by an invisible force. She couldn't understand what happened. Neither did she like the tension in the air that had seeped through the atmosphere so subtly, now gripping everyone in full force.
"Chiharu, are you all right?" cried a distressed Tomoyo and a soaking Takashi.
Coughing, Chiharu looked up at them with a troubled face. " I think I'm ok. But, there was something down there. I couldn't free my legs no matter how I kicked! And how could that have happened when just a moment before I got dragged in, the bottom was so clear and shallow?!"
Rika looked at Sakura, who in turn looked at Li. But none of them had an answer. Tomoyo got up and walked towards Naoko, trying to console the frightened girl. Tomoyo didn't know what was going on either, but having experienced unnatural and amazing adventures with the Card Captors, Sakura and Li, when they were kids, she wasn't so dumbfounded as the others.
Suddenly, the wind picked up, blowing against the fields, the trees, the stream and the students. Chiharu sat up, trying to block the wind from hitting her face with a dripping arm, just like Naoko and Rika. Li planted his feet into the ground ,bracing himself. Sakura's quick wits worked double time. There's something wrong here, it isn't natural. She could feel it. Kero couldn't tell her what, because he was still in the hotel, watching t.v.
"Tomoyo! Get the others back to the hotel! Hurry! This isn't going to die down anytime soon! Go before it grows stronger!" she yelled, her voice fighting to get across to her friend. Tomoyo heard and quickly helped Takashi get Chiharu to her feet, then grabbed Naoko's and Rika's hands.
"We have to get back to the hotel! Come on!" she cried. The others merely nodded, the wind becoming stronger every minute. Rika turned around. "Sakura, Li! Let's go!"
Before Sakura could answer, a torrent of wind blew against the friends trying to get away, and to her shock, their feet were being lifted off the ground. She had to do something fast.
"O key of clow, power of magic, power of light! Surrender the one, the force ignite! Shield card! Form a bubble around my friends! Release and dispel!"
The shield emerged from its card as Sakura's rod struck it. It rushed to envelope the helpless Naoko, Rika, Takashi, Chiharu and Tomoyo. Li turned to Sakura.
"That'll protect them for now! They won't realize what happened afterwards, the wind's blurring everything for us to see clearly! Get them to safety!" he bellowed. Although Sakura was right next to him, it was hard to hear each other due to the crashing of the wind, whipping their hair across their faces. Sakura nodded.
"Float card! Carry my friends to the hotel! Release and dispel!"
The spirit of the float card quickly obeyed and soon only Li and Sakura were left standing, fighting against the wind which threatened to blow them away into the unreliable stream.
The grass waved this way and that as the raging wind tossed it. Only their deep roots held tightly by the ground stopped the blades from completely flying away into the air. The fields seemed now to be ringing with a deafening sound. Sakura was startled by a warm hand gripping hers and pulling her. Li was struggling to get to the cherry blossom tree, where they might take cover for a while. She followed, half dragged by him, half pushed by the wild wind. Only when they got close enough to the tree did she notice that not one of its flowers fluttered in the wind. She felt a tugging wariness, telling her to stay away from the tree. A shiver went through her. The tree was becoming increasingly creepy. But Li didn't seem to be bothered and kept on pulling her with him Then the gusts of wind stopped, so sudden that she stared speechless. Li was still holding her hand, as they stood underneath the cherry blossom's branches.
End of chapter two
"This is the life! No homework, no chores, no Tori! Well, maybe the Tori part's ok." cried Sakura,
"Ha you said it! After long weeks of final exams, this is the least the school could do for us. Field trip for 3 weeks in Quebec!" exclaimed Tomoyo.
"Well we DID have to pay for it you know!" Takashi added as he ran past them to a maple tree where Chiharu, Li, Naoko and Rika were sitting underneath. Naoko was waving to the two girls, yelling,
"Come on you guys! Stop dawdling!"
Tomoyo and Sakura ran after Takashi and plopped down between Chiharu and Li. "So, why don't we play something?" asked an eager-eyed Sakura.
"Like what?" Naoko was pulling blades of grass from the ground simultaneously while looking at a picture Ms.Mckenzie had given them.
"Hey what's that?" Li asked. Sakura was feeling giddy and excited, whether it was due to a fresh new day for doing anything she wanted, or to the boy sitting next to her, she didn't want to know. Li noticed that she was looking at him from his peripheral vision and felt as if his nerves suddenly tightened, and his face getting hot.
"Oh, it's just a picture of a spot near the stream. It's really pretty!" Naoko answered.
"Let's see!" Takashi said, clamoring to get a look at the picture, as did everybody else.
"Why don't we go see what it's like? If that's the Voeux stream which our french teacher mentioned once, then it should be very close by!" suggested Tomoyo. "Ms. Mckenzie said we could wander about today, just not too far."
Everyone looked at the picture for a second, turned their heads up and smiled in unison. They set off for the stream they had passed along the way yesterday.
****
The soft green fields sloped a bit upwards as the friends walked on, only to descend slightly again. Far ahead, big dark green trees seemed to form a border. They traveled across two more sloping expanses of grass before they could see a little stream, trickling down a mound. Near it was a cherry blossom tree, standing out as a neon-pink dress would, among dull-colored clothes.
Strange, Sakura thought. I didn't know cherry blossoms were found around here. The picture didn't have one in it either. Maybe the picture was taken a long time ago. But. the bridge. it should at least look old and worn by now if it had been built before the tree was planted. and the flowers surrounding the tree. somehow they look more alive, more colorful, than the ones beyond. Sakura shook her head. Probably just my imagination.
The others didn't seem to find anything strange about it. In fact they were running towards the bridge. Sakura decided to join them.
"The cherry blossoms remind me of home, Sakura." Li said quietly. "But somehow, there seems to be something more to that tree than what we see. It's strange."
Sakura looked up at him in surprise. "So, you feel it too. But I don't know what."
"Hey guys! Come on! It's refreshing!" Takashi called out, as he removed his left shoe and sock then dipped his foot into the stream with his right one. Chiharu, Rika, Naoko and Tomoyo were doing the same, splashing the water about with their feet. Li and Sakura looked at each other. For a moment, neither one remembered the green fields, the little stream, the other students at the hotel, or somewhere else, the cherry blossom tree, nor the bridge they were standing on, so close together. Then it shattered, as a scream penetrated the moment and Li ran to the others, followed by Sakura.
Takashi, Rika, and Tomoyo were frantically reaching out to a gasping Chiharu. Her head bobbing up and down in the middle of the stream which was not very wide. Her hand shot upwards as she strained to keep her head up. Takashi dived in and was stunned at how deep the stream was. Streams were supposed to be fairly shallow. And Chiharu knew how to swim. Finally he was able to grab Chiharu's arm and drag her to the surface, where he was helped by the others to lay her down carefully on the grass.
Naoko still had her hands clamped on her mouth, the way she had frozen right after she had screamed. Chiharu merely waded in a little more, because streams were never deep. Then she just seemed to be suddenly pulled down by an invisible force. She couldn't understand what happened. Neither did she like the tension in the air that had seeped through the atmosphere so subtly, now gripping everyone in full force.
"Chiharu, are you all right?" cried a distressed Tomoyo and a soaking Takashi.
Coughing, Chiharu looked up at them with a troubled face. " I think I'm ok. But, there was something down there. I couldn't free my legs no matter how I kicked! And how could that have happened when just a moment before I got dragged in, the bottom was so clear and shallow?!"
Rika looked at Sakura, who in turn looked at Li. But none of them had an answer. Tomoyo got up and walked towards Naoko, trying to console the frightened girl. Tomoyo didn't know what was going on either, but having experienced unnatural and amazing adventures with the Card Captors, Sakura and Li, when they were kids, she wasn't so dumbfounded as the others.
Suddenly, the wind picked up, blowing against the fields, the trees, the stream and the students. Chiharu sat up, trying to block the wind from hitting her face with a dripping arm, just like Naoko and Rika. Li planted his feet into the ground ,bracing himself. Sakura's quick wits worked double time. There's something wrong here, it isn't natural. She could feel it. Kero couldn't tell her what, because he was still in the hotel, watching t.v.
"Tomoyo! Get the others back to the hotel! Hurry! This isn't going to die down anytime soon! Go before it grows stronger!" she yelled, her voice fighting to get across to her friend. Tomoyo heard and quickly helped Takashi get Chiharu to her feet, then grabbed Naoko's and Rika's hands.
"We have to get back to the hotel! Come on!" she cried. The others merely nodded, the wind becoming stronger every minute. Rika turned around. "Sakura, Li! Let's go!"
Before Sakura could answer, a torrent of wind blew against the friends trying to get away, and to her shock, their feet were being lifted off the ground. She had to do something fast.
"O key of clow, power of magic, power of light! Surrender the one, the force ignite! Shield card! Form a bubble around my friends! Release and dispel!"
The shield emerged from its card as Sakura's rod struck it. It rushed to envelope the helpless Naoko, Rika, Takashi, Chiharu and Tomoyo. Li turned to Sakura.
"That'll protect them for now! They won't realize what happened afterwards, the wind's blurring everything for us to see clearly! Get them to safety!" he bellowed. Although Sakura was right next to him, it was hard to hear each other due to the crashing of the wind, whipping their hair across their faces. Sakura nodded.
"Float card! Carry my friends to the hotel! Release and dispel!"
The spirit of the float card quickly obeyed and soon only Li and Sakura were left standing, fighting against the wind which threatened to blow them away into the unreliable stream.
The grass waved this way and that as the raging wind tossed it. Only their deep roots held tightly by the ground stopped the blades from completely flying away into the air. The fields seemed now to be ringing with a deafening sound. Sakura was startled by a warm hand gripping hers and pulling her. Li was struggling to get to the cherry blossom tree, where they might take cover for a while. She followed, half dragged by him, half pushed by the wild wind. Only when they got close enough to the tree did she notice that not one of its flowers fluttered in the wind. She felt a tugging wariness, telling her to stay away from the tree. A shiver went through her. The tree was becoming increasingly creepy. But Li didn't seem to be bothered and kept on pulling her with him Then the gusts of wind stopped, so sudden that she stared speechless. Li was still holding her hand, as they stood underneath the cherry blossom's branches.
End of chapter two