Chapter three: Two sides of the same force
Sakura looked up at Li as he looked at her, and both stared at each other for a moment, hand in hand, then broke away. Li started to speak, still red with embarrassment.
"I.uh.I don't understand! The wind has stopped.no.it's still going! I can see the fields moving and the stream making those waves! Man this is weird."
Sakura looked around. It was true. But there seemed to be an invisible bubble surrounding the cherry blossom tree, at least four meters in diameter. She couldn't feel the wind at all, and, as she noticed before, the flowers weren't moving as they should have, due to the raging wind.
"I don't like this. The tree! It's giving off some sort of energy!" Sakura whirled around to face the trunk, thick and sturdy. Even as she spoke, the center of all the branches, leaves and flowers began to glow.
Li stepped in front of Sakura, placing a protective arm before her. The light increased in brightness, finally growing so intense that both Li and Sakura had to turn away and shut their eyes. Then the light altogether disappeared. Slowly, they turned around. A woman, with silver hair fringed in blue stood in front of them. Her hair seemed to be liquid, yet not entirely. It flowed and swayed about. like the wind was playing with it. Sakura could never quite catch it in a solid form. She was tall, with raiment that fell to the grass, made of the same flowing substance as her hair, but a different color. It was a rich sky blue, gilded in bright silver. In fact, it looked quite elaborate. and elegant. The sleeves covered her arms and part of her hands. But it was her eyes that struck Li the most. They had a questioning look, behind a wise and penetrating gaze. Yet there was more to it. She was troubled, but calm. Like suppressed sorrow.
"Who.who are you?" ventured Sakura. For a moment, silence blanketed the whole atmosphere. Then.
"I am one.of the omnipresent forces you feel, but not see."
The woman's voice was enlightening, and Li immediately felt relieved of the tension that had been gripping him even before the wind's sudden attack. Sakura felt the same, and somehow her suspicions left completely, but her wariness of the tree still remained.
"Could.could you please tell us what exactly is going on?" Li stammered.
The woman, or force, looked at him intentyl, as if trying to measure how much she should say, or if he was worth it.
"My sister is on a rampage. She'll start blowing on the plants so hard, they will be uprooted. The flowers only newly planted, will again be destroyed, save for the ones surrounding my tree."
Sakura looked around. That's why the flowers look different! She snapped back up as the woman continued.
"Fortunately, she's not in her worst mood. That's all she'll do. If she were exceedingly upset, she will make the trees bend until they break, and wreak havoc among the humans. She's done that before."
At this, Sakura exclaimed, "But why?! What is she? Surely she's not as powerful as to be able to do such things! Why doesn't somebody stop her?"
Suddenly, just outside the protective bubble, a voice rang out, laughing. Yet not with joy.
"Foolish child, no one can stop me!"
Li stepped closer to Sakura. The view around them started blurring ,spinning faster and faster as the inane wind laughed with its prickly tone.
"Sister! Why do you insist on helping the useless? You will never be able to roam free, if you stay like that!"
The woman dressed in silver and blue looked straight past Li and Sakura.
"Soeur, tu ne comprend pas. You do not understand. Why do you dwell in the meaningless?! Stop your childish tantrums now!"
Instantly the vision cleared, allowing Sakura to see some clumps of grass covered with dirt, lying around, and patches near the stream, flat and soaked. The flowers looked wilted beyond hope, the petals scattered away from their source.
"Sister. This is what I love to do, why deprive me of it?" the voice said. The woman's eyes seemed to hold nothing now, but sadness.
"Try loving.without pain."
The bubble evaporated without warning, and everything was calm again. The other voice had gone, so imperceptibly. The woman began glowing once again, a wavering image in front of the baffled friends. But before she disappeared altogether, she said,
"Sakura. You have the key to unlock the power. The power that will bringm y sister back to whom she has always been. Li, you have the power to show Sakura what she needs to know. And to protect her."
Then she vanished, leaving the tree looking as it had before the wind blew recklessly. Sakura looked at Li, and spoke in a subdued tone. "What does she mean?!"
Li looked down and shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know."
When Sakura got back to the hotel, she hurriedly ran to her room to tell Kero about all that happened. Searching frantically for her keys in her jeans' pockets, she groaned impatiently. Then she remembered she had hooked the key chain onto one of her belt straps. Unlocking the door, she pushed it and entered quickly, locking it automatically. She turned towards the couch and stopped abruptly.
Ms. Mackenzie was sitting there, a teacup on her lap, its ear held between her fingers. Kero was on the coffee table, munching happily on a strawberry cheesecake. Ms. Mackenzie's face held that intriguing smile, which had always made Sakura feel uncomfortable, but no more than Li.
"You look as if you've been through some rough wind", she said.
Sakura fidgeted. Why did Ms. Mackenzie always seem to pop up when strange things occurred? And how did she always seem to know?
Kero stopped munching at that, and looked up. "Tomoyo came by already. She told us all that happened."
Sakura felt relieved and made her way to the couch. She greeted the teacher as she reached for a piece of cheesecake and a fork. "Good. You know Kero, you should try using a fork instead of gobbling everything up like that!"
The stuffed animal raised his head. "Why mess with the good thing?!"
Ms. Mackenzie had been silent and now she finally spoke. "Sakura, our class is going downtown tomorrow. Even away from Japan, unexpected things happen." She looked at the seventeen-year old meaningfully. "Keep your eyes open, but don't look from the outside."
She stood up and drank the last of her tea. "Thank you Cerberus. Tomoyo's cake is still as good as ever." She bowed before leaving. Just as she was about to close the door, she turned to Sakura.
"They key only opens what it is meant for."
A stunned Sakura spluttered with a sheepish grin, "uh..ya!" As the door closed, she turned to Kero.
"Now what was that all about?!" ****
Walking down the sidewalk alongside Sakura, Tomoyo whispered,
"It's a good thing you brought the cards with you! I don't know how else we could've gotten back safely!"
Sakura smiled. "I guess it became a habit. You know, the clow cards and all! Whoops, I forgot, they're Sakura cards now!"
The other students were in some kind of impulsive line, being that no one had told them to do so, walking with their friends but not occupying the whole sidewalk. That was pretty hard to do, considering the other half of the sidewalk was being trod on by crowds of people holding shopping bags, chattering away with each other or on their cell phones. The students way behind them were still climbing down the bus steps. Sakura was getting pretty used to standing up in the back of the bus, especially since the ones they took were destined for popular areas.
They finally stopped in front of a large building with much space in front of it. The big glass doors allowed the students to see aisles upon aisles of summer clothes, the latest and most fashionable. Naoko, Rika, Chiharu and most of the girls were already looking inside longingly, exclaiming how much they'd like to go in. The boys seemed to have other plans. At this, Ms. Mackenzie quieted them and cried out loud,
"All right, here's what we'll do. Those who would like to go to "Simon's", stay with me. The others who want to walk a little more and explore the smaller boutiques will go with Monsieur Dufreine, who has kindly accompanied us today. Is that clear?"
Eagerly they all cried, "Hai!"
Takashi turned to Li and asked, "So where do you wanna go? Avec Monsieur Dufreine or Ms. Mackenzie?"
Chiharu popped her head in between them before entering "Simon's" and said,
"Oh stop showing off with your French!" Flicking Takashi's head, she laughed and joined Rika and Naoko.
Li eyed the French man who seemed to be some kind of tour guide, but not really. Monsieur D. had been friendly the first day they came to the hotel and he was nice enough. Plus, he didn't pry into private business, like some adults do. When Sakura and Li came back yesterday from the wind's onslaught, he had been sitting in the lobby, reading a newspaper. He'd looked at them with a puzzled face but said nothing more than a "bonjour".
"I think I'd like to go check out the other shops for now. Let's go!" Takashi agreed and they followed the man.
Tomoyo saw the two detach from the group going into "Simon's" and nudged Sakura.
"We'll go here some other time. Why don't we go see what the other shops are like?"
Sakura glanced at Monsieur D. and the students following them, acutely aware that Li was one of them. She nodded and hurried to catch up with that group, Tomoyo by her side. ****
Tomoyo looked for size 5 jeans among the racks in the back area of the store. They were in a branch of the famous company, Guess. Meanwhile, Sakura studied the crystal bracelets up front with a delighted face. They were so pretty, each and every crystal that made up the bracelets. One she particularly liked was made up of beads with a milky hue. It was interesting how the light made it look white one moment, blue-greenish the next, and translucent altogether. She slipped it on her wrist and admired the way it looked on her. She checked the tag price and caught her breath.
"$29.95! For a single bracelet? Man I can't spend that much on a bracelet! Most of my money's still in yen!"
Reluctantly she slipped it off her wrist and was about to put it back when hand grabbed hers. Before she knew it, the bracelet was pulled from her hand.
"Hey! That's."
She stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Li holding the bracelet in his hand, a shy and embarrassed look on his face. Before she could say anything, he turned away and disappeared behind the clothes racks.
What in the world? Sakura thought. She soon forgot about Li when all of a sudden, the store darkened. She looked outside through the glass windows and saw the sky deepening with black clouds appearing over the streets and buildings. People were beginning to run for cover, some shielding their heads with shopping bags, newspapers, or their arms. Thunder rumbled overhead and lightning streaked the sky occasionally. Shoppers in the Guess store were gasping, mostly the teenagers, clutching each other in anxiety.
"Mais qu'est-ce qui se passe?" "I thought the weather forecast was 'sunny, few clouds'?! "C'est bizarre!" "Da heck?!" People exclaimed, everybody speaking at the same time. By now, Tomoyo had made her way to Sakura, and was clutching her friend's arm.
"I don't like storms Sakura, especially when I'm not in my own house!" Sakura comforted Tomoyo. "Don't worry, it'll pass soon.I hope."
Even as she said these words, the rain came pouring down from the thickly clouded sky. The raindrops pelted so hard that they could hear it hit the ground, already full of puddles. She screamed in surprise, in unison with the others, when a lightning bolt suddenly struck a parking meter which exploded with an ear-splitting sound.
Sakura was now thoroughly freaked out, her nerves rushing through her body, her stomach tightening. This isn't a normal storm. The lightning struck so hard! And how come nobody ever sensed the storm coming? Or else there wouldn't have been so many people out today. She couldn't sense clow cards on the loose anymore since she'd captured them all. Nevertheless, the storm gave her a very uneasy feeling. Come to think of it, the same wary feeling she had felt about the cherry blossom tree seized her now.
"Tomoyo, I have to get out and deal with whatever's causing this. Now." Her gaze bit into Tomoyo and her friend let a protest drop. She nodded, concern in her sweet eyes. Tomoyo had always been there for her, ever since she was a kid. She understood without too much explanation, listened when necessary, and helped when able to. Very cooperative. Running out of the store, she heard cries telling her to stay.
"Wait! It's too dangerous!" "Attends! C'est dangeureux!"
Well, it wasn't like she was eager to face an abnormally violent storm. Outside, she felt the harsh raindrops pelting her skin, hitting with such force that she had to bow her head to protect her face. Even that wasn't enough, due to the rough wind blowing against her and carrying the raindrops in a slant direction. She fought her way through the deserted street, the cars having been abandoned in fear of the lightning.
She was vaguely aware of the boutiques crammed with anxious people. Where was she going? How do you fight something you can't see? Her steps came to a halt. That's what the woman in blue and silver said. She's one of the omnipresent forces we feel, but not see! Think Sakura, think! A storm. Lightning, thunder, rain. And wind.
She groaned. Don't tell me she's doing all this! But.oh no! The woman said that if the wind was exceedingly upset, she would wreak havoc among the humans! Is this what she meant? Sakura grasped her head between her hands. It's so loud! The storm, kids crying, people squealing when thunder struck. How am I supposed to think?! I need quiet! She snapped up. That's it! The silent card! Maybe it'll transport the storm away!"
"Silent card! Quiet the storm! Release and dispel!"
Sakura expected the darkness to lift off the streets any minute, for surely the clouds would have been driven away. But nothing happened. Oh yes, something did happen. She noticed the number of people in the shops had decreased. And it was a lot quieter. No roaring thunder, no screaming. But it was still raining hard. Just like when she captured the cloud card. How ill she had felt then. But Meilin had been there to help her. And Li. Well maybe he was there because of her rivalry. But she believed he just said that for show. How she wished resolving this present problem were as easy as capturing that card! She snapped to reality as a flash of light streaked across the sky. The storm was as violent as ever, only now there was no noise. What an odd effect the Silent card had made. The forces I'm dealing with are as strong as I feared. What am I supposed to do?!
"AAAAH!" Sakura screamed as an astoundingly strong wind blew her off her feet and caused her to fly backwards. She winced in pain as she hit the bumper of a car. The impact left her gasping for air. Her eyes closed in a silent struggle to regain her strength. Just then, she heard laughter. The unnerving laughter she'd heard before. Without looking, she knew who had hit her so hard.
~ End of CHAPTER THREE
Sakura looked up at Li as he looked at her, and both stared at each other for a moment, hand in hand, then broke away. Li started to speak, still red with embarrassment.
"I.uh.I don't understand! The wind has stopped.no.it's still going! I can see the fields moving and the stream making those waves! Man this is weird."
Sakura looked around. It was true. But there seemed to be an invisible bubble surrounding the cherry blossom tree, at least four meters in diameter. She couldn't feel the wind at all, and, as she noticed before, the flowers weren't moving as they should have, due to the raging wind.
"I don't like this. The tree! It's giving off some sort of energy!" Sakura whirled around to face the trunk, thick and sturdy. Even as she spoke, the center of all the branches, leaves and flowers began to glow.
Li stepped in front of Sakura, placing a protective arm before her. The light increased in brightness, finally growing so intense that both Li and Sakura had to turn away and shut their eyes. Then the light altogether disappeared. Slowly, they turned around. A woman, with silver hair fringed in blue stood in front of them. Her hair seemed to be liquid, yet not entirely. It flowed and swayed about. like the wind was playing with it. Sakura could never quite catch it in a solid form. She was tall, with raiment that fell to the grass, made of the same flowing substance as her hair, but a different color. It was a rich sky blue, gilded in bright silver. In fact, it looked quite elaborate. and elegant. The sleeves covered her arms and part of her hands. But it was her eyes that struck Li the most. They had a questioning look, behind a wise and penetrating gaze. Yet there was more to it. She was troubled, but calm. Like suppressed sorrow.
"Who.who are you?" ventured Sakura. For a moment, silence blanketed the whole atmosphere. Then.
"I am one.of the omnipresent forces you feel, but not see."
The woman's voice was enlightening, and Li immediately felt relieved of the tension that had been gripping him even before the wind's sudden attack. Sakura felt the same, and somehow her suspicions left completely, but her wariness of the tree still remained.
"Could.could you please tell us what exactly is going on?" Li stammered.
The woman, or force, looked at him intentyl, as if trying to measure how much she should say, or if he was worth it.
"My sister is on a rampage. She'll start blowing on the plants so hard, they will be uprooted. The flowers only newly planted, will again be destroyed, save for the ones surrounding my tree."
Sakura looked around. That's why the flowers look different! She snapped back up as the woman continued.
"Fortunately, she's not in her worst mood. That's all she'll do. If she were exceedingly upset, she will make the trees bend until they break, and wreak havoc among the humans. She's done that before."
At this, Sakura exclaimed, "But why?! What is she? Surely she's not as powerful as to be able to do such things! Why doesn't somebody stop her?"
Suddenly, just outside the protective bubble, a voice rang out, laughing. Yet not with joy.
"Foolish child, no one can stop me!"
Li stepped closer to Sakura. The view around them started blurring ,spinning faster and faster as the inane wind laughed with its prickly tone.
"Sister! Why do you insist on helping the useless? You will never be able to roam free, if you stay like that!"
The woman dressed in silver and blue looked straight past Li and Sakura.
"Soeur, tu ne comprend pas. You do not understand. Why do you dwell in the meaningless?! Stop your childish tantrums now!"
Instantly the vision cleared, allowing Sakura to see some clumps of grass covered with dirt, lying around, and patches near the stream, flat and soaked. The flowers looked wilted beyond hope, the petals scattered away from their source.
"Sister. This is what I love to do, why deprive me of it?" the voice said. The woman's eyes seemed to hold nothing now, but sadness.
"Try loving.without pain."
The bubble evaporated without warning, and everything was calm again. The other voice had gone, so imperceptibly. The woman began glowing once again, a wavering image in front of the baffled friends. But before she disappeared altogether, she said,
"Sakura. You have the key to unlock the power. The power that will bringm y sister back to whom she has always been. Li, you have the power to show Sakura what she needs to know. And to protect her."
Then she vanished, leaving the tree looking as it had before the wind blew recklessly. Sakura looked at Li, and spoke in a subdued tone. "What does she mean?!"
Li looked down and shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know."
When Sakura got back to the hotel, she hurriedly ran to her room to tell Kero about all that happened. Searching frantically for her keys in her jeans' pockets, she groaned impatiently. Then she remembered she had hooked the key chain onto one of her belt straps. Unlocking the door, she pushed it and entered quickly, locking it automatically. She turned towards the couch and stopped abruptly.
Ms. Mackenzie was sitting there, a teacup on her lap, its ear held between her fingers. Kero was on the coffee table, munching happily on a strawberry cheesecake. Ms. Mackenzie's face held that intriguing smile, which had always made Sakura feel uncomfortable, but no more than Li.
"You look as if you've been through some rough wind", she said.
Sakura fidgeted. Why did Ms. Mackenzie always seem to pop up when strange things occurred? And how did she always seem to know?
Kero stopped munching at that, and looked up. "Tomoyo came by already. She told us all that happened."
Sakura felt relieved and made her way to the couch. She greeted the teacher as she reached for a piece of cheesecake and a fork. "Good. You know Kero, you should try using a fork instead of gobbling everything up like that!"
The stuffed animal raised his head. "Why mess with the good thing?!"
Ms. Mackenzie had been silent and now she finally spoke. "Sakura, our class is going downtown tomorrow. Even away from Japan, unexpected things happen." She looked at the seventeen-year old meaningfully. "Keep your eyes open, but don't look from the outside."
She stood up and drank the last of her tea. "Thank you Cerberus. Tomoyo's cake is still as good as ever." She bowed before leaving. Just as she was about to close the door, she turned to Sakura.
"They key only opens what it is meant for."
A stunned Sakura spluttered with a sheepish grin, "uh..ya!" As the door closed, she turned to Kero.
"Now what was that all about?!" ****
Walking down the sidewalk alongside Sakura, Tomoyo whispered,
"It's a good thing you brought the cards with you! I don't know how else we could've gotten back safely!"
Sakura smiled. "I guess it became a habit. You know, the clow cards and all! Whoops, I forgot, they're Sakura cards now!"
The other students were in some kind of impulsive line, being that no one had told them to do so, walking with their friends but not occupying the whole sidewalk. That was pretty hard to do, considering the other half of the sidewalk was being trod on by crowds of people holding shopping bags, chattering away with each other or on their cell phones. The students way behind them were still climbing down the bus steps. Sakura was getting pretty used to standing up in the back of the bus, especially since the ones they took were destined for popular areas.
They finally stopped in front of a large building with much space in front of it. The big glass doors allowed the students to see aisles upon aisles of summer clothes, the latest and most fashionable. Naoko, Rika, Chiharu and most of the girls were already looking inside longingly, exclaiming how much they'd like to go in. The boys seemed to have other plans. At this, Ms. Mackenzie quieted them and cried out loud,
"All right, here's what we'll do. Those who would like to go to "Simon's", stay with me. The others who want to walk a little more and explore the smaller boutiques will go with Monsieur Dufreine, who has kindly accompanied us today. Is that clear?"
Eagerly they all cried, "Hai!"
Takashi turned to Li and asked, "So where do you wanna go? Avec Monsieur Dufreine or Ms. Mackenzie?"
Chiharu popped her head in between them before entering "Simon's" and said,
"Oh stop showing off with your French!" Flicking Takashi's head, she laughed and joined Rika and Naoko.
Li eyed the French man who seemed to be some kind of tour guide, but not really. Monsieur D. had been friendly the first day they came to the hotel and he was nice enough. Plus, he didn't pry into private business, like some adults do. When Sakura and Li came back yesterday from the wind's onslaught, he had been sitting in the lobby, reading a newspaper. He'd looked at them with a puzzled face but said nothing more than a "bonjour".
"I think I'd like to go check out the other shops for now. Let's go!" Takashi agreed and they followed the man.
Tomoyo saw the two detach from the group going into "Simon's" and nudged Sakura.
"We'll go here some other time. Why don't we go see what the other shops are like?"
Sakura glanced at Monsieur D. and the students following them, acutely aware that Li was one of them. She nodded and hurried to catch up with that group, Tomoyo by her side. ****
Tomoyo looked for size 5 jeans among the racks in the back area of the store. They were in a branch of the famous company, Guess. Meanwhile, Sakura studied the crystal bracelets up front with a delighted face. They were so pretty, each and every crystal that made up the bracelets. One she particularly liked was made up of beads with a milky hue. It was interesting how the light made it look white one moment, blue-greenish the next, and translucent altogether. She slipped it on her wrist and admired the way it looked on her. She checked the tag price and caught her breath.
"$29.95! For a single bracelet? Man I can't spend that much on a bracelet! Most of my money's still in yen!"
Reluctantly she slipped it off her wrist and was about to put it back when hand grabbed hers. Before she knew it, the bracelet was pulled from her hand.
"Hey! That's."
She stopped in mid-sentence when she saw Li holding the bracelet in his hand, a shy and embarrassed look on his face. Before she could say anything, he turned away and disappeared behind the clothes racks.
What in the world? Sakura thought. She soon forgot about Li when all of a sudden, the store darkened. She looked outside through the glass windows and saw the sky deepening with black clouds appearing over the streets and buildings. People were beginning to run for cover, some shielding their heads with shopping bags, newspapers, or their arms. Thunder rumbled overhead and lightning streaked the sky occasionally. Shoppers in the Guess store were gasping, mostly the teenagers, clutching each other in anxiety.
"Mais qu'est-ce qui se passe?" "I thought the weather forecast was 'sunny, few clouds'?! "C'est bizarre!" "Da heck?!" People exclaimed, everybody speaking at the same time. By now, Tomoyo had made her way to Sakura, and was clutching her friend's arm.
"I don't like storms Sakura, especially when I'm not in my own house!" Sakura comforted Tomoyo. "Don't worry, it'll pass soon.I hope."
Even as she said these words, the rain came pouring down from the thickly clouded sky. The raindrops pelted so hard that they could hear it hit the ground, already full of puddles. She screamed in surprise, in unison with the others, when a lightning bolt suddenly struck a parking meter which exploded with an ear-splitting sound.
Sakura was now thoroughly freaked out, her nerves rushing through her body, her stomach tightening. This isn't a normal storm. The lightning struck so hard! And how come nobody ever sensed the storm coming? Or else there wouldn't have been so many people out today. She couldn't sense clow cards on the loose anymore since she'd captured them all. Nevertheless, the storm gave her a very uneasy feeling. Come to think of it, the same wary feeling she had felt about the cherry blossom tree seized her now.
"Tomoyo, I have to get out and deal with whatever's causing this. Now." Her gaze bit into Tomoyo and her friend let a protest drop. She nodded, concern in her sweet eyes. Tomoyo had always been there for her, ever since she was a kid. She understood without too much explanation, listened when necessary, and helped when able to. Very cooperative. Running out of the store, she heard cries telling her to stay.
"Wait! It's too dangerous!" "Attends! C'est dangeureux!"
Well, it wasn't like she was eager to face an abnormally violent storm. Outside, she felt the harsh raindrops pelting her skin, hitting with such force that she had to bow her head to protect her face. Even that wasn't enough, due to the rough wind blowing against her and carrying the raindrops in a slant direction. She fought her way through the deserted street, the cars having been abandoned in fear of the lightning.
She was vaguely aware of the boutiques crammed with anxious people. Where was she going? How do you fight something you can't see? Her steps came to a halt. That's what the woman in blue and silver said. She's one of the omnipresent forces we feel, but not see! Think Sakura, think! A storm. Lightning, thunder, rain. And wind.
She groaned. Don't tell me she's doing all this! But.oh no! The woman said that if the wind was exceedingly upset, she would wreak havoc among the humans! Is this what she meant? Sakura grasped her head between her hands. It's so loud! The storm, kids crying, people squealing when thunder struck. How am I supposed to think?! I need quiet! She snapped up. That's it! The silent card! Maybe it'll transport the storm away!"
"Silent card! Quiet the storm! Release and dispel!"
Sakura expected the darkness to lift off the streets any minute, for surely the clouds would have been driven away. But nothing happened. Oh yes, something did happen. She noticed the number of people in the shops had decreased. And it was a lot quieter. No roaring thunder, no screaming. But it was still raining hard. Just like when she captured the cloud card. How ill she had felt then. But Meilin had been there to help her. And Li. Well maybe he was there because of her rivalry. But she believed he just said that for show. How she wished resolving this present problem were as easy as capturing that card! She snapped to reality as a flash of light streaked across the sky. The storm was as violent as ever, only now there was no noise. What an odd effect the Silent card had made. The forces I'm dealing with are as strong as I feared. What am I supposed to do?!
"AAAAH!" Sakura screamed as an astoundingly strong wind blew her off her feet and caused her to fly backwards. She winced in pain as she hit the bumper of a car. The impact left her gasping for air. Her eyes closed in a silent struggle to regain her strength. Just then, she heard laughter. The unnerving laughter she'd heard before. Without looking, she knew who had hit her so hard.
~ End of CHAPTER THREE