Onto chapter 22, one of my personal favorites…
Note: I don't own CCS. There. I said it. Are you happy?! ::runs off crying::
Chapter 22
Sakura and Syaoran squinted their eyes as they flew towards the brim of the volcano. Black smoke made it a little hard to see. "Like this, we should probably be able to reach the shrine quickly, Syaoran. What the--?!" Sakura finished saying as her staff began to spiral out of control. She was holding the end, trying to steer it, but to no avail. She lost balance and tumbled over the side but managed to grab the end. "SAKURA! HOLD ON!" Syaoran screamed over the roaring wind. To their dismay, they saw the wings on the staff vanish and the plummeted. They landed and rolled on the rocky brim of the volcano. Syaoran stood up first and looked for Sakura. "Sakura, where are you?" He asked. He spotted a hand over the edge and he grabbed it and pulled Sakura up. "What the hell happened back there, Sakura?" "I'm not sure… I just lost control, then the wings vanished. I think maybe it's too hot for the cards. I think maybe the Fly Card couldn't take it." "Yeah, probably. Let's take a look." Sakura picked up her staff and they walked to the edge of the volcano and looked in. They gulped and stared in shock of what they saw they had to do. There was a long, but small spiraling walkway that led down the volcano to the bottom, where there was a giant flat rock surrounded by pillars. Around the rock was a ton of boiling molten rock. In fact, magma was flowing everywhere, even out some walls. Smoke made it hard to see and breathe. Sakura coughed when a cloud of smoke quickly rose. "This is going to be tougher than I thought…" Then a burst of seismic waves shook the volcano. "Sakura, if we don't hurry up, the volcano might erupt, and we'll be killed. Let's just hurry and get this over with." And they slowly climbed down the side of the volcano onto the spiraling path.
They walked for about ten minutes down the perilous path. Some parts the path became so small, they had to press against the wall and slowly slide along the wall. Sometimes, there was a gap to jump. It was like this the whole way. At one point, a small crack appeared in the wall next to Sakura, making a small noise that distracted her. "Hoe?" She stared at it. Syaoran saw it, and grabbed Sakura's arm to drag her back. A second later, the wall burst, which sent a wave of magma to where Sakura was standing. She just stood there with a blank look on her face while she saw the molten rock flowing and melting where she was standing. She looked at Syaoran. "Thanks. You saved me again." Syaoran wiped the sweat off his forehead. "It's okay… but man, it's hot down here." Sakura wiped her forehead too. "I know… I thought these outfits were supposed to keep us cool." Syaoran took out his thermometer. "Well, considering it's over 1,000°F in here, and it only feels like 120 something, I guess they work. Otherwise, we'd be dead by now." Sakura gulped. "I guess so… but still, at that temperature, we won't last more than a few hours in here either way, so let's just hurry." They finally reached the shrine, sweating like crazy. "Man, if I had known I'd be sweating so much, I'd have brought a change of clothes." She looked up from her sweat covered red top and suddenly she felt cold. Cold in fear. All around her were these dark statues of gargoyles, demons, monsters and the like surrounded by pillars. The entire shrine was made of this dark brown rock that made it hard to see. Syaoran was looking over the side. It was floating in a pool of magma. "…Let's just get this over with." Syaoran said, still staring at the boiling molten rock. They spotted the statue. It was some sort of half human, half… beast with horns. It was floating and roaring in the air, holding out the usual bowl that had the light radiating from it. Sakura pulled out a stone from her backpack and handed it to Syaoran. Just before he could place it in, another rumble happened and the stone flew from his hands onto the ground. When he reached to grab it, a huge slab of rock rose from the ground where the magic stone lay. "What the hell is it?" Syaoran asked. "I don't know… Is it alive? I hear something moving." The rock suddenly had a few cracks appear, and it shattered into a million pieces. They covered their eyes to shield from any flying rocks. When they lowered their arms, they dropped their jaws in horror.
Before them stood a huge man with a scarred face. He was huge and muscular. His eyes were a blank white. Some sort of black leather covered his mouth. All he was wearing were high black leather boots, black gloves, and black pants. What really frightened them was what he was carrying. He held a huge black battle-axe, on the end of a stick probably 5 feet long. I could easily cleave them in two. He also was about 8 feet tall. He lifted his axe high overhead, gripped it with two hands, and smashed it into the ground with a thunderous sound. Sakura and Syaoran fell to the ground. They looked to the side to notice that they were rising in the air. The entire shrine rose in the air, and the ends suddenly extended, creating a flat arena. The gladiator stepped forward, and in a deep voice, he said, "Welcome, Galactic Heroes. I am the one who shall be avenging my comrades. Rosaria, David, Seifer, and the countless others you've killed. I have no name, because I don't need one. Everyone who meets me dies. I am perfectly immune to all forms of magic. And I am strong enough to rip you in two with my bare hands, so you are not strong enough to stop me. Why don't you just surrender so I can kill you quickly and painlessly?" Syaoran growled, "Bite me!" The unknown warrior laughed for a second. "I was hoping you'd say that. This will be a lot more fun… at least for me!"
Syaoran made the first move. He lunged at the warrior, dodging the axe, and jumped in the air. He swung, connecting his sword with the warrior's neck. But it didn't do any good. He didn't even make the slightest cut on his skin. "What?! But… but how did he survive unscathed?! That should have killed him!" The villain chuckled. "Heh… that tickles. My turn!" He picked up his axe and slammed the end of the stick in Syaoran stomach. He lifted it overhead and brought the blunt end of the stick crashing down onto Syaoran's back. Syaoran screamed in pain. The warrior grabbed him and picked him up in the air. He tossed Syaoran at the ground at Sakura's feet. She stood in shock. The warrior asked, "So, are you gonna try and fail like your boy friend here?" Sakura couldn't let him get away with that. "I know, I'll combine two cards!"
She drew her staff and tossed two cards in the air. "WATERY CARD! THUNDER CARD! COMBINE INTO ONE ATTACK!" The two spirits flew towards the brute warrior. The electricity of the Thunder Card flowed through the Watery Card, which took the form of a spiral. It contacted right in the chest of the evil demon. It drilled in as hard as the spirits could, but within a second, the demon leader just shook them off. "Nice try, but you fail, too." The demon charged forward, and Sakura braced for the impact. The demon's foot collided with Sakura's head, sending her flying into the rocky sides of the volcano. She coughed and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I think I made my point clear. Now you'll know why no one gave me a name. No one who meets me ever lives." He slowly stepped forward to Sakura. She raised her staff to summon another card, but he kicked her in the chest, causing her to gasp for air. "Ugh… can't… breathe…" She hunched over in pain. The demon raised his axe over his head, and prepared to drop the blade right through Sakura, when…
SLASH! A blade of steel connected with the axe as it came crashing down towards Sakura's head, stopping it. "You're not going to kill her… SAKURA! GET OUT OF THE WAY! I CAN'T HOLD IT MUCH LONGER!" Syaoran was pushing his sword against the axe. Moments later, the demon overpowered him and the axe came crashing down, just as Sakura moved to one side. "You bastard…" The demon spoke. "You made me miss. I guess I'll just play with you for a while, kill you, then I'll finish with the girl!" He kicked Syaoran to the ground and grabbed his neck. He lifted Syaoran high into the air by his throat. Syaoran's face turned red as he kicked in the air and held his throat, trying in vain to try and breathe. Finally, before he could pass out, Sakura watched in terror as the demon threw him with all his might into the wall. There, he charged and crushed him into the wall. Syaoran tried to scream, but hadn't breathed enough yet and simply sat there with a horrified expression on his red face. It only went worse from there. The demon showed no mercy. He picked Syaoran up and began to beat him. First he would punch him from the left, then the right, and the left again. He repeated this over and over. Sakura sat in shock when she saw the tears rolling down Syaoran's face. The blood was pouring from his wounds. The sweat from the heat and sheer terror poured into the bloody wounds. His face was covered in bruises. With each punch, she saw the blood, sweat, and tears fly off his face. Sakura struggled to her feet. She steeped closer slowly to the scene. The demon finally knocked him down with one solid punch. He hit Syaoran so hard he flew once again into the wall. The blood flew into the air and some landed on Sakura's face. She rubbed her hand on the blood and looked at it. Syaoran's blood, the blood spilt trying to protect her was now on her, almost symbolically, like it was her fault he was in that situation. Something inside Sakura snapped.
She couldn't stand it. She watched as Syaoran was brutally beaten. She felt helpless, but she had to do something. "YOU BASTARD! YOU SORRY, INSIGNIFICANT BASTARD!" She screamed as if possessed by a demon. The demon stopped the attack for a moment. "Wait your turn. I'll kill you later. Now shut up while I kill him, you sorry bitch." The demon said, with irritation in his voice. Sakura made a fist. Her whole arm was shaking. She could never forgive this demon. "You better stop right now, you bastard, or God help me, I'll kill you." She said with a look of utter disgust and hatred on her face. "I said SHUT UP!" The demon ordered. "NO! YOU LISTEN! I'm not going to let you live for this… no one can treat Syaoran like that. No one! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" The demon lowered his eyebrows in anger. "That's it, I'm killing you first." He turned Syaoran towards Sakura and gave him one last brutal punch, sending him crashing to Sakura's feet. Sakura bent down and turned him over. Syaoran looked half-dead. Blood covered his face. Tears still flowed in pain. Syaoran coughed on his own blood. Syaoran had his eyes closed, but he opened them momentarily, but closed them quickly. "Sakura…" He whispered. "Get out of here… save yourself… I'm finished… he's invincible… I've failed you… I'm… I'm sorry, Sakura…" Then he closed his eyes and rested for a moment.
She didn't know what to say. She was utterly speechless. She just cried. She cried hard. That's when she remembered her dreams. Crying over a shadowy figure. Blaming it all on herself. Was this what her dreams meant? Were they a warning? No… this was very similar, but this wasn't what the dream was telling her… She…
"DAMMIT! Fight me you cowardly bitch!" Sakura looked up in disgust. She rested Syaoran beside the wall. He opened his eyes. "Sakura, I told you to leave. There's no hope…" "Never… I'm not going to abandon you. Either we both leave here alive, or neither of us do." She said stroked her fingers through his hair. They were both silent. They stared in their eyes for a moment. Sakura finally stood up and faced the unknown beast. "Well, how do you want me to kill you, fast or slow?" He mockingly said. Sakura once again looked at him in utter disgust. He was the first person she hated everything about. He was pure evil, no heart or conscience, no ethics. "You have drained all the hope from Syaoran. He has always seen hope, but no more. You've taken his hope, and for that, I can never forgive you…" She tossed a card in the air. "POWER CARD! COMBINE ALL OF YOUR POWER INTO ME!"
Sakura channeled all of her hatred, her anger, and her might into the spell. Every once of strength she had went into this card. The wind from the spell was enormous. Her hair fluttered in the wind. The Power Card began to glow a golden aura. It was brilliant. The light from the card then slowly built up and in a flash, transferred into Sakura. Sakura absorbed all the power. The golden aura now surrounded her. Her emerald colored pupils disappeared, replaced with golden light. Syaoran just gasped. He had never seen her like this before. The demon stood in shock. "Well… this is different. I'm rather impressed, but I must kill you anyways." He lifted his battle-axe overhead and charged towards her. He swiftly swung his axe at her, and Sakura simply raised her hand. The axe connected right with her, heading towards her head.
…But she was fine. The axe stopped right in her hand. It had no effect. "What the hell?!" The demon shouted. Sakura squeezed hard at the sharp end of the axe, and the hard metal weapon crumpled like sand in her hands. Before the demon could figure out what happened, she grabbed his staff the axe was on, and swung it, connecting with the demons skull. The staff cracked in two over the villain's head. He let a grunt of pain and turned around. He rested against a wall. He turned to see Sakura preparing to punch, and he ducked. Sakura's fist collided with the wall, knocking down a huge chunk of the inner volcano with it. The villain's eyes widened. "He couldn't believe her power. But before he knew what was happening, Sakura landed a punch right on his face. The demon was sent flying across the arena. He landed flat on his back. Sakura walked over to him and kicked him in his side continually. She finally picked him up. The demon staggered in place. Sakura picked up Syaoran's sword which as lying on the ground. She placed it up vertically to her face and focused all of the remaining power into the sword. It began to glow with the same aura. She charged forward, and in the blink of an eye, she was on the other side of the demon, already, sword in position like she just swung it. Suddenly, a blinding white light irradiated from the demon. Only his silhouette could be seen. The top of his shadow slowly began to slide off from the bottom. Sakura had cleaved him in two. A few seconds later, there was an explosion. When the light died down, the villain was gone. Sakura had been good to her word and killed the demon. The aura surrounding her died down. She dropped Syaoran's sword and slowly staggered over to him and knelt down. "Are you okay, Syaoran?" She asked. "Yeah, I'm fine… but…" He closed his eyes and dropped his head unconscious. Sakura stood up, and rubbed her head. "Ugh… my energy… I've used too much again…" She slowly sat down and leaned her head against Syaoran's and lost consciousness.
Syaoran was the first to waken. He turned to his side and saw Sakura leaning on his shoulder. "Sakura, wake up." He felt the blood on the side of his head. "Ugh… my aching head… Sakura, wake up. This is no time to rest. Remember, if we stay here too long, we won't make it. It's still like 120° F in here to us. He rocked her back and forth. "…" No response. He listened closely. She was barely breathing. "No… Dammit… I've got to get her out of here." He stood up and noticed two gems on the ground. One was the magic absorbing stone, the other was new. It was a black dark stone. The Nameless Warrior must have dropped it. He put it in his backpack and kept the magic absorbing stone in his hand he walked over to the statue of the beast and placed the stone in it. He turned and grabbed the backpacks and was ready to leave. He headed to Sakura, when a strange sound appeared behind him. He turned to see the statue of the beast was melting into a puddle of magma. This was the least of his concerns. The sides of the arena that had appeared to connect the ground to the side of the volcano disappeared, and the entire shrine fell through the air for a second, and landed in the magma. Syaoran felt the entire shrine sinking. The shrine started to turn on its side. Syaoran quickly sheathed his sword, but noticed Sakura was rolling towards the pool of magma. He ran towards her and grabbed her hand. He climbed towards the top of the shrine as it sank into the molten rock. He wrapped Sakura in his arms, and leaped for the path they entered in. He charged for the surface. But the volcano began to erupt. The magma quickly followed him up, right behind him. He charged as fast as he could. He wouldn't let this happen. He wouldn't let both him and Sakura be killed. Eventually, he reached a flat plane they had entered on, but it was too steep for him to climb. He turned in horror to see the lava pouring in. He wouldn't abandon Sakura. He just covered his eyes and waited for it to be all over. A few moments later, he opened his eyes. The lava stood in place mere feet from him. What had happened? The lava started to turn gray. It became clear to him. The volcano was hardening. The lava became solid rock. Not only that, but it became the perfect ladder. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rope. He tied Sakura to his back, piggyback style. Like that, he climbed to the surface of the volcano.
He stood on the outer rim and looked around. He saw the warrior village to the south. He pulled a charm out and put it against his sword. "WIND!" A gust of wind appeared below them and placed them at the base of the volcano, just near the hot spring. Syaoran took a drink of the water. It was cooler. He got an idea. He untied Sakura, and carried her into the water, not even bothering to take their clothes off, though it's doubtful he would do that to Sakura. He let her rest against the shore, with water up to her neck. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rag. He wetted it and rubbed it on his wounds. He looked over at Sakura. Her face still had some blood on it. He put one hand on her face, admiring her, and washed the blood away with the other…
Blood… blood stained the ground… it all became clearer. Beside her, lay the remains of a large dragon, it's dark red eyes closing… she walked closer to the figure lying next to the fallen beast. She picked up the figure's head. It was covered in blood… the blood of this victim was what covered the ground…
Sakura opened her eyes. She felt she was in a bed, but where? She looked around at the wooden building. "Where am I?…" She asked. She heard a gasp. "Sakura?!" In a second, she saw Syaoran's face over hers. His face had some bloody bandages, and he was covered in bruises, but was otherwise fine. "Sakura… thank God you are alright…" He lifted her head and hugged her as hard as he could. "I was afraid we were going to lose you…" Syaoran said. Sakura was silent for a moment. She could here Syaoran beginning to cry. "Syaoran, what happened?" Sakura asked. "That spell, it drained far too much of your energy. You almost used every once of strength in your body. If you had, you wouldn't be here right now… Thank God… I want you to promise me that you'll never do that again. I saw you, that hatred… it isn't you… That's not the side of you that I lov--, I mean that's not you." Sakura blushed. "…I promise." Sakura wrapped her arms around Syaoran and hugged back as hard as she could. He put his lips on her forehead and kissed her. They sat in silence.
To be continued…
So, was it wrong for Sakura to fight through her anger? I liked the idea, but maybe it was a little out of character. But I like the kiss at the end… even if it was just on the forehead.
Note: I don't own CCS. There. I said it. Are you happy?! ::runs off crying::
Chapter 22
Sakura and Syaoran squinted their eyes as they flew towards the brim of the volcano. Black smoke made it a little hard to see. "Like this, we should probably be able to reach the shrine quickly, Syaoran. What the--?!" Sakura finished saying as her staff began to spiral out of control. She was holding the end, trying to steer it, but to no avail. She lost balance and tumbled over the side but managed to grab the end. "SAKURA! HOLD ON!" Syaoran screamed over the roaring wind. To their dismay, they saw the wings on the staff vanish and the plummeted. They landed and rolled on the rocky brim of the volcano. Syaoran stood up first and looked for Sakura. "Sakura, where are you?" He asked. He spotted a hand over the edge and he grabbed it and pulled Sakura up. "What the hell happened back there, Sakura?" "I'm not sure… I just lost control, then the wings vanished. I think maybe it's too hot for the cards. I think maybe the Fly Card couldn't take it." "Yeah, probably. Let's take a look." Sakura picked up her staff and they walked to the edge of the volcano and looked in. They gulped and stared in shock of what they saw they had to do. There was a long, but small spiraling walkway that led down the volcano to the bottom, where there was a giant flat rock surrounded by pillars. Around the rock was a ton of boiling molten rock. In fact, magma was flowing everywhere, even out some walls. Smoke made it hard to see and breathe. Sakura coughed when a cloud of smoke quickly rose. "This is going to be tougher than I thought…" Then a burst of seismic waves shook the volcano. "Sakura, if we don't hurry up, the volcano might erupt, and we'll be killed. Let's just hurry and get this over with." And they slowly climbed down the side of the volcano onto the spiraling path.
They walked for about ten minutes down the perilous path. Some parts the path became so small, they had to press against the wall and slowly slide along the wall. Sometimes, there was a gap to jump. It was like this the whole way. At one point, a small crack appeared in the wall next to Sakura, making a small noise that distracted her. "Hoe?" She stared at it. Syaoran saw it, and grabbed Sakura's arm to drag her back. A second later, the wall burst, which sent a wave of magma to where Sakura was standing. She just stood there with a blank look on her face while she saw the molten rock flowing and melting where she was standing. She looked at Syaoran. "Thanks. You saved me again." Syaoran wiped the sweat off his forehead. "It's okay… but man, it's hot down here." Sakura wiped her forehead too. "I know… I thought these outfits were supposed to keep us cool." Syaoran took out his thermometer. "Well, considering it's over 1,000°F in here, and it only feels like 120 something, I guess they work. Otherwise, we'd be dead by now." Sakura gulped. "I guess so… but still, at that temperature, we won't last more than a few hours in here either way, so let's just hurry." They finally reached the shrine, sweating like crazy. "Man, if I had known I'd be sweating so much, I'd have brought a change of clothes." She looked up from her sweat covered red top and suddenly she felt cold. Cold in fear. All around her were these dark statues of gargoyles, demons, monsters and the like surrounded by pillars. The entire shrine was made of this dark brown rock that made it hard to see. Syaoran was looking over the side. It was floating in a pool of magma. "…Let's just get this over with." Syaoran said, still staring at the boiling molten rock. They spotted the statue. It was some sort of half human, half… beast with horns. It was floating and roaring in the air, holding out the usual bowl that had the light radiating from it. Sakura pulled out a stone from her backpack and handed it to Syaoran. Just before he could place it in, another rumble happened and the stone flew from his hands onto the ground. When he reached to grab it, a huge slab of rock rose from the ground where the magic stone lay. "What the hell is it?" Syaoran asked. "I don't know… Is it alive? I hear something moving." The rock suddenly had a few cracks appear, and it shattered into a million pieces. They covered their eyes to shield from any flying rocks. When they lowered their arms, they dropped their jaws in horror.
Before them stood a huge man with a scarred face. He was huge and muscular. His eyes were a blank white. Some sort of black leather covered his mouth. All he was wearing were high black leather boots, black gloves, and black pants. What really frightened them was what he was carrying. He held a huge black battle-axe, on the end of a stick probably 5 feet long. I could easily cleave them in two. He also was about 8 feet tall. He lifted his axe high overhead, gripped it with two hands, and smashed it into the ground with a thunderous sound. Sakura and Syaoran fell to the ground. They looked to the side to notice that they were rising in the air. The entire shrine rose in the air, and the ends suddenly extended, creating a flat arena. The gladiator stepped forward, and in a deep voice, he said, "Welcome, Galactic Heroes. I am the one who shall be avenging my comrades. Rosaria, David, Seifer, and the countless others you've killed. I have no name, because I don't need one. Everyone who meets me dies. I am perfectly immune to all forms of magic. And I am strong enough to rip you in two with my bare hands, so you are not strong enough to stop me. Why don't you just surrender so I can kill you quickly and painlessly?" Syaoran growled, "Bite me!" The unknown warrior laughed for a second. "I was hoping you'd say that. This will be a lot more fun… at least for me!"
Syaoran made the first move. He lunged at the warrior, dodging the axe, and jumped in the air. He swung, connecting his sword with the warrior's neck. But it didn't do any good. He didn't even make the slightest cut on his skin. "What?! But… but how did he survive unscathed?! That should have killed him!" The villain chuckled. "Heh… that tickles. My turn!" He picked up his axe and slammed the end of the stick in Syaoran stomach. He lifted it overhead and brought the blunt end of the stick crashing down onto Syaoran's back. Syaoran screamed in pain. The warrior grabbed him and picked him up in the air. He tossed Syaoran at the ground at Sakura's feet. She stood in shock. The warrior asked, "So, are you gonna try and fail like your boy friend here?" Sakura couldn't let him get away with that. "I know, I'll combine two cards!"
She drew her staff and tossed two cards in the air. "WATERY CARD! THUNDER CARD! COMBINE INTO ONE ATTACK!" The two spirits flew towards the brute warrior. The electricity of the Thunder Card flowed through the Watery Card, which took the form of a spiral. It contacted right in the chest of the evil demon. It drilled in as hard as the spirits could, but within a second, the demon leader just shook them off. "Nice try, but you fail, too." The demon charged forward, and Sakura braced for the impact. The demon's foot collided with Sakura's head, sending her flying into the rocky sides of the volcano. She coughed and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I think I made my point clear. Now you'll know why no one gave me a name. No one who meets me ever lives." He slowly stepped forward to Sakura. She raised her staff to summon another card, but he kicked her in the chest, causing her to gasp for air. "Ugh… can't… breathe…" She hunched over in pain. The demon raised his axe over his head, and prepared to drop the blade right through Sakura, when…
SLASH! A blade of steel connected with the axe as it came crashing down towards Sakura's head, stopping it. "You're not going to kill her… SAKURA! GET OUT OF THE WAY! I CAN'T HOLD IT MUCH LONGER!" Syaoran was pushing his sword against the axe. Moments later, the demon overpowered him and the axe came crashing down, just as Sakura moved to one side. "You bastard…" The demon spoke. "You made me miss. I guess I'll just play with you for a while, kill you, then I'll finish with the girl!" He kicked Syaoran to the ground and grabbed his neck. He lifted Syaoran high into the air by his throat. Syaoran's face turned red as he kicked in the air and held his throat, trying in vain to try and breathe. Finally, before he could pass out, Sakura watched in terror as the demon threw him with all his might into the wall. There, he charged and crushed him into the wall. Syaoran tried to scream, but hadn't breathed enough yet and simply sat there with a horrified expression on his red face. It only went worse from there. The demon showed no mercy. He picked Syaoran up and began to beat him. First he would punch him from the left, then the right, and the left again. He repeated this over and over. Sakura sat in shock when she saw the tears rolling down Syaoran's face. The blood was pouring from his wounds. The sweat from the heat and sheer terror poured into the bloody wounds. His face was covered in bruises. With each punch, she saw the blood, sweat, and tears fly off his face. Sakura struggled to her feet. She steeped closer slowly to the scene. The demon finally knocked him down with one solid punch. He hit Syaoran so hard he flew once again into the wall. The blood flew into the air and some landed on Sakura's face. She rubbed her hand on the blood and looked at it. Syaoran's blood, the blood spilt trying to protect her was now on her, almost symbolically, like it was her fault he was in that situation. Something inside Sakura snapped.
She couldn't stand it. She watched as Syaoran was brutally beaten. She felt helpless, but she had to do something. "YOU BASTARD! YOU SORRY, INSIGNIFICANT BASTARD!" She screamed as if possessed by a demon. The demon stopped the attack for a moment. "Wait your turn. I'll kill you later. Now shut up while I kill him, you sorry bitch." The demon said, with irritation in his voice. Sakura made a fist. Her whole arm was shaking. She could never forgive this demon. "You better stop right now, you bastard, or God help me, I'll kill you." She said with a look of utter disgust and hatred on her face. "I said SHUT UP!" The demon ordered. "NO! YOU LISTEN! I'm not going to let you live for this… no one can treat Syaoran like that. No one! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" The demon lowered his eyebrows in anger. "That's it, I'm killing you first." He turned Syaoran towards Sakura and gave him one last brutal punch, sending him crashing to Sakura's feet. Sakura bent down and turned him over. Syaoran looked half-dead. Blood covered his face. Tears still flowed in pain. Syaoran coughed on his own blood. Syaoran had his eyes closed, but he opened them momentarily, but closed them quickly. "Sakura…" He whispered. "Get out of here… save yourself… I'm finished… he's invincible… I've failed you… I'm… I'm sorry, Sakura…" Then he closed his eyes and rested for a moment.
She didn't know what to say. She was utterly speechless. She just cried. She cried hard. That's when she remembered her dreams. Crying over a shadowy figure. Blaming it all on herself. Was this what her dreams meant? Were they a warning? No… this was very similar, but this wasn't what the dream was telling her… She…
"DAMMIT! Fight me you cowardly bitch!" Sakura looked up in disgust. She rested Syaoran beside the wall. He opened his eyes. "Sakura, I told you to leave. There's no hope…" "Never… I'm not going to abandon you. Either we both leave here alive, or neither of us do." She said stroked her fingers through his hair. They were both silent. They stared in their eyes for a moment. Sakura finally stood up and faced the unknown beast. "Well, how do you want me to kill you, fast or slow?" He mockingly said. Sakura once again looked at him in utter disgust. He was the first person she hated everything about. He was pure evil, no heart or conscience, no ethics. "You have drained all the hope from Syaoran. He has always seen hope, but no more. You've taken his hope, and for that, I can never forgive you…" She tossed a card in the air. "POWER CARD! COMBINE ALL OF YOUR POWER INTO ME!"
Sakura channeled all of her hatred, her anger, and her might into the spell. Every once of strength she had went into this card. The wind from the spell was enormous. Her hair fluttered in the wind. The Power Card began to glow a golden aura. It was brilliant. The light from the card then slowly built up and in a flash, transferred into Sakura. Sakura absorbed all the power. The golden aura now surrounded her. Her emerald colored pupils disappeared, replaced with golden light. Syaoran just gasped. He had never seen her like this before. The demon stood in shock. "Well… this is different. I'm rather impressed, but I must kill you anyways." He lifted his battle-axe overhead and charged towards her. He swiftly swung his axe at her, and Sakura simply raised her hand. The axe connected right with her, heading towards her head.
…But she was fine. The axe stopped right in her hand. It had no effect. "What the hell?!" The demon shouted. Sakura squeezed hard at the sharp end of the axe, and the hard metal weapon crumpled like sand in her hands. Before the demon could figure out what happened, she grabbed his staff the axe was on, and swung it, connecting with the demons skull. The staff cracked in two over the villain's head. He let a grunt of pain and turned around. He rested against a wall. He turned to see Sakura preparing to punch, and he ducked. Sakura's fist collided with the wall, knocking down a huge chunk of the inner volcano with it. The villain's eyes widened. "He couldn't believe her power. But before he knew what was happening, Sakura landed a punch right on his face. The demon was sent flying across the arena. He landed flat on his back. Sakura walked over to him and kicked him in his side continually. She finally picked him up. The demon staggered in place. Sakura picked up Syaoran's sword which as lying on the ground. She placed it up vertically to her face and focused all of the remaining power into the sword. It began to glow with the same aura. She charged forward, and in the blink of an eye, she was on the other side of the demon, already, sword in position like she just swung it. Suddenly, a blinding white light irradiated from the demon. Only his silhouette could be seen. The top of his shadow slowly began to slide off from the bottom. Sakura had cleaved him in two. A few seconds later, there was an explosion. When the light died down, the villain was gone. Sakura had been good to her word and killed the demon. The aura surrounding her died down. She dropped Syaoran's sword and slowly staggered over to him and knelt down. "Are you okay, Syaoran?" She asked. "Yeah, I'm fine… but…" He closed his eyes and dropped his head unconscious. Sakura stood up, and rubbed her head. "Ugh… my energy… I've used too much again…" She slowly sat down and leaned her head against Syaoran's and lost consciousness.
Syaoran was the first to waken. He turned to his side and saw Sakura leaning on his shoulder. "Sakura, wake up." He felt the blood on the side of his head. "Ugh… my aching head… Sakura, wake up. This is no time to rest. Remember, if we stay here too long, we won't make it. It's still like 120° F in here to us. He rocked her back and forth. "…" No response. He listened closely. She was barely breathing. "No… Dammit… I've got to get her out of here." He stood up and noticed two gems on the ground. One was the magic absorbing stone, the other was new. It was a black dark stone. The Nameless Warrior must have dropped it. He put it in his backpack and kept the magic absorbing stone in his hand he walked over to the statue of the beast and placed the stone in it. He turned and grabbed the backpacks and was ready to leave. He headed to Sakura, when a strange sound appeared behind him. He turned to see the statue of the beast was melting into a puddle of magma. This was the least of his concerns. The sides of the arena that had appeared to connect the ground to the side of the volcano disappeared, and the entire shrine fell through the air for a second, and landed in the magma. Syaoran felt the entire shrine sinking. The shrine started to turn on its side. Syaoran quickly sheathed his sword, but noticed Sakura was rolling towards the pool of magma. He ran towards her and grabbed her hand. He climbed towards the top of the shrine as it sank into the molten rock. He wrapped Sakura in his arms, and leaped for the path they entered in. He charged for the surface. But the volcano began to erupt. The magma quickly followed him up, right behind him. He charged as fast as he could. He wouldn't let this happen. He wouldn't let both him and Sakura be killed. Eventually, he reached a flat plane they had entered on, but it was too steep for him to climb. He turned in horror to see the lava pouring in. He wouldn't abandon Sakura. He just covered his eyes and waited for it to be all over. A few moments later, he opened his eyes. The lava stood in place mere feet from him. What had happened? The lava started to turn gray. It became clear to him. The volcano was hardening. The lava became solid rock. Not only that, but it became the perfect ladder. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rope. He tied Sakura to his back, piggyback style. Like that, he climbed to the surface of the volcano.
He stood on the outer rim and looked around. He saw the warrior village to the south. He pulled a charm out and put it against his sword. "WIND!" A gust of wind appeared below them and placed them at the base of the volcano, just near the hot spring. Syaoran took a drink of the water. It was cooler. He got an idea. He untied Sakura, and carried her into the water, not even bothering to take their clothes off, though it's doubtful he would do that to Sakura. He let her rest against the shore, with water up to her neck. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a rag. He wetted it and rubbed it on his wounds. He looked over at Sakura. Her face still had some blood on it. He put one hand on her face, admiring her, and washed the blood away with the other…
Blood… blood stained the ground… it all became clearer. Beside her, lay the remains of a large dragon, it's dark red eyes closing… she walked closer to the figure lying next to the fallen beast. She picked up the figure's head. It was covered in blood… the blood of this victim was what covered the ground…
Sakura opened her eyes. She felt she was in a bed, but where? She looked around at the wooden building. "Where am I?…" She asked. She heard a gasp. "Sakura?!" In a second, she saw Syaoran's face over hers. His face had some bloody bandages, and he was covered in bruises, but was otherwise fine. "Sakura… thank God you are alright…" He lifted her head and hugged her as hard as he could. "I was afraid we were going to lose you…" Syaoran said. Sakura was silent for a moment. She could here Syaoran beginning to cry. "Syaoran, what happened?" Sakura asked. "That spell, it drained far too much of your energy. You almost used every once of strength in your body. If you had, you wouldn't be here right now… Thank God… I want you to promise me that you'll never do that again. I saw you, that hatred… it isn't you… That's not the side of you that I lov--, I mean that's not you." Sakura blushed. "…I promise." Sakura wrapped her arms around Syaoran and hugged back as hard as she could. He put his lips on her forehead and kissed her. They sat in silence.
To be continued…
So, was it wrong for Sakura to fight through her anger? I liked the idea, but maybe it was a little out of character. But I like the kiss at the end… even if it was just on the forehead.