AN: Okay peeps, listen up! This is the Chapter that Tomoyo will come in! Now, you wont see a WHOLE bunch of her, because she's a minor character, but she does play a special role. And Later, you'll see a different side to Sakura. Literally. Not only to Syaoran, but other sides... oh, and when Lyrics come up, the stuff in the parentheses are the translations. I dunno if there are any in this chapter, but just to let you know. Well, on with the chapter!!!

Kisu no Densetsu

3: Nightly Stroll

The night was dark and in the woods, not only was it dark, but it was also dreary and quiet.

Sakura wondered around aimlessly in the dark. She did not know where she was going, but only followed her instincts. It would only be three days till the moon was full, and she dreaded it.

The light from the moon was unpure, and her mind refused to absorb any of it, yet her body yearned for it. And when it did, it hurt. It hurt like knives ripping through flesh slowly, and as it moved downward, the pain went deeper and deeper...

And it happened once every month, and would continue to hurt till the day her life ended...

But now, she mustn't worry about that. Now she had to worry about the task at hand...

The silence was broken by the sound of her feet hitting the ground and the crunching the dead leaves beneath her feet.

Her breath was as silent as the nightly winds that blew above the forests trees. No wind was present within the forest. And like all deadly things, the forest was dark, silent, unmoving...

She had to keep moving. To find what she was searching out...

------

At first, he was suspicious of the princess, but her nightly stroll made her even more suspicious. What was she thinking, walking into the forest of eternal sleep? A rendezvous? But if so, with who? Who in their right mind would come here during the nightly hours of this dangerous forest?

It had been several minutes since he had entered the mysterious forest and started his spying. He had followed her through the trees. Jumping from branch to branch. He would of made too much noise while running on the crisp, dead leaves of old. But it was also hard not to make any noise by the thick layers of new and alive leaves that clung to the branches that brushed against his moving form.

He listened, watched, and followed her. Every now and then, she would stop and look around before continuing.

Sometimes, he had thought that he had lost her when she would stop. It was hard to spot her in the darkness, since there was hardly anything to see by. The only thing that had let off light or a very faint glow in the forest were the tree roots. And in some spots, there weren't any at all, so the ground would be spotted with dark and glowing patches here and there.

Other light, such as the light from the moon or stars did not penetrate the the forests surface, and could not even make it to the ground.

Syaoran continued to keep a close eye on Sakura. She was very... mysterious... then he notice her stop again. How come she continued to stop every now and then?

------

Sakura could feel it. It was Forest magic. But where was it coming from? She hated the forest, even though only her magic could be felt in it besides forest magic. Sun and Moon magic could not be felt in this forest. No matter how strong you were. And though her magic consisted on Sun and Star, only Star magic remained.

She came to a stop. She could feel the magic pulse stronger and stronger. When suddenly...

The leaves above her rustled, and a girl swung down from a branch above her, still hanging onto the branch, but hanging upside down.

"Ohayo!!!"

Sakura stumbled back, and tripped over a root that was hunched above ground.

"T-Tomoyo!" Sakura said, angrily, as she propped herself up onto her elbows.

Sakura wasn't in much of a mood for playing around.

Tomoyo giggled as she hung upside down.

"You're lucky that i've found you first." she said, as she watched Sakura get up.

Meet Tomoyo. One of the woodland creatures of this dark and dreary forest. Even though she may look like a human, she was pure elven. And you could tell by her slightly pointed ears.

Elves in this world were twice as strong as a human, strength wise. And only the High elves were equal or stronger in magic. Lower class elves were magicless, and had a limited life span to a thousand years. While High elves were immortal. And if an immortal elf or elven ever did die (which was very rare) a new one would be born to replace the deceased.

Not only were Elf's wise and powerful, they were very tricky and clever. Plus, one of the noblest creatures that lived on the face of the Earth.

"Why is that?" Sakura asked, still cross about her small joke.

The smiled that was placed on the elven's face was wiped clean off. She crossed her arms as she closed her eyes in deep thought.

Sakura moved closer, her face just a few feet from Tomoyo's.

"Things in the forest are becoming restless. Just a few days ago, the wolves had started to prowl the forest. You might think it's normal. Anyone would. But it's not. Would you consider it normal for wolves to travel alone, and separately and not return to their pack? Not only that, the giant arachnids are on the move as well. They've all headed north. Still, more are on their way from the farthest parts of the forest, and it would be a matter of time, before they decide to move through here as well. Even though the elves dispise them, we find it very peculiar. Something is happening. So we've sent a few of our men out to find out what's going on. Only two out of ten returned."

Sakura was speechless. What could of caused all of this? Tomoyo continued.

"A few days later, we found four of our spies, dead. And we suspect the rest are the same. And today, most of the dark forest birds had fled. I have a bad feeling about all of this. Like something is going to happen. Something big."

Tomoyo opened her eyes, then her face lit up once again, as if the words that she had spoken were not spoken of at all.

"Oh oh oh!!! I want to show you something!" Tomoyo cried, as she reached out quickly and grabbed Sakura's hand, and started to shake it up and down. Then...

*Creeeeaaaaak*

Tomoyo looked up at the branch that she was hanging onto with her legs. Her eyes widened.

"Oh no..." she mumbled. Then...

*SNAP!*

"Aahhh!"

*Bam!*

Sakura looked down to where the elven girl had landed, and she rushed to Tomoyo's side when she spotted her fallen friend.

"Tomoyo! Tomoyo!"

There Tomoyo lay. The branch had snapped, and had sent her to the ground. Okay, but dazed by the rush.

"Uhhhhnnnnnn....." she breathed out, as she continued to lay there.

"Tomoyo, come on, get up. You're okay. Come on...." Sakura begged, as she tugged and continued to tug at Tomoyo's arm.

Finally, after a few minutes, Tomoyo stood, rubbing her hip.

"That hurt...," she moaned, "well, anyways, follow me. I want to show you something we had caught out here."

Sakura nodded, as she followed Tomoyo, as Tomoyo grabbed her arm and dragged her out to the elves camp.

------

A few minutes before...

Syaoran had stopped a few yards away from where Sakura had fallen, and looked up from the princess to a girl hanging on to a branch upside down.

How odd. Why was this girl out here alone as well? And why was she wearing such ridiculous clothing?

Tomoyo, or as Syaoran would of called her, the strange girl, was wearing dark green. It had no sleeves, but the holes that her arms went through were ragged and worn looking. The collar was made like a turtle neck, but curved into a 'V' in the front. The top was tight, and showed every curve. The bottom was also tight, but went mid thigh and was exceptionally tight as well. She wore a black belt, which was actually just black silk wrapped tightly around her waist. At least four inches wide. Her boots were black as well, and went mid shin. The heels were so low, that there could of been no heel at all! And she wore black gloves made of black silk with a large purple circular gem, an inch round, on the back of her right hand. The gloves went almost to her elbows.

On her back, there was a large bow, and a set of arrows strapped to her back, and unseen to any human eyes, was a small dagger tucked away inside of her boot leg.

What was she? Some amazon girl? Women weren't suppose to wear such vulgar outfits. It was very improper.

It wouldn't of surprised him if she was an outcast because of how she dressed. He knew that his mother would of disowned her if she was his mothers daughter.

But the one thing that really caught his attention, was her long and beautiful amethyst hair and eyes. But even though he didn't want to admit it, she wasn't as lovely as the princess, who just happen to be stalking at the moment.

He felt his eye lids droop for a moment, but he quickly shook his head. He had to stay awake. He just had to.

He watched as the girls conversed with eachother, but he couldn't make out their words, because they spoke so quietly. Did they know he was there? Probably not. But there was always a small chance.... but after a few minutes, he heard a loud crack.

He noticed the branch the girl was hanging on had cracked at the base and was starting to break off.

He wanted to shout 'the branch is breaking! Get off of it now!', but if he had, he would of blown his own cover. Which was a big no no.

Then he watched the branch break off from the tree, and fall to the ground with the girl on still on it. Then in a flash, the girl was on the ground, and the branch laying next to her. It had almost landed on the poor girl.

The girl laid there for a moment, as Princess Sakura tried to help her up by tugging and tugging on her arm. Soon, the girl was back up, but she didn't look as cheerful as before. He didn't blame her. He knew he would of been grumpy after a fall like that.

He watched as the girl grabbed Princess Sakura by the wrist, and pull her deeper into the woods. Time to follow them and see where they were going.

------

The princess and the elven girl ran through the woods quickly, and silently, and soon, they were in the heart of the woods. There, a large community of elfs lived. There was an enormous castle, at least three times larger than Sakura's palace, but it towered hardly over the trees, while the Kinomoto palace overlooked almost the whole accursed forest.

The castle was surrounded by the dark trees of the forest, and the only elven made thing standing was the castle itself. There were no houses, huts, or any sign of a village.

"Tomoyo, I never knew..."

Tomoyo just smiled kindly at Sakura. "The reason why I always kept this a secret, was because I wasn't sure if I could trust you, and besides. I didn't have much of a reason to show you. Anyways, we elves have to live somewhere!"

Sakura nodded, a bit hurt that it took Tomoyo such a long time just for Tomoyo to accept her.

"Well, follow me, and stay close. If the other elves catch you away from me, they'll think you're an intruder. And they lock up intruders. No matter who you are."

Sakura nodded, and held her head high, as she followed Tomoyo. There was no reason to get frightened. Or, that's what she thought...

------

Syaoran looked ahead, and saw a giant castle in front of him. It was the longest castle he had ever seen! But it wasn't very tall though. But it looked so gloomy. It was made of a dark grey stone, and had black roofing. He could sense a different type of magic surrounding it, radiating off of it, but what? He had never felt this kind of magic before... could it be star magic? It was a dark green sensation.... Did his mother even know about this?! Did she know this place existed?! Why so many questions?!

He noticed the princess and the silly dressed girl take off for the castle. What were they doing?!

He quietly followed after them. He felt himself getting more and more nervous as he neared the castle. If he was caught, who would save him? Certainly not the princess. She'd probably sneer at him as she gazed into his pleading eyes in one of the castle cells, and then laugh at him back at her castle. Hell, what was HE doing?!

------

Sakura took in her surroundings with interest. From the outside, it looked like a dreary place to be in, but inside, it lit up like a ball room. There were candles hanging from deer antler chandlers from the ceiling, and torches hung from the walls. The floor was made of white marble, and the walls were an extremely light grey brick. Every now and then, you would come across a stretch of wall with paint on it. Sometimes a painting of a battle (with elves of course), or elves feasting with humans, or of a great elven king or queen. Whatever it was about, it was magnificently designed and painted.

"Beautiful... in my kingdom, paintings like these would be priceless."

Tomoyo giggled. "Im sure they would be. Their priceless here as well." Suddenly, Tomoyo stopped, and Sakura slightly bumped into her from her abrupt stop.

"What's wrong?"

Tomoyo looked from left to right.

"I think it was right..." Tomoyo spoke to herself, before taking off in a jog, Sakura lifted her skirts just to follow after her.

"Tomoyo, wait! Why are you running?"

Tomoyo looked back and smiled to Sakura, as she continued at her jogging pace. "Nothing's wrong! I just want to get there, and quick! Im tired of walking!" Tomoyo laughed.

Sakura had to let out a few laughs as well. "You're always intergetic, aren't you Tomoyo?"

Tomoyo just laughed some more. "C'mon, we're almost there!"

Soon, the duo came to a stair case that led underground. As they flew down the stairs, their surroundings grew darker, and the air became chilled. Only the light of a few torches sent the space around them alight. But barely.

"Tomoyo, why is it getting colder?" Sakura asked, as she shivered.

"Because, we're going deeper and deeper into the ground. We're going to the dungeons."

"The dungeons?!"

Tomoyo nodded. "It's what I wanted to show you. We captured him several mornings ago. One of the hunters found him, out cold, lying on the ground. His clothes were all torn and ripped and dirtied. If not for all of the damages to his clothes, and a scratch across his cheek, we would of realized him a noble sooner. That's why I brought you here. Im not sure if you know him, or if he's an enemy spy or something. I just brought you here to see if you can identify him."

"A noble?"

Tomoyo nodded again, without looking back as she continued down the staircase. Then she smiled wryly. "He sure does have manners for a prisoner. I must admit." she chuckled at her own comment.

Sakura was silent as she followed Tomoyo further into the dark chamber. The temperature had dropped a few more degrees when they had finally made it to the foot of the steps. It was dreadfully cold in this dark and miserable place.

Sakura followed Tomoyo to one of the furthest cells in the dungeon. And inside of the 'cage' was a large heap of horse hay used for bedding, and a sleeping man on top of it.

Sakura stood near the bars of his imprisonment, thinking, and studying his face.

"I feel magic."

Tomoyo nodded. "That's one of the first things I noticed as well. Is his aura familiar to you?"

Sakura continued to think. "It feels familiar, but im not sure from where though..."

Then, a moan came from the man as he sat up.

"Who's there?" he asked, as he squinted his eyes towards the two figures at the front of his cage.

"Sir, state your name." Sakura commanded.

'That voice...' the man thought with dizziness, as he continued to squint at the princess. Then it dawned on him.

"Sakura? Is that you?" he asked frantically.

"Do I know you sir? How is it that you know my name?" she questioned.

He suddenly flung himself at the bars of his cell.

"Don't you recognize me?! It's me! Eriol!" he exclaimed.

Sakura inhaled sharply. Eriol?! Was it really him?!

Sakura stood her ground as she continued to gaze at his face, trying to tell if it really was him. Then, he gave her one of his sly smiles, and it finally came to her.

"Eriol! It is you!" she whispered shakily, shocked from the sudden meeting of her old best friend.

Next to her, Tomoyo looked shocked as well. They did know eachother!? But, why did the name Eriol sound so familiar to her as well? She was positive that she had never met any boy or man named Eriol in her entire life!

"I guess it's safe to let him out..." she mumbled, as she walked over to the wall across from his cell to where a ring of keys hung. When she had grasped them, she started to flip through many keys.

Meanwhile, Sakura was trying to wipe her tears away while she spoke quietly to Eriol.

"Eriol... I haven't seen you in years, where have you been?!"

He chuckled lightly. "I've been busy. You know, traveling around, visiting neighboring kingdoms, and the such."

Sakura's eyes were starting to red from crying, but she held her head high and proud, as she asked sternly, "Why didn't you come and visit? I though you... you died!" she stuttered.

Eriol was silent. He didn't know how to handle this. Sometimes, words shouldn't be spoken. Sometimes, it was best to keep silent.

"But anyways," Tomoyo walked over and started to unlock the metal door. "what happened to you? You look like you've been out to war against some terrible creature."

He quickly replied, "Well, I'll tell you that tale later. It's not very long, but I feel exhausted. The food here is wonderful, but they don't seem to serve enough of it to the prisoners." he chuckled.

Sakura laughed quietly as well, she watched Eriol step out of the cell, before she decided to run up to him and hug him tightly.

"Eriol, im sorry I didn't recognize you sooner. You just looked different without your glasses." she mumbled tiredly. All of this unexpected excitement was starting to get to her.

Her arms slid off of his shoulders as she clasped his hand in hers.

"Let's return to the castle. Im sure you would like to shower and receive a new pair of clothes and a bite to eat, wouldn't you?"

He simply nodded, as Sakura dragged him out of the dungeon, Tomoyo following from behind, still running his name over her tongue. Who was he?

------

Syaoran sat in a tree, as he waited quietly for the princess and other girl to return. He had decided against following them inside. It was too much of a risk to follow them in. And from this distance, he couldn't see them go in or come out. He had to rely on his senses. But for some reason, he could only feel the strange girls presence and the princess' white strands of magic. Whatever the white strands meant...

Just then, he felt the two presence's walk out of the castle. He could barely hear them among their chatter, but strangely, he heard a masculine deep voice. Was there a man among them?

Syaoran gripped tighter to the tree branch he crouched on, as he felt them come closer. Every now and then, their voices would become silent.

He could hear their foot steps come closer as dead old leaves crunched beneath their covered feet. The crunching became louder and louder, and soon, he could hear them right beneath him.

As they passed beneath him, he felt himself grow dizzier and dizzier. But soon, the dizzy spell vanished and he quickly and silently followed to catch up to them.

------

When the trio had finally made it to the edge of the woods, Tomoyo stopped and dropped back into the shadows of the trees.

"Im sorry, but this is where my journey ends. I regret not being able to follow you any further, but it seems that my assistance isn't needed, at least for now."

Sakura turned from her palace to face Tomoyo.

"I wish you could follow. But, if you ever want, you can come and visit..." Sakura said, wistfully.

Tomoyo shook her head. Her hair barely shifting.

"I wish I could, Sakura. But you know the rules. And I wont risk getting caught. But, perhaps someday, I will be able to do something about it. But for now, I've set my mind and feet, and will not go any further than this."

Sakura nodded in understanding.

Eriol continued to stare at Tomoyo with pleading and sorrowful eyes. And she caught this look and sent a glare back at him.

"What are you looking at, Noble?" Tomoyo snapped, before she fully faded into the forest.

Eriol stood there, a bit shocked at her last rude question. But he quickly shook it off. How much he want to shout and yell at the elven girl in fury and frustration and sadness. She didn't remember. The one called Tomoyo had forgotten... and it saddened his heart greatly, and filled it with grief.

"Eriol, let's return to the castle. You still need to regain your energy." Sakura mumbled, as she trudged along with her skirts hiked up as Eriol turned away from the dark forest and followed the miserable princess.

Sakura felt absolutely miserable. She had wanted to talk to Tomoyo about something... but she had forgotten when the current events suddenly came up. And now, she couldn't even recall what it was that was nagging at her tongue earlier.

Sakura sighed as she looked skyward, towards the moon. It was nearly full. Three more nights, and the cycle would be completed, and her pure misery would start, all over again...

Continued....

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Hello minna-san! Well, I just got back from my little vacation, and I couldn't believe that FF.net wasn't up YET! Well, this is the next chapter that you've all been waiting for! Sorry I had release the other chapter and waited a few days to get this one out, but if I don't I wont get as many reviews! Speaking of reviews...

Please! People, review! Im dying and withering away! Im just not getting enough reviews! So please, HELP! Cause if I don't, I think i'll just retire from this writing stuff. And that includes reviewing for other stories! Cause this is a waste of my time, and im only, and I mean ONLY doing this to gain reviews! So please, PLEASE! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!! Oh, and here's the next chapter's title:

Chapter 4: For Your Sake