Chapter 5: Refugees with a Cause
Sakura waited anxiously. She clenched her fists right on her knees waiting for the arrival of her father. She didn't know what to expect since she practically never met him before. She felt that this guy was probably some high and mighty old chief that would lecture her about the future or something.
Suddenly, a man opened a flap of cloth, which was an entrance. Sakura gazed at him. A tall figure, wearing a long brown coat and wearing spectacles, his eyes were closed and sewed and he never opened them. "Maybe he's scared of light?" Sakura thought. The man sat down on the cushion across from Sakura with his legs crossed Indian style. "Greetings Sakura!" he greeted, "Hi!" Sakura replied. "I have not seen my daughter in ages," the man said, "Would I please feel her face to see how much it's changed?" Sakura nodded, but the man asked again, "May I see?" Sakura nodded again, "Please give me a yes or no answer." Sakura perturbed, said calmly, "Yes." The man took his hand and caressed Sakura's face.
"My you have grown so much daughter!" Sakura looked at his eyes, still closed, she told him, "Otou-san," she paused not knowing if it was proper to say or not, "Could you please open your eyes?" Sakura's father slowly opened his eyes, he saw nothing but darkness. When Sakura saw into his eyes, she wanted to throw up, never before had she seen the most horrible condition ever. His eyes, they were all colored white and gave a glassy shine to them. "Father," she shivered, "Are you blind?" Sakura's father nodded. "How did this happen?" Sakura's father closed his eyes back and tried to remember as far back as he could."
Flashback
The wagon carrying a family slowly bumped with the rocky terrain of the mountain pass which led to the Great Wall of China. Inside the wagon, light cries of sadness could be heard; a whole family lived inside, waiting for their horses to get them across the Great Wall and into the Chinese territory.
"Little Sakura, please don't cry!" the panicked mother begged. The baby, with a hairline ready to grow continued to cry regardless if her mother was holding her. The mother was beyond beautiful, her wavy black hair touched little Sakura's cheeks giving a light tickle feeling. "Nadeshiko," a man with spectacles reached out his arms, "Our daughter probably isn't used to the rocking yet." The father, took his daughter, Sakura, and tried to keep her steady, and almost in an instant, she stopped crying.
"Oka-san!" a seven year old boy with black hair just like his mother's pulled on his mother's long frilly dress, "Why are we going to China?" Mother Nadeshiko looked at her son with a smile, "It's time to start a new life Touya, with the feudal lords in Japan, and we can't afford to have to stay there any longer. I want to start fresh, first in Nanking, and then I want to go to Beijing." Touya marveled how she said those cities. "Mother, will we get to see the emperor and visit the Forbidden City?" Touya asked with zeal. "I hope so, Touya!"
Touya then turned his attention to Sakura, although she was a baby resting in the arms of her father, he looked at her shiny baby emerald eyes and smiled. "Little sis, when we grow up, we're gonna have so much fun in China, we're gonna learn kung fu, then we're gonna wear silk, and eventually, we'll learn to cook Chinese food." Sakura, though not understanding a word Touya had just said, cheered like a happy baby. "But before we go to China, to our new home, I want to give you this." Touya pulled from his pocket a preserved petal of a cherry blossom on a rope, a cherry blossom necklace if you will. Touya put a preserved peach flower petal necklace on himself, "Now we have a piece of old Japan, while we live in New China."
Sakura smiled for one last time, then hooves and footsteps are heard, the cavalry had arrived. "What is this?" the father asked. All of the sudden, their wagon was rocked and the whole wagon tipped over and fell on its side. Little baby Sakura had fallen out of the father's arms and hit the ground, hard! "Sakura!" the father cried, then all of the sudden, men with pointy helmets opened the door to the wagon on the top. Like fish in the water, they took their hooks and hooked them by their shirts and pants, and carried the whole family out.
Touya had finally seen daylight; the rays of the sun hit his face as he climbed out. "Okay Japanese get out now!" a soldier called. "I don't understand," Nadeshiko said, "Why are we being pulled over?" The father looked around and saw all his brothers, sisters, and friends carriages being tipped over and collected like fish in the sea. "Violation of the Chinese Imperial Law, you all are illegal refugees entering the country without consent."
"But we were told by the emperor that he would give us refuge when we were in Japan, why would he break his word?" Nadeshiko questioned. Five men on horses then surrounded her. "Hey, a nice looking Japanese woman!" All of the soldiers whistled. "Leave me alone!" she cried. "Hey commander," a soldier called, then, a cruel looking commander with shifty eyes and a feather on his helmet approached the soldiers. "We have collected all the refugees, what should we do with them?"
The commander looked around; he saw that a majority of the refugees were women. From this view, he formulated a plan. "All the men," he started to say, "Restrain them!" The soldiers all took their long poles to hold and gather all the men together. "All the children," he continued with his domineering voice, "Arrest them for training in the Imperial army, we can't have those Japanese forming possible rebellions!" Then all the soldiers collected the children. "Touya, hide behind me." The father said, "Make sure you use my coat to cover your feet too!"
The commander after seeing all the children collected was pleased. "Chain them!" he commanded. Children were crying and shouting for their mothers and fathers. When all the children were chained a lone soldier with a developing mustache came up to his commander. "Wait commander!" he said, "What about the women?" The commander looked at all the women with scared looks on their faces, unsure what he was going to say.
"Rape them!" he said coldly. When the soldiers all heard that, they all cheered for joy and started running up to every single woman, quickly removing their clothes, and proceeding to rape them in every possible way. The Japanese men, fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, all looked at this sick display and tried to break the barrier holding them off in hopes to rescue their loved one.
"This is unjust!!!" the soldier said, "We are in the battlefield, not a brothel!" The commander stared at the man with disgust, "In such honor are we Min?" Young Min looked at the commander, "We were not supposed to come here to find whores!" Min ran to every soldier and tried to pull one off every woman, but there were too many. "Now, the rest of my men, light their wagons on fire!" The soldiers who were not having fun with women took torches and threw them inside the wagons. Min looked at this total gross horrific picture. "When I'm general, I will put an end to all this madness and I will castrate all you pigs, and turn you into eunuchs!" The commander rode to Min and smacked him with a pole. Min flew 3 feet away and in super pain, feeling his bottom lip, blood gushed out. "Min," the commander said, "You will never ever become general!" The commander spit on Min, "After you have completed satisfying your woman, kill them then chase the men off to the desert where they will die!" "YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" All the soldiers said in unison with their pleasure still concentrated on al the women. Min looked at a totally disgusting picture when he saw a young woman, black beautiful wavy hair, naked, but being raped. While she saw Min getting up and looking at her with worry, she thought unselfishly, and cried out in pain, "Save my baby!" she said.
All of the sudden, Min heard faint cries. He saw numerous carriages burning, he knew that the baby was in one of the wagons, but which, and if he didn't find it, he would have failed another life. Min ran across trying to follow the sound of distant cries. Min ran frantically looking for the wagon. The cries got louder, but not loud enough. Finally he saw a carriage that was the center piece of his attention. It was at the base of burning and was just recently lit. He climbed that wagon and looked down, there was a baby. "Calm down!" he said as he dropped in, carried the baby in his cape, and was beginning to climb out the carriage. When he reached the top, it caved it making him fall back down on his back. The baby still crying was the motivation for Min to get up and find an alternate exit.
Searching around, he saw a partially burnt out wall, quickly, he wrapped the baby in his cape, then punched the wall down breaking it into splinters. He uncovered the baby looking at it with a sign of love. "My, lucky baby aren't you?" Min carried the baby back to the mother, but by the time he got there, the soldier raping her slit her husband's eyes and stabbed his sword behind her. The husband cried for his eyes and for his lover. "Damn you!" Min yelled as he choked the soldier. The soldier tried to beg for forgiveness, "Min, please don't I was just having a little fu-" Min pulled out his dagger and castrated the man, making him cry for his lost friend.
Min turned to the slit eyed man but he ran off when a soldier took his pole and drove him off. Min, all alone with a baby in his arms, opened the cape to her again. "Looks like your mother's dead." Min looked around himself to find he was desolate in the middle of the desert, with dead women lying everywhere.
"Ping!" Min looked down to see what had fallen, "A ying fa petal…" he said, "In Japan, I believe they call this a Sakura." Min looked at the baby and necklace that had fallen, "The from now on you shall be called Sakura." The baby giggled with delight. Min wrapped up his baby from the sweltering heat, and wandered the desert to go home.
End Flashback
"That's how you got blind?" Sakura asked while she sipped her tea. Sakura's father nodded, "Just because I didn't want to see my wife getting ravaged right before my eyes, I would've blinded myself if I had the dagger in my hands."
Flashback
"I'm sick of living in this desert!" A townsperson said, "It's been a year since we witnessed our wives molested in front of us, and you do nothing but sit here with your blindness Fujitaka!" Fujitaka turned around, with a white cloth tied around his eyes. "I am so sorry that you hate this desert, but as the only surviving refugees from Japan, we must make the best out of this land."
The townsperson snapped at Fujitaka. "The best out of this land? What is there to make the best of? The soil is too dry, the weather heats out plants, what living can we do?" Fujitaka sat in his cushion and began to smoke with a pipe. "You know what Fujitaka? I think those Chinese are a problem too. When we make a new building for us, they wreck it; we are a nomadic group of refugees on the verge of gradual extinction because those damn Imperial guards wreck our every chance of survival."
Fujitaka smiled at the man with great optimism. "We are nomadic, yes. Gradual extinction? No!" he said confidently, "The Chinese may not like us being in their land, but we have to fight on." "Fight on!?" the man said, "We don't have an army how can we fight on?" Fujitaka then came up with an idea, "Fight on!" he said, that's it. The man looked with confusion, "What is our stupid leader thinking of now?"
Fujitaka approached the campfire where everyone gathered and shouted out. "People come out of your tents; I believe I have come up with a great idea to defend ourselves from the constant threat of the Chinese." Everyone gathered around the town campfire disbelieved him. "You are crazy Fujitaka!" "No hear me out first!" Fujitaka commanded. "My son, he and your sons have been secretly stowed away from the Chinese so they know not of their existence." "And…" and impatient townsperson asked, "And because of this, the Chinese would not expect us, a mere bunch of refugees to attack them blindly." Everyone listened with anticipation.
"So! I can train all the children to fight with staffs, machetes, and knives. When the Chinese are at a threat to us, we will send out our sons to go and fight them, providing little provoking to them!" "To risk our sons to fight!?" a worried father asked, "I heard enough Fujitaka!" "Wait!" he stopped, "I'm not finished. Since we are nomadic, when the Chinese come looking for our sons, they will be at a different place every time, thus making the surprise attacks frequent, but they will not be able to attack us." Some people in the town agreed, others disagreed.
The next month, everyone had voted it so. From that day forth, Fujitaka, though blinded, was able to train a whole new generation of Wolves. Wolves that fought for a cause, for freedom of oppression in China. They called themselves, the Rebel Wolves.
End Flashback
Sakura looked at Touya, "And you're the leader?" "Nah!" Touya said, "I'm merely the boss! Dad here's the true genius." Fujitaka smiled, "As rebels, as they would like to call us, we don't fight for revenge from what happened 16 years ago. But we fight for the Chinese to leave us alone and give us better living conditions." Sakura amazed at their hard working lifestyle, never saw this side of China before, she sympathized with them, she had never known such atrocities her people, no, the Chinese people have caused to her kind.
Sakura Narration
Who am I? I am not Chinese? I remember when papa used to let me ride on his lap and make me happy and warm all over. Was that all an illusion? I knew that I didn't belong in China, but now I'm wishing I did. I don't know who I am anymore. (Sakura looks at where her necklace used to be) I guess this is me, I'm a rebel! But, what about those people who made me feel like I wasn't a rebel? What about Tomoyo, her softness and caring attitude, or Clow Reed, his smart, wise infinite knowledge of the world, Min, my father who I thought for so long is really not and even Syao-"The Imperial Army they are attacking!" Huh?
(Sakura runs outside)
End Sakura Narration
"What's going on Onni-chan?" Sakura asked. "Imperial guards are here again, and that new captain is with them!" Sakura shot her eyes open; she knew what she must do. "Touya let me go instead, I will reason with them." Fujitaka held her arm back. "No Sakura," he warned, "It's too dangerous." Sakura ignoring what her father just said walked out anyways holding Touya back.
"LISTEN YOU JAPANESE REBELS!" Syaoran shouted, "The name is Syaoran, Captain of the Forbidden City's combat force. You have taken the daughter of General Min at your grasps, and he is not happy." Syaoran saw no one came out, "I'm warning you, I will come alone on my horse to retrieve Sakura, and if you don't give her back, I will kill you all!" Syaoran hit his horse to go down the hill and he stopped at the first tent he saw. "Now send Sakura out, before any harm is done to you!"
The tent door opened, Syaoran pulled out his sword ready for whatever came out. Then, he saw a beautiful girl in auburn hair streaks to the side of her face, with ragged clothes on. "Sakura…" he said with happiness, "What a relief!" Syaoran turned his horse around. But he did not hear or feel Sakura coming to him. "Sakura?" he questioned looking back. Sakura stared at him with determined eyes. "Sakura, let's go home." Sakura didn't budge. "Are you mad at me?" Syaoran asked. Sakura still didn't move and took two pieces of Chinese paper inside her ragged clothes. "Sakura please, what are you doing, the sooner we get out, the sooner we can get away from these people." Sakura meanly stared at him, "These are my people!" she stated. Syaoran looked confused, "Sakura?" Syaoran couldn't believe it or see what he was hearing.
"Listen Sakura, I don't know what these people have been brainwashing you with, but they are rebels, think about that!" Syaoran tried to reason with her. "Is that so?" "Sakura, these rebels need to die! Please just come back home!" Syaoran looked at her worriedly. "All rebels need to die?" she asked, "Then why don't you kill me first?" Syaoran shot his eyes in disbelief, "Sakura, are you one of the Japanese rebels too?" Sakura nodded. "And if you don't kill me! Then I'll do the honors for you…GOD OF THUNDER, ATTACK LI SYAORAN!!!" In a mad rage, Sakura shot bolts of thunder aimed at Li Syaoran.
Character Bio
Clow Reed
Birthday: ???
Zodiac most like: Snake
Favorite Hobby: Making life easier for people with trinkets.
Least Favorite Hobby: Taking naps.
Special Talents: Magician, most powerful one
Favorite Color: black, purple
Favorite Flower: pink orchids
Favorite Food: Sweets
Least Favorite Food: None
Wish List: The Clow Cards completion
My Comments: Clow Reed is the inventor in the story. I made him a little more comical also. In addition, he is still retaining the guidance figure to Sakura he usually keeps.