The Cherry Blossom and the Big (Slightly) Bad-Tempered Wolf

Chapter 2

::waves:: hello again!! ^ -^

Umm…pretty much takes off right from the end of the last chapter so I won't keep you…

Ooh yeah, Idon't own CCS, or CC coz if I did I'd be rich and writing compleltely messed up episodes. But I don't, and I ain't, so you'll just have to read the fanfic version ^ -^

::Smiles:: ^.^ I got reviews!! I feel special!

Thanks very muchly to:

Four of the Apocalypse, SapphireStar, L-chan, Saint-Tail02 and PrincessLesse for the reviews, Go You, you all round legendary people you ^-^ Once again, thanx muchly for the kind words, I appreciate it ^.^

Anyway, on with the story…

~~~~~~

Eriol sat back and smiled slightly. "Don't worry, I'll contact your parents and tell them everything that happened."

She looked relieved and smiled her thanks. "Thank you Master Eriol."

"No problem at all"

~~~~~~~~~~

I sat back and watched Eriol with interest. "Anything I can do?"

"If you could find me a mirror, it would be very much appreciated."

I nodded, then stood up to find a mirror. I was halfway up the stairs when I heard the front door open and close then the sound of someone shaking off a jacket. * It's too early to be Dad…must be Touya…but what's he doing here? * "Touya? Is that you?"

Touya appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey squirt, have you cooked anything? I'm starving."

I gave him a scathing look and replied. "You don't live here anymore Touya, you can't just boss me around like you used to."

He smirked. "Sure I can, it's my right as your big brother." There was a thump from the lounge room, and Touya's smirk changed to a frown. "Do you have quest's over?" He eyed me suspiciously, a hint of a glare in his eyes. "It's not the gaki is it?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and settled on sighing in exasperation. "No Touya, it's not Syaoran, because Syaoran is in Hong Kong, like I told you the last time you popped by unannounced, and that is where he has been for the last 4 or so years."

"What do you mean unannounced? I did live here once too you know."

I smirked. "Yeah, emphasis on the word did."

He gave me a slightly dirty look.

"So what are you doing here anyway?"

"Can't a guy check up on his little sister once in a while to see how she's doing?"

"Fine, fine, but can you make it quick? I do have friends over and we're currently in the middle of…umm…something."

Touya eyed me suspiciously. "In the middle of what?"

I hesitated and quickly thought of something. "Uhh…it's homework, a school project"

Touya's expression didn't change. "What kind of school project?"

I scowled and started to push him towards the door. "It's for…Biology…yeah…and we have to do a talk on biological control and their effects on our environment. And we want to get it over and done with so we can relax for the rest of the holidays."

"Since when have you been interested in getting things done early, you usually wait to the day before when everything gets done in a blind panic."

I gave him another slightly-more-scathing-than-before look and continued to push him out the door. "Very funny. Now come on, we need to get back to work. I'll call you later and we can talk then okay?"

By this time Touya was well out the door, and had probably come to the conclusion that I obviously wasn't in the mood to argue with him some more. "Sure, fine squirt, but you better call me otherwise I'll come by again."

"Okay fine, bye Touya…"

"Bye Squirt"

I glared at him for the 'squirt' comment and slammed the door shut. I heard a faint snort, then the sound of retreating footsteps. Sighing to myself I resumed my trek upstairs, returning a few seconds later with the mirror.

"Sorry I took so long, Touya just popped by…"

Eriol smiled and placed the mirror in front of him. "It's okay. We heard you two talking."

"Oh okay, so…what next?"

"Just sit back and watch."

We huddled around behind Eriol as he raised his hand above the glass. I felt magic start to build as the mirror fogged up. It condensed until it was almost completely white, before coloured shapes started to build. The corner of a tapestry and a stone wall appeared in the reflection.

Leo's whispered in a slightly excited voice "Oh, that's one of the tapestries in my parent's study!"

The image wobbled then spun, as if someone was turning it around and an image of a group of people appeared. The one closest to the front looked a little harried; he was wearing a very regal, but currently askew crown, obviously Leo's father. His looked turned to shock, as he leaned forward, blocking out the other people's faces. "Master Eriol? Is that you?"

Eriol smiled. "Indeed it is Your Majesty, It's a pleasure to see you after such a long time."

The king smiled back, but it didn't last for long. "It is good to speak with you too, but I'm afraid I can't talk for long. My daughter Leonora has been missing for days and we haven't been able to find her in any of the surrounding kingdoms. We fear that she may have stumbled into the Forsaken Lands." The King turned around to talk to someone behind him, before he turned back to face us. "I'm afraid we must go, I am about to send out my best knights to look for her."

Eriol leaned back slightly and replied. "Ah, then I have caught you at the perfect time."

The King looked thoroughly confused. "What do you mean?" He frowned, looking a little irritable. "You're being cryptic again Eriol, you know I hate it when you're being cryptic."

I snorted. * Heh, that's Eriol right down to a 'T' * Eriol glanced in my direction, then looked back to the King. "All I was saying was that there is no need sending out your knight's…" He leaned back and allowed Leo to come up to the mirror. "See?"

The King's eyes grew wide, but a second later he was literally pushed out of the way by a regally dressed, but very upset looking woman. "Leonora! You're okay! Oh thank goodness, we were so worried about you." With that she burst into to tears.

Leo tried to smile reassuringly, but she looked like she was about to cry herself. "It's okay mother, I'm safe now"

The King's head popped up from wherever he had been pushed and held up a handkerchief for his sobbing wife. She took it delicately and mopped up her streaming eyes. "Thank you dear…" The King turned to look behind him again, then looked back at us and smiled. "Oh, there is someone here who is very anxious to speak with you." He paused and pulled the Queen back, and a second later a very concerned looking boy appeared in the screen. Leo gasped "Garret!"

I eyed Tomoyo confused, she was smiling that smile she had whenever Syaoran and I had one of our supposed "kawaii moments". I came to the only possible explanation *…oooooohhhh…how sweet… *

Garret smiled in evident relief and ran a hand through his dirty-blonde coloured hair. "You had me quite worried there Leo, I thought something terrible had happened to you."

Leo expelled a breath. "You have no idea…"

Garret was about to say something else when he was nudged to the side by the King and Queen. "So Leonora, tell us what happened…"

She sighed, then started to explain. When she got to the part about how when she woke up and met Kero and I, she pulled me forward so she could introduce me. "This is Sakura, she's the Card Mistress Master Eriol was always telling us about, and this is Kero. He's the Guardian beast of the seal, but he's just small because he's in his false form."

Kero smiled and waved as I bowed my head in greeting. "Hello Your Majesties. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

The Queen clapped her hands together and smiled. "Why you look even more beautiful than Master Eriol described. No wonder that Syaoran boy is so infatuated with you."

I forced back a blush and turned to give Eriol a dirty look. "Just what exactly have you told them Eriol?"

He merely raised an eyebrow and replied. "I can assure you that I have said nothing negative about you my dear Sakura. There is absolutely no need for concern."

"Yeah…and I should believe you why?"

The Queen covered her mouth with a gloved hand and giggled. "Oh my, I see she is just as untrusting of you as you explained Syaoran to be."

"Oh no, Syaoran is much worse."

The Queen smiled again as Leo pulled Tomoyo forward. "And this is Tomoyo, she's Sakura's best friend and she made me this outfit so I would fit in better in their world." She stood up and did a little twirl again. "Isn't it great?"

The Queen smiled. "It is a lovely outfit, but you are still going to wear the gowns when you get back home." Leo pouted and flopped back down. The Queen chuckled and eyed Tomoyo, before looking back to Eriol. "Is this the same lovely Tomoyo you told me about last time we talked Master Eriol?"

I wasn't really surprised to see Eriol shift around uncomfortably, he glanced at Tomoyo's curious expression, than turned back to the Queen. "Yes it is Your Majesty, one in the same"

The Queen smiled, although it looked a little cunning. "My, how lovely it is to finally meet the woman you spend so much of your time talking about."

Tomoyo's eyes widened as she turned to face Eriol. Eriol's glasses became askew as he gazed back at her, eyes just as wide. The Queen giggled and covered her mouth with a gloved hand again. *…about time they had a taste of their own medicine…*

Leo cleared her throat pointedly and changed the subject to something a little less uncomfortable. The conversation continued for a few more minutes until it was time to 'switch off the connection'. (Eriol later explained that that was because you tend to get a bad headache when you open up a communication link between worlds for so long.) We all said our good-bye's, Tomoyo whipping out her camera when an embarrassed and blushing Leo was saying goodbye and an equally embarrassed and blushing Garret. The mirror fogged up again, before returning to its former reflective state.

Eriol rubbed his forehead, the headache evidently starting to kick in and went to the medicine cabinet to search out some Panadol as I returned the mirror. "So, how are you going to go back home?"

Leo shrugged then looked hopefully up at Eriol. He smiled. "As much as I would like to help you Leo, I think it would be best if you did the spell again. Because you've already done it once, you should find it much easier to do it again, and at least this time you will be able to concentrate."

She didn't look too comfortable with that decision, so Eriol continued. "You don't have to fret, I'll be watching and if anything looks like it was going to go wrong, I'll assist."

"Thank you Master Eriol." Leo yawned even though it was still fairly early in the evening, but I couldn't really blame her. She had been through a lot. "Here, I'll show you to our spare room, you can stay here until you are up to going home again."

"Oh no, I couldn't intrude on you more than I have"

I smiled and stood up. "It's no problem. My Dad won't mind; he always lets me have friends stay over. Really, it's no trouble at all."

She looked like she was going to argue again, but another yawn sealed the arrangement. I smiled and led her to the spare room after giving her one of my spare pajama's to sleep in. I closed the door quietly and crept down the stairs to the front door; Tomoyo and Eriol had to leave.

Tomoyo's limo pulled up and I watched with barely contained amusement as Eriol produced, by sleight-of-hand, a single beautiful red rose. Tomoyo blushed and muttered an embarrased sounding 'thank-you' before saying goodbye to us both as the limo pulled away.

Eriol ignored my raised eyebrow/sly grin and slightly nodded his head. "Good Evening to you Sakura, I shall see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

I bit down a giggle and replied. "Good Evening and see you tomorrow too." That benign smile of his returned to his face as he walked off in the direction of his home.

I giggled and joined Kero inside, who was starting to complain quite loudly of an empty stomach. As I started preparing for another meal, I couldn't help but think that Tomoyo and Eriol would make an awfully cute couple, * I'm going to have to get a camera myself soon…it's too good an opportunity to miss…. *It was quite obvious they had a thing for each other, they were both just too stubborn to say anything. And I'm not about to be hypocritical, in case that thought crossed your mind. I know very well that there is something…special…between Syaoran and I, even though the words I have wanted to hear and say for the longest time haven't…actually…been heard or said. But like I said before, He's in Hong Kong, I'm in Japan. He's got the clan; I've got a psychologically unbalanced brother with a bad case of the 'Little Sister Syndrome'. It didn't really look very promising, no matter how much I wish for it to be otherwise.

I sighed and continued peeling potatoes with a vengeance.

~~~~~~~Minor Time Gap~~~~~~

Like I had said, Dad didn't mind at all that I had a friend over, but he never had a chance to meet her. She was asleep when he had come home, and he had already left for work by the time she got up the next day. Kero and I had just finished cleaning up after breakfast while Leo watched the TV, 'which she had heard so much about and wanted to see it for herself so she could then go brag to her sister about', when the doorbell rang. I placed the last cup in the cupboard and hung up the towel, then went to answer the door.

"Oh, Morning Eriol!"

"Good Morning Sakura, has our dear Tomoyo arrived yet?"

I was about to shake my head when I saw her limo pull up by the curb outside. "She has now"

Eriol turned and smiled. "Ah excellent timing. Good Morning Tomoyo!"

"Good morning!" I eyed the overly large bag she was carrying with her. She followed my gaze. "Oh, I just made some more outfits for Leo to wear, and put in some stuff for her to remember us by. Is she awake yet?"

Leo popped her head around the doorway. "I'm up! Good morning Tomoyo, Master Eriol!"

We headed for the lounge room again, and Tomoyo wasted no time in showing off the clothes she had made for Leo. While they were distracted I decided to talk to Eriol about something that had me…intrigued. "Um Eriol, Just curious, but why does she call you Master Eriol? I mean, isn't it a bit strange…you are only a few years older than she is after all… "

"Ahh but you forget whom I am a reincarnation of…I may only be two years older than her in a physical sense but it's my…" he paused looking for the appropriate word "my soul, for lack of a better word, that is old."

"Oh…okay then"

There was an excited squeal form Leo, she had found an outfit that she evidently liked, as she bounded upstairs to get changed. Eriol called out just before she disappeared up the stairs. "We'll do the spell from the basement, so we'll meet you down there once you get changed, okay Leo?"

"Okay!"

~~~~~~~~~

3rd Person POV: Li Mansion Library

The young man with messy brown hair rubbed his face and scanned the glowing surface of board he was holding. It looked like a smaller, simpler version of the Lasin board he so often uses, but this one had a different purpose. It was used to measure the amount of magical residue in an area, and also tells the person a little about what type of magic is being used. He sighed and stood up as an immaculately dressed woman walked into the library. "Anything to report Xiao Lang?"

"It looks like it was just some form of transportation spell, a bit of a scrambled one, and it doesn't really explain why someone would want to transport half a black kettle into our library."

Yelan took the board and had a look at the readings herself. "It was most likely a side effect then…that would explain why these readings are somewhat unstable, and why it was a kettle that came through. You remember your lesson's on dimensional transportation don't you?"

Xiao Lang frowned, as though he was trying to remember something from a long time back and eventually replied. "Vaguely…Wei taught me briefly a few years back…but I can't remember much of what he said…I'll look up on it now if there isn't anything else you need me to do"

Yelan handed back the board. "No, that is all, these readings aren't of any concern. If you find anything else, send a message to me first. Hopefully it won't be anything we'll have to inform the elders about."

Xiao Lang nodded and bowed as Yelan left the room. Sighing to himself he placed the board on a battered oak desk and started to scan the shelves for the manuscript he was after.

~~~~~~~~

Sakuras POV: Basement

Leo bit her lip and looked worriedly at Eriol. "Are you sure you want me to do this? I mean Sakura's father probably doesn't want his entire book collection up in smoke because an inexperienced sorceress was messing around down here."

"Have some more confidence in yourself Leo, you have years of experience. And besides, I'll make sure nothing goes wrong. Just relax and concentrate on the spell and your destination like I taught you"

She didn't look very reassured, but she closed her eyes and slowed her breathing to calm herself down. Her hand started to crackle with magic as she started to mutter something that sounded vaguely Latin. A wind started to blow up, sending dust and a few loose papers in the air, as the glowing light around her hand intensified. It formed into a ball and Leo threw it in front of her. It hit the ground, she yelled out 'Portal, OPEN!" and it exploded, forming the crackling circular doorway of a portal. A lush forest could be seen on the other side. She peaked open an eye and squealed. "It worked!"

Eriol was smiling happily. "I'm very impressed Leo, that was completely flawless."

She was beaming, and ran forward to hug us all goodbye "Oh thank you so much for your help. She hugged Tomoyo, then turned to me. "Make sure Master Eriol teaches you how to communicate across dimensions so we can talk! Ohh, I'm going to miss all of you so much…"

She turned and said her good-byes to Kero and Eriol, then stepped up to the portal, lugging her new selection on Tomoyo-made clothing and waved. "Good bye everyone!"

"Bye!"

"Bye! Good Luck with Garret!"

Leo blushed at Tomoyo's comment, but she giggled and turned to step through the portal. I glanced at the dust and paper that had been kicked up by the portals' magic and wondered idly how I had managed to miss so much when I cleaned, as I saw Leo pause and put a finger to her nose, as if to stifle a sneeze. "AAA-AAA…"

Eriol's eyes widened. "No Leo don't snee-…"

"AAAAAAAAAA-CHHHOOOO!"

Her sneeze was drowned out as the wind suddenly picked up, now blowing gale force. I heard a scream and someone calling out our names as my feet were swept out from underneath me and I fell to the ground with a painful thud, hitting my head. Everything started to go black as I felt myself lift of the ground for a moment, then thump back down again onto something soft.

~~~~~~~~~~

Syaoran's POV: Li Mansion Library

I sighed and rubbed my eyes; the scrawled feathery writing on the manuscript was a pain to read…I felt like my eyes were going cross-eyed. I had manage to find the scroll after a few minutes searching and was currently trying to read it on the strong oak desk situated at the end of one of the rows. I was up to the part where it was describing about portal side-effects when the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and the magic level in the room shot up. The magic reader next to me was glowing so bright it was almost painful to look at. I shielded my eyes with my hand and tried to make out just exactly what kind of magic was being used, but before I got a chance, an incredibly strong wind picked up and blew the board to the other side of the room. "What th-AAARGHH" I ducked in time to a avoid chair and several thick books that had been caught in the gale, and rolled to dodge the desk that was sliding right towards me. Muttering something to myself, I pushed myself to my feet and tried to walk.

I didn't get far.

At about the same time a crackling circular doorway appeared in between a row of books, a pencil, rolling in the wind, ended up beneath my lowering foot. I let out another yell as I fell to the ground with a thud, only to be picked up and sucked right into the circular doorway. My body seized up as I passed through and hit something soft, I had probably landed on the other side of whatever doorway I had been pulled into. But I was a little preoccupied to investigate.

It felt like someone was sticking thousands of tiny needles into every bit of skin that was available. My muscles cramped up and my skin started to burn all over. A cracking noise I didn't particularly like echoed around me as my vision blurred. I couldn't help but think I had been tossed into the magical version of a blender.

I cried out in pain, but as quickly as it had begun, the all over-stinging-burning-cramping sensation stopped…only to be replaced with the sensation of being crushed all over, like I was shrinking…but really really painfully. I screamed out in pain again and my magic lashed around me, shielding me to some extent to whatever was happening to me. I felt my magic struggle then push away, so that I didn't feel like I was being crushed anymore. All but a light tingling, pins and needles sensation was left and I lay still on my back panting. * …oooooooowwww… what the hell was that?*

I tried to open my eyes, and was momentarily blinded by the bright sun that shone overhead. "OW! Arrg…stupid sun…" I shut my eyes then reached up to rub my face with my hand.

But I couldn't.

My arms didn't feel right…they felt…strange somehow, like they didn't bend where they were meant to when I tried to reach up. Come to think of it, I felt really uncomfortable lying on my back. My hips hurt and a point on my back, just above my pelvis, ached like I had landed on a stone or something.

It was at that point that I noticed the smells around me. Not bad, they were actually quite pleasant, just…intense. It almost smelt like someone had gotten one of those Car Air freshener pine tree things and jammed it up my nose. A light gust of wind blew a torrent of new scents. Flowers, trees; I could even smell something that I could only identify as water which stumped me a bit, as generally, fresh water doesn't smell like anything.

But that wasn't the end of my surprises.

Oooohh no…

I rolled to the side, opened my eyes, and looked down at my hands.

I really wish I hadn't.

I didn't have hands anymore.

Well, let me rephrase that, I had some digit-like things on the ends of my wrists…but they were most definitely not hands.

I had paws.

I leapt to my feet…that is all four feet, spun around and turned my head around to look at my body.

"…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!"

Although for the record, the sound that actually came out of my…err…'mouth'…sounded too much like a howl than I would have liked.

Slightly panicked I ran awkwardly; I didn't seem to have complete control of my limbs as of yet, in the direction that I had smelt what I had decided was water. The sound of rushing water reached my eyes and drove me on faster, but it wasn't until a few minutes later that I finally caught sight of the river. I tried to skid to a halt but got tangled in my limbs, and fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Muttering a few choice expletives I got back to my feet and trotted to the riverbank. I blinked and shook my head, because it was obvious I couldn't rub my eyes with my 'hands'. Instead of the image of a messy brown haired 16-year-old staring back at me, the image of a scruffy, brown-furred, (very) large wolf stared back.

I had turned into a wolf.

For good measure, I swore again.

Sitting back on my haunches, I tried to analyze what had happened.

"Okay, obviously that thing I got sucked into was a doorway of some kind, and it must have done this to me." I scowled. I had only just been reading up on this sort of thing, but I hadn't read enough to know exactly what was going on. "Great…now what do I do…"

I looked around at my surroundings and tentatively sniffed the air. It seemed I had acquired a rather heightened sense of smell. My hearing seemed to have improved as well, as I had heard the running water quite a long time before I had seen it. I smiled, which didn't look all to reassuring as it showed a row of long sharp pointy teeth.

"Hey…maybe this won't be so bad…" I stood up and trotted along the riverbank, following it downstream.

After a while I actually started to enjoy it. I found it quite fun to sniff out a particular scent, then 'hunt' its' source. Hey, it beats sitting around mulling over the fact that I had no clue where I was, or how to get home, or how to change back.

Anyway, I found three strange coloured chipmunks, a freaky looking lizard thing, 5 birds, and several bushes, shrubs and groves of flowers that I couldn't identify, when I ran into a dirt road. It was covered in wheel ruts and hoof prints, as would come from a horse drawn cart.

"Oookkayy…either I've just landed really really far from home…or I've gone back in time…" I started following the road when I heard the sound of hoof beats. Crouching in the bushes, I waited, and a few seconds later a rider on horseback and a horse drawn cart trundled by.

I frowned.

Besides the unusual looking clothing, it was a bit of a shock to see the guy driving the cart talking on a mobile phone.

*…okay, scratch the gone back in time thing…*

I waited until they had disappeared around the bend in the road and trotted out of my hiding place to follow them. *…what's going on here…::humorless laugh:: ha…I've probably stumbled into one of Tomoyo's dreams or something, those clothes look like something she'd come up with…* Inevitably, as what always happens when I think of her friends, my mind turned to Sakura.

I hadn't seen her for years.

The only contact I had with her, or anyone outside the clan for that matter, was a few letters I had managed to smuggle out. The elders had been really strict about that…although in the last year or so they had been quite lenient. I had even been able to go outside the mansion on several occasions, and I was currently halfway through a big long letter to Sakura that they actually agreed to let me send.

Really, it makes you think they were up to something.

But I wasn't about to argue; they were allowing me a freedom I don't think I'd ever actually had before, for the moment, and I wasn't going to waste it.

My expression turned sad.

"But now I'm stuck here…" I looked down at my paws. I couldn't write even if I wanted to.

Jeez my life sucked…

I sighed as I galloped along a fair distance behind the cart and rider. * I wonder how she looks all grown up…probably even more beautiful than the last time I saw her. *

I felt my face start to warm, but you probably couldn't actually see I was blushing, my fur would've covered it.

My thoughts on Sakura continued until late evening when the rider and cart finally stopped.

I had managed to keep my pace the whole time. Seemed I was a fitter too. I mean, when human I'm still pretty fit, but I don't think I'd be able to run for how long I had if I was human.

We had been travelling non-stop for about half a day.

They had pulled up at an inn on the side of a river. It was called 'The Silver Pony', as the slightly gaudy neon sign pointed out, which really clashed with the whole Middle Ages appearance of the place. I slipped into the darkening forest around the back. The sound of rakish laughter and clashing dishes echoed behind me as I made myself comfortable among the trees for the night…when I realized that this place was just full of surprises.

I was just drifting off into a peaceful slumber, when something poked my nose, and a slightly squeaky female voice say, "Hey…hey wolfy…wake up"

I growled under my breath.

The she continued, sounding even more irritable than she had before. "Hey I'm talking to you buddy. Ha, that's just like you carnivores, think you can sit where ever you want just because you happen to be further up the food chain than the rest of us. I mean the least you can do is acknowledge my presence. It's common courtesy…"

I peaked open an eye to glare at however was speaking, but my eyes shot open, all glares forgotten when I saw that it was actually a small red and black coloured squirrel that was talking to me.

And it was wearing a pair of miniature spectacles.

I blinked and sat up.

The squirrel thing looked up and glared at me. "It's about time you woke up. What do they teach you wolves huh? Just because you're big and can eat us, doesn't mean you can just sleep on other people's doorsteps…"

I surged to my feet and moved to the side. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know it was your home…"

The squirrel followed my movements, glare never faltering. "Of course you didn't know, you didn't ask. You're all the same, you eat us first then try and ask our bloodied decapitated corpses questions later"

"Look I'm really so-"

The squirrel interrupted me before I could finish.

"Oh sure your sorry now, but just wait until I turn my back, and you'll be picking me out of your teeth."

"Look, I'm not going to eat you"

The squirrel was completely ignoring me now.

"It's come to a point where my family can't even go outdoors without having to constantly watch our backs in case some bone headed tooth-bag feels like a quick snack."

She flicked her tail and continued her lecture. "That's bad upbringing for you. Absolutely no manners whatsoever. Just taught to eat everything that moves. If I weren't so worried about getting eaten I would waltz straight up to your wolf mothers' and give them a piece of my mind. No one is above good manners; that's what I would say…"

I was going to interject, but stopped, It was obvious the squirrel was ignoring me. * I probably should just eat her…put her and my poor ears out of their misery…*

I wasn't really listening to her anymore; she was starting to count things off on her fingers, so I leaned forward and grinned quite…err…wolfishly.

"Listen, I'm sorry I sat on your doorstep, I'm not going to eat you, and I can assure you that I do actually have manners. My mother was rather strict on all that. Now I have to go now. I bid you adieu."

The squirrels frown changed to a look of shock as I walked off through the trees. "Well, will wonders never cease to amaze me…" She smiled and waved. "Farewell Sir wolf, it was nice talking to you!"

I frowned as I glanced behind me as she bounded up the tree trunk into the leaves. "She sure changes her tune pretty quickly…"

"Oh don't mind her, she's always like that."

I swung my head up into the tree tops from were I had heard the voice. A second later a slightly chubby looking chipmunk jumped down and landed on a branch just above me. "She's a bit of a hard nut to crack, but a nice girl to talk to once you do." He twitched his nose. "My names Rodney by the way. Rodney Cuelax."

"Um, Syaoran Li…hey…umm…you don't mind if I ask you a few questions do you?"

"Nope, shoot"

"Where am I?"

"At the moment you're in Chimey. That's one of the villages on the border of the Forlynnian kingdom…" He paused and raised a chipmunk's equivalent of an eyebrow. "Ring any bells?"

I shook my head and frowned. "Not particularly"

Rodney scratched his chin then asked. "Well, where do you come from?"

"Hong Kong"

"Really?…oh, your one of those people that come from that other dimension…I thought it was only humans that could cross over…you're the first talking wolf from there that I've ever heard about."

"I am human…or I was…I was studying in our library when this wind suddenly picked up and I got sucked into a portal. When I got my bearings straight, I realized I had been turned into a wolf."

"Yeah, they sometimes do that. Tough break man…but you don't have to worry, one of the magicians will fix you right up."

"Magicians?"

"Yeah, you do know about them right? I mean I can tell you've got some really strong magic so you must know all about that stuff."

"Oh, yeah, it's just there isn't many people where I come from that have magic."

"Yeah, I heard about that. Well, a majority of people have magic here. But anyway if you follow the road" He turned and pointed to my right, "for a couple of days you'll hit the castle, someone there will be able to help you."

"Oh, thanks for that…" I was about to get going when I paused. "Just one more thing, do all the animals talk here?"

"Not all, some learn to, but a majority are former humans. Some by choice, some by accident…and some by…err.." He shifted around uncomfortable and avoided my gaze. "Act of revenge." My eyebrow rose, so he continued. "My girlfriend found me kissing another woman. I wasn't cheating on her or anything, the girl in question had stopped breathing for some reason and I had to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. But my girlfriend didn't see it that way." He pointed a finger in the air, like Takashi did whenever he was making something up, " 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'. She went berserk, and slapped a spell on me and POOF! One minute I'm saving someone's life, the next I'm scrambling through trees foraging for food." He crossed his arms and laughed humorlessly. "You know what she said when she found out the truth? 'Oops'…oops! No 'sorry', just oops"

"Why didn't she change you back?"

Rodney plucked a berry from the tree, taking a bite out of it before answering. "She can't, you have to go to a specialist to do things like that." At my confused look he continued. "Think about it, you wouldn't go to plumber to do brain surgery would you? It's not that bad anyway; I've always wanted a holiday. I'll get changed back later when I go visit the palace…" He took another bite out of the berry and chewed on it thoughtfully. "Anyway, I gotta run, I'm supposed to be meeting one of my other friends who got turned into a sparrow." He finished the berry and chucked the pip behind him. "So long and have a safe journey Syaoran!"

"You to, bye Rodney"

I paused and watched as he bounded off and disappeared into the leaves, before starting off in the direction he had pointed; the moonlight illuminating my way.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Sakura's POV:

I rolled over and rubbed a particularly sore spot on my head. "Uughh…what happened…"

"You fell and hit your head. Nothing serious…here…"

Eriol, the one who had been speaking, placed a hand on my forehead, and a second later the sore spot vanished. I blinked open my eyes and saw that we were sitting under the bough of tree. I sat up and had a look at our surroundings. "Where are we?"

"When Leo sneezed, it caused a magical surge, and as a result of that, we all got sucked though."

"Oh…" I glanced around again. "Wait a minute, if we all got sucked through, where are Leo, Tomoyo and Kero?"

Eriol frowned and adjusted his glasses. "I'm actually not sure. The surge of magic must have messed with the spell, and scattered us somewhere other than the place she wanted to go."

I frowned and stood up. "Well come on, do some of your magic mumbo jumbo and take us to them!"

He smiled and stood up, brushing leaves of his pants. "As much as I would like to, I don't know where they are, and it would be no use jumping around the countryside trying to find them. They shouldn't have been sent too far away, but we will have to search for them on foot."

"Oh…well…let's get moving!" I looked around and saw a dirt track, and decided to follow that. Eriol chuckled and caught up with me, walking by my side. "So anyway Eriol, I thought you said that you would assist if anything went wrong with the spell…this isn't what I would consider assisting."

"I couldn't, it happened to quickly for me to intervene. Besides, just think of this as a holiday, I can assure you that this will be an enjoyable experience for all of us."

"But what about my Dad and Tomoyo's Mum? They're going to be worried about us."

He smiled. "A minor detail that can be easily sorted once we find our friends. Don't worry Sakura, everything will be fine."

I glanced at him suspiciously. "Why do I have this overwhelming feeling of dread?"

He chuckled and replied in an amused voice. "We'll be fine Sakura, there is nothing to worry about."

…Talk about Famous last words…

~~~~~~~Minor Time Gap~~~~~~~

I stumbled, but managed to get back to my feet quickly. As fate would have it, we were currently being chased by 3 very hungry looking black wolves. * nothing to worry about my ass…*

I ran on and saw Eriol running off to my left, occasionally throwing a fireball or two to scare off the wolf pack.

"::pant pant:: if we ever get out of this alive ::pant pant, stumble:: remind me to kill you…" I leapt over a log and steadied myself with my hand before sprinting off again. "That's the last time, ::pant:: I believe you when you say that there's nothing to worry about!"

He smirked ruefully, then came beside me as we ran blind through the forest. But as I dodged a tree and a low hanging branch, I could have sworn I heard a very familiar sounding scream above the howls of the wolves. "::pant pant:: was that…was that Tomoyo?"

Eriol vaulted over a low branch; I ducked under it, and looked over in the direction the sound had come from.

"AAAARRRGGGHHH!! FASTER TOMOYO THEY'RE GETTING CLOSER!" then

"I'M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN…ARRRGGGHHH IT JUST SLOBBERED ON MY CLOTHES!"

We glanced at each other, then started running in the direction that we heard the voices. "TOMOYO! LEO!"

"SAKURA?!"

We saw them running desperately down a hill, a pair of wolves snapping at their heels. Tomoyo and Leo saw us and charged towards us, but Leo stumbled and tripped on something in the tall grass. "LEO!"

I sprinted forward and skidded next to her. She looked like she had hurt her ankle. "Aargg…I think I twisted it…"

I pulled her up and allowed her to lean on me for support. Tomoyo came around her other side, so that we could help her walk. Eriol was standing in front of us panting. He backed up a bit as the wolf pack, who were circling us, closed in; their teeth bared. He threw another fireball at one of the wolves, but that was about as affective as it had been before.

We were so screwed…

~~~~~~~~~

Hmmm…it's pretty freakin obvious what's going to happen next…oh well, I'm actually having quite a bit of fun with the next chapter, ::evil cackle:: eh he he he D

Anyway, I've still got a bit to write for it so don't expect the next one out for about a week at the latest. ^ -^

…I just realised something…I knock people out a lot in my stories…seems at least one person will be unconscious per story…oh well, you get that ^-^

Please review and ciao till later

StarDragon ^-^