Disclaimer: The series Card Captor Sakura does not belong to me.
Responses:
Jared: Thank you for reviewing my fic ever since you started reading it. ^^ I'm glad you like it. *feels so happyyyyy!!!*
Silver Serpent: Hehe. In a way, I kind of have things planned out. The only problem is that I tend to drag things along, making the romance come in a bit later than many want. Thank yewwwww for your comments!!
Anne-twilight: I feel so special~~~~!! I'm glad you like E/S. After all, there's so few of them, with the entire CCS archive flooded with... *shudders* S/S.
RuByMoOn: Sorry if I took too long to update... At least I wrote that widdle sappy Christmas E/S, ne? ^^ Thank you for reviewing on that one, too!
Keizinathebrat: Hehe. I'm trying my best to get as many chapters out as I can, though it's a gradual thing. I'm so glad you like this story!!!
Chapter Nine: A Slash Upon Her Heart
Day 8 - Shadow World
Sakura finally spotted a town in her view, sweating bullets from running for hours non-stop. Her dash had turned to a slow jog after a while, and she even walked a few times, but she never stopped. She never stopped moving, and the sun was just a few hours away from setting. Sakura quickly got passed the borders, and ran in. Not knowing what to do, she slowed down, and turned around, scanning the entire place. This town looked extremely similar to the one they had been in before. At least, the building structures did.
She finally stopped, and looked around. There was no way that she could now know where Eriol be. For all of this running, he could already be in the next town already, she figured. Sakura took in a slow breath, and closed her eyes, wanting to rest a bit after all that running. Suddenly, she heard a loud cry, and gasped. Eriol! she realized. That sounded like Eriol! A part of her felt anxious, scared for the horrific scream she heard. But, another part was relieved, glad to know that Eriol had at least not abandoned this world, leaving her here all alone.
She turned a corner, guessing on where he was, and almost tripped over somebody on the ground. "I'm sor-" she started, when her words got stuck in her throat. Her hand went over her mouth, gasping at the sight in front of her. "Eriol!" she gasped, quickly falling to her knees to pick his limp body up. Shaking him a bit, she took in a staggering breath. "Eriol, are you okay?! Eriol, please!"
Miraculously, well to her it was, Eriol groaned, wincing as he came back to the conscious world once more. Peering up, he whispered, "Sakura? Is that you?" Then, he looked around. "Oh, man. How long have I been lying here like this- AH!" He jerked in pain when he tried to move his arm. "What the heck..."
"What did you do to yourself, Eriol? Come on, try to get up." With those words, she slowly and gradually tried to help him sit up, wincing each time he looked as if he was going to cry out once more in agony. "Oh, Eriol..." she whispered. "Why in the world did you want to leave me back there by myself?! Why did you knock me out?!"
But all he did was give her The Smile. "I'm better now," he said softly, ignoring her questions. "A few guys came and ganged up on me, asking for money. And when I showed them that I have absolutely not even a dollar in this world's currency, they just took their anger out on me. Oh, and my pack's over there," he pointed to the other side of the alley, then continued. "And, I was able to find something out. I remembered the woman's name. Dtarna, that's what Klarne said. So I asked around before I got caught up in that little predicament. It turns out that she's a slave owner," he whispered, looking up at her through his slightly scratched-up glasses. "The city which she controls over is known as Lyrra, and it's the town right after this one, though it's pretty far off. If we start right now, we can get to Syaoran in a just a bit over two weeks. And I think that if we walk all day, it'll be a bit quicker, right?"
Sakura sighed as she held him closer, not knowing why. "Come on, Eriol," she said instead. "Just sit up while I get some stuff out." And then, she let him down gently, and took a cloth and a bottle of water out of her bag. Slowly, she poured some water out onto the cloth, and turned back to Eriol.
Sakura bit her lip, staring at the condition he was in. He was breathing hard, as if it took everything in him to even try. She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath herself. Sakura gently dabbed his face with the washcloth. "What did you do to me?" she asked him as she tended to him.
After about a short moment of silence, Eriol decided to answer her question. "I left you behind so that I could see what was in stored in front," he whispered slowly, his eyes still closed. "I left you both the passes, didn't I? Well, I figured out how to get past the security defenses. I mean, after the first time, it wasn't too hard afterwards to see how it works."
"You didn't have to knock me out," she said in a stubborn voice. "When you attacked me with your magic, do you have any clue the pain I felt in my head? It was like a sharp rock slicing at me, until I blacked out. I didn't like that, Eriol," she told him. "And before that, you looked as if you could've killed Klarne and that old woman. When I tried to stop you afterwards, you just ignored me for a while. That hurt even more than-" Suddenly, she felt a quick hand grab hers, with the cloth in her hand. Looking at Eriol's face, she found him staring into her eyes.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, clenching her hand tighter into his. If Sakura didn't know any better, she would've thought that he was going to kiss it, like those old-fashioned people, as a sign of apology. But instead, he just held it, and gazed up into her eyes. "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to do that to you. I... I felt angry, and I didn't know how to deal with it," he explained. "So I guess that I, um... acted like a jerk?"
Sakura blinked a few times, staring at her wounded friend. Sighing, she shook her head, and finally, a small smile appeared on her lips. "Oh, you baka," she chuckled softly as she took her hand away from his, and continued to wipe his hands and arms now. "It's so surprising how one such as you can even think about being a jerk... It must be hard now that you're starting to turn human, am I right?"
Eriol looked up at her. "I am a human," he stated.
"Yes," she nodded, smiling at him some more when she heard him say that. Then, she bent down, and tapped him lightly on the tip of his nose. "But you're also too smart for your own good." A few moments later, she backed up, and said, "I think that you should get a change of clothing or something, Eriol. You look like a mess, and I can't clean up anything that is covered under your clothes. You can do that yourself," she laughed.
Then, she helped him sit up again, and he rubbed his forehead with his fingers before he nodded his head. "Okay," he said, getting up bit by bit so that he wouldn't overwhelm himself. "I'm just going to heal myself a bit, and then we can finally get going. The sooner the better." Sakura tried to look into his eyes, but he avoided her gaze.
He was all business again. Sakura stared at him for a few more minutes before she nodded. "Yes," she agreed with him in an even voice. "The sooner the better."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 14 - Shadow World
Staggering, Syaoran dumped the contents into the disposal section once more. Then, he took a breather, and stared up at the glaring sun. He wiped some sweat off of his forehead with the back of his hand, and picked up his basket once more. Then, in the corner of his eye, Syaoran saw Tgaeh tending to a man who had just fallen. This entire day, he hadn't got a chance to talk to him, explaining everything to his friend. Syaoran shrugged. He'll try to explain it all later, then. Once he got back to the pile, Syaoran tried to yank a stone out of a squeeze that it was in, cursing many times as he tried.
Suddenly, a large stick poked in at the stone, and it fell down to the ground, right next to Syaoran. He looked up, and saw the soldier standing there. Quickly, Syaoran picked it up, and threw it into his basket. "Thanks, Mushi. Again," he smiled gratefully at him.
"What are you still doing here?" he said, a bit of surprise showing in his eyes.
"Oh, you thought I would leave?" Syaoran asked him, putting another stone into the basket. "I mean, I must admit, that palace place just wasn't for me, why with all those shiny bright walls. It kind of got to my eyes." He turned to smile at the soldier once more. "But, this place isn't so bad," he panted. "A little bit of sunshine doesn't do anybody any harm, ne?"
"I thought that you would leave this entire city," he said.
"Aww... and after all that work that you went to, in order to save me? Nooo," Syaoran smiled. "I couldn't just leave you here to yourself, you know. Besides, if she wants me, then she'll just have to come and get me. I'm not following no more bahirns - or whatever the heck you guys are called - anymore."
The guy just stood there, when he suddenly threw something at Syaoran. Catching it just in time before it hit his face, Syaoran stared at it, and found it to be a small glass container of some cream stuff in it. "It is balm for your skin," the soldier explained. "It helps heal and protect from the rays of the sun when it is too bright out here as well. Use it well. There is not very much in that small jar." And with those words, he turned around, ready to leave.
Before he went far, Syaoran yelled out, "Thanks, Mushi!"
He stopped for a second, then continued to walk off. "My name is not Mushi," he stated, loud enough for Syaoran to hear.
Syaoran's eyebrows furrowed in exasperation. "Then what is it?"
"It is not for you to know."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 12 - Shadow World
Tomoyo stared at the sign in the crossroads. "Can I call this irony?" she smiled at Yue. "Because this is extremely funny, since we both didn't know that we'd get off so easily." Looking at the sign, it showed the cities at each direction. "Now... Ms. Kaho said that we are trying to get to Lyrra, right? So we should go... This way." With those words, Tomoyo walked towards the direction of the path. She stopped when she saw that Yue did not move at all.
Turning around, she asked, "Yue?"
From where he stood, he looked at her, and nodded, and he followed her steps. "How long do you think that it'll take, Yue?" Tomoyo asked him.
"I truly do not have a notion at all," he told her. "All we can do is walk and see. Do not worry, though. After all, I think that Ruby Moon gave you enough for-"
"A month," Tomoyo laughed. "She was kind of angry though, when she realized that we would be going, and she was excluded and all. I guess that she was hoping to get some action or something. But since she couldn't, she probably just hoped that I would have a good time doing what I wanted. Of course, she wasn't exactly as lenient towards you..."
"Bah," he replied softly. "She is unruly like that, and not really much can hold her down. She is too similar to Cerberus... in an unfortunate way." That just got a laugh out of Tomoyo.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 11 - Shadow World
"Psst! Sakura! Wake up!" Sakura felt somebody shaking her shoulder violently. She whine softly as she opened her eyes, staring at the boy with glasses.
"It's still night, Eriol," she whispered grumpily. "What in the world do you want at this hour-" Suddenly, Eriol held a finger to her lips, silencing her.
"Hush," he shushed, then pointed up. "Look," he told her softly. "Somebody is up there."
Peering up, Sakura narrowed her eyes when she heard footsteps shuffling around up there, then mixed in with voices. 'They must be here somewhere.' 'Yeah. The Master said that they would be around this vicinity.' 'Magic. Probably hiding.' 'Well? Suck them out, then!'
Sakura turned to look at Eriol, who was already mumbling a spell with his staff out. Suddenly, Sakura felt the small room vibrate as the voices above started to move away from their position. She looked at Eriol, confusion on her face. "What did you do?" she asked. When he didn't answer her, Sakura bit her lip, scared that she had angered him again in some other way.
She waited for what seemed like forever, until she saw a drop of sweat trickle down his cheek. Suddenly, his staff fell from his grasp, and he collapsed to the floor. Crawling up to him, Sakura bit her lip. "Eriol?" she whispered, anxious for her friend's well-being. "Eriol, are you okay?!"
Looking up at her, he grinned. "I had to wake you up so that you'd know what was going on. After all, I didn't want to keep you not knowing, like before. You just didn't seem to like it when I did that. I was just moving us away from them," he explained. "And as I did, I got us closer to Syaoran, maybe even a ten miles or more. But I needed to concentrate at first, Sakura, so I couldn't answer you, do you understand? That took a lot of energy to even make it happen. And they won't be able to follow us. I made sure that all the magical energy I had spent would be cleaned up. So, as you can see, I had a lot to do at first, but at least we're going to be safe."
Hearing those words, Sakura sighed happily. "That's wonderful," she smiled. "Now come on; I'm ready to get back to sleep. It's been a strenuous adventure, you know."
"And it's not over yet," Eriol told her.
Sakura nodded, and watched as he crawled back into his sleeping bag. She bit her lip once more, and closed her eyes for a minute, watching as he immediately fell asleep. Using his magic must have exhausted him more that she had considered, she realized. Sakura, she had decided to come and get Syaoran back from whoever who kidnapped him. But so far, all she was able to do was watch as Eriol saved her time after time, and she didn't even have to raise a finger. It's... It just seems that Eriol was the one who came to save Syaoran, and she was only here along for the ride.
Dragging herself back to her own sleeping bag, she stayed awake, wondering what was happening to Syaoran so far. Oh... Syaoran... Please don't EVER make me do this again, to come search for you so hopelessly. I just feel so useless... Next time that you get kidnapped, make sure that I can be able to switch places with you...
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 16 - Shadow World
Syaoran gasped as he woke up, trying to take in a breath, but ended up trying his best to even try to breath. He wiped his brow, sweating, and then raked his fingers through his messy hair. Syaoran shook his head, and found that his thin blanket had been tossed to the floor in the process of his nightmare, most likely.
His dreams... A jumble of images. Or, at least that was how he remembered it. He remembered his lips on somebody else's. He remembered how something sharp went against his face. Then he remembered... He recalled pain. Pain of some sort. Syaoran pressed the base of his hand to his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to recollect more.
His eyes shot open when he evoked another image in his head. Shuddering a bit, his confused self wanted to know what it meant. Getting up, he got off of the bench he was sleeping on and shot off to Tgaeh's room.
Seeing his sleeping friend, he violently started to try to awaken him up. Shaking him up, Syaoran hissed, "Tgaeh! Tgaeh! I have a question! Please, come on, man. You have to get up!"
Moaning, Tgaeh turned around, and slowly sat up a bit. "Syaoran, of all the-! What in the world do you want at this time of the night?" he asked, obviously not in a good mood. "Is somebody at the door?"
Syaoran shook his head. "Tgaeh, I need you to explain to me what a Name means."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Day 15 - Shadow World
Sakura groaned as she stumbled in the hot sun, glaring happily down at their tortured bodies. The sand underneath burned their feet, and the sun smoldered into their heads. Oh, the lovely wonders of the desert. They had gotten out of the forests just about a day after their avoidances of the soldiers, and now stumbled into a desert. "Will we see grass ever again?" she gasped, her throat dried as it cried for water, and she turned to look at Eriol, who didn't seem to be happy about this as well.
"Then do you want to stop walking for a while and take a rest, Sakura?" he asked her, looking at her with concern. "You look as if you're going to faint or drop if you take another step."
Stubbornly, she walked a few more paces, and turned to look at him. "I'm fine, see?" she smiled. "We can continue on. I'm sure that we're getting closer. Closer to Syaoran..."
"Yes, and closer to exhaustion," Eriol persisted, still frowning at her stubbornness of not wanting to rest, even though the longing showed on her face. "Now come on. Let's-" Suddenly, he heard a loud sound of rumbling, and looked up towards the sky. Staring at it for a while, his eyebrows narrowed as he looked on at the blue sky, a bit confused. "Wow. Those clouds sure came out of nowhere..." he remarked.
Sakura looked up as well, her face straight up to the sky. "Well, maybe- ah!" she yelped, rubbing her eye as she felt something go into it. Seeing Eriol about to run up to her, maybe thinking that she was attacked or something, Sakura just stated with a shrug, "It was water that dropped into my eye." Suddenly, she gaped at her words. "Water?" she whispered.
Eriol held his hand in the air, palms up, and felt tiny drops of liquid starting to slap onto it. "Oh, wow..." he mumbled, looking at his friend. Then, a smile broke onto his face as he shouted, "It's starting to rain!"
Giggling, Sakura jumped around a bit in happiness as the drops started to fall more and more. And soon, it started to pour heavily onto their heads. Yet still, the two of them just stood there, laughing as they thanked the sky. "Thank GOD!" Sakura shouted, twirling in it. Then, she grinned at Eriol. "Let's go! Remember what we're supposed to be doing?"
"Um... Waltz to Carmen or some other classical music right now in joy?" Eriol guessed. When he saw Sakura starting to glare at him, Eriol chuckled. "Fine, fine. Let's get moving, then. Little Miss Happy just can't take a joke, ne."
"Yeah, well-" Sakura started, when another rumbling sound started to ignite. She almost lost her balance, when Eriol reached out and grabbed her arm so that she stayed on her feet. Staring off to the never-ending waves of sand, Sakura squinted her eyes to try to get a better view. Whatever the disturbance was, it was obviously something large and coming straight at them at a pretty fast speed. She looked at Eriol. "It is coming towards us, isn't it?" she whispered in a worried voice.
Eriol pursed his lips, and nodded his head. "Yes," he said softly. "Whatever it is, it's coming towards us. That means that they just won't let us stroll through these lands to the city, huh?" Looking around through the pouring rain, Eriol walked closer to Sakura, his eyes narrowing at the mysterious occurrence. "Stand close to me," he shouted to her over the rain. Then, he took out his staff, ready for whatever was to come. Clenching it hard in his hand, he did not speak any spells yet, in case it was just a passing earthquake. Then maybe he'd activate a shield of some sort.
The rumbling sound started to get louder, and louder as each second passed. Sakura cringed as she closed the gap between Eriol and her. She had no magic with her right now, so what could she do? Feeling a sense of uselessness once more, Sakura got closer to Eriol, and gripped the sleeve of his t-shirt.
All of a sudden, Sakura heard Eriol gave a gasp of a cry. "S... Sa... Sakura..." Eriol whispered to her, and he fell to the ground, his staff decreasing until it became to its miniature size. She lost her breath when it all happened, as if it were in slow motion, and the sound of the rumbling was push out of her mind. She watched as he dropped, an arrow piercing into his back, through to his stomach. Blood was not only coming from there, because for some reason, the red liquid was dripping down his head as well. Eriol's shirt was already starting to stain with the deep red color, and it soon enveloped Sakura's entire view, her hand over her mouth as she felt hot tears come to her eyes. The arrow was jabbed into him, and the blood kept coming, flowing. It kept coming, and coming... And that was all that her mind could take in as she watched helplessly. Her lips started to quiver as she slowly bent down to him. Gently and in a daze, she tried to shake him, finally getting her voice back.
"Eriol," she whispered, her voice quivering in shock, now gradually starting to shake him harder and harder. "Eriol, it's-it's me. Come on, Eriol. Stop joking. Please..." When he wouldn't wake, Sakura started to really go at it. "No..." she whimpered, ignoring how some of the red liquid was already starting to get on her hand. "No, you can't leave me. This ISN'T FUNNY!!!! ERIOL!!!!!!" she shrieked.
Unexpectedly, a person appeared right next to her, but she just continued to shake him, thinking, Oh, God. The blood. Look at the blood. It's all over him. And it's HIS blood, too. He's hurt. He's HURT. Eriol... Eriol... Eriol... "WAKE UP!!!" she cried. "Please, WAKE UP!!!!"
"He is not dead," the person stated. "Now come. Let us go."
Looking, and never hearing his words, Sakura saw that half of his body was not there. All she was able to do was look past him, and see the desert lands. "Illusions..." she uttered in a soft voice that was barely above a whisper. Illusions... Eriol couldn't see them because they were invisible... she realized. Then, she turned back to Eriol, ignoring the man standing in front of her, and placed her arms over his back, his blood drenching her sleeves, sinking in to cover her arms. "Eriol! Help!! Help me, Eriol!!" With those words, she cried into him, her head on top of her arms.
Suddenly, she found herself breathing fresh air, the smell of blood slightly away from her senses. Looking around, she found an arm wrapped around her waist, carrying her off. A horse. She could hear the hooves of a horse. Reaching her arm out, and her other trying to wring herself out of the man's grasp, she found herself crying, tears streaming down her face. She could see her outstretched hand, the blood dripping from it as the rain fell, clearing some of it away. Yet still, the blood was there, lingering on her as she was leaving him on the sand, for the rain could not take it all away. She could feel it on her arms, her shirt, her face. And it was all HIS blood. All Eriol's. None was hers at all. And right now, she was leaving him... Leaving him there till the all the blood in his body will leave him as well. "Eriol!" she screamed. "ERIOL!!!!"