Whoadie: Hola! Well straight to a reviewer's question, yes Tomoyo and Eriol will be in this fic, can't leave them out! ^_^ Infact, they're in this very chapter too! What a coincidence! Heh heh ^_^;;; Well enjoy!

Roiben: No talking…*gags her*

Nicholas: *speaking to Syaoran on the other side of the bathroom door* No, we won't come out until our demands are met!

Syaoran: Which are?

Nicholas: A free large popcorn complete with Blue Raspberry icees for all of us at the movie Pirates of the Caribbean!

Syaoran: -_-;;;; is that all?

Nicholas: and higher wages!

Syaoran: How high?

Nicholas: 60% of the credit she gets from her reviewers

Syaoran: 20%

Nicholas: 45%

Syaoran: 30%

Nicholas: 35% or no deal

Syaoran: ah too high for me *walks away*

Whoadie: T~T *still gagged*

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//…// thinking

"…" talking



[..] elven language translated to English

Suffering

Chapter 6

She landed softly on the ground next to Li, who was busy sharpening his sword. He didn't bother to look up when he asked, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

She slowly began to raise herself from her crouching position, that she landed in so her legs could soak up the large drop from the VERY tall tree. "Affirmative."

He nearly cut himself on the sword from her answer, he was hoping for a more…detailed answer, one that didn't have 3 words or less. He had been getting the cold shoulder since the beginning of the trip and couldn't help but miss his old "army" companions bickering and meaningless chatter. Anything was better than the way she kept herself so locked up and distant. Almost as if she were afraid to show any emotion at all. "Well?"

"Well what?" she was slightly irritated at the time they had lost from her being knocked out, her argument with her dead brother, and his stupid whining about his mark. "What do you want now?"

He turned his cold amber eyes towards her, no one deserved the kind of treatment he was getting. "Oh I don't know, did you see some nice looking clouds while you were up there? Hmm? Perhaps one that looked like a cute fluffy bunny? It would have been really annoying if you actually TOLD me what it was you were looking for, but that's alright, I quite enjoy this little cold bitch attitude your giving me, it allows me to guess!" he mocked enthusiasm with every word.

She scowled at him, "If I saw anything that would be of great importance I would have informed you, human!" she was fed up with his alpha male dominance attitude.

"We're back to the human vs. immortal thing again? It would kill you to actually address me by my birth given name, wouldn't it?" he returned her glare.

"I pity the mother who birthed you, she should have-" she paused mid-sentence.

Li was on his feet with his sword raised so that the point of his blade was centimeters from her right eye. "Don't EVER talk about my mother like that…"

For once in her life, she was speechless. She could only blink her emerald eyes at the blade that would end her acute eyesight.

He sighed, sitting back down. He returned to busying himself by sharpening his blade. His eyes were narrowed as he concentrated on his task.

An uncomfortable silence rose as the two refused to speak. Sakura could only stare at Li with questioning eyes. //Why is he so upset over his mother? I wonder what became of his family…wait what do I care?//

As if reading her thoughts, Li spoke without looking at her, "My mother was killed, along with my 4 sisters."

"What about your father?" she hoped he wasn't a bastard, she would feel so embarrassed for her question.

"My father…he disappeared awhile ago," he stopped his sharpening. He slowly turned his head so that he could look at her from the corner of his eyes. "Killed…"

She shifted uneasily in his gaze. //Why is he looking at me like that?// "How can you be sure? He disappeared, you said."

"Well, I was only like…10 then I don't really remember my exact age, but I was sent by my mother to go fetch my father for dinner. He had been out to gather some medicine from the apothecary since Feimei was sick, she's my sister by the way. Night was falling fast but I could see him conversing with a few of our neighbors he passed by. That's when I witnessed a shadow looming behind him…and then he was gone."

"So you suspect this, shadowy figure killed your father?" she tried to make the question seem innocent and random but she couldn't help but feel like she was being accused of something.

"I do remember a distinct part of the, figure, that took him. It's eyes, they still haunt me in my dreams. Those predatory, empty, soulless green eyes…" (Whoadie: Make the connection from my earlier chapter about her first mission ever and her eyeing her prey at that village! With her talking to the dead Touya about it and all.)

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her now pale face, she had no reason to be scared if she wanted she could take down this human with no effort at all but for some reason all she could do was shiver from the cold rushing down her spine. "What would you do to the killer?"

He resumed his sharpening, lightening his accusing glare. "I would merely return the favor."

"I see…" she looked down at her hands. She stared down at them, almost picturing the blood of those she killed on them.

"She was elven…"

"She? It was dark you shouldn't have been able to tell!" it came out way to defensively, she immediately shut her mouth.

"Believe me, me being a guy, you can always find the feminine features even if you were blind."

"Well about her being elven…I'm sure you were mistaken."

"I'm sure I'm not, I know what I saw and I saw a strong pink aura that could only belong to an elf. My mother taught me enough to know the difference between human and elven auras."

"…." she was starting to fidget now, he was getting more and more accurate with her description.

"By the way, do you happen to know an Eriol?"

Sakura blinked back at him, how did he know about Eriol? He was elven, so how could Li possible know him? "Yes…why?"

He looked up, with the glare still on his face. Auburn locks of hair fell in front of his amber eyes. "Forget it..let's get going." He sheathed his sword, the click it made echoed in the silence. He stood up and turned his back to her.

"Right…" she stood also, heading in the direction of the very same village of her first hunt. Touya said it was a clue to where her family and the rest of the tribe was, so that's where she would start looking. Little did she know that she would encounter a painful past.

~~~Nicholas~~~

He walked along the line of tents his soldiers took refuge in. He snarled in disgust at the human smell that surrounded the camp,"Hopefully, this'll end soon." He stopped on the hill that overlooked the village ruins. Nothing but burnt wood and pieces of skeletons that were left behind from the animals, was all that was left.

He held the book out in front of him, "Let's see why the old man kept you locked away in the back of his puny library.." The book sat silently in his hands.

He tried opening it but it wouldn't budge. He tugged harder but it remained closed. He threw it a few yards away from him out of fury. "What the hell! I've seen Ying-fa open it numerous of times, so why can't I?"

"Sir, an elven girl and boy escaped the cages." a soldier said while approaching him.

"That's impossible! They should be near dead from the burning of the forest!" // I hold the book to keep me alive so how the hell are they living?!//

The soldier was silent, thinking carefully on how to answer this. "Well what of the girl you spoke of? How would she survive then?"

Nicholas smirked, "You don't know Ying-fa like I know her, she'd find a way to survive."

"Well the boy was carrying some sort of staff and it gave out tremendous amounts of energy. I think that's what keeps the boy going, maybe he's letting the girl tap into his aura so she can live as well."

Nicholas nodded in consideration, "Probably, but how could we overlook a boy and a staff?"

The soldier shrugged, "He didn't have it when he came in, it's almost as if he made it appear out of thin air." (Whoadie: ^_^;;;; ahem…)

"Send out a search party! Don't let the two live, kill them both. They're obviously a threat to us, one even carries a weapon. Now go!"

"Right away, sir." the soldier bowed then retreated back to camp.

He looked at the book that was lying silently on it's back, it seemed to mock him by just laying there. "Grrr, I need those cards!" He glared at the book then blinked. //An aura!// He walked closer to it, yes it was an aura indeed. //PINK!!! Ying-fa must be near by!// A malicious grin started to spread on his lips. //She could prove to be useful in more ways than one.//

He scanned the area as if trying to pluck her out from the tragic scenery. "I'm waiting here, Ying-fa!"

"You don't have to wait anymore…"

He whirled around only to get the point of a sword pressed against his neck. //Touché…//

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A/N: ^_^;;; Sorry about it being short and all but I'm really finding it difficult to find time to write these chappies. I shall try though.