Sakura moaned as she slowly came to.  She looked around at her surroundings.  She was in a jail cell lying on a dark and dank floor.  Next to her was a chained Talon and Kero. Kero, noticing she was awake came and licked her face. Sakura scratched his head. Standing up she looked around the cell.

"Where are we?" she asked out loud. 

"In my master's castle." Came the answer. Sakura squinted trying to make out who was talking to her.  It was a blond woman; on her shoulder was a black crow. 

Sakura looked at her through the bars.  She had medium length blond hair and blue eyes.  She was about her height and was wearing dark robes. 

"Why am I here?" Sakura asked. "And who are you?"

"My name is Alanna." she said. "And this is Faust." she added pointing to the crow.  "You are here because my master demands it."

"And why is my presence demanded?" Sakura asked, "And how long have I been unconscious?"

"You have been unconscious for about one day." Alanna said smirking.  "And as to your other question, you will find out soon enough."

With that Alanna turned and swept out of the room the crow perched on her shoulder.

"Wait, I'm not finished yet." Sakura called after her, but she was already out of hearing distance.

"Well I guess I am then." She said as she sat down in between Talon and Kero. She picked up the chains that held them to the floor.  "Lets see if we can't find a way to get these off." And with that she started trying to break them loose.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ryo was beside himself with worry when Sakura didn't come home later that day.  He got even more worried when he heard what happened that day from Sage.

"She went one way and I went the other, we were going to come right back here after that." Sage said.

"She should have been back by now. Why did you let her go off on her own?" Ryo yelled pacing the room. The entire group was in the living room trying to calm Ryo down.  He had been pacing for over an hour.

"Ryo," Sekmet said encouragingly. "Sakura is a big girl and a Ronin warrior; I think she is more than qualified to take care of herself."

"But what if she was out numbered?" Ryo asked worriedly.

"We don't even know if she was kidnapped." Cye pointed out.  "And again, Sakura is one of our best fighters; she wouldn't be taken by surprise that easily.

"She may not be kidnapped, but what if she's hurt and can't get home, or lying unconscious in a valley, or…" Ryo rambled on thinking of all the things that could have happened to her.

"Ryo… Ryo." Anubis said. "Calm down, your scaring yourself.  Besides Kero and Talon are missing also."

"That's right." Rowen added. "And I'm pretty sure that wherever Sakura is, they are there with her." Ryo calmed down, but didn't look convinced.

"Look, its getting late." Kento said softly.  "I'm sure she'll turn up tomorrow."

"And then we'll all laugh about how worried we were over nothing." Cale said.

"The best thing for us to do right now is get some rest." Mia said. The others nodded their agreement as they went upstairs to sleep.

Sleep evaded Ryo for a while, but he was finally able to fall asleep. But his dreams were full of nightmares.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*Ryo's Dream*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ryo stood looking out across the river and saw Sakura waving cheerfully at him. Ryo jumped across the river to join her.  The two ended up chasing each other with Sakura getting farther and farther ahead. He finally lost sight of her when he heard her scream.

"Sakura!" he yelled fearful of her safety as he ran harder towards where he had heard the scream. He came across her with her back to him. He ventured closer to her and touched her shoulder.

"Sakura are you okay?" he asked concerned. Sakura whirled around and grabbed his hand in a viselike grip.

"I am, but you won't be." Next he was falling into a black hole Sakura laughing maliciously as he fell. "Sakura!" he called as he fell. "SAKURA!"

Ryo woke up in a cold sweat. Now he was defiantly worried.

 *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Author's note- Ooooh I am so evil, Here's a nice little cliff hanger for all you readers.  Who is this Alanna girl and who is her master and what does she want with Sakura? You will all find out the answers soon. And remember the more reviews I get the faster the chapters come. ;)