Chapter five: Tempest; Part I

The next morning…

Tomoyo woke up feeling much better. She was still a little weak but she knew she would make it if the weather was good and she took care of herself. The first thing she saw was Eriol's sleeping face. She was thankful that Eriol had gotten stuck with her here or she would be having a very hard time by herself. She realized that she was getting used to spending the days with Eriol. The first thing Tomoyo saw everyday was Eriol's calm face. Eriol was starting to interrupt all of her thoughts. She liked Eriol, but she never really felt a desire to hold him or anything. She wondered if he felt the same way towards her. Tomoyo pushed that thought out of her mind. Instead, her thoughts drifted over to yesterday.

It was hell yesterday! All she could do was stay in her sleeping bag. The only good thing that came from yesterday was Eriol. He had stayed by her side the whole day; except when he went to get some wood to burn and when he went to get something to eat.

Tomoyo got up and reached for something to eat. They were starting to get low on food supply, she noticed. She started to feel worried, but tried not to think about it. They were still on the conserving food plan, so she didn't eat too much.

Afterwards, she looked into her sleeping bag for more things to unpack. Thoughts that she had the other day returned to her. How long would they be stuck here? How were the others at camp? Where were the tigers that wanted to eat them? Were they still after them? What were they going to do if the tigers attacked again? What was Tomoyo supposed to do on the days that they stayed here? What about their food supply? The amount of food in their bags came back to her. Another question that bothered her a lot was about her birthday. Was this year just going to go uncelebrated? Every year, she spent her birthday with her mom and friends. It was the one time that her mom didn't go to work. This time, her mom didn't even know where she was! The thought saddened her again. She pushed it away. Baka! I have to survive out here, how can I think of my birthday right now?

As she searched through her things, Tomoyo became more aware of herself and the environment. Today, she felt a lot better and much more energized. She was strong enough to actually walk somewhere in case they needed some food and much to her delight, the rain had stopped. There were still several clouds in the sky. They seemed to be moving in the most peculiar way; like in a circle. She hoped that they will eventually float away without more rainfall. The colors were so ugly with the rain pouring down on the beach and forest.

"I hope the charming colors of the beach and forest will return." She said to herself.

"And along with them, the animals…" A voice behind her added. Hiiragizawa. Tomoyo didn't realize that he was awake yet.

"Ohayo Eriol-kun! Thank you for taking care of me yesterday!"

"Ohayo gozaimasu Tomoyo. Do itashimashite." Eriol seemed grave. His usually cheerful face was plastered with a solemn expression. Come to think of it, Tomoyo hadn't seen Eriol with a happy face since they woke up and found themselves on the beach.

"What is it?"

"I'm afraid the tigers… will return… I hope that they found something else to eat…"

"Don't worry about them. I don't think they will return so soon." Tomoyo tried to change the subject. "Do you think it will rain today?"

Eriol just nodded.

"Mou, it will! Kami-sama, I was just starting to get better! Demo demo, naze desu ka?"

"Hai, so desu. Rain storms usually don't stay for just one day. I think that it only rained a portion of itself out. The rain will continue either today or early tomorrow. So you'd better start putting stuff in instead of taking things out. We might have to leave some things here if it rains today. And we might have to move to a safer place. A plastic cover won't do any good during a big thunderstorm. "

Then, there it was, the sound of the dangerous tempest starting above the ocean. Dark clouds hovered over at an unbelievably rate. The rumble of thunder started. Angry and ferocious wind started blowing. Several light items were lifted off the ground and blew away into the forest. Trees started to quaver creating a soft rustling noise. Several wild animals that Tomoyo didn't even know were around them started to run into the forest in a panic.

Everything was happening too fast. Before Tomoyo could even say a word, the tempest was starting. She couldn't comprehend what was going on. She couldn't believe it. The rain storm yesterday was bad enough…

"Kami-sama, look out at sea, a small hurricane is starting! Hayaku Tomoyo, we must get somewhere safe."

"Shinjirarenai! I thought it stopped already." Tomoyo looked closer at the ocean. But Eriol was right; a hurricane was slowly, but surely, starting. "Nani shite hoshi?"

"Pack, we're leaving." Eriol told her.

Both of them as quickly as possible packed what they could and began to get ready to leave. Tomoyo got into her warmest jacket and grabbed an emergency bag that she had packed for the field trip in case something happened. It was equipped with survival gear for two. Eriol pulled on a thick jacket and decided to carry some wood with him to burn in case it got too cold.

"We must find somewhere to put our things before the rain starts, too! We'll never survive out here after the storm if we have nothing!" Eriol was extremely urgent.

"Hai, let's find a safe place to leave our things and find another safer place to hide." Tomoyo was just as urgent as Eriol. She was determined not to lose to a hurricane. She had a life to live and it wasn't ending here!

Eriol and Tomoyo dragged their things under a circle of closely grown trees. It seemed the perfect place to hide their things. Tomoyo hoped that the trees wouldn't be a lightning rod and get struck by lightning. They didn't have time to think about the strange coincidence that the trees were there in the first place. They hurriedly looked for a place to hide themselves.

By miracle or magic, a mountain rose up in front of them as they moved closer into the forest. In front of it was an opening, like a cave. Eriol was surprised. If he had known that it was there, he would have had them setting in there even if there was no storm. It would protect them from stray animals as long as they could prevent them from coming in.

The rain started to pour. It soaked to their skin but they had to ignore it. Their goal was to reach the cave first. The hurricane finished forming and started its way toward the beach as if it were chasing them. Water was splashing in waves everywhere and came up the beach and overflowed to the forest. The trees shook more than ever. Lightning started to flash near the trees.

"Uh-oh…" Tomoyo was surrounded by trees, if lightning struck near her…

"Tomoyo, try to stay covered and if lightning strikes near by, be careful. Try to get to the cave as soon as possible. We'll be safe in there." Eriol was tremendously worried. He had promised to keep her safe.

Tomoyo nodded. She focused on the cave. The entrance was coming into view. She was nearly there…

Suddenly, lightning flashed and Tomoyo heard the sagging sound of a tree falling over. She looked up and a giant palm tree with an immense trunk was starting to fall in on her. Its shape cast a dark shadow around her. She screamed…

TBC…

A/N: A cliffhanger! please review!