Authors note: And I forgot to thank everyone earlier, but thank you all for the wonderful suggestions that u guys gave me. They got me thinking, and they are very helpful. And I didn't initially plan for the story to be so long, I was going to bring it an end earlier than this, but there was this one special idea from a reviewer, and I just HAD to put it in the story. Hehe.

Disclaimer: Eh …………u know the drill

Chapter Eight: When You Drop Things in a River

Tomoyo thought she hear a low growling sound. Her blood turned icy and she felt her heart stop. Apparently, Eriol heard it too because he also stopped. She felt him stiffen behind her. Slowly, Eriol and Tomoyo turned around.

In front of them stood a very hungry tiger, the same one that they encountered several days ago. It looked like it hadn't eaten for a few days, or perhaps, ever since it had first met Eriol and Tomoyo. The tiger eyed them greedily and angrily. Its eyes seem to tell them that they weren't going to get away this time. Tomoyo's blood stopped completely. She felt as if someone dumped a pool of icy water on her, and at the same time, someone pulled out a plug to her feelings and every good feeling was just drained out of her. This left her cold with all of her depressing emotions. She knew that this time, they weren't going to get lucky. There was no other tiger to distract each other this time.

Time seemed to stop. No one moved. Everything seemed to be engulfed in stillness. No one made a sound. The silence grew and grew until it was unbearably loud. Until it was exploding in their eardrums. Tomoyo wanted badly to break it, but didn't dare. It might cause the tiger to attack suddenly and they would surely not have any chance of escape.

Suddenly, without warning, the tiger pounced….

Tomoyo saw everything as if she was watching it in slow motion. The air was filled with deadly silence, and all seemed immobilized. Then, the tiger abruptly bared its teeth and bent its slender legs. With immense force, it pounced right in the direction of Eriol. Tomoyo watched and saw everything; the way the tiger's body arched towards Eriol, the way it extended its claws toward him, ready to bite him and tear him to pieces. But even though she was watching it, it seemed to take a little time for her to register that the tiger was going at Eriol and that she should try to save him before the tiger got to him.

When that thought did finally click, Tomoyo wanted to scream, to move, to do anything but stand there. But she couldn't; her feet felt weak, useless and heavy. They seemed to resemble some type of soft jelly, and she wondered how her feet could support her and weigh so much at the same time. She strained to lift her legs; it was so hard, it was like they were tied down to the ground. If only she could lift them a little bit, just a tiny bit, enough to reach Eriol and pull him out of harm's way. She tried and tried, but to no avail. Finally, after what seemed like ages and ages, when the tiger was just about to reach Eriol, Tomoyo's feet melted from its frozen state and she was able to move them again. Stepping forward enough to reach Eriol, she quickly reached out and grabbed his hand and pulled him hard.

Eriol stumbled and fell towards Tomoyo, making them both crash to the ground. The tiger flew by on top, barely missing them by a few inches. The tiger proved to have used too much force when it jumped, as it was planning on pinning at least one of them down. It hit a tree behind them with thrashing legs and paws, then fell to the ground in a heap of broken branches and its own legs. Immediately, it struggled to stand upright again.

On the ground near the tiger were Eriol and Tomoyo, also in a heap. Somehow, Tomoyo ended up partially on top of Eriol. How that happened was a complete mystery, as SHE was the one that pulled Eriol towards herself, so he should have fallen on top of her if they had fallen at all. She instantly got up and tried to pull him up as well.

"Eriol-kun? Eriol-kun, daijobu?" Tomoyo asked him, panicked. It was a miracle she managed that. Her throat was so dry and tight from the shock she just got when she saw the tiger barely miss them.

She swiftly helped him the rest of the way up to his feet.

"Daijobu Tomoyo….." was all Eriol said in response before looking back at the tiger.

The tiger was still struggling to untangle itself from the broken branches, but any second now, it would be free and after them again. They both knew very well that they could not outrun a tiger. They didn't even need to try; the mass of trees would just slow them down.

"What are we going to do Eriol-kun? We can't possibly outrun it! Is that even possible?" Tomoyo desperately asked, her royal purple eyes looking helpless. She couldn't think straight. All that was filling her mind was that they HAD to get off of the tiger-filled island. They couldn't keep on living, if it was even called living. It was more like existing for nothing, they weren't really hopeful that anyone was coming close to finding them, if, indeed, they were even looking for them. Whatever it was called, they just couldn't keep on doing whatever they were doing on this wrecked island anymore. How much longer can they keep it up anyway?

"Perhaps we CAN run, Tomoyo-chan…" Eriol answered in reply to Tomoyo's plea. "If we manage to get somewhere where the tiger cannot reach us…across a river or something…"

Not really with a sense of where to go but to find a place where the tiger can't reach them, Eriol and Tomoyo started running. They had a head start because the tiger was still trying to untangle itself, but the tiger was very fast, and it would catch up with them anytime. Rushing across the forest, they tried to lead a complicated trail so it would be difficult for the tiger to follow them.

Then, up ahead, a sound of rushing water reached their ears. It was a river.

"Eriol-kun, a river! Where are we going to go??!?!" Tomoyo was hysterical.

Behind them, Tomoyo heard the tiger making its way around the jungle. It was thrashing its way about, heard smashing small branches that were in the way. It obviously knew where they were, and it was extremely eager to catch them this time. The two had escaped once, and the tiger still had a chance to capture them before they got away again. The tiger knew this, and its stomach rumbled hungrily. (A/N: Um, do tigers' stomachs rumble if they're hungry?)

"I--" Eriol's sapphire orbs were combing their surroundings, trying to spot some way to get them to the other side. He came up empty, and was getting extremely desperate, when he felt something turn warm in his left pants pocket. That was the same pocket his Clow key was in……..that must mean……..the key was working again!

Hands springing into his pockets, Eriol pulled out his key. It was glowing at bright shade of gold and felt warm in his palm.

"Kami-sama, my key is working again!" Eriol was shocked beyond belief. At the same time, he was washed…no, drenched in waves of relief. They were saved! With the key, Eriol could save them and bring them back home! Of all the times that the Clow key could have started working again, it chose to do it now when they was on the verge of being eaten by a ferocious tiger.

Tomoyo just stood there staring at the glowing Clow key. She was speechless. The thought was just bouncing back and forth in her head, not really sinking in. The key is working again the key is working again! That meant that they were safe from the tiger; with the key, Eriol could produce a shield and protect them. That meant, more importantly, that they could finally get off of this wrecked island! Tomoyo finally understood, and was flooded with relief she hadn't felt for quite a long time.

Without any hesitation, Eriol chanted his incantation and the staff grew to its true size. Giving the wand a wave, Eriol produced a shield in front of them just as the tiger reached them and made another leap for them.

Once again, the tiger crashed into an unintended target. This time, it was the shield Eriol managed to produce in time.

Then, Eriol muttered some other incantations under his breath and the shield lifted off the ground and started to glide over the rushing river. The tiger watched in rage, but it was powerless to do anything about it.

As the shield reached the other side of the river, it slowly evaporated from sight, leaving the two a clear view of what this side of the river looked like. It was not very different from the side they were previously on. The same green, grassy, lush trees covered up most of the ground and many roots were tangle around and over each other.

Safe from the tiger now, Tomoyo started to relax, but was still shaken with all that had happened in less than an hour. Eriol had his Clow staff, which meant that he could bring them home, and the tiger was no longer a predicament either. All of a sudden, Tomoyo felt tired. All the excitement and stress had gotten to her and the jelly feeling of her legs hadn't entirely left yet. She walked to a nearby tree root and sank down on it weakly. Eriol returned his staff to its small form and made to sit down next to Tomoyo.

On his way to sit down next to Tomoyo, and in his exhaustion, Eriol didn't see a particularly high tree root sticking out of the ground. He tripped on it, and his arms flew in the air. But all that he caught was air, and the Clow key flew from his opened hands, and was on its way to the rushing river.

Tomoyo caught sight of all of this, and she saw a tiny golden gleam that she was sure was the Clow key, fall towards the river. It seemed to go extra slowly, as if giving them a chance to save it before it touched the water. Eriol didn't waste the opportunity. He was upright instantly, and ran over to the river at what rivaled the speed of light. He made a swipe at the key, but it slipped out of his hand like butter.

Tomoyo shot up from her seat on the tree, not quiet believing what she just witnessed. "Oh my god! Eriol, did I just see the Clow key fall into the water???!?!?! Please tell me I was just hallucinating!!!!!"

"KAMI-SAMA, THAT DID NOT JUST HAPPEN!!!!!"

TBC……….

A/N: review reivew review! Who can guess where this is going? *evil grin*