Hey! Sorry for the wait, I was really busy with a bunch of end of the term
school projects this last weekend. But the good news is that I'll probably
get two more chapters updated on the holiday this weekend.
Thanks so much for all the great reviews, I'm so glad everybody enjoyed the last chapter's ending. I wasn't quite sure about it, but you guys seemed to like it! Need to type some responses here..
Ciara(): Thankies^^. That's one of the compliments I seem to be getting a lot, and it I never get tired of reading it! I plan on making this story a long one too..
Anjuliet: Thanks so much for your review! I had so much fun in San Francisco! We went to all the piers, it was really nice. Thanks for the compliments, and congratulations on being my only reviewer with a map of Ch'ien. Sorry if it didn't turn out very clear, my scanner is a piece of junk.
AnimeObsessionFantasy: Definitely, I love lunch time!^_~
FirexAngel: Thanks for the enthusiastic review! I love getting new reviewers, especially when they enjoy my story so much!^^
Star Cherry: Don't worry about the screenames, I got other suggestions. Thanks for the praise. You're a good author too! Update your story soon^^.
Sakurapetalsntears: YEAH! Go Sakura! She kicks butt! Lol, yep, Syaoran is pretty clueless, but you have to give him a break, this was his first time in Ch'ien since he was little..
Stargirl-rebels: I'm sooo glad I could waste your math class like that, lol. I LOVED your praise!!!^^ Gimme more, pls! Also, I loved your name for Ayna, so congratulations, that's her screename now! Hope you like this chapter, and keep on coming with those praises, ^_^
Disclaimer: I do not own the CCS characters and certain ideas from this story were inspired by .Hack//Sign.
Here's Chapter 5 of Real Love is Just a Dream; bThe Wolf under the Cherry Treeb ....................................
"I can't believe I forgot to tell Sakura that there was a half-day today! I hope she's already in Ch'ien.I'd really rather not call, Touya always answers the phone and gives me a lecture about encouraging Sakura to visit here!" Tomoyo sighed. She kicked a pebble down the road, idly starring up at the bright blue sky.
Eriol watched the small stone bounce ahead on the worn path. "I'm sure she's already here. She almost always is, and Halma could have had her working today."
Tomoyo shook her head. "Nah, not in this heat. Nobody would try traveling through the Hagden on a day like this."
"Well, either way, she spends the majority of her time here. Chances are it won't matter that you forgot to tell her. Now all we have to do is find her.." Eriol fingered a silver cara in his pocket.
Tomoyo nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard, if she's not working then she'll be training out in the woods. But first I wanna grab some lunch and meet Rita, and then we'll go find Sakura."
Eriol watched as a figure approached them from one of the cottages on the outskirts of Souta Village. "How many times do I have to tell you, use our screenames!" he scolded softly, his eyes still watching the figure.
Tomoyo rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "You're just like Sakura,..I mean Cherry Blossom. If nobody can hear us, what's the big deal?" she asked, not expecting a response as she tried to discern who was heading towards them.
"So you want to meet Star Saber after, or before we eat?"
"Rita said she'd meet us at the totoyo* stand. We'll just grab something to eat there."
(AN: totoyo is a type of Ch'ien food; much like a cinnamon bun with lots of sugar)
"Hey! Amethyst Blade! Clow Shadow!" the figure yelled.
Tomoyo smiled. She'd recognize that sultry voice anywhere. "Hey SwordSoul" she greeted when he reached the pair.
SwordSoul grinned playfully. "How many times do I have to tell you, it's Kiran."
Now Tomoyo grinned and glanced at Eriol. "Ask him. He's the one who's always telling me to use screenames."
Eriol narrowed his eyes teasingly. "And since when have you started listening to me?"
Tomoyo placed her hands on her hips and pouted with mock hurt. "What are you talking about? I always listen to you." She said, a hint of sarcasm lining her voice.
Eriol decided to ignore her and instead responded by turning his attention to Kiran. "So, anything interesting happen here since yesterday?" he asked, knowing full well that hardly anything happened in this town.
Kiran's smiled disappeared and he hesitated before replying. "Well, actually, yeah. I guess you could say something interesting happened."
Eriol and Tomoyo both looked surprised. Souta Village was known for its privacy and because of its lack of dungeons or temples, it rarely attracted villagers. It really only held people trying to attempt a simple life, without the tragedy of the nuclear war hanging over their heads like an ominous cloud.
"Really?" Tomoyo asked. She suddenly grinned and whipped out her camera. "What happened?!" she asked excitedly as her camera lens zoomed in on Kiran's face.
Kiran sweatdropped anime style. "Well, two things actually. First, one of the local bandit gangs around here was found a little while ago, all beaten up and bloodied. They were up on one of the hills near the Hagden Woods."
Tomoyo saw a flash of worry cross Kiran's eyes when he mentioned the woods. She smiled reassuringly. "I doubt that Halma was involved. Even if she was, she can take care of herself. She's one of the toughest girls I know"
Kiran blushed slightly at the fact that he'd been so obvious. He continued, "the gang was mainly just a bunch of lackeys, led by an idiot named Matak. I hear he was working for some rich guy by the name of Kinoti. You guys ever heard of him?"
Tomoyo shook her head, and Eriol started to as well, but a thought hit him on the spot. "Actually, I think I remember reading that a business man called Kinoti was claiming to have possession of a Rayna Weapon. That's all I know though."
Kiran considered this fact for a moment before continuing. "I don't know if that's true, but whoever those guys are, they won't be roaming the hills for a while. Whoever they ran into did a heck of a number on those two."
Tomoyo shifted her weight from one leg to another. "What about the other thing?"
Kiran's brow furrowed for a moment before his face cleared with comprehension. "Oh, yeah, that really wasn't much of anything, I just found a new player out on the hills. I don't know, something was odd about him.. I'm probably just being paranoid or something." He dismissed.
Tomoyo nodded, but Eriol persisted. "A new player? That's kind of odd, there aren't many new players these days, most people who plan on coming in have already joined. Was he a little kid?"
Kiran shook his head. "nope, that was the weird part. I'd say he was about 18, maybe 19 years old."
Eriol frowned. "Did he tell you his name?" Kiran nodded and started to answer when he was interrupted by a loud yelp erupting from the nearby ridge of the Hagden Woods. The three of them were far enough outside of town that they were the only ones who could hear the distant yelp echoing off of the cliff walls on the west side of the forest.
Tomoyo instinctively reached for Eriol's hand. "Please tell me it's just me when I say that noise sounded an awful lot like Kero." She asked worriedly.
Eriol nodded regrettably, capturing her hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "I think you're right, come on, it came from the western cliff faces." Eriol said, breaking into a run up the grassy hill, leading Tomoyo by the hand as Kiran brought up the rear.
'Please let Halma be okay' Kiran thought.
'Please let Sakura be okay' Tomoyo thought.
Eriol most likely would have been thinking the same things if his thoughts weren't already mulling over what Kiran had told him. 'I wonder if there's a connection..' ....................................
"WHAT!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'VE BEEN 'DISPOSED OF'?!"
The messenger cowered under the man's fierce gaze. "I'm sorry, sir, but the 22 men who were found today match the descriptions you gave me. They were all viciously cut down; it's a miracle that they're still alive."
"But how the hell di...wait...22 men?"
The messenger nodded furiously. "Yes sir, all 22 of them. All of them between25 and 35 years old, with the exception of three lanky thirteen year olds that you described as well. A man named Matak seemed to be their leader. He told officials that they were attacked by a huge guy with two gleaming swords when they ambushed two younger women with their mutt. They said the guy was too fast for them to see clearly, so the officials don't have any idea who it was. So far the guys haven't said anything regarding you know what, but the administrators have some pretty convincing methods of persuasion, and Matak's gang aren't the most loyal bunch of thieves. They'll sell out pretty quick if nothing is done."
"Yes, yes, I'm very aware of that. You needn't worry yourself about that. Are you completely sure that there were only 22 of them?"
The messenger nodded, a little hesitantly this time. "Yes, quite sure. Is there something wrong?"
The messenger got no reply. But a slight wind carried the sound of a whisper to his ears from the shadows before him.. "Biret...there may be some hope after all...." ....................................
"Kero you stupid mutt! I told you not to move!"
The gray and white dog skulked back to Halma's feet, skirting the small patch of dirt where the bullet had hit and whimpering with his tail between his legs.
"Kero, I swear, if you weren't Blossom's mutt, I'd feed you to the mountain lions and the mi'hen fangs*". (AN: A Mi'hen Fang is a type of mythological wolf only existing in Ch'ien.)
Halma groaned. This was starting to annoy her. She'd chased Kero down the hill only to find Sakura starring at a young man hanging from a tree branch with a hard-faced thief threatening to cut the branch down. When Kero had seen Sakura, the foolish dog had bounded over towards her, only to be stopped in his tracks when Biret, as Halma recalled the other bandits had called him, had pulled a small handgun from the inside of his cape and shot at Kero's feet. The poor dog had yelped in fright before jumping back to the safety of an over turned log.
'At least Sakura's back to reality' she thought.
Apparently the bullet shot had pierced through whatever fog Sakura's mind had been in, and now she'd moved out from behind the juniper bush, her hands resting carefully on the hilts of her kodachi's.
It seemed that the young man had woken up too, and was now glaring fiercely at the young bandit while trying unsuccessfully to move back along the branch toward the cliff.
'If only he didn't have that stupid handgun' Halma thought, frowning. They could have easily taken this guy out, if not for the gun. She grudgingly admitted that if it hadn't been for that stupid mutt, they never would have known what was hiding beneath the man's cape.
"Stop squirming around, 'else you'll find yourself farther down this cliff face then you want to be" Biret advised, watching as Syaoran reluctantly stopped moving. Biret turned back to the two women in front of him.
.......Biret's POV
'Shit, this wasn't supposed to happen' Biret cursed, watching the two young women standing warily about 20 feet away from him.
' It's a good thing Tirak lent me his handgun this morning' he thought grimly. 'Now what? That other woman doesn't seem the real sympathetic type to me, and if she doesn't fall for this then I'm not gonna get out of here alive. I guess I've got no choice, better hope that this other one can convince her to be a humanitarian today'
"You two take one step closer and this man will never see the light of day again."
.......Sakura's POV.
Sakura cursed under her breath. She had a chance to get this guy out of this predicament and she'd wasted it by making goo goo eyes at a total stranger. 'What's wrong with me?!' she thought, shaking her head of the image of those two amber eyes gazing at her. Now this guy had a gun and a hostage.
'Perfect, Sakura, just perfect. Not only have you just sealed this guy's fate, but quite possible your own as well. Not to mention Halma and Kero.' Sakura groaned inwardly. All she had wanted to do was enjoy a nice toyoto and rice meal at a quiet little marketplace in the village, and now she was playing negotiator with a man who could quite possibly be insane or worse. And where had he managed to get a handgun in Ch'ien? They didn't make those here! He must be a pretty talented hacker, or at least be acquainted with one. Maybe this Kinoti guy had connections.
Sakura shook her head once more to clear her mind. None of that mattered now. She still had a chance to get everyone out of here without a scratch..
.......Syaoran's POV.
Syaoran cursed under his breath. What the hell was he thinking?! He was dangling from an 80 foot drop with a man sticking a sword point at his throat, and he was starring at a girl! He never acted this way! Syaoran shook his head. It must be all the blood rushing from my head or something, he figured.
Syaoran glanced back reluctantly, watching the mysterious girl standing determinedly in front of the other woman and the dog, watching the thief with a calculating look. She looked to him like a pebble trying to stop a tsunami of waves crashing down upon it. Nevertheless, she stood proudly, her jaw set. He'd never seen anyone so beautiful in his entire lifetime. She was someone who wasn't going to give up, which greatly relieved Syaoran considering she seemed to be his only hope of getting out of this alive.
For the hundredth time that day, he thought, 'I am never listening to Mei Lin again...'
....................................
"Biret, isn't it?" Sakura called out to the red-haired young man.
Biret nodded suspiciously. "What's my name got to do with anything?"
Sakura shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing, just thought I should know the name of the man I'm about to kill, that's all."
Biret scoffed at her response. "Yeah right, I'm not falling for your stupid bluffs."
"Who said anything about a bluff? If she won't kill you, I sure as hell will! Hostage or no hostage!" Halma yelled, starting to get very irritated as her stomach growled.
Sakura ignored her. "Look, I'd rather not kill you, I happen to be very hungry and would like to be on my way as soon as possible, if you don't mind, so could we just wrap this up quickly? What do you want?"
Biret wasn't as stupid as Matak and the others. He knew what she was doing, and yet was surprised none the less. He'd highly underestimated this girl. She was actually trying to put pressure on him to make decisions quickly. This girl knew her stuff..
"What do I want? Oh, I don't' know..peace on earth, I suppose,..an end to world hunger.. You know, all the usual crap that everyone says they care about."
Sakura frowned. It wasn't working on him. She'd have to try a different approach.
"Really? So if I go join some anti-terrorist group that feeds the homeless, you'll let this guy go?" she asked innocently, a cute smile on her face.
Biret grunted incoherently.
Sakura sighed. "Look, you and I both know that you're at a loss right now. You came down the road, looking for a way out of getting the crap beaten out of you, and found some defenseless (hehe, she called Syaoran defenseless) victim to use as a hostage because you're slightly more intelligent than your perverted comrades up on that hill. So now you've got a gun pointed at two, well-know woods guides and a sword about to send a man to his death down the side of a cliff. Yet, you still haven't killed us. So I'm guessing you'd rather avoid that situation about as much as I would. So what I suggest is a compromise." She said bluntly.
Biret and Syaoran looked surprised. Neither of them had expected this girl to be this reasonable. She only looked to be 16 or 17, and yet she made this whole thing seem ridiculously foolish. (AN: Which it is).
Biret lowered his sword ever so slightly, gazing suspiciously at the mysterious girl in front of him. "Compromise?"
Sakura nodded. "A compromise. You let that guy down and let him go, and we'll talk."
Biret's gaze darkened. "No way."
Sakura sighed. "Alright, what if we just let you go, and we'll cut him down?"
Biret shook his head. "How do I know you won't go back to the officials and have them put a bounty on my head? You've already seen me long enough to have a pretty good description, and I'd rather not get a new screename."
"Look, on my word, I won't give you away to any authorities, and neither will my friend here. Believe me, I never go back on my word." She said proudly.
Somehow Biret knew she was telling the truth. Still..
"no"
Sakura crossed her arms exasperatedly. "look, the officials will be here soon, no matter what we do. They'll have heard that gunshot and Kero's yelp, so you don't exactly have many choices, now do you?"
Biret had been thinking the same thing. "Which is why you're going to be my alibi."
Now it was Sakura's turn to be suspicious. "What?"
"When the officials get here, you're going to tell them that I'm your brother, and that we were out hiking when we heard a gunshot and ran over to this spot to see what was going on, but by the time we arrived, there was no sign of anybody."
Halma placed her hands on her hips. "And how do you suppose you're going to explain him?" she pointed to poor Syaoran, still dangling from the branch.
Biret slipped the Ragara sword back into an old leather sheath at his side and pointed the gun at Syaoran's head. "Make any sudden moves, and I'll shoot you so fast you're life won't even have time to flash before your eyes."
Syaoran nodded grudgingly, glaring at his captor. Biret slowly untied Syaoran's bonds with one hand, the other hand pointed at his head.
"Hold onto the branch" Biret commanded.
Syaoran complied reluctantly, grabbing onto the branch as the rope slowly fell from his wrists and down to the steep depths below. He slowly climbed back along the branch and finally down the trunk till his feet hit the ground. Syaoran sighed, relishing the feel of the ground beneath his feet again. Suddenly he felt a gunpoint at his back. He groaned inwardly.
Biret took out another rope and tied Syaoran's hands behind his back, slipping the gun beneath his cape so the officials wouldn't see it.
"See?" Biret said, showing off his handiwork. "The officials come by, we tell them that we don't know anything, and we leave. You take me out as far as the outskirts of Souta, and we both go our separate ways. No harm done. We got a deal?"
Halma glared at the bandit. "Deal? Who the hell do you think we are?! We're not stupid enough to go lying to the officials and letting a criminal get off s..."
"Deal" Sakura interrupted, holding her hand out.
Halma's jaw dropped. "Cherry Blossom! What the hell are you thinking! We can't help this guy!"
Sakura turned to her boss. "Got any better ideas?"
Halma glanced at Syaoran.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Got any better ideas that don't involve sacrificing someone?"
Syaoran glared at Halma. He already didn't like her.
Halma grunted in response.
Biret nodded, extending out his hand and capturing Sakura's in a firm grip. "Deal."
Something in Syaoran's heart jumped as he watched Biret shake Sakura's hand.
Halma glowered at Biret and was about to say something when Kero barked.
The four of them turned around to come face to face with a group of 15, green and brown suited muscle men with green caps that carried the insignia 'Rayn's Knights' in gold calligraphy.
One of the men stepped forward, slipping a small patch with a familiar symbol embroidered onto it out for them to see. "My name is Official Mentok, of the First Division of Rayn's Knights. We need to ask you some questions."
....................................
Tomoyo clutched at Eriol's cape as she whipped around at the sound of a nearby bush rustling. "Clow Shadow, something's coming out of those bushes!"
Eriol slipped unconsciously in front of Tomoyo, his hand on the saber at his hip.
"Don't attack! Don't attack! We just need to ask you some questions." A voice yelled as a figure in a brown and green suit stepped out of the bushes.
Eriol lifted his hand away from his side. "What kind of questions?" he asked suspiciously.
The man laughed. "Why is everyone in this area so suspicious? I could have sworn the young lady I just talked to said the exact same thing when I asked her. I'm Official Mentok, of the First Division of Rayn's Knights. We heard a gunshot and a yelp, I guess you could call it, and came up to investigate. Earlier today, 22 men were discovered beaten and bloodied, so forgive us if we seem a bit on edge."
Kiran nodded, a sinking suspicious settling in the bottom of his mind. "We heard about that. When we heard the gunshot, we were just at the bottom of the hill, so we raced up here. You can even ask my sister, we weren't here when the shot went off. My sister was watching us from a window in our cottage."
Official Mentok nodded. "No, that's quite alright. We don't think it's you, we just want to make sure you haven't seen anything else. It's kind of difficult to get a story straight when everybody you run into seems to have the same story."
"Excuse me?" Eriol asked.
Official Mentok gestured back towards the trees he'd come from. "We ran into a group of four people a little while ago who said basically the same thing, that they had heard the shot and come to investigate. One of them had quite an attitude though, the one who I mentioned before."
Kiran considered a moment. "Did this young lady happen to have a long, blond braid and blue eyes with a blue tunic on?"
Official Mentok nodded, immediately suspicious. "You know her?"
Kiran waved his hand dismissively. "She's a guide out here, so it's no surprise that she was there first."
Eriol stopped. A group of four people...
"Who else was in the group, might I ask?"
Official Mentok considered a moment. "Well, the other young lady had auburn hair and green eyes."
"That's Cherry Blossom, she's another guide." Tomoyo reassured.
"And there was young man with messy brown hair and oddly colored eyes, kinda like tree sap.."
Kiran nodded, turning to Tomoyo and Eriol. "That's Little Wolf, the new player I mentioned. He wanted to find another town, so I sent him up to Crimson Heart to ask her."
Eriol thought the description sounded vaguely familiar, but he dismissed it. "And the other one?"
"Oh, yeah, he said he was the auburn-haired one's brother. Had spikey red hair and tawny eyes."
Tomoyo frowned. "But, Cherry Blossom doesn't have a brother..."
Official Mentok's face paled. "What?!
Kiran thought for a moment.red hair..tawny eyes..
"That description sounds like a guy I've met before, I think his name was Biret. My sister introduced him to me..but he disappeared after a few days..my sister said something about him meeting his boss." Kiran froze, turning to Eriol.
"Kinoti"
Official Mentok's eyes widened at the mention of that name. He grabbed a two-way radio from his belt and hurriedly turned it on, bringing it up to his face and yelling into the microphone.
"Men! We have a big problem! Spread and search! Find those four and bring them back here!!!"
....................................
Note: Officials of Rayn's Knights are like the police of the administrators of Ch'ien. They don't have screenames, just one word code names.
So, what did ya think? This chapter is pretty long, for some reason. I was trying to finish it quickly, so sorry if some parts seem sloppy or rushed. Please Review!!!!!
*note: I still need a screen name for Syaoran's sister Fuutie.
Please send me any questions, ideas, or suggestions you might have. And best of all, praise!! Or even better, writer's feedback!! Send me all your wonderful reviews! Ja Ne!
~Vixie.
Next Chapter: A Winged Escape and the Journey Begins.
Thanks so much for all the great reviews, I'm so glad everybody enjoyed the last chapter's ending. I wasn't quite sure about it, but you guys seemed to like it! Need to type some responses here..
Ciara(): Thankies^^. That's one of the compliments I seem to be getting a lot, and it I never get tired of reading it! I plan on making this story a long one too..
Anjuliet: Thanks so much for your review! I had so much fun in San Francisco! We went to all the piers, it was really nice. Thanks for the compliments, and congratulations on being my only reviewer with a map of Ch'ien. Sorry if it didn't turn out very clear, my scanner is a piece of junk.
AnimeObsessionFantasy: Definitely, I love lunch time!^_~
FirexAngel: Thanks for the enthusiastic review! I love getting new reviewers, especially when they enjoy my story so much!^^
Star Cherry: Don't worry about the screenames, I got other suggestions. Thanks for the praise. You're a good author too! Update your story soon^^.
Sakurapetalsntears: YEAH! Go Sakura! She kicks butt! Lol, yep, Syaoran is pretty clueless, but you have to give him a break, this was his first time in Ch'ien since he was little..
Stargirl-rebels: I'm sooo glad I could waste your math class like that, lol. I LOVED your praise!!!^^ Gimme more, pls! Also, I loved your name for Ayna, so congratulations, that's her screename now! Hope you like this chapter, and keep on coming with those praises, ^_^
Disclaimer: I do not own the CCS characters and certain ideas from this story were inspired by .Hack//Sign.
Here's Chapter 5 of Real Love is Just a Dream; bThe Wolf under the Cherry Treeb ....................................
"I can't believe I forgot to tell Sakura that there was a half-day today! I hope she's already in Ch'ien.I'd really rather not call, Touya always answers the phone and gives me a lecture about encouraging Sakura to visit here!" Tomoyo sighed. She kicked a pebble down the road, idly starring up at the bright blue sky.
Eriol watched the small stone bounce ahead on the worn path. "I'm sure she's already here. She almost always is, and Halma could have had her working today."
Tomoyo shook her head. "Nah, not in this heat. Nobody would try traveling through the Hagden on a day like this."
"Well, either way, she spends the majority of her time here. Chances are it won't matter that you forgot to tell her. Now all we have to do is find her.." Eriol fingered a silver cara in his pocket.
Tomoyo nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard, if she's not working then she'll be training out in the woods. But first I wanna grab some lunch and meet Rita, and then we'll go find Sakura."
Eriol watched as a figure approached them from one of the cottages on the outskirts of Souta Village. "How many times do I have to tell you, use our screenames!" he scolded softly, his eyes still watching the figure.
Tomoyo rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "You're just like Sakura,..I mean Cherry Blossom. If nobody can hear us, what's the big deal?" she asked, not expecting a response as she tried to discern who was heading towards them.
"So you want to meet Star Saber after, or before we eat?"
"Rita said she'd meet us at the totoyo* stand. We'll just grab something to eat there."
(AN: totoyo is a type of Ch'ien food; much like a cinnamon bun with lots of sugar)
"Hey! Amethyst Blade! Clow Shadow!" the figure yelled.
Tomoyo smiled. She'd recognize that sultry voice anywhere. "Hey SwordSoul" she greeted when he reached the pair.
SwordSoul grinned playfully. "How many times do I have to tell you, it's Kiran."
Now Tomoyo grinned and glanced at Eriol. "Ask him. He's the one who's always telling me to use screenames."
Eriol narrowed his eyes teasingly. "And since when have you started listening to me?"
Tomoyo placed her hands on her hips and pouted with mock hurt. "What are you talking about? I always listen to you." She said, a hint of sarcasm lining her voice.
Eriol decided to ignore her and instead responded by turning his attention to Kiran. "So, anything interesting happen here since yesterday?" he asked, knowing full well that hardly anything happened in this town.
Kiran's smiled disappeared and he hesitated before replying. "Well, actually, yeah. I guess you could say something interesting happened."
Eriol and Tomoyo both looked surprised. Souta Village was known for its privacy and because of its lack of dungeons or temples, it rarely attracted villagers. It really only held people trying to attempt a simple life, without the tragedy of the nuclear war hanging over their heads like an ominous cloud.
"Really?" Tomoyo asked. She suddenly grinned and whipped out her camera. "What happened?!" she asked excitedly as her camera lens zoomed in on Kiran's face.
Kiran sweatdropped anime style. "Well, two things actually. First, one of the local bandit gangs around here was found a little while ago, all beaten up and bloodied. They were up on one of the hills near the Hagden Woods."
Tomoyo saw a flash of worry cross Kiran's eyes when he mentioned the woods. She smiled reassuringly. "I doubt that Halma was involved. Even if she was, she can take care of herself. She's one of the toughest girls I know"
Kiran blushed slightly at the fact that he'd been so obvious. He continued, "the gang was mainly just a bunch of lackeys, led by an idiot named Matak. I hear he was working for some rich guy by the name of Kinoti. You guys ever heard of him?"
Tomoyo shook her head, and Eriol started to as well, but a thought hit him on the spot. "Actually, I think I remember reading that a business man called Kinoti was claiming to have possession of a Rayna Weapon. That's all I know though."
Kiran considered this fact for a moment before continuing. "I don't know if that's true, but whoever those guys are, they won't be roaming the hills for a while. Whoever they ran into did a heck of a number on those two."
Tomoyo shifted her weight from one leg to another. "What about the other thing?"
Kiran's brow furrowed for a moment before his face cleared with comprehension. "Oh, yeah, that really wasn't much of anything, I just found a new player out on the hills. I don't know, something was odd about him.. I'm probably just being paranoid or something." He dismissed.
Tomoyo nodded, but Eriol persisted. "A new player? That's kind of odd, there aren't many new players these days, most people who plan on coming in have already joined. Was he a little kid?"
Kiran shook his head. "nope, that was the weird part. I'd say he was about 18, maybe 19 years old."
Eriol frowned. "Did he tell you his name?" Kiran nodded and started to answer when he was interrupted by a loud yelp erupting from the nearby ridge of the Hagden Woods. The three of them were far enough outside of town that they were the only ones who could hear the distant yelp echoing off of the cliff walls on the west side of the forest.
Tomoyo instinctively reached for Eriol's hand. "Please tell me it's just me when I say that noise sounded an awful lot like Kero." She asked worriedly.
Eriol nodded regrettably, capturing her hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "I think you're right, come on, it came from the western cliff faces." Eriol said, breaking into a run up the grassy hill, leading Tomoyo by the hand as Kiran brought up the rear.
'Please let Halma be okay' Kiran thought.
'Please let Sakura be okay' Tomoyo thought.
Eriol most likely would have been thinking the same things if his thoughts weren't already mulling over what Kiran had told him. 'I wonder if there's a connection..' ....................................
"WHAT!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'VE BEEN 'DISPOSED OF'?!"
The messenger cowered under the man's fierce gaze. "I'm sorry, sir, but the 22 men who were found today match the descriptions you gave me. They were all viciously cut down; it's a miracle that they're still alive."
"But how the hell di...wait...22 men?"
The messenger nodded furiously. "Yes sir, all 22 of them. All of them between25 and 35 years old, with the exception of three lanky thirteen year olds that you described as well. A man named Matak seemed to be their leader. He told officials that they were attacked by a huge guy with two gleaming swords when they ambushed two younger women with their mutt. They said the guy was too fast for them to see clearly, so the officials don't have any idea who it was. So far the guys haven't said anything regarding you know what, but the administrators have some pretty convincing methods of persuasion, and Matak's gang aren't the most loyal bunch of thieves. They'll sell out pretty quick if nothing is done."
"Yes, yes, I'm very aware of that. You needn't worry yourself about that. Are you completely sure that there were only 22 of them?"
The messenger nodded, a little hesitantly this time. "Yes, quite sure. Is there something wrong?"
The messenger got no reply. But a slight wind carried the sound of a whisper to his ears from the shadows before him.. "Biret...there may be some hope after all...." ....................................
"Kero you stupid mutt! I told you not to move!"
The gray and white dog skulked back to Halma's feet, skirting the small patch of dirt where the bullet had hit and whimpering with his tail between his legs.
"Kero, I swear, if you weren't Blossom's mutt, I'd feed you to the mountain lions and the mi'hen fangs*". (AN: A Mi'hen Fang is a type of mythological wolf only existing in Ch'ien.)
Halma groaned. This was starting to annoy her. She'd chased Kero down the hill only to find Sakura starring at a young man hanging from a tree branch with a hard-faced thief threatening to cut the branch down. When Kero had seen Sakura, the foolish dog had bounded over towards her, only to be stopped in his tracks when Biret, as Halma recalled the other bandits had called him, had pulled a small handgun from the inside of his cape and shot at Kero's feet. The poor dog had yelped in fright before jumping back to the safety of an over turned log.
'At least Sakura's back to reality' she thought.
Apparently the bullet shot had pierced through whatever fog Sakura's mind had been in, and now she'd moved out from behind the juniper bush, her hands resting carefully on the hilts of her kodachi's.
It seemed that the young man had woken up too, and was now glaring fiercely at the young bandit while trying unsuccessfully to move back along the branch toward the cliff.
'If only he didn't have that stupid handgun' Halma thought, frowning. They could have easily taken this guy out, if not for the gun. She grudgingly admitted that if it hadn't been for that stupid mutt, they never would have known what was hiding beneath the man's cape.
"Stop squirming around, 'else you'll find yourself farther down this cliff face then you want to be" Biret advised, watching as Syaoran reluctantly stopped moving. Biret turned back to the two women in front of him.
.......Biret's POV
'Shit, this wasn't supposed to happen' Biret cursed, watching the two young women standing warily about 20 feet away from him.
' It's a good thing Tirak lent me his handgun this morning' he thought grimly. 'Now what? That other woman doesn't seem the real sympathetic type to me, and if she doesn't fall for this then I'm not gonna get out of here alive. I guess I've got no choice, better hope that this other one can convince her to be a humanitarian today'
"You two take one step closer and this man will never see the light of day again."
.......Sakura's POV.
Sakura cursed under her breath. She had a chance to get this guy out of this predicament and she'd wasted it by making goo goo eyes at a total stranger. 'What's wrong with me?!' she thought, shaking her head of the image of those two amber eyes gazing at her. Now this guy had a gun and a hostage.
'Perfect, Sakura, just perfect. Not only have you just sealed this guy's fate, but quite possible your own as well. Not to mention Halma and Kero.' Sakura groaned inwardly. All she had wanted to do was enjoy a nice toyoto and rice meal at a quiet little marketplace in the village, and now she was playing negotiator with a man who could quite possibly be insane or worse. And where had he managed to get a handgun in Ch'ien? They didn't make those here! He must be a pretty talented hacker, or at least be acquainted with one. Maybe this Kinoti guy had connections.
Sakura shook her head once more to clear her mind. None of that mattered now. She still had a chance to get everyone out of here without a scratch..
.......Syaoran's POV.
Syaoran cursed under his breath. What the hell was he thinking?! He was dangling from an 80 foot drop with a man sticking a sword point at his throat, and he was starring at a girl! He never acted this way! Syaoran shook his head. It must be all the blood rushing from my head or something, he figured.
Syaoran glanced back reluctantly, watching the mysterious girl standing determinedly in front of the other woman and the dog, watching the thief with a calculating look. She looked to him like a pebble trying to stop a tsunami of waves crashing down upon it. Nevertheless, she stood proudly, her jaw set. He'd never seen anyone so beautiful in his entire lifetime. She was someone who wasn't going to give up, which greatly relieved Syaoran considering she seemed to be his only hope of getting out of this alive.
For the hundredth time that day, he thought, 'I am never listening to Mei Lin again...'
....................................
"Biret, isn't it?" Sakura called out to the red-haired young man.
Biret nodded suspiciously. "What's my name got to do with anything?"
Sakura shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing, just thought I should know the name of the man I'm about to kill, that's all."
Biret scoffed at her response. "Yeah right, I'm not falling for your stupid bluffs."
"Who said anything about a bluff? If she won't kill you, I sure as hell will! Hostage or no hostage!" Halma yelled, starting to get very irritated as her stomach growled.
Sakura ignored her. "Look, I'd rather not kill you, I happen to be very hungry and would like to be on my way as soon as possible, if you don't mind, so could we just wrap this up quickly? What do you want?"
Biret wasn't as stupid as Matak and the others. He knew what she was doing, and yet was surprised none the less. He'd highly underestimated this girl. She was actually trying to put pressure on him to make decisions quickly. This girl knew her stuff..
"What do I want? Oh, I don't' know..peace on earth, I suppose,..an end to world hunger.. You know, all the usual crap that everyone says they care about."
Sakura frowned. It wasn't working on him. She'd have to try a different approach.
"Really? So if I go join some anti-terrorist group that feeds the homeless, you'll let this guy go?" she asked innocently, a cute smile on her face.
Biret grunted incoherently.
Sakura sighed. "Look, you and I both know that you're at a loss right now. You came down the road, looking for a way out of getting the crap beaten out of you, and found some defenseless (hehe, she called Syaoran defenseless) victim to use as a hostage because you're slightly more intelligent than your perverted comrades up on that hill. So now you've got a gun pointed at two, well-know woods guides and a sword about to send a man to his death down the side of a cliff. Yet, you still haven't killed us. So I'm guessing you'd rather avoid that situation about as much as I would. So what I suggest is a compromise." She said bluntly.
Biret and Syaoran looked surprised. Neither of them had expected this girl to be this reasonable. She only looked to be 16 or 17, and yet she made this whole thing seem ridiculously foolish. (AN: Which it is).
Biret lowered his sword ever so slightly, gazing suspiciously at the mysterious girl in front of him. "Compromise?"
Sakura nodded. "A compromise. You let that guy down and let him go, and we'll talk."
Biret's gaze darkened. "No way."
Sakura sighed. "Alright, what if we just let you go, and we'll cut him down?"
Biret shook his head. "How do I know you won't go back to the officials and have them put a bounty on my head? You've already seen me long enough to have a pretty good description, and I'd rather not get a new screename."
"Look, on my word, I won't give you away to any authorities, and neither will my friend here. Believe me, I never go back on my word." She said proudly.
Somehow Biret knew she was telling the truth. Still..
"no"
Sakura crossed her arms exasperatedly. "look, the officials will be here soon, no matter what we do. They'll have heard that gunshot and Kero's yelp, so you don't exactly have many choices, now do you?"
Biret had been thinking the same thing. "Which is why you're going to be my alibi."
Now it was Sakura's turn to be suspicious. "What?"
"When the officials get here, you're going to tell them that I'm your brother, and that we were out hiking when we heard a gunshot and ran over to this spot to see what was going on, but by the time we arrived, there was no sign of anybody."
Halma placed her hands on her hips. "And how do you suppose you're going to explain him?" she pointed to poor Syaoran, still dangling from the branch.
Biret slipped the Ragara sword back into an old leather sheath at his side and pointed the gun at Syaoran's head. "Make any sudden moves, and I'll shoot you so fast you're life won't even have time to flash before your eyes."
Syaoran nodded grudgingly, glaring at his captor. Biret slowly untied Syaoran's bonds with one hand, the other hand pointed at his head.
"Hold onto the branch" Biret commanded.
Syaoran complied reluctantly, grabbing onto the branch as the rope slowly fell from his wrists and down to the steep depths below. He slowly climbed back along the branch and finally down the trunk till his feet hit the ground. Syaoran sighed, relishing the feel of the ground beneath his feet again. Suddenly he felt a gunpoint at his back. He groaned inwardly.
Biret took out another rope and tied Syaoran's hands behind his back, slipping the gun beneath his cape so the officials wouldn't see it.
"See?" Biret said, showing off his handiwork. "The officials come by, we tell them that we don't know anything, and we leave. You take me out as far as the outskirts of Souta, and we both go our separate ways. No harm done. We got a deal?"
Halma glared at the bandit. "Deal? Who the hell do you think we are?! We're not stupid enough to go lying to the officials and letting a criminal get off s..."
"Deal" Sakura interrupted, holding her hand out.
Halma's jaw dropped. "Cherry Blossom! What the hell are you thinking! We can't help this guy!"
Sakura turned to her boss. "Got any better ideas?"
Halma glanced at Syaoran.
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Got any better ideas that don't involve sacrificing someone?"
Syaoran glared at Halma. He already didn't like her.
Halma grunted in response.
Biret nodded, extending out his hand and capturing Sakura's in a firm grip. "Deal."
Something in Syaoran's heart jumped as he watched Biret shake Sakura's hand.
Halma glowered at Biret and was about to say something when Kero barked.
The four of them turned around to come face to face with a group of 15, green and brown suited muscle men with green caps that carried the insignia 'Rayn's Knights' in gold calligraphy.
One of the men stepped forward, slipping a small patch with a familiar symbol embroidered onto it out for them to see. "My name is Official Mentok, of the First Division of Rayn's Knights. We need to ask you some questions."
....................................
Tomoyo clutched at Eriol's cape as she whipped around at the sound of a nearby bush rustling. "Clow Shadow, something's coming out of those bushes!"
Eriol slipped unconsciously in front of Tomoyo, his hand on the saber at his hip.
"Don't attack! Don't attack! We just need to ask you some questions." A voice yelled as a figure in a brown and green suit stepped out of the bushes.
Eriol lifted his hand away from his side. "What kind of questions?" he asked suspiciously.
The man laughed. "Why is everyone in this area so suspicious? I could have sworn the young lady I just talked to said the exact same thing when I asked her. I'm Official Mentok, of the First Division of Rayn's Knights. We heard a gunshot and a yelp, I guess you could call it, and came up to investigate. Earlier today, 22 men were discovered beaten and bloodied, so forgive us if we seem a bit on edge."
Kiran nodded, a sinking suspicious settling in the bottom of his mind. "We heard about that. When we heard the gunshot, we were just at the bottom of the hill, so we raced up here. You can even ask my sister, we weren't here when the shot went off. My sister was watching us from a window in our cottage."
Official Mentok nodded. "No, that's quite alright. We don't think it's you, we just want to make sure you haven't seen anything else. It's kind of difficult to get a story straight when everybody you run into seems to have the same story."
"Excuse me?" Eriol asked.
Official Mentok gestured back towards the trees he'd come from. "We ran into a group of four people a little while ago who said basically the same thing, that they had heard the shot and come to investigate. One of them had quite an attitude though, the one who I mentioned before."
Kiran considered a moment. "Did this young lady happen to have a long, blond braid and blue eyes with a blue tunic on?"
Official Mentok nodded, immediately suspicious. "You know her?"
Kiran waved his hand dismissively. "She's a guide out here, so it's no surprise that she was there first."
Eriol stopped. A group of four people...
"Who else was in the group, might I ask?"
Official Mentok considered a moment. "Well, the other young lady had auburn hair and green eyes."
"That's Cherry Blossom, she's another guide." Tomoyo reassured.
"And there was young man with messy brown hair and oddly colored eyes, kinda like tree sap.."
Kiran nodded, turning to Tomoyo and Eriol. "That's Little Wolf, the new player I mentioned. He wanted to find another town, so I sent him up to Crimson Heart to ask her."
Eriol thought the description sounded vaguely familiar, but he dismissed it. "And the other one?"
"Oh, yeah, he said he was the auburn-haired one's brother. Had spikey red hair and tawny eyes."
Tomoyo frowned. "But, Cherry Blossom doesn't have a brother..."
Official Mentok's face paled. "What?!
Kiran thought for a moment.red hair..tawny eyes..
"That description sounds like a guy I've met before, I think his name was Biret. My sister introduced him to me..but he disappeared after a few days..my sister said something about him meeting his boss." Kiran froze, turning to Eriol.
"Kinoti"
Official Mentok's eyes widened at the mention of that name. He grabbed a two-way radio from his belt and hurriedly turned it on, bringing it up to his face and yelling into the microphone.
"Men! We have a big problem! Spread and search! Find those four and bring them back here!!!"
....................................
Note: Officials of Rayn's Knights are like the police of the administrators of Ch'ien. They don't have screenames, just one word code names.
So, what did ya think? This chapter is pretty long, for some reason. I was trying to finish it quickly, so sorry if some parts seem sloppy or rushed. Please Review!!!!!
*note: I still need a screen name for Syaoran's sister Fuutie.
Please send me any questions, ideas, or suggestions you might have. And best of all, praise!! Or even better, writer's feedback!! Send me all your wonderful reviews! Ja Ne!
~Vixie.
Next Chapter: A Winged Escape and the Journey Begins.
