Shirin no Kami
Chapter 4: Troubled Stranger
Above the mountains and clouds, it came into view. A huge indigo-colored bird carried two passengers on its back. Majestically, the bird opened its wings all the way and dove down on its side. Sakura and Syaoran held on tightly to the feathers of the bird, giving one loud screech in the air. Sakura felt the wind beating her face, the whooshing ringing in her ears lowering the volume of her voice to Syaoran. "I'm sorry I you couldn't stay!" she apologized. "Huh!?" Syaoran asked cupping his hear. "I'M SORRY YOU CAN'T STAY!" Syaoran closed his eyes and nonchalantly replied back, "It's no problem. Your guardians wouldn't allow you, it's only natural they would look after you like so." Sakura sadly looked across the mountain.
"Sakura," he called, "Why are you the only human in 'Spirit Forest'?" Sakura didn't answer. Syaoran began to hear light sniffing noises while her back was facing him. "Sakura?" She slowly turned around giving him a big smile, "It's my choice," she said without hesitating, "'Spirit Forest' is my home. Kero and Yue are my parents; the 'Spirit Tree' is my mother. It's my duty to be with them." Syaoran felt jealous a bit, "You have loved ones, people who care for you. I'm glad that you at least have people to depend on. But you are a human, why do you live in 'Spirit Forest'?" Sakura avoided the question until she reached the mountain peak.
It was almost an instant transformation. Sakura just passed the mountain peak and right behind it, was a town fortified with large tree trunks and guards observing the skies for incoming threats, namely, spiritual threats. "I can't get any closer Syaoran," Sakura said as their altitude got lower, "From now on you're on your own, I wish you could stay just a bit longer but Kero-chan and Yue-san will get upset if I break my word." Syaoran got off the bird and took his clothes, slinging it over his shoulder. "Then I guess this is goodbye?" Syaoran asked. "No!" she snapped, "I'm sure we'll see each other again, someday when you find out who you are, someday when the spirits are at ease, I'm sure I'll see you again." Sakura gave a huge cheerful smile. Syaoran in return waved as he slowly walked away. Sakura waved to him until he passed the fog which obscured the vision of the town afar.
When Syaoran was far enough, Sakura stopped waving. And her light smile, turned into a worried frown. "Be careful, Syaoran…" Pulling the bird by the feathers, Sakura stroked the bird on its head. "Shall we go, Tori?" the bird screeched as it's response and flapped its wings until it hovered a bit in the air, Sakura pulled lightly on its feathers. The bird flapped its wings harder, until the bird itself could not be seen above the clouds.
Syaoran walked up to the gates of the city. Slowly, he approached with caution as the fog began to clear and he saw two guards by the side of a large gate, clad in samurai armor and equipped with long spears in their right hand. Syaoran felt a shiver down his spine as he saw their faces: stern, scarred, almost as if they were dead of all emotions. "Who are you?" the guard asked as Syaoran came into view from the fog. "Stranger identify yourself,"
The other guard asked with his mouth muffled by his samurai armor. Syaoran stepped up two feet in the guards' view; they crossed their spears, permitting him from coming any closer.
"Step aside!" Syaoran demanded, "I wish to pass." The guard to the left looked down upon him with his eyebrows cocked, "You think just because you come here you may pass?" Syaoran sincerely insisted on going in without any harm, "Step aside now! I don't wish you any harm!" Irritated, one of the guard grabbed held his spear tightly and charged, "You rude boy!" he yelled in his charge. The spear pointed right towards Syaoran's stomach, ready to impale him any moment. Syaoran calmly waited for him to charge closer. All of the sudden, Syaoran grabbed the spear inches before in impaled him, and threw his spear down, knocking the guard off balance. Syaoran saw this opportunity and quickly jumped with both feet and stepped on his head, driving his face into the rocky dirt ground.
"Why you!" the other guard charged with rage, fully swinging his spear to Syaoran's left. Syaoran ducked the swing and swept him off his feet. Afterwards, Syaoran quickly pulled the guard's spear from his hands and poised it right towards his neck. "Listen, I don't wish to harm you," Syaoran pulled the spear away from his neck; "Please let me in." The guard stared at him blankly with fear in his eyes and pulled a gate switch in the dirt ground. The gate tumbled down onto the rocky terrain, creating a huge thud as it hit the ground. "Thank you," Syaoran graciously said as he walked into the noisy town.
His eyes immediately saw bustling activity: carts, open-air markets, shops, vendors, it was all there. He silently spoke to himself as the gate behind him shut. "Now where do I begin?" he asked himself, "Who would know where different things originate from?" Syaoran jerked his head when he heard a loud crashing of metallic bowls, seeing the bowls landing in a vendor's shop on the floor.
"Well, what do we have here? New merchandise!" the man who ran the vendor shop grabbed one of the beautifully colored metallic bowls and put it on his blanket for sale. "NO!" an old woman grabbed her bowl back, but the young vendor quickly grabbed back his bowl and pulled forcefully. "Get your hands off my merchandise old woman!" The old woman struggled trying to get her bowl back, "But these are my last items I have to sell or the landlords will lock me in prison, give me them back." The vendor kicked the old woman away, "Buzz off wench!" Syaoran saw this injustice; he made it his business as he walked towards the vendor.
The old woman bowed for her possessions back, but the cocky vendor didn't pay any mind to her. Syaoran walked towards the vendor and looked down upon the slime. "Hey man!" he said with his friendliest voice, "How can I help you?" Syaoran stared at the disgusting man who had bees flying around his grey shirt and brown vest. His nappy hair was covered by a turban wrapped around his head. He sat in a lazy sloppy position, his legs spread out as he scratched his lower extremities. "Hey," he grunted, "You buying anything or not?" Syaoran slung around his clothes in front of him to show the vendor. "I was wondering if you could answer my question?" As soon as Syaoran pulled out his green silk robe, the vendor stared at it with his eyes gaping, "Every answer comes with a fee; maybe your silk robe will do quite nicely." Syaoran taunted the man by letting it get close to him, then immediately pulling it away, "On one condition," the man grunted, "You give back the old woman her belongings and you answer me, otherwise, you don't get diddly squat!" The vendor accepted, he put his hands on the metallic bowl and tossed it back to the old woman.
"Oh thank you!" she cried while begging Syaoran for thanks, "Thank you kind sir!" Syaoran shrugged her thanks humbly. Syaoran turned his attention toward the vendor and held the clothes right up to his face, "Where do these type of clothes come from?" The vendor snapped his fingers, as if he figured it out that fast, "Those are clothes that come from a country to the west, the one with those bakayaros!" The vendor grabbed a hold of the pant leg but Syaoran quickly pulled it back, "What is the name of that country?" The vendor shrugged his shoulders, "How should I know, ask a sea captain or something, I don't know my geography." Syaoran peevishly struggled as the vendor tightened his grip around the clothes, "Where can I find a sea captain?" The vendor struggled while answering him back, "That's enough out of you, I only promised to answer one question, now give me the clothes and scram!"
Syaoran, a man of his word, let go of his clothes and gave them to the man. He slowly walked away and began to ask a nearby civilian of where a sea captain could be found. The vendor folded the clothes nicely and put them on display to sell. Soon, three men came up from behind the vendor's tent and whispered in his ear. "Do you want us to get that rich bakayaro?" The vendor gave a sinister smile, "Rob him for all he's worth!"
Syaoran approached an elderly man, "Sir," he asked politely, "I need to know where I can find a sea captain." The old man gave a smile and rubbed his bald head, "A sea captain eh? There should be one at the docks, just turn to your right when you walk down the main road past the fish market." Syaoran nodded his head as thanks and moved on. Three men slowly followed Syaoran as he began to walk along the main road, "Be quiet!" one man whispered loudly, "If he suspects us then we won't be able to rob him." Syaoran started to slow down as he tried to look for the fish market so he could make the correct turn. But all of the sudden, the three men grabbed him by the arms and took him into the alley right next to the fish market. "Hey what's the big—oof!" Syaoran coughed as one of the men punched him in the gut. "Shut up! You rich bakayaro! Only selfishly keeping your wealth to yourself." Syaoran tried to break out of the grip of the two men, but when one let go of his arm, the other would kick him down to not escape.
"Now what's this?" a voice erupted from the shadows of the alley, "Picking on an innocent man? Where is the chivalry in that?" The men let go of Syaoran, who fell on his knees and winced the pain in his stomach, "Who are you?" the men asked to a figure emerging out of the shadows. "It's not important if you don't show some respect to a simple civilian," the man stepped out of the shadows and into the light, where the sun's rays reflected off of his spectacles. The man brushed his red naval outfit and fixed his black sea cap, which covered his raven black hair and small ponytail. "Civilian stranger," the man called to Syaoran, "Are you ok?" Syaoran rolled safely to the side of the well dressed man, "I'll manage." Syaoran stood up, clenched his fists, and put them out in ready to fight position. "Let's say we have at these foes stranger?" the man asked with a tone of humor. He unsheathed his sword out of its holster and took a fencing position, poised and ready to attack the three harassers. All three crooks slowly receded from the alley, putting their hands out forward to indicate 'they don't want any trouble'. Syaoran only smiled and gave the stranger a smirk, "That's sound like a plan!"
Both the stranger and Syaoran rushed towards the three men. Chasing them out of the alley and into the market. From there, the three men split up to ensure that there would be one who would escape. Syaoran took the crook to the right and tackled his feet so that he fell on his face. The man tried desperately to kick Syaoran, who had a tight grip around his feet. But Syaoran wouldn't allow to be so easily taken care of. Syaoran stood up, still clutching the man's feet, and when the man was on an incline, he twirled him; around and around and around, until he finally let go and the man flung into a stall selling hard nuts. Syaoran picked the guy up by the collar and dragged him over.
The stranger was chasing down the other crook. "You aren't gonna catch me you damn foreigner!" the crook shouted while tossing innocent people so that the stranger could not catch up. The man finally found a neatly stacked pyramid of barrels and used his knife to cut the rope to crush the stranger. "I hope foreigners like barrels!" The stranger saw the incoming barrels coming from above him, he quickly swatted them away. The criminal started to run after his barrel attempt failed, but the stranger quickly caught up to him and sliced his pants down. The criminal reacted by pulling his pants up, but the distraction allowed for the stranger to take his dull edge and turn the criminal around and knock him with the blunt side of his sword.
Syaoran wrist locked his crook and the stranger twisted the arm of his criminal. "You're a mean fighter!" Syaoran complimented. "You aren't so bad yourself!" the stranger replied, "So why were these men after you?" Syaoran slapped his crook in the back of the head out of anger, "These guys attacked me for no reason when I was looking for a sea captain." "A sea captain?" the stranger confirmed, "I'm a sea captain." Syaoran was shocked, "You're the sea captain?" The stranger nodded with delight, "The name's Eriol, sea captain of her majesty's naval forces in Kyushu Island." "There they are!" the third criminal shouted, "Those are the guys who beat me and my friends up and decided to take our belongings." Two guards in samurai helmets took out their spears and poised them at Syaoran and the Eriol's neck. "Let go of those two!" they commanded. Without any resistance, Syaoran and Eriol let go of the criminals. "You have some nerve causing trouble here you English pig!" a man said from behind the guards, "Especially an English sea captain pig, I should execute you where you stand." "But her majesty's law protects me from you doing so," Eriol replied logically. "Lord Bukai!" the three criminals shouted, "Execute that bakayaro! He's the person who started it."
Lord Bukai faced Syaoran, overshadowing him with his straw hat, "You look vaguely familiar bakayaro! Do I know you?" Syaoran stared at his clean cut scar on his left cheek, "I don't believe so." Lord Bukai turned away from Syaoran and faced Eriol again. "Listen English pig, you are only here because of your navy," Lord Bukai spoke in a scratchy voice, "If not, I would kill you where you stood, that way I could show everyone just how your majesty betrayed you!" Lord Bukai slowly turned around, "English pig and bakayaro, don't cause trouble in my town ago, or the emperor will hear about this." As Lord Bukai walked away, his guards closely followed and Syaoran's eyes gazed at Lord Bukai, almost as if he had met him somewhere before.
Eriol turned to Syaoran, "So you were looking for me earlier?" Eriol asked, "Just what troubles you my friend?" Syaoran was in a deep trance, still gazing at Bukai from the distance, "I don't know, maybe you can help me find a murderer." Eriol cocked his eyes at Syaoran, "Excuse me?" Syaoran snapped out of his little trance and realized what he had just said. "I'm sorry," he apologized for dazing off, "I wanted to ask you if you know a country to the west of the seas, the place where the people here call, the 'place of the bakayaros'." Eriol gave a slightly perplexed look, "There are many lands to the west," he said, "But if you are giving me that description, I cannot deduct anything from this clue." Syaoran jerked his head at Eriol giving him a stern look, "But, the way you are dressed and the way you look, I would say those lands are referred to as 'China'." "China?" Syaoran gave an inquisitive look. "Yes China, mainland China to be more precise."
Syaoran watched as Eriol began to walk away, windy breeze lightly blew him, making his hair messed up a bit, "Please, can you take me there?" Eriol turned his head to look at Syaoran from the corner of his eye, "I wish I could, but I'm occupied," Syaoran squinted his eyes a bit, "There is another town that will probably give you a ferry though; to the north of here, past the woods." Syaoran nodded as Eriol walked away, "Thank you!"
Syaoran made his way out of town and into the woods to the north. He silently trekked the mountain pass along the way in order to make it into the woods. "I have a bad feeling about this place," he thought, "Almost as if there is something here waiting for me." Syaoran heard a light rustle above him; he looked up, but saw nothing. "Maybe it's my imagination," he thought to himself as he continued to walk. Suddenly, a barrage of arrows came flying from behind Syaoran. His senses foretold him something from behind and reflexively, he dove off to the side. However, the side awaited a well covered pit which Syaoran barely grabbed the edge of in order to not fall. Syaoran pulled himself up and looked to his left. "I gotta get out of here!" he said to himself.
Suddenly, one last well placed trap fell from above Syaoran, catching him in a net which he could not escape. Syaoran struggled within the net, desperately trying to break out, but breaking out proved useless as soon as five men appeared around Syaoran surrounding him. "At last," a man with spiky hair and a robe just like Syaoran's said, "We've finally caught you, Syaoran."
