Shirin no Kami

Chapter 9: The Sloth is Quicker than the Eye

            A shadow swoops over an unsuspecting deer. The deer looks up, sensing the smell of blood, but goes about running away as it finishes its meal. Slowly galloping away, the deer starts galloping faster, hearing swooping sounds from left and right. The deer finally stops as it reaches a dead end, a large tree log blocking its path.

            Suddenly, an unbelievably fast figure shoots through the forest, aiming at the deer galloping away for dear life. The fast figure lets out his most devilish smile and pulls his knife out of his pocket. The golden complexion of the sun's rays strike the knife, blinding the deer, stopping it in its tracks. In a mere matter of seconds, the deer's chances of running were too late. The figure drove the knife underneath its stomach, gashing it and killing it.

            The fast figure stopped and licked his lips. "Perfect," he said, "Everything is going the way I like it." The sick bestial man turned around and showed his face, Sloth. He plucked his knife out of the deceased deer and licked the blood off of the blade, tasting the sweet flavor of prey. "I imagine how Syaoran's blood will taste afterwards." Sloth walked away from the scene giving a sinister laugh, leaving a blood written message on the spot where the deer lay.

            "Unacceptable!" Yue shouted at Sakura banging his hand on the table, "I don't believe you convinced 'Mother Tree' that this…this…human can stay here!" Yue rudely pointed at Syaoran shaking his finger as he pointed at him. Sakura hung her head low, feeling as if she was guilty for her kindness. Syaoran quickly bolted up in front of Sakura and defended her, "Yue," he calmly said, "Sakura is not responsible. I convinced Mue to let me stay; Sakura had nothing to do with this."

            "Don't push yourself human!" Yue said with a growl, "I can't go against 'Mother Tree's word for letting you stay. But I'm not obligated to show you any respect." Just in the nick of time, before Syaoran and Yue would get into another heated argument, Kero dropped into the cabin casually. "Alright," Kero noticed the silent atmosphere as he went into the room, "Sunset should be coming in another 30 minutes courtesy of me." Yue turned to Kero, nodding his head, "I think it's your cue to bring the moon up Yue." Yue slowly walked out of the room.

            The built up tension cooled down after Yue left the room. Kero gave a sigh of relief, "Geez just what did go on in here?" Syaoran turned around and grabbed Sakura by the arms, lightly shaking her from her depressed state. "Sakura are you all right?" Syaoran asked worriedly, "Is it something Yue said?" Sakura picked her head up, realizing it was Syaoran; she shook herself out of the daze and nodded with a smile. "Oh Syaoran," she replied, "It's nothing. I'm alright I was just thinking about a promise I made to someone that I really regret." Syaoran gave a breath of relief, "Thank goodness."

            Kero slowly tugged on Sakura's shorts with his teeth, "Sakura you have to go inspect the forest before nightfall," Kero reminded. "Oh yeah," she replied. She then turned to Syaoran, "Do you wish to make inspections with me?" Syaoran smiled a bit and nodded, "Sure."

            Pride stood up tall by the corner of Lord Bukai's living room and meditated. In the center of the living room coffee table, Greed sat in a sloppy position while picking his teeth with a toothpick. "Should we have really sent Sloth?" Envy asked as he was playing darts with his eye closed, getting a bulls-eye every time, "I mean, the guy is sick and all, but will you really think he'll get the job done?" Greed snorted with humor, "Sloth wasn't supposed to get the job done," he stated, "I'm leaving that to you Envy, he'll be a little warming up gift for my dear friend Syaoran.

            Envy felt flattered that Greed trusted him better; he began to fix his long side burns trying to captivate Greed's attention. "What about the girl?" Envy asked, "Won't she help him? We know she's going to protect the forest at all costs." Greed confidently opened his eyes, giving Envy a cool stare. "Doesn't matter," he said, "That'll make it even more fun."

            Sakura and Syaoran walked through the firefly lit forest, hand in hand. Sakura passed each of the night spirits, giving them a wave as she walked on by. Syaoran was perplexed, he looked at Sakura wave at spirits, but they never waved back, they only continued to do their business, ignoring the peaceful humans who were walking through the glowing pathway of the night moon. "Syaoran," Sakura called out, waking him up, "Say hi." Syaoran looked around at the spirits all staring at him; he didn't want to seem like an idiot waving to spiritual people whom normal humans can't see. But as he walked on further, the spirits gave him glaring stares that made him feel a bit uneasy. Finally, he complied by waving, making him totally embarrassed.

            Sakura looked at him and smiled. "Oh my gosh!" Sakura shouted covering her mouth. Syaoran wondered what the matter was and followed her closely to where she was running to. "What's the matter Sakura?" Sakura didn't answer him. She continued to run until she finally stopped right in front of Syaoran. Syaoran's curiosity made him peek out and see what was ahead. "Oh man!" he said dejectedly. Sakura couldn't bare the image any longer and buried her face deep into Syaoran's chest, trying not to see the horribly slaughtered deer before them.

            Syaoran saw the massacre of the deer, his guts spilled out, making a red wet rug on the ground beneath him. Examining the area carefully, Syaoran saw some letters drawn out with blood on the deer's blackened skin. "Got ya!" it read. Without giving it another thought, Syaoran quickly pushed Sakura out of the way. Suddenly, a shining blade came charging into the air, cutting the barren earth in half along with the log in front of the deer. Sakura fell on her left thigh, barely escaping the ambush. Syaoran looked around, covering his eyes from the dust that obscured his vision. "Sakura are you all right?" he asked. "Yeah!" she replied.

            Syaoran tried to clear the dust by waving his hands, trying to waft it away. Suddenly, he saw a shadow. "Sakura is that you?" Syaoran stayed where he was, continuing to blow the dust away, "Something's not right here." The shadow disappeared as Syaoran looked away from a brief second. "Where did it go?" Syaoran turned around and saw two dilated eyes staring at him, complete with a crooked smile. "Sloth!" he yelled out throwing a punch. Sloth ducked into the dust, avoiding the punch and staying hidden from Syaoran's view. "Where are you?" Syaoran asked as he began to get annoyed, "Show yourself you coward!" As soon as Syaoran said 'coward', a sinister figure's laugh echoed in the dusty air. Syaoran cautiously turned around each time, looking for Sloth.

            "Aiee!" he screamed coming from Syaoran's right side. Syaoran tried to dodge it, but Sloth managed to slash the back of his clothes. Using his arm, Syaoran hit the air, intending to hit Sloth, but he managed to stay hidden in the dusty air. "Aiee!" this time, Sloth came from the left side. Syaoran tried to dodge him again but he slashed him across the chest. Syaoran clutched his chest, kneeling down as he was catching his breath. Sloth was above in a tree, right above Syaoran. Using his keen sense of smell, Sloth took a whiff of the air and smelled Syaoran's breath; he then gave another crooked smile and leapt from the tree.

            "Aiee!" he screamed as he began coming down on Syaoran. His knife was poised, ready to sink into Syaoran's back; he came closer and closer to Syaoran. Syaoran turned around, surprised that Sloth was able to sneak up on him from behind. "My victory is assured!" Sloth screamed, "DIE SYAORAN!" All of the sudden, Sloth's knife was stopped by a shining dagger. Sloth shot his eyes open, his pupils getting smaller in amazement, "How could this be?" Distracted, Syaoran gave him a back kick under the chin, knocking him away. Syaoran wondered who had just saved him, only seeing the dagger over his shoulder. Another hand came into Syaoran's vision, it was Sakura, he took her hand and Sakura pulled him out of the dust cloud. Once out, Syaoran and Sakura began to run for their lives. "It seems we're at a disadvantage," Sakura stated, "He seems to know your scent Syaoran, so you're going to have to wear this for a while."

            Sakura handed Syaoran a flower she plucked from her hairpiece. "A flower?" Syaoran inquisitively asked, "Why a flower?" Sakura and Syaoran paced themselves, running even faster. "This forest has those flowers everywhere," she explained, "If you wear it, then he can't smell your scent." Syaoran pinned it on his clothes, stepping on something in the ground as he ran. "What was that?" he thought as he ran even faster.

            "AIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" Sloth screeched from the distance, making the horrific sound fill the forest. The unbearable sound both hit Sakura and Syaoran's ear drums, making them ready to burst. Syaoran covered his ears screaming out the pain it strained on his head. "Argh!!!" he grunted. Immediately, the horrifying sound stopped. Syaoran and Sakura uncovered their ears and wondered why it stopped so suddenly. Unfortunately, the sound was only a decoy, because after hearing Syaoran's scream, Sloth rushed into Syaoran and started to slash him. Syaoran using his quick reflexes dodged the slashes by backing away at the right time. Sloth took a break, and stood in a crooked stance, his knife above his head, his piercing eyes staring at Syaoran. He licked around his mouth with his own tongue and gave another one of his famous crooked smiles.

           Sakura stepped in front of Syaoran with her dagger ready, trying to defend him from harm. In one quick rush, Sloth dashed toward Sakura. "Out of the way!" Syaoran shoved Sakura with the back of his arm got ready for Sloth's first knife slash. Sloth tried to slash Syaoran's head, he ducked, then he tried to cut his side, Syaoran quickly pulled his shoulder back to dodge the swing. Syaoran backed away slowly until his back hit a tree. Syaoran was frantic, he had nowhere to run, he had nowhere to go. Sakura pulled back her bow and arrow and aimed it at Sloth and let it fly towards the sadistic psycho. Sloth heard the piercing flight of the arrow and snapped his hand out, grabbing the arrow quickly before it hit him.

            Sakura and Syaoran in unison shot their eyes open in disbelief. "Watch out!" Sakura shouted. Syaoran quickly ducked seeing Sloth swinging his knife towards Syaoran's head. The knife barely missed Syaoran and drove itself into the tree. Sloth tried to pull out the knife, but it was really in there, hard to get out. Not wasting his time, Syaoran grabbed Sakura by the hand and began to run with her again. Syaoran wondered about how Sloth could have possibly managed to catch up with them. "He can smell us," he told Sakura, "But he can also hear us. How do we beat this guy?" Syaoran thought about a weakness, he could find none. "Wait a minute," it finally hit Syaoran, "I got an idea!" Syaoran pulled Sakura in a different direction they were running to before.

"Syaoran," Sakura covered the low tree branches hitting her in the head as she ran, "Where are we going?" Syaoran kept on dragging her along, not wasting his breath and letting Sloth catch up. "You'll see…" he simply stated. As they kept on running, Syaoran stopped into a huge pasture. The field was green for miles, no trees in sight, only tall soft green grass that reached the middle of their calves. Syaoran slowly slid in front of Sakura, protecting her from harm. Suddenly, Sloth erupts out of the forest and stops in his tracks. Syaoran and Sakura stood right in front of him, about three yards away, and he couldn't find them. He only perked up his ears and sniffed for a scent. "Just as I thought," Syaoran grabbed Sakura and moved out of the way as soon as Sloth heard him speak, "He can't see!" Sloth slashed the grass where Syaoran and Sakura were, but he missed. "I'll get you!" Sloth screamed as his eyes began to dilate again. Sloth randomly cut the grass around him, thinking he got Syaoran, but never hearing or smelling the rushing of either of their blood.

Sloth's impatience drove him even more insane, he started leap about in the grass and cutting even more patches, still searching for Syaoran and Sakura who were just behind him. Syaoran pulled Sakura down, ducking from the slash that missed them entirely. Sloth continued to go on a rage, looking for his prey. "Where are you?" he shouted, "Come here you cowards!" Sakura took out her bow and arrow and aimed it at a close by tree. The arrow hit, making a loud sound as it hit the thick bark. Sloth reacted quickly and rushed toward the tree, attacking it with his knife. Again, the knife got stuck into the thick bark of the tree. Frustrated, Sloth cut off the string which tied his knife to his pocket at all times.

"Now Syaoran!" Syaoran rushed into Sloth, turning around slowly giving a worried face. Syaoran tackled him into the tree, punching him quickly, getting his licks before Sloth could strike back. Sloth put his arm in Syaoran's face, covering him from attacking and putting some distance between the two fighters. With all his might, Sloth shoved Syaoran's face, making some distance to pull out another pocket knife. This time, Sloth waited for Syaoran to come again, so he could slice his head off. He waited for him, leaning against the tree, listening to Syaoran's footsteps approach closer and closer. "YOU'RE MINE NOW SYAORAN!" he screamed as he swung his knife. Syaoran stopped in his tracks, before he could deliver the final blow to Sloth; he stared in disgust as Sloth leaned on the tree with his knife in hand.

Sakura saw the psycho, two feet away from Syaoran; the swing of his slash went too far apparently, as the knife drove straight into his own heart. Sloth slid down the tree, his blood drawing a streak as he slid down. His dying screams was enough evidence to tell himself that he had failed. With one last dying laugh, he departed from this world, a sinner to the end. Syaoran looked down on him, Sakura lightly putting her hands over his shoulders. "Is this someone to cry for?" she asked politely. "No," he replied, "He's not one to cry for, don't waste your tears. Let the vultures get him now." Sakura and Syaoran slowly walked away from the scene, Sloth started to turn into a pile of sludge that oozed the grass and killed it.

            As Syaoran and Sakura slowly made their way into the forest and out of the clearing, a lone figure walks up to the pile of sludge with his hands in his pockets. "Sloth," he said with a disappointed tone, "You always know you should keep your eyes open, but you're too lazy to do that aren't you?" The spiky-haired man put his hand into the icky pile of sludge, pulling something inside the muck. When he pulled out his hand, a shining ball of light twinkled into his hand. "Your speed will do quite nicely," he complimented, "After all, three sins down, four more to go." The figure showed his face in the pale moonlight, it was Greed, smiling as he put the sin into his mouth, devouring its fundamental wickedness.

            "Are you okay Sakura?" Yue asked with a concerned face. "Yes," she replied, "Thanks to Syaoran." Yue walked towards Syaoran with a serious face and stared at him, eye-to-eye. "Human!" he said with a harsh tone, "I thank you!" he said in a peaceful tone bowing down to Syaoran, "I have never met a human in so long with a good heart, you made me remember how peaceful a human heart can be." Syaoran picked Yue up, modestly refusing his thanks. "I'm not the one to thank," he modestly rejected, "Sakura saved me tonight, you should thank her. Your forest wouldn't have been saved in the first place." Yue accepted as he went to the door, Kero following close behind. "I shall see you at dawn," Yue said as he and Kero flew away.

            Syaoran was smiling as Yue flew away the cabin. Sakura stared at him smiling. "What's so funny?" he asked. "Oh nothing!" Sakura cutely replied walking to her bed in the room. "Well it's time to go to sleep, I'm exhausted." "Yeah," Syaoran smiled, "Good night!" "Good night!" Sakura replied, "Your bed is on the floor." Syaoran pulled the bed sheets as he was ready to fall asleep. He tucked himself in, closing his eyes as he thought about future plans. "This was the first," he thought, "But this certainly won't be the last. They'll keep coming, one by one, destroying the forest like Sloth did. Each one making more pain for Sakura and the spirits, and I'll be ready for them." Syaoran closed his eyes and began to drift asleep, dreaming dreams and goals beyond the troubles occurring now.