A/N: AHHHHHHHH..... GOMEN!!!! So so sooooo sorry for not updating for how long? 2? 3 years? LMAO. Mah bad. Been busy, in depression, writers block, away, etc. Im trying to get back in the writing habit and since I lost my beloved writing program, i'll have no italics, bolds, etc. Just boring plain text. And no spell check. I would like to thank ALLLLLLL of my past reviewers!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL! *HUGS* You guys can ground me into beef when im done writing this story. (If i get that far. LOL)
Please flame if you're pissed at me and want to kill me. I TOTALLY understand. (But don't forget to add something nice in the review about the story! Or I might loose hope in it! Also, im plannin on editing the already posted chapters so that they're divided into seperate scenes. When I re-read my story I felt a little confused. Heh heh... -_-'
Also, i've had a change of heart. I might bring in Tomoyo, Eriol, Yue, and the other characters in. Im still thinking about it...... I'll only put them in when they're necessary to plot. which im sure they will be eventually.
Well, please enjoy this lovely chappy of: Emotionless Love! BOOYAH!
Emotionless Love
Chapter 4: Fortune Foretold
Outfitted in an old white dress that came up and met mid shin with a green hood and cape fitting for the occasion, Sakura moaned inwardly as she sat upon a black horse. The warm sun shining upon her fair skin, giving her a warm and tired feeling. But it certainly didn't match her mood. Here she was, waiting patiently for the king to appear out of the stables that were located on the left side of the palace. Suddenly Keroberos poked his small round head out of her dress pocket, his small beady eyes gazing straight ahead with his paws crossed, a frown on his face.
"Stupid Li brat, forcing you to come on this stupid hunting trip. I should chew his fingers off. Hmph! That would teach him!" He pouted.
Sakura could only chuckle at his frustration. She knew exactly why he was upset. If she left the palace, who would bring the little guardian sweets? And knowing this was going to be a long hunting trip, Kero decided to tag along inside of Sakura's pocket. Not exactly the most comfortable place to travel in, but at least he had the Cards for company. At LEAST. It was better than being in her bag he had to admit.
"Grrr... where is he?! Let's get going and get this over with already! Im already starving! See?" His little golden belly gave a growl as his small paws rubbed it thoughtfully.
"Calm down little Kero. We'll be gone 3 days tops. Im positive. Besides, a king can't be away from his people for too long."
She sighed. "Too bad I can't take little trips whenever I want to. Being royalty MUST be grand. Getting to go where you want, do what you want, and do it all without having to ask permission to do it. But of course there's the responsibilities someone of royal stature has to cope with too... But still, i'd prefer Royalty over servitude any day!"
Sakura frowned. Going on this trip also meant she couldn't play pretend with the king around. Too risky. Ohhhh! But how she yearned to use the Illusion again! How she wanted to be transformed into a gorgeous princess, waltzing to an orchestra's grand music amongst all of the Lords and Mistresses and other high ranking people in society that attended balls.
Kero watched as Sakura would perk up to god knows what she was thinking to suddenly sighing and lowering her eyes in depression. No wonder she would always use the cards to conceal her emotions. Speaking of concealing, during the past couple of days she hadn't been doing that... ever since the Illusion card had given her an illusion of becoming a princess over night. And with the prince joining the little hunt, Sakura had BETTER hide her feelings, as much as he didn't like the idea. But sometimes without realizing it, Sakura's aura would flare if she was having a nightmare... and that would no doubtedly alert the royal brat.
"Um.. Sakura?"
"Hm?" Sakura said as she looked down to her dress pocket, little Kero peering up at her with a serious face. (Or as serious as it could get without looking distorted and odd)
"Sakura... is it safe to leave your emotions unconcealed? Especially with the royal pain in the ass hanging around?"
"Um..." It hadn't really occured to her that it could be dangerous, but then again, she was always absent minded.
"As much as I don't like the idea of you concealing your emotions within the cards, I don't think it's a very good idea to let them run wild in your sleep with the prince/king kid around either."
"Good point. I guess I should then." With a remorseful sigh, she closed her eyes and placed her hands over her chest, overlapping. Slowly she began to concentrate all of her energy towards the cards and began to mentally chant.
'Conceal that which threathens your mistress.' repeated through her mind as a mantra and slowly she could feel her emotions drain away with her aura. It was a two in one deal which couldn't be changed. If she had wanted to conceal her aura within the cards it would take her emotions with it because of the link the two shared together. Her aura shone brightest when happy or frightened, and is at it's lowest when depression had settled within her and etc. Sometimes changing color from a pink to a white or red.
Suddenly Syaoran came trotting out of the stables on a brown steed, wearing commoners clothing, calling to Sakura, causing Kero to disappear into her pocket and breaking her train of concentration, the transfer process only completed halfway.
"Sorry it took so long. I didn't think it would take that long to saddle one horse. Otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to saddle up before I did, causing you to wait."
Feeling drowsy with slight dizziness as a side effect from the disruption of the spell, she nodded without looking up, her hands now rubbing her temples, a small headache coming on.
Syaoran looked on in worry. Maybe this was a bad idea....
"If you're not feeling well you can remain in the castle." worry evident in his voice.
"No... no. Im fine. Just a small headache." she said quickly, trying to get him to just leave. As much as she didn't like hunting, it was better than staying within the palace and working all day.
"Ok, but once we head out, there's no turning back." he warned, recieving a quick nod of understanding. Well then, it was time to head out.
~
Feeling better by now, Sakura looked around... something wasn't right. If they were going hunting then why were they on the road and not in the forest?
The horses hooves clopped against the hard dry dirt road at a steady pace, Kero's small head poking half way out to look around.
"Psst... Sakura..." he whispered, recieving immediate attention from his mistress.
"What?" she whispered as she leaned down slightly to get closer so she could hear better.
"What happened? I thought we were going on a hunting trip? Geez... stupid kid. I bet he's lost. I knew this trip was a baaaad idea. If we were back in the palace I could be eating pudding right now! Or better yet, chocolate cake! Hmph!"
The next thing he knew his small little head was being shoved into her pocket roughly then followed a masculin voice.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick? You were leaning over a little..." asked the young king, really concerned now as he stopped his horse, Sakura's horse stopping a short distance from his automatically.
Sakura could feel the relief washing over her. Close call. She began to laugh a little shakily. "No no! Im fine! Perfectly fine! Im great, never been so energetic! Really!" Her sudden burst of energy caused some suspicion to grow in Syaoran. Sounded like she was hiding something... Maybe he should stay close to her. You know, just in case...
Slowly he pulled his horse around till it was right beside Sakura's, both horses clopping in unison, breaking the silence of the quiet forest with the exception of a few birds tweeting away endlessly.
"Sakura," Syaoran decided to finally speak "if there's something you want to talk about you can always tell me. You don't have to hide it if it's bothering you."
"Hide? Hide what? Im not hiding anything!" she quickly responded. Maybe a little too quickly. Yup, she was definetely hiding something... but what? But just as she was hiding something from him, he was also hiding something from her.
"Sakura," he began "I need to tell you something." He said, with his eyes focused straight ahead, unblinking.
Sakura looked up, green eyes luminating in the sunlight, curious.
"I never told you what we were hunting. But our game is the Card Mistress." Hmm.. maybe that wasn't the best way to put it. It made the Card Mistress sound like an animal that was going to be killed then placed on the dinner table.
Suddenly Sakura felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Well, this explains why they were traveling on the road... sort of.
"But before we do go searching her out, we need to collect some information."
"Wouldn't it be more convenient if we left this to the guards?" Sakura asked honesty. They were probably going to be traveling to some town, city, or village and since she had hardly ever been past the palace gates, traveling didn't settle with her well. Oh well. Guess she had to get used to it at one point or another...
"True, but the guards can also be unreliable. When I send them out to do things such as collect information, im not sure if they're doing their job or just slacking off. Especially when they return with almost no information for me."
"Oh."
Syaoran gave a mental sigh of relief. Good. No more questions...
"If I may question, Your Majesty, wouldn't it be more safe to have body guards around to protect you instead of having a servant follow you around?" she suddenly asked.
Syaoran felt like slapping himself in the forehead. No more questions... PLEASE!
"Well... uh..." suddenly he found it very hard to answer, especially on the spot.
"To be honest I wanted to... uh..." honest? Be honest about what?! He couldn't tell her he actually enjoyed her company and wanted to spend a little more time with her! He didn't want to ruin their current.... relationship? Not much of a relationship... a servant/king relationship, what a joke. If anyone had ever found out about this.... besides, she didn't like him in THAT sort of fashion... or so he thought.
"I didn't want anyone to know I was their king when I entered their uh... village! So I wouldn't um.. attract so much attention."
Ah, explains the 'normal' clothing, Sakura thought.
~
A few hours later, a little after noon, both had found themselves in a small village. Streets filled with bustling people hurrying from shop to shop or selling anything from vegetables to odd trinkets on the streets. No one seemed to notice their king had entered their little village since just about all of the people had never seen him, too poor to attend one of his expensive and elegant balls meant only for the rich.
Sakura found her horse following Syaorans towards a small stand located on the corner of the street before watching him hop off of his horse and approach her.
Expecting to be helped off of her horse she instead recieved an order, causing her to feel a little disappointed for an odd reason.
"Begin asking people for information about the Card Mistress. Anything helps. From looks to ranking in society to nationality to even her favorite color. Anything helps. Afterwards meet me here around sun set. From there we'll find an inn and stay the night. Understood?"
Sakura could only nod, a little disappointed. Sometimes keeping the secret of being the Card Mistress was a little tough, not to mention tiring. She wanted to tell him, but Kero had forbidden her from doing it. He had told her 'In times of war or the potential of war, it's best to keep a low profile. Especially if you might be the control factor of the outcome.' She didn't fully understand the order but if it would keep him happy, then maybe it was best to obey? Maybe... but she couldn't help but feel like she needed to help. She would have told him years ago when she discovered her new talent and when war wasn't even an idea that had crossed a persons mind, but she felt like, at the time, it wasn't a really big deal. Ah, how naive she had been back then.
'Well,' she sighed, 'better get started...'
~
After asking around for the past 2 hours and recieving only a few strands of information on herself, she decided it was hopeless and began to just walk around the town aimlessly, guiding her horse behind her as she walked.
"Psst... can I come out now? It's hot in here!"
It was Kero. He hated riding in her pockets, but Sakura never knew. Seemed like they always got hot after about an hour of occupying it's space. But since it had gotten quiet outside of the pocket, Kero had presumed it was safe to come out and decided to ask.
"Not yet. Just wait a few minutes, we're not far from the forests edge..... I think. But first I have to let my horse rest. He hasn't had time to even get a drink... I feel a bit bad for pushing him like this." she whispered back but didn't get a reply from the little guardian. Truth was she wasn't even sure if they were even close to the forests edge... she just knew that they were somewhere in town. But if they headed in one direction, they were bound to come to the villages edge... sometime soon.
Not long afterwards they came across a well, giving Sakura an idea that they were at the village's center. And since there were no watering areas for horses around, a well bucket would have to do...
~
Syaoran groaned. Maybe the guards he had sent out a month ago weren't slacking. He was ending up almost right where he started. The only new information he had recieved was that she had come from a former Kingdom that no longer existed and was royalty. Or something like that. Feeling like there was nothing more for him to expect in this village he had decided that it was time to find Sakura and leave. But just as he was about to mount his horse, a haunting voice called out to him.
"I know who you are and what you are searching for..."
Syaoran's head whipped around and his eyes met the sight of a man clad in black, his face hidden by the shadows created by his hood, standing next to a door on his right. Ah, a fortune teller. A pretty rare sight, but not many were true fortune tellers. Most were con-artists.
Syaoran found himself glaring before turning around to return to what he was doing as he mumbled, "Yeah, you and just about another million people out there..." but surprisingly, the shady fortune teller had heard every word he had said. And his response had caught Syaoran's attention.
"The Card Mistress is closer than you believe her to be."
Syaoran stopped mid way of climbing onto his horse.... maybe this guy was the real thing... maybe. He was going to ignore the man but curiosity got the better of him. Slowly Syaoran pulled his foot out of the stirrup and began to approach the man. He stopped when he was a few feet away from him.
"Tell me what you know."
~
Sakura dropped the bucket into the depts of the well, finished with watering her horse. An hour had passed from the time she began to water her horse till the time she dropped the bucket into the well. Her horse had finished drinking a long time ago but she felt too lazy to move from her spot on the wells edge, giving her horse plenty of time to rest. Unknown to her, two grey eyes glinted from behind her as they watched her every move from a small alley created by two small buildings standing next to each other.
Slowly she began to stroke her horses black neck as her eyes scanned the small street shops, something glinting in the light on the street, catching her eye. After looking around to see if anyone was watching, she stood and casually walked towards it. When she was within a foot of it, she began to lean down to pick it up.
She dusted the dry dust and dirt off of it. Hmm... it looked like a broken broach in the shape of a butterfly, gold outlined the shape of the wings and formed the body where the wings held, the spaces between the gold were made of pieces of stained purple, green, and black glass... the backing of it broken off, rendering it useless from being pinned to any form of cloth.
"Pretty... must be worth a lot." Sakura found herself mumbling unconciously.
The two grey eyes watched as she pocketed the little broken broach. Suddenly out of the corner of their eye the man that had accompanied the girl into town came into view, riding quickly up to her as she greeted them.
Now was not the time to approach her.
Slowly, the shadowed form began to shrink away into the alley. Their meeting would have to wait for another time when the boy wasn't around...
~
"Um.. good afternoon Sir. Are we done with business here?" she found herself asking a little unsteadily. Did the king see her slacking off? Worry began to build in her slightly. She began to mentally pray he didn't see anything. But with the expression on his face, she wasn't sure if he had found something out, or HAD noticed her slacking off. Not good, not good...
"We're leaving." he said in a stern voice.
"Wha-- but isn't the next town days away from here? Wouldn't it be better if we leave tomorrow morning?" She asked a little frantically.
Ok, maybe he was pissed at something? Hopefully it wasn't at her.
"No time. We have to hurry." was his only response.
Sakura only nodded as she hopped onto her horse, ready to follow without anymore questions. It wasn't long till the forests edge was in view. That's when Sakura remembered Kero. He was going to kill her...
~
The events of the encounter of the Fortune teller repeated through his head over and over.
~~~
::Flash Back::
Syaoran seated himself at a table within a dark, herb infested room. The place smelling of dirt and roots and other unrecognizable scents.
"Tell me what you know about the Card Mistress. Everything." Syaoran's voice stern, his pushy kingly self returning.
"Of course your highness, without hesitation, but not everything is free. Including information."
Syaoran rolled his eyes as he fished out a couple of silver coins from a bag on his hip before tossing them onto the black clothed table next to a hole in the center of the table where a black bowl filled with water sat in. And without hesitation the fortune teller scooped them up into his hands before they disappeared into his long flowing sleeves.
"Start talking."
And without hesitation, the fortune teller began to reveal what he knew as his eyes reverted towards the mirror of water.
"The person you seek is closer than you expect. But the object that is within her posession will not be revealed so easily...." then suddenly the water within the bowl at the center of the table began to glow a white light, causing Syaoran to squint his eyes as he looked upon it. With a burst of energy, the white light began to dissapate, a new image appearing within the water, but still very hazy.
"Finding her will be a task which only you will be able to fulfill, and no one else. Hints of her whereabouts will only be a small stepping stone to revealing her past but to find out where the real card mistress is, only significant signs will be offered to help aid you in your quest."
Syaoran watched as the shape of a glowing white fawn appeared in a dark forest within the scrying mirror. The small fawn looking about it curiously. But Syaoran's gaze switched from the mirror of water to the fortune teller.
"Well?" Syaoran questioned the fortune tellers silence.
"That's as far as 3 silver coins will get you. Information as significant as mine isn't cheap."
Sighing, Syaoran dished out three more silver coins along with one gold. Once again, the fortune teller swept it up quickly before turning his attention to the scrying mirror, his misty voice protruding from under his flowing hood once again.
"She seeks to please those whom she considers to be of a higher rank. But more than that she yearns for the old lifestyle she once had but cannot have due to certain circumstances. During that alloted time, when the magical cards in her posession share her conciousness, will the fawn of light be born and within the same night die. Giving you only one chance to find it.
The fawn of light will be the first sign you will recieve from the Card Mistress. But the magic used to create this creature will not be of the Card Mistress's will but rather from the cards within her possession. Even she will not be expecting it."
Suddenly the image on the waters surface became engulfed by grey clouds as even the water began to take a shape, slowly levitating in the air in front of Syaoran and the fortune teller, forming a star as it began to shine the same white light as before but rather than shining one continuous light, it flashed every second or so.
"Her power will be at it's strongest when the Northern star is clearly visible in the night sky. During that alloted time, there will only be three chances for you to confront her. But that will be the extent of your confrontation. During that time she will not be swayed to join you on your quest to end the war at that particular moment. But during the time that is given to you to meet, you will have a chance to give her thoughts to dwell on."
Without warning, the flashing star dimmed and fell back into the bowl in the table, causing water to splash out, and without waiting for the water to calm, the image of countless cherry blossoms filled the dark bowls visage, petals blowing everywhere in the swaying dark water. Then as if the image was being seen through another persons eyes, the image began to move through the trees till it came across a large rock a few meters high, somewhat flat on the top and three figures in shadow appeared, two standing and one sitting between them.
"From there you must head to the Shi-Long mountains in the east. At the base of the tallest mountain on the south side is a grove of cherry trees. At the center of this grove you will meet her for the second time, but unlike the first encounter she will not be alone. From there, a fork in destiny is created."
The image of the cherry blossoms were quickly replaced by old ruins of temples and columns, chipped, cracked, and broken, rubble lying everywhere at the edge of a mountain, a trail sloping down the mountains side not far from the ruins.
"If you managed to sway her to help you end the war during your last confrontation, she will follow you on your return home. But if not there will be a third meeting between you two. And to find her for the third time you must ascend the mountain to the ancient ruins that over look the destroyed Kinomoto Kingdom. You are granted a chance to help the Card Mistress there. During this time she will be alone once again. After this, you will not have another chance. Persuade her here or she will be lost to your enemy."
::End Flash Back::
~~~
But that wasn't all. The fortune tellers last words rung through his ears constantly.
'What I've told you was meant for you and your ears only. Telling anyone what you've learned today, even that enchanting little girl that came into town with you, could alter the future.'
Syaoran wanted to tell Sakura everything he learned, but this was his chance to catch the near impossible. And dammit, he was gonna take this opportunity.
To be continued....
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Like it? Yes? No? Maybe so? I hope you ppl did! Cuz even though i haven't updated in a long time, i DID work my bootay off on this. Took me 3 friggin days. Please, REVIEW!!! I don't care if you flame, just remember to add something nice about it! K? Oh, and for you ppl that don't know what a scrying mirror is, it's a black bowl filled with water that wiccans and etc. use to foretell the future. Personally, I've never tried it, but my sister has. I can tell you it's not easy though. Gotta have real talent to actually get it to work. That's how that one guy predicted that 9/11 incident. Anyways, Shi-Long is a made up name i came up with in a few seconds. Um.. ne thing else? Hmm.. i'll post soon! Please R+R! And once again, sorry for not posting in years! And I'd like to thank all of my loyal readers! I could just smother you in love if I was a kind of person to do that... but im not. lol. Also, sorry for ne typos. Like I said, I don't have spell check and sometimes I miss some misspelled words. Ne ways, R+R! Thank you! And Good Night!
Please flame if you're pissed at me and want to kill me. I TOTALLY understand. (But don't forget to add something nice in the review about the story! Or I might loose hope in it! Also, im plannin on editing the already posted chapters so that they're divided into seperate scenes. When I re-read my story I felt a little confused. Heh heh... -_-'
Also, i've had a change of heart. I might bring in Tomoyo, Eriol, Yue, and the other characters in. Im still thinking about it...... I'll only put them in when they're necessary to plot. which im sure they will be eventually.
Well, please enjoy this lovely chappy of: Emotionless Love! BOOYAH!
Emotionless Love
Chapter 4: Fortune Foretold
Outfitted in an old white dress that came up and met mid shin with a green hood and cape fitting for the occasion, Sakura moaned inwardly as she sat upon a black horse. The warm sun shining upon her fair skin, giving her a warm and tired feeling. But it certainly didn't match her mood. Here she was, waiting patiently for the king to appear out of the stables that were located on the left side of the palace. Suddenly Keroberos poked his small round head out of her dress pocket, his small beady eyes gazing straight ahead with his paws crossed, a frown on his face.
"Stupid Li brat, forcing you to come on this stupid hunting trip. I should chew his fingers off. Hmph! That would teach him!" He pouted.
Sakura could only chuckle at his frustration. She knew exactly why he was upset. If she left the palace, who would bring the little guardian sweets? And knowing this was going to be a long hunting trip, Kero decided to tag along inside of Sakura's pocket. Not exactly the most comfortable place to travel in, but at least he had the Cards for company. At LEAST. It was better than being in her bag he had to admit.
"Grrr... where is he?! Let's get going and get this over with already! Im already starving! See?" His little golden belly gave a growl as his small paws rubbed it thoughtfully.
"Calm down little Kero. We'll be gone 3 days tops. Im positive. Besides, a king can't be away from his people for too long."
She sighed. "Too bad I can't take little trips whenever I want to. Being royalty MUST be grand. Getting to go where you want, do what you want, and do it all without having to ask permission to do it. But of course there's the responsibilities someone of royal stature has to cope with too... But still, i'd prefer Royalty over servitude any day!"
Sakura frowned. Going on this trip also meant she couldn't play pretend with the king around. Too risky. Ohhhh! But how she yearned to use the Illusion again! How she wanted to be transformed into a gorgeous princess, waltzing to an orchestra's grand music amongst all of the Lords and Mistresses and other high ranking people in society that attended balls.
Kero watched as Sakura would perk up to god knows what she was thinking to suddenly sighing and lowering her eyes in depression. No wonder she would always use the cards to conceal her emotions. Speaking of concealing, during the past couple of days she hadn't been doing that... ever since the Illusion card had given her an illusion of becoming a princess over night. And with the prince joining the little hunt, Sakura had BETTER hide her feelings, as much as he didn't like the idea. But sometimes without realizing it, Sakura's aura would flare if she was having a nightmare... and that would no doubtedly alert the royal brat.
"Um.. Sakura?"
"Hm?" Sakura said as she looked down to her dress pocket, little Kero peering up at her with a serious face. (Or as serious as it could get without looking distorted and odd)
"Sakura... is it safe to leave your emotions unconcealed? Especially with the royal pain in the ass hanging around?"
"Um..." It hadn't really occured to her that it could be dangerous, but then again, she was always absent minded.
"As much as I don't like the idea of you concealing your emotions within the cards, I don't think it's a very good idea to let them run wild in your sleep with the prince/king kid around either."
"Good point. I guess I should then." With a remorseful sigh, she closed her eyes and placed her hands over her chest, overlapping. Slowly she began to concentrate all of her energy towards the cards and began to mentally chant.
'Conceal that which threathens your mistress.' repeated through her mind as a mantra and slowly she could feel her emotions drain away with her aura. It was a two in one deal which couldn't be changed. If she had wanted to conceal her aura within the cards it would take her emotions with it because of the link the two shared together. Her aura shone brightest when happy or frightened, and is at it's lowest when depression had settled within her and etc. Sometimes changing color from a pink to a white or red.
Suddenly Syaoran came trotting out of the stables on a brown steed, wearing commoners clothing, calling to Sakura, causing Kero to disappear into her pocket and breaking her train of concentration, the transfer process only completed halfway.
"Sorry it took so long. I didn't think it would take that long to saddle one horse. Otherwise I wouldn't have asked you to saddle up before I did, causing you to wait."
Feeling drowsy with slight dizziness as a side effect from the disruption of the spell, she nodded without looking up, her hands now rubbing her temples, a small headache coming on.
Syaoran looked on in worry. Maybe this was a bad idea....
"If you're not feeling well you can remain in the castle." worry evident in his voice.
"No... no. Im fine. Just a small headache." she said quickly, trying to get him to just leave. As much as she didn't like hunting, it was better than staying within the palace and working all day.
"Ok, but once we head out, there's no turning back." he warned, recieving a quick nod of understanding. Well then, it was time to head out.
~
Feeling better by now, Sakura looked around... something wasn't right. If they were going hunting then why were they on the road and not in the forest?
The horses hooves clopped against the hard dry dirt road at a steady pace, Kero's small head poking half way out to look around.
"Psst... Sakura..." he whispered, recieving immediate attention from his mistress.
"What?" she whispered as she leaned down slightly to get closer so she could hear better.
"What happened? I thought we were going on a hunting trip? Geez... stupid kid. I bet he's lost. I knew this trip was a baaaad idea. If we were back in the palace I could be eating pudding right now! Or better yet, chocolate cake! Hmph!"
The next thing he knew his small little head was being shoved into her pocket roughly then followed a masculin voice.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick? You were leaning over a little..." asked the young king, really concerned now as he stopped his horse, Sakura's horse stopping a short distance from his automatically.
Sakura could feel the relief washing over her. Close call. She began to laugh a little shakily. "No no! Im fine! Perfectly fine! Im great, never been so energetic! Really!" Her sudden burst of energy caused some suspicion to grow in Syaoran. Sounded like she was hiding something... Maybe he should stay close to her. You know, just in case...
Slowly he pulled his horse around till it was right beside Sakura's, both horses clopping in unison, breaking the silence of the quiet forest with the exception of a few birds tweeting away endlessly.
"Sakura," Syaoran decided to finally speak "if there's something you want to talk about you can always tell me. You don't have to hide it if it's bothering you."
"Hide? Hide what? Im not hiding anything!" she quickly responded. Maybe a little too quickly. Yup, she was definetely hiding something... but what? But just as she was hiding something from him, he was also hiding something from her.
"Sakura," he began "I need to tell you something." He said, with his eyes focused straight ahead, unblinking.
Sakura looked up, green eyes luminating in the sunlight, curious.
"I never told you what we were hunting. But our game is the Card Mistress." Hmm.. maybe that wasn't the best way to put it. It made the Card Mistress sound like an animal that was going to be killed then placed on the dinner table.
Suddenly Sakura felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. Well, this explains why they were traveling on the road... sort of.
"But before we do go searching her out, we need to collect some information."
"Wouldn't it be more convenient if we left this to the guards?" Sakura asked honesty. They were probably going to be traveling to some town, city, or village and since she had hardly ever been past the palace gates, traveling didn't settle with her well. Oh well. Guess she had to get used to it at one point or another...
"True, but the guards can also be unreliable. When I send them out to do things such as collect information, im not sure if they're doing their job or just slacking off. Especially when they return with almost no information for me."
"Oh."
Syaoran gave a mental sigh of relief. Good. No more questions...
"If I may question, Your Majesty, wouldn't it be more safe to have body guards around to protect you instead of having a servant follow you around?" she suddenly asked.
Syaoran felt like slapping himself in the forehead. No more questions... PLEASE!
"Well... uh..." suddenly he found it very hard to answer, especially on the spot.
"To be honest I wanted to... uh..." honest? Be honest about what?! He couldn't tell her he actually enjoyed her company and wanted to spend a little more time with her! He didn't want to ruin their current.... relationship? Not much of a relationship... a servant/king relationship, what a joke. If anyone had ever found out about this.... besides, she didn't like him in THAT sort of fashion... or so he thought.
"I didn't want anyone to know I was their king when I entered their uh... village! So I wouldn't um.. attract so much attention."
Ah, explains the 'normal' clothing, Sakura thought.
~
A few hours later, a little after noon, both had found themselves in a small village. Streets filled with bustling people hurrying from shop to shop or selling anything from vegetables to odd trinkets on the streets. No one seemed to notice their king had entered their little village since just about all of the people had never seen him, too poor to attend one of his expensive and elegant balls meant only for the rich.
Sakura found her horse following Syaorans towards a small stand located on the corner of the street before watching him hop off of his horse and approach her.
Expecting to be helped off of her horse she instead recieved an order, causing her to feel a little disappointed for an odd reason.
"Begin asking people for information about the Card Mistress. Anything helps. From looks to ranking in society to nationality to even her favorite color. Anything helps. Afterwards meet me here around sun set. From there we'll find an inn and stay the night. Understood?"
Sakura could only nod, a little disappointed. Sometimes keeping the secret of being the Card Mistress was a little tough, not to mention tiring. She wanted to tell him, but Kero had forbidden her from doing it. He had told her 'In times of war or the potential of war, it's best to keep a low profile. Especially if you might be the control factor of the outcome.' She didn't fully understand the order but if it would keep him happy, then maybe it was best to obey? Maybe... but she couldn't help but feel like she needed to help. She would have told him years ago when she discovered her new talent and when war wasn't even an idea that had crossed a persons mind, but she felt like, at the time, it wasn't a really big deal. Ah, how naive she had been back then.
'Well,' she sighed, 'better get started...'
~
After asking around for the past 2 hours and recieving only a few strands of information on herself, she decided it was hopeless and began to just walk around the town aimlessly, guiding her horse behind her as she walked.
"Psst... can I come out now? It's hot in here!"
It was Kero. He hated riding in her pockets, but Sakura never knew. Seemed like they always got hot after about an hour of occupying it's space. But since it had gotten quiet outside of the pocket, Kero had presumed it was safe to come out and decided to ask.
"Not yet. Just wait a few minutes, we're not far from the forests edge..... I think. But first I have to let my horse rest. He hasn't had time to even get a drink... I feel a bit bad for pushing him like this." she whispered back but didn't get a reply from the little guardian. Truth was she wasn't even sure if they were even close to the forests edge... she just knew that they were somewhere in town. But if they headed in one direction, they were bound to come to the villages edge... sometime soon.
Not long afterwards they came across a well, giving Sakura an idea that they were at the village's center. And since there were no watering areas for horses around, a well bucket would have to do...
~
Syaoran groaned. Maybe the guards he had sent out a month ago weren't slacking. He was ending up almost right where he started. The only new information he had recieved was that she had come from a former Kingdom that no longer existed and was royalty. Or something like that. Feeling like there was nothing more for him to expect in this village he had decided that it was time to find Sakura and leave. But just as he was about to mount his horse, a haunting voice called out to him.
"I know who you are and what you are searching for..."
Syaoran's head whipped around and his eyes met the sight of a man clad in black, his face hidden by the shadows created by his hood, standing next to a door on his right. Ah, a fortune teller. A pretty rare sight, but not many were true fortune tellers. Most were con-artists.
Syaoran found himself glaring before turning around to return to what he was doing as he mumbled, "Yeah, you and just about another million people out there..." but surprisingly, the shady fortune teller had heard every word he had said. And his response had caught Syaoran's attention.
"The Card Mistress is closer than you believe her to be."
Syaoran stopped mid way of climbing onto his horse.... maybe this guy was the real thing... maybe. He was going to ignore the man but curiosity got the better of him. Slowly Syaoran pulled his foot out of the stirrup and began to approach the man. He stopped when he was a few feet away from him.
"Tell me what you know."
~
Sakura dropped the bucket into the depts of the well, finished with watering her horse. An hour had passed from the time she began to water her horse till the time she dropped the bucket into the well. Her horse had finished drinking a long time ago but she felt too lazy to move from her spot on the wells edge, giving her horse plenty of time to rest. Unknown to her, two grey eyes glinted from behind her as they watched her every move from a small alley created by two small buildings standing next to each other.
Slowly she began to stroke her horses black neck as her eyes scanned the small street shops, something glinting in the light on the street, catching her eye. After looking around to see if anyone was watching, she stood and casually walked towards it. When she was within a foot of it, she began to lean down to pick it up.
She dusted the dry dust and dirt off of it. Hmm... it looked like a broken broach in the shape of a butterfly, gold outlined the shape of the wings and formed the body where the wings held, the spaces between the gold were made of pieces of stained purple, green, and black glass... the backing of it broken off, rendering it useless from being pinned to any form of cloth.
"Pretty... must be worth a lot." Sakura found herself mumbling unconciously.
The two grey eyes watched as she pocketed the little broken broach. Suddenly out of the corner of their eye the man that had accompanied the girl into town came into view, riding quickly up to her as she greeted them.
Now was not the time to approach her.
Slowly, the shadowed form began to shrink away into the alley. Their meeting would have to wait for another time when the boy wasn't around...
~
"Um.. good afternoon Sir. Are we done with business here?" she found herself asking a little unsteadily. Did the king see her slacking off? Worry began to build in her slightly. She began to mentally pray he didn't see anything. But with the expression on his face, she wasn't sure if he had found something out, or HAD noticed her slacking off. Not good, not good...
"We're leaving." he said in a stern voice.
"Wha-- but isn't the next town days away from here? Wouldn't it be better if we leave tomorrow morning?" She asked a little frantically.
Ok, maybe he was pissed at something? Hopefully it wasn't at her.
"No time. We have to hurry." was his only response.
Sakura only nodded as she hopped onto her horse, ready to follow without anymore questions. It wasn't long till the forests edge was in view. That's when Sakura remembered Kero. He was going to kill her...
~
The events of the encounter of the Fortune teller repeated through his head over and over.
~~~
::Flash Back::
Syaoran seated himself at a table within a dark, herb infested room. The place smelling of dirt and roots and other unrecognizable scents.
"Tell me what you know about the Card Mistress. Everything." Syaoran's voice stern, his pushy kingly self returning.
"Of course your highness, without hesitation, but not everything is free. Including information."
Syaoran rolled his eyes as he fished out a couple of silver coins from a bag on his hip before tossing them onto the black clothed table next to a hole in the center of the table where a black bowl filled with water sat in. And without hesitation the fortune teller scooped them up into his hands before they disappeared into his long flowing sleeves.
"Start talking."
And without hesitation, the fortune teller began to reveal what he knew as his eyes reverted towards the mirror of water.
"The person you seek is closer than you expect. But the object that is within her posession will not be revealed so easily...." then suddenly the water within the bowl at the center of the table began to glow a white light, causing Syaoran to squint his eyes as he looked upon it. With a burst of energy, the white light began to dissapate, a new image appearing within the water, but still very hazy.
"Finding her will be a task which only you will be able to fulfill, and no one else. Hints of her whereabouts will only be a small stepping stone to revealing her past but to find out where the real card mistress is, only significant signs will be offered to help aid you in your quest."
Syaoran watched as the shape of a glowing white fawn appeared in a dark forest within the scrying mirror. The small fawn looking about it curiously. But Syaoran's gaze switched from the mirror of water to the fortune teller.
"Well?" Syaoran questioned the fortune tellers silence.
"That's as far as 3 silver coins will get you. Information as significant as mine isn't cheap."
Sighing, Syaoran dished out three more silver coins along with one gold. Once again, the fortune teller swept it up quickly before turning his attention to the scrying mirror, his misty voice protruding from under his flowing hood once again.
"She seeks to please those whom she considers to be of a higher rank. But more than that she yearns for the old lifestyle she once had but cannot have due to certain circumstances. During that alloted time, when the magical cards in her posession share her conciousness, will the fawn of light be born and within the same night die. Giving you only one chance to find it.
The fawn of light will be the first sign you will recieve from the Card Mistress. But the magic used to create this creature will not be of the Card Mistress's will but rather from the cards within her possession. Even she will not be expecting it."
Suddenly the image on the waters surface became engulfed by grey clouds as even the water began to take a shape, slowly levitating in the air in front of Syaoran and the fortune teller, forming a star as it began to shine the same white light as before but rather than shining one continuous light, it flashed every second or so.
"Her power will be at it's strongest when the Northern star is clearly visible in the night sky. During that alloted time, there will only be three chances for you to confront her. But that will be the extent of your confrontation. During that time she will not be swayed to join you on your quest to end the war at that particular moment. But during the time that is given to you to meet, you will have a chance to give her thoughts to dwell on."
Without warning, the flashing star dimmed and fell back into the bowl in the table, causing water to splash out, and without waiting for the water to calm, the image of countless cherry blossoms filled the dark bowls visage, petals blowing everywhere in the swaying dark water. Then as if the image was being seen through another persons eyes, the image began to move through the trees till it came across a large rock a few meters high, somewhat flat on the top and three figures in shadow appeared, two standing and one sitting between them.
"From there you must head to the Shi-Long mountains in the east. At the base of the tallest mountain on the south side is a grove of cherry trees. At the center of this grove you will meet her for the second time, but unlike the first encounter she will not be alone. From there, a fork in destiny is created."
The image of the cherry blossoms were quickly replaced by old ruins of temples and columns, chipped, cracked, and broken, rubble lying everywhere at the edge of a mountain, a trail sloping down the mountains side not far from the ruins.
"If you managed to sway her to help you end the war during your last confrontation, she will follow you on your return home. But if not there will be a third meeting between you two. And to find her for the third time you must ascend the mountain to the ancient ruins that over look the destroyed Kinomoto Kingdom. You are granted a chance to help the Card Mistress there. During this time she will be alone once again. After this, you will not have another chance. Persuade her here or she will be lost to your enemy."
::End Flash Back::
~~~
But that wasn't all. The fortune tellers last words rung through his ears constantly.
'What I've told you was meant for you and your ears only. Telling anyone what you've learned today, even that enchanting little girl that came into town with you, could alter the future.'
Syaoran wanted to tell Sakura everything he learned, but this was his chance to catch the near impossible. And dammit, he was gonna take this opportunity.
To be continued....
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Like it? Yes? No? Maybe so? I hope you ppl did! Cuz even though i haven't updated in a long time, i DID work my bootay off on this. Took me 3 friggin days. Please, REVIEW!!! I don't care if you flame, just remember to add something nice about it! K? Oh, and for you ppl that don't know what a scrying mirror is, it's a black bowl filled with water that wiccans and etc. use to foretell the future. Personally, I've never tried it, but my sister has. I can tell you it's not easy though. Gotta have real talent to actually get it to work. That's how that one guy predicted that 9/11 incident. Anyways, Shi-Long is a made up name i came up with in a few seconds. Um.. ne thing else? Hmm.. i'll post soon! Please R+R! And once again, sorry for not posting in years! And I'd like to thank all of my loyal readers! I could just smother you in love if I was a kind of person to do that... but im not. lol. Also, sorry for ne typos. Like I said, I don't have spell check and sometimes I miss some misspelled words. Ne ways, R+R! Thank you! And Good Night!