Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura. Etcetera…
Summary: It is the story about a girl called Sakura who falls in love with a boy who saves her life (Syaoran). Unknown to her, Syaoran has a secret! By daylight he is the cold, handsome boy Syaoran, but by nightfall, immersed in the enchantment of moonlight he becomes the mysterious white wolf of the forest. Will Sakura learn of Syaoran's secret before all hope is lost?
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DM: Woo hoo! ...And now it's time for… my pre-story rant!!!…*rubs hands together*
Syaoranfan1, you had a question about money in this story, right? I'm not sure what exactly is confusing you: "Titanium gold coins" are just a form of currency in this story along with silver coins etc. If you're wondering why I write "titanium gold coins" as opposed to just ordinary gold coins or any other known currency, it's because 'Wolf of the Snow' is AU (Alternate Universe). In this world there are elements of old technology (e.g. pony- drawn cart) and newer technology (e.g. toasters and refrigerators) but ultimately, the world and time frame in which it is set is not the same as ours, therefore, neither is the currency...uh…hope that answered your question! *sweat drops* ^_^
demi-kaijuu asked where Syaoran got the other two Jewels (apart from the Jewel of the Sun from the previous chapter). This shall be revealed …later! Mwahahahahahaha!!!!! *evil grin*
To everyone: I dedicate this chapter first and foremost to the reviewers. Your encouragement and kind words are the very reason this story lives on.
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Chapter 6
The mountain had shaken, seismometers had gone haywire and the local geologists had panicked. Was it possible that the millennia- dormant volcano of Mt. Jhuls had finally erupted? If so…nobody was going to want to hang around.
The residents of Jasm'ynn had woken sharply that evening to the sound of rumbling beneath their feet and of glass, china and crockery shattering in their own homes. Dogs began to howl and the screams of terrified babies echoed through the night.
Sakura had been dreaming of him again, of laughing and chasing him through a sunlit field of peony blossoms…
And then, Touya's soft voice called to her and she felt someone gently shake her shoulders.
"Sakura…hey, Squirt …it's an earthquake, we have to evacuate."
Sakura had followed, still- half asleep as Touya and her father put a cloak over her shoulders and motioned her through the front door. Everything from then on felt like a dream, so surreal yet so real.
Hundreds upon hundreds of people, many she did not recognise and realised must have been from the neighbouring towns poured calmly through the Jasm'ynn streets, headed into the Dark Forest; the orange firelight from their oil lamps like a great fiery serpent meandering through the black trees.
"We're heading to Belmorgh," Fujitaka had softly explained as he took Sakura's hand and they joined the midnight procession, "It's just a precaution until we know it is safe to come back."
Sakura merely nodded as they silently joined the crowd. Belmorgh was a small ocean- side fishing town near Aurana. She and her family would often spend summer there in one of Sonomi's cabins…but it also happened to be the nearest refuge town for the Jasm'ynnian residents…if ever there was a need.
Their emergence from the Dark Forest and arrival in the town an hour later made the situation seem all the more surreal for Sakura. A number of concerns plagued her; Jasm'ynn, her home, would she ever see it again? ...and Syaoran…she prayed that wherever he was, he was safe.
The hours ticked by and Sakura watched as small children slept huddled in their parents laps, quite oblivious to it all. Here in the make- shift shelter of a farmer's barn in Belmorgh, a hundred people sat on the hay, quietly talking among themselves in hushed whispers or trying to sleep.
Sakura had not been able to sleep so she sat listening to her father, Touya, Sonomi and Rika's mother as they talked.
"I don't understand this," Sonomi was saying, "They never predicted this did they? I mean, there are ways to predict when a volcano is going to erupt…"
Rika's mother nodded, "Yes, but it's all very iffy, Sonomi. Predicting this kind of thing is like predicting the weather."
Rika, who was sitting quietly next to Sakura suddenly burst into tears and everyone turned to look at her with surprise and concern.
"I- I'm s- sorry," she sobbed, "I just d- don't want our homes to be….to be…"
Sakura put her arms around Rika's shaking shoulders and gave her a hug.
Fujitaka reassured her softly, "We don't know that yet, I just spoke to Rego Arashatowo and he and the other geologists think it will be safe to go back home in a few hours."
"You mean…Mt. Jhuls isn't going to erupt after all?" Touya asked.
"Well, it did seem like it was going to but then the volcanic activity suddenly died down and went back to normal, like nothing even happened…it's all very strange." Fujitaka said, looking pensively up at the ceiling.
Tomoyo came into the barn at that moment carrying a tray of mugs of hot coffee and tea that the Belmorgh residents had provided. Everyone in the group gratefully took a mug and warmed themselves.
Outside the icy wind moaned and swept the black ocean's surface.
…
Dawn it seemed, had reared its bright magenta head as the crowds both in the barn and in the other refuge sites slowly made their way back to their homes.
Rego Arashatowo had given the "OK", claiming that the strange phenomenon up at Mt. Jhuls was merely that- an anomaly in the earth's crust but not a risk as far as he was concerned for the mountain residents.
Sakura smiled for the first time all night, relieved at last to find that her home would not be destroyed after all.
Just as they were making their way up the path into the Dark Forest, she heard sobbing and she turned her head to look for its source.
A little girl, probably no more than four years old was crying beneath a tree, a little bit away from the stream of people moving through the Dark Forest. Sakura realised she must have become separated from her family.
The girl stared up at Sakura with bewildered, teary blue eyes as she approached and knelt down in front of her.
"Where's Mommy and Daddy?" asked Sakura, gently placing a hand on the top of her soft head.
The little girl's bottom lip quivered and she started bawling again.
Just as Sakura was about to pick the girl up into her arms and search for her parents, a rather flustered- looking young woman holding a sleeping baby emerged from the crowd stream.
"Fei! I've been worried- sick!" the woman scolded as the little girl's eyes lit- up with recognition. She ran over to her mother and wrapped her arms tightly around her legs.
"Mommy!" She shouted happily.
The mother gave a small grateful, (if not apologetic) smile to Sakura before she took Fei and her young baby to join her husband in the crowd.
Sakura smiled in admiration. It would be wonderful to have children of her own one day…
Just as Sakura turned to join her father and brother on their journey home once more, a flicker of movement caught her eye; somewhere in the shadow just beyond the Forest path, so dark that she wouldn't have been able to see it from the path. Sakura stared harder. She realised it was a kind of wide, dark green cloth lying on the snow…a blanket perhaps?
Touya called out to her at that moment.
"Hey squirt! Are you coming?"
"Uh…I'll catch up with you!" Came Sakura's reply.
Touya exchanged confused glances with his father, wondering what on earth could be so interesting about the bushes. Having decided that his sister was just being weird as 'usual', he shrugged and set off up the road again.
Sakura walked carefully over the snow and leaf- littered ground to take a closer look at the strange object she had seen. She noticed that there were a lot of broken branches nearby, almost as though something large and heavy had crashed through them.
On closer inspection, Sakura realised with horror that what she had thought was a dark green blanket was in fact a cloak; a dark- green, hooded cloak that was distinctly familiar…
Sakura's heart stopped. The cloak had moved…its owner was still lying beneath it.
Sakura bent down on her knees and carefully rolled Syaoran onto his back, praying to the gods that he was alright. His clothes were torn and blood- stained although strangely enough, he had no cuts or bruises…all except his arm…she could see a large, scarlet scorch- mark on his right arm through the large, singed hole in his shirt sleeve.
"Syaoran," Sakura pleaded with tears threatening to spill from her moist, turquoise eyes. 'Please be alright!'
Sakura reached out and gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand.
Syaoran's amber eyes flickered open, though they were unfocussed. Sakura gasped, thinking he was finally gaining consciousness. To her dismay, he merely groaned. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and within a second he was out like a light again.
Sakura sighed. At least he was alright. But she would have to wait until he woke- up if she wanted to treat his burn for she would not be able to carry him home by herself. Resolved to wait for him, Sakura lay down on the cold ground beside Syaoran and wrapped her arms around his chest. His body was so warm, his smell so sweet, so familiar that Sakura soon found herself drifting to sleep. She had after all, slept naught since the evacuation.
…
Syaoran awoke to find a beautiful sleeping angel curled-up to him on the ground with her arms around him. His precious Sakura…well, technically not his…not yet, anyway ^_^
Syaoran smiled as he gently took a soft strand of her golden- brown hair and curled it carefully around one of his fingers. He could have laid like this for hours, just content to watch her sleeping. All but for one thing…her dazzling turquoise eyes, brighter and more beautiful than any one of the Seven Jewels…where were they?
At last, he found them.
Sakura's pretty eyes fluttered open and she smiled her warm, breath- taking smile as Syaoran's arms came around her.
"Hello." Syaoran whispered, grinning down at her.
"Hi." Sakura blushed. Their faces were only inches apart. Just then, her expression of fondness became one of concern and Sakura sat upright on the ground.
"Syaoran, you're hurt." Sakura touched Syaoran's burn and he momentarily flinched.
"Uh…it's nothing."
"Nothing?" Sakura laughed, incredulous, "You look like you've had a fight with a dragon and it won!"
Syaoran smirked at the nearness of this to the truth. "Actually, I won…but only just." Syaoran reached out and tenderly brushed a bang away from Sakura's face. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."
Sakura looked around at the ground that surrounded them. Apart from the broken branches and spots of deep crimson blood, she could see some of Syaoran's belongings; his backpack, a small worn- out black book and…Sakura stared at the pieces of shattered glass and the black charred marks on the ground.
"Syaoran, what happened here?" she asked, the concern returning to her tonal inflexion.
"Um…I had an accident with an oil- lamp… it broke." Syaoran lied…well, actually, that last part really wasn't a lie.
"And that's why you were burned?" Sakura asked. She reached out to touch his arm again and Syaoran flinched, anticipating pain.
But the pain didn't come this time. On the contrary, the place where Sakura's hand touched his own felt…cold…almost as though it were made of ice and all of the pain that had been there was ebbing away with her touch.
"How…"Syaoran stared at his arm in awe. Even the tissue had healed and new skin was spider- webbing its way across the surface of the wound. "How is this possible?"
"I've always had it, even since I was very little …a gift, I suppose." Sakura said modestly with a light shrug, "My mother could do it too."
Syaoran continued to stare in wonder as his once- burnt flesh repaired itself. He had been able to heal his own cuts and bruises for many years now but they were always ordinary wounds; the occasional gash or even a fractured bone…but he expected that a magical injury like this would never heal, or it would at least leave a scar.
Syaoran looked up from his perfect arm at Sakura. Her beautiful face was once again only inches away from his own.
"You truly are…amazing." He whispered as he took her chin in his fingers, reached up and gently caressed her warm, soft lips with his own.
Sakura's eyes widened with surprise.
Could this be real?
Her mind was spinning; a blur of scattered thoughts and frenzied electrical pulses shooting hot stars all throughout her body. Her heart was racing; threatening palpitations at any moment. Her face was burning.
Was Syaoran, the man of her dreams (literally!) actually kissing her?! She responded in the only way that she could think of.
She kissed him back. (^_^)
And for a time, there on the forest floor, their arms wrapped around each other in passionate embrace, their lips tenderly locked; the two young lovers revealed all suppressed desires at once without words.
That was until… Sakura remembered.
She suddenly pulled away from Syaoran and tore his arms from her.
"Sakura?" Syaoran asked, stunned by her abruptness.
"I just remembered something." Said Sakura coldly. "I'm supposed to be mad at you."
Syaoran ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the ground uncomfortably. He'd almost forgotten about their last 'official' encounter.
"About the Festival…" Syaoran began, uncertainly.
Sakura stared at him, furious.
"Yeah, about the festival." She demanded.
"I can't explain what happened."
"What happened?" Sakura asked with bitter sarcasm. She looked up at the sky and put a finger on her lip, pretending to think. "Oh that's right, you ran out on me."
"I didn't…!" Syaoran began, getting angry. He took a deep calming breath and started again, more gently, "I didn't run out on you…I just…had to get away."
"Get away from me, you mean?" asked Sakura softly, her eyes welling with tears once more. She bit her lip and looked away from him.
"Of course not." Syaoran whispered kindly. He turned her chin to face him once more and rested his forehead against hers so that their noses were touching slightly. "I can't tell you why I left…I'm just sorry that I did."
Syaoran stood up at that moment and gently lifted Sakura to her feet. He gave her one long, last look before he began to pick- up his things; his backpack and the black leather book that was lying on the ground.
"Look, I…have to go." Syaoran murmured as he put the book in his backpack and pulled the hood of his cloak over his head. He began to walk away when Sakura softly spoke.
"This is the way it's always going to be, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "We become close, and then you walk out of my life without my knowing if I'll ever see you again…Syaoran, you…you kissed me…surely I mean something to you."
Syaoran stopped in his tracks and without looking at her, answered tenderly. "You do….of course you mean something to me."
And without another word he turned around and strode purposefully toward her. He threw his arms roughly around her shoulders and she around his neck as they kissed, one lasting, hunger- filled parting kiss.
When they finally pulled- away, Syaoran lowered his head and whispered softly in her ear.
"I'm sorry for the pain I've caused you, Sakura. I wish I could give you answers but I can't, not yet."
Sakura turned to look into Syaoran's magnificent amber eyes, ready to protest when Syaoran placed a finger lightly on her lips, pursing them shut.
"Soon." He promised, brushing his lips lightly over hers once more. "There is something I have to do. After that, we'll be together. You just have to trust me."
And with that Syaoran walked away from Sakura, disappearing as always, into the shadows of the Dark Forest.
Sakura touched her lips. She smiled to herself as she turned around and headed up the forest pathway in the opposite direction; bound for home.
Syaoran Li. She thought. Still the most mysterious and secretive of men to have ever lived, so much so she felt she barely knew him…if it were not for the callings of her heart…her soul.
"I trust you." She whispered.
…
Syaoran walked briskly through the Forest's dense foliage with only the sound of snow crunching under-foot and his own steady breathing to interrupt the quiet of his thoughts. Thoughts of his quest, of the Jewels, of Eriol…and of the one girl who made it all worth while…
Suddenly, Syaoran's backpack gave a violent wiggle and he cursed. He had totally forgotten!
Syaoran took his backpack off his back and set it on the ground. He knelt down as he untied the buckles. Just as he stuck a hand into the depths of his bag, something very small and very sharp clamped down hard on his fingers.
"YeEAAOOOWww!!!" cried Syaoran in pain and surprise as he abruptly withdrew his hand. There was a small, yellow bear- like creature with white wings hanging onto the end of it with its teeth.
Syaoran shook the creature loose and nursed his temporarily swollen fingers.
"Ah, don't get your knickers in a knot, brat." Said in Kero bored tones. "It'll just heal up anyway."
"That's what you found out." Said Syaoran huffily. "Why'd you do that, anyway?!"
For the second time that day, someone decided that Syaoran was very dense and pretended to think. Kero tapped his temple in mock- thought.
"Gee, I dunno…could be the fact that you STOLE my Jewel, turned my home into a fiery pit of nothingness and the fact that you stuffed me in your backpack!! Have you any idea how dark and stuffy it is in there?!"
Syaoran merely rolled his eyes. "First of all, I didn't steal the Jewel. You said it yourself; if I could pry it from your grasp then it was mine, and that's exactly what I did. Secondly, it's not my fault your house got trashed when I read the runes on the wall, go blame the guy who made up this dumb prophesy, and thirdly…I thought you could live with me."
"You…WHAT?!" Kero shouted, incredulous. "You think after all you've done we could become best buddies and roommates or whatever, like nothing ever happened?!"
Syaoran shrugged. "Um, Yep."
"And what? You think just because I'm the Guardian Beast I'm gonna be all noble and help you find the other Jewels so you can beat the crap out of all the other guardians?!"
Syaoran took a moment to consider this before he shrugged again and cheerfully responded, "Yep."
Kero was beside himself with confusion and fury and spent a good five minutes flying around and around in circles above Syaoran's head cursing and carrying on.
"There is no way, NO WAY I am going to help some arrogant gaki, not in a million years!!!"
Syaoran locked the buckle on his bag, slung it over his shoulder and continued his journey down the path of the Dark Forest.
"Well, that's a shame," Syaoran murmured absently, "I was going to treat my new friend to some pudding and cake…there's this new bakery in Rankwak that I was wanting to try and…"
Kero's large round ears pricked-up and he stopped in mid- air.
"Wh- what did you say?"
Syaoran grinned mischievously. So it was true. Cerberus really did have a sweet- tooth.
"Oh well, if you really don't want to…" Syaoran continued, walking away.
"WAAAAAAAIIIIIIT!!!!!!" Kero called, grinning like an idiot as he flew after Syaoran. "Brat! I mean, Shaun! I mean, what's your name again? I think I was wrong about you! We could definitely be friends!!"
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DM: Did you all enjoy that?! *happy sigh* Nothing beats a heavy dose of S+S fluff…^_^
Four more Jewels and four more Guardians.
One quest to find a powerful man.
One dream to break a lasting curse.
Syaoran might have enlisted the help of Guardian beast Cerberus and it seems our bishie hero might even have "won the girl"…
But the journey is far from over…
For more adventures of 'Wolf of the Snow', you need to SUBMIT REVIEW!