Feathers of Love

Chapitre Eleven: The City


Sakura walked what seemed like a long time to her, fingering the only thing other than the clothes on her back that she had. Her bracelet. She was very nervous, for she had never been so far from her mother before, and it was terrifying, for the whole place was silent as a tomb, save for the sound of her footsteps. Sakura remembered that when she was in the woods just now, she realized that there were no animals around, except the trees and the entrance to the tunnel. The forest was also silent, as if something bad would be happening to her if she stayed in the woods. However, she had no choice, for if she were not to enter the tunnel, the soldiers would have caught her already and she did not have enough magical powers to protect herself. So, the best bet would be to enter the tunnel and see what it brought her to.

Finally, Sakura reached the end of the tunnel and saw a gigantic and empty room that contained lots of benches. Since she had no idea what it was, she made her way to the exit of the room, which was at the other end. She stepped out of it and was surprised to hear some sounds- a sort of whistling. Startled, Sakura turned back and saw the board that proclaimed the name of the place- a train station.

"So this is a train station." Sakura thought as she fingered her bracelet yet again. "Mother has told me about this before but I do not believe that a train station has such a long tunnel. Wait, I thought mother did not mention a tunnel at all? But by the looks of it, it seems very old, for the paint is peeling and there are cracks...however, I find it beautiful."

She looked at the distance. Where she could hear the sound of whistling again. "It must be a train, and mother did mention before that trains make a whistling sound." Sakura saw a green field that was dotted with something. On closer inspection, Sakura was surprised to see the two small figures again. They looked the same, except that they were in different sizes. There were also a few buildings that looked so old that they could be ready to fall apart, even though Sakura saw that they were not as old as the train station itself. She stared at the buildings and statues for a long time before continuing her way, feeling uneasy.

After walking for some time, Sakura she came across a place with humongous rocks, some were even bigger than her! Water was trickling its way among the rocks towards the distance. Sakura decided to rest there or a while before continuing her way, since she was still panting a bit, tired out from her run. She climbed over the rocks and continued her way.

Just then, she spotted something big- buildings cluttered together. It was a city! But... "Gosh! How come there is nobody in this city? A ghost city? What is that? Food?" Sakura thought as she smelt the air. The smell was enticing, and she made her way towards it. She saw a lot of food piled up in great platters, as if the food was waiting to be served to some people. The only problem was that she was not able to see anybody cooking the food and nobody was there, eating. She shuddered as she felt something odd about it.

Then, she decided to continue her way in search of somewhere to rest her weary body. She traveled for a long time, before coming across a bridge. She looked down at it and saw something.

"Is it a train?" Sakura thought as she stared at it. She could not remember anything about how trains looked, and thus had no idea. "I think that it is a train, for it is whistling again."

After a while, she looked up again and stared into a pair of piercing sienna eyes. Sakura looked shocked as she tried to stammer, "...H...Haku?"

"Leave this place! Leave and get back across the river before it gets dark! Go! I will hold them for a while! Run!"

"What are you saying? Can you please explain to me?" Sakura asked, dumbfounded.

"We have no time for explanations! Now go!" Haku warned as he gave her a shove towards the direction that she had come from. Sakura, feeling alarmed by his warning, began running quickly while Haku blew a mysterious spell.

As she ran, the lights came on and she saw all sorts of dark ghostly shops in the buildings. She gave an involuntarily shudder as she sped up yet faster. However, as she had not eaten for the whole day, she tired out easily, and soon, she could not run any faster than before.

"I hate ghosts and I will outrun them! I will!" Sakura intoned as she ran towards the river. She managed to do so and started to run into the river, thinking that the rocks would still be there. However, she felt wetness, and with her trembling hand, she touched slowly at something wet near her knees. The river had filled up by itself! She went back towards the riverbed, where she curled up into a ball, muttering all the while.

"Now what am I going to do? I hate ghosts! Is this a dream? Will I wake up at Debonair's palace to the sounds of the bell?" Sakura thought frantically. "It must be a dream! I have not run away, have I? It is just a common dream that I always have, isn't it?"

Sakura pinched herself at her cheeks, hoping that pain would bring her back to reality. However, it did not happen as she hoped so. She sneaked a look at her hands, and saw that she was starting to disappear!

Tears filled her eyes as she looked at the lit up train station. She could never see her mother anymore, and that was true, for she was going to disappear at this mysterious forever. Sakura heard a sound, and saw that a ferry had docked nearby and strange figures disembarked. Through her tears, she could not see who these figures were, but she could tell that they were the ghosts that she had met.

Footsteps sounded nearby, and Sakura heard it. With her heart pounding, she looked at the person...


Disclaimer: I do not own anything except this story plot.

Done! How is it? Hope you liked it! Please review! Will try to update soon! Ja!