Disclaimer: Cardcaptor does not belong to me. The rightful owner is Clamp. And it's no use suing me. I have no money or valuable assets.

Onward to Treasure
'Collided'

As Syaoran entered the dining room, the hearty noise immediately quieted as everyone regarded him with suspicion. Without breaking stride, he got in line to patiently wait for his food. As he reached the front, the cook smirked down at him. He lifted his cradle and poured half a bowl of soup and handed it to Syaoran. The cook made no move to hand him bread from the stack.

Syaoran didn't say a word as to why he was served with half a helping compared to everyone else. No emotion crossed his face. Instead, he chose a secluded table and sat down. He began to eat slowly, regardless of the eyes on him. Soon, everyone got bored and continued on with their chatter.

Syaoran stuffed a spoonful of the soup into his mouth and cringed. He was now thankful that the cook hadn't given him more. It seemed like pirates aren't very good at cooking. The stuff was horrid. Syaoran stared down at his bowl, trying to make out what was in it, but then deciding it was probably better if he didn't know. He sighed and went on eating. He was hungry after all.

As he ate, he kept his ears open to the conversations around him. There were talks about girls from the last village. Another man was describing a particularly gruesome fight he participated in. However, one conversation had caught Syaoran's interest.

"I heard the captain talking about the Clow treasure yesterday," a man said in a booming voice. Syaoran peaked out of the corner of his eye, and spied the man that spoke. A jagged scar ran across his right cheek and Syaoran was willing to bet that there were more covering the rest of his body.

"Clow treasure, isn't it cursed?" another inquired. As he said that, more began to crowd around.

The first man nodded. "Those who try to look for it often find themselves stranded on an island and forgotten how they got there. Some even disappear."

"That's impossible!"

"Aye, but it's true. I heard tell of it happening numerous times and the captain wants it to be our next mission."

There were many protests as some insisted that the treasure wasn't worth it. The volume level of the room erupted as everyone rushed to contribute what they think.

"Hello Li."

Syaoran jumped slightly. He was so engrossed with listening to the others, he didn't notice that someone had sat down in front of him. It irritated him that he had let his guard down. He looked up to see the smiling face of Yukito. "Hi," Syaoran replied.

"Are you enjoying the food?" Yukito looked down at Syaoran's half empty bowl. "Our regular cook is sick right now, so Rust had to substitute. Here, have some bread. It probably tastes better than the soup." Yukito happily took two buns from his own plate and stacked them onto Syaoran's.

"Thank you." Syaoran took a bite of the offered bread and watched as Yukito polished off three bowls of soup and four buns in the same amount of time it took him to finish. 'Scary.'

Yukito leaned back against his chair and sighed happily. "How was your day? I heard Touya assigned you to deck swabbing."

Syaoran shrugged. "It was okay."

Yukito shook his head. "After Touya gets used to you, he'll give you some more exciting jobs."

In actuality, Syaoran didn't mind cleaning the ship. It gave him time to analyse his surroundings. He covered most of outside today and memorised every nook and cranny. He was looking forward to cleaning the inside. There would be more to see there.

Yukito stood up, an empty plate in his hand. "Well, duty calls. Don't do anything reckless." Then, he left and Syaoran was allowed to eavesdrop once again.

To all those looking, the young boy would have seemed completely engrossed with his task. His mop made perfect circular motion and he would go over the same spot two or three times before moving on. The areas he had completed were spotless. One could probably see their face on the glistening floor. However, the young boy was actually observing his surroundings.

In the past few hours, Syaoran had each door, each item and each picture perfectly engrained in his memory. The hall was exactly 1 foot 6 inches wide and about 8 feet long. He even knew that there was a slight crack on the floor 3 steps down and a creaky area just before that. He probably knew this hallway better then anyone on the ship.

He straightened and did a small stretch. All that leaning down made his back ache, but as he turned around, he secretly admired his work. He hadn't slacked off and figured that the hallways were never this clean. Just like the previous area. Syaoran allowed a smirk to pass his features. The captain wouldn't suspect a thing.

As he went back to retrieve his bucket, he heard a voice yell down the hall.

"Kero! Stop!"

Syaoran frowned. The voice sounded too high pitched for a man. Before he could think further about the matter, something yellow rounded the corner and flew past him. Startled, Syaoran took a step backwards. 'Yellow? Flew?'

A few seconds afterwards, Syaoran heard the sounds of speeding footsteps. A figure turned the corner and just as Syaoran's brain processed that they were going to collide, he felt the heavy pressure ram into his chest. Syaoran stumbled, but the slippery floor made it impossible for him to regain his footing, not to mention the added weight leaning against him. He fell, knocking the bucket over. Water flew everywhere, drenching him.

As if it wasn't bad enough that he was sitting on the ground, his rear end throbbing, but the person that knocked into him ended up landing on his stomach. Syaoran had a hard time catching his breath. He was also soaked. Syaoran grimaced.

"Oh god! I am terribly sorry!"

Again, Syaoran heard the high-pitched voice. Maybe he was hallucinating now. After all, his ears were ringing slightly. But as he looked up, he knew why the voice was so high. The person that was sitting on top of him was a girl. Syaoran blinked. 'There's a girl aboard this ship?'

"Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" she asked, her voice sounding frantic.

Syaoran gasped. "I would be better if you got off me."

Her face flushed crimson as she hurriedly jumped off. With the weight off his stomach, Syaoran was able to take a deep breath. After the slight dizziness went away, he turned to stare at the perpetrator. He was surprised to find that she couldn't have been any older then he was. She was also staring at him, her green eyes wide in shock.

Before either of them could say a word, running footsteps were heard behind them. Syaoran turned around and inwardly cringed. His day just got worse.

"Gaki! What are you doing?" came the booming voice belonging to the captain.

Syaoran sighed and looked at the mess around him and then at the girl. It was doubtless he'd be blamed. He stood up, ignoring the aches and prepared to meet his punishment head-on.

Touya rounded the corner with Yukito following closely behind. They stopped a few feet in front of him and eyed Syaoran. Syaoran didn't budge. He knew what he looked like. His clothes were soaked. "What the hell happened?" the young captain growled. "We could hear the noise from a mile away." He took a threatening step forward. Syaoran still didn't move.

"Stop onii-chan!"

'Onii-chan? That guy is her brother?' Syaoran sighed. 'This just got even more interesting.'

Touya turned to look past Syaoran. "Sakura? What are you doing out here?" His voice was incredulous. 'The girl wasn't supposed to be outside,' Syaoran noted.

Sakura stepped forward, her voice hesitant. "I…was chasing after Kero and ended up running into him. The mess is my fault."

Touya sighed. "Sakura, you know you're not suppose to let it out."

She bit her lips. "I know, but he smelled food and you know how gets when he's hungry," she said helplessly.

Yukito placed a hand on Touya's shoulder. "It's okay Touya. No harm has been done."

Touya snorted, but made no move to remove the other man's hand. Syaoran noted that also. "No harm except the gaki has seen them both." He gave Syaoran a glare. "What are we suppose to do about him? Can we throw him overboard?"

"To-ya," Yukito warned. Touya sighed, knowing he wouldn't get his way. "We have to tell him."

"I know, but I don't like it."

To be continued...

What's the big secret? Why was Sakura locked up? Why is Syaoran being so sneaky? All will be revealed later.

I'm pretty happy with how this story is progressing. Perhaps I won't get bored as easily. Thank you Yukimi the Ice Goddessfor the lovely review. To everyone else, please support me by telling me what you think with a review!