Author's note: Thank you for the reviews. They lift my spirit and encourage me to continue.
Sweet odors of meat and bread drifted up Syaoran nose, causing a smile to appear on his face. He rolled over, not opening his eyes. He was warm, nice and warm, wrapped up in a small cocoon of blankets.
'Sakura is up...' he thought and opened his eyes, than cursed himself for doing so.
It was not Sakura. In fact, he was nowhere near her. In front of his eyes was the disappointing image of a large foot. Syaoran lifted his head up, raising his shoulders as he did so, and saw Hiyoshi, sprawled out on the bed. Hiyoshi's mouth was opened slightly, soft sounds of snoring coming from it.
Syaoran looked around the room, and sighed. 'No, this is definitely not Japan', he thought, feeling an immense longing for something, or someone, familiar. 'No Sakura, either.' This thought only caused him to become more depressed, much to a point that Syaoran sank back into the covers, sighing.
'Damn Messenger.' he thought, cursing the moment he ever met Messenger. So far, the stupid guardian had been nothing but trouble. It was not fair, that it had taken Syaoran from the one person whom he wanted to be with. What did this world have to do with Syaoran, anyways? Why did he, of all people, have to save it? What was in it for him?
As soon as those thoughts crossed his mind, Syaoran felt a choking shame. How could he think those things when a planet depended on him? How dare he think of those things! 'I am a coward,' he thought, and sank deeper into the blankets, 'I have a job to do, and feeling sorry for myself is not going to help anything.' With those words, he pulled the covers off himself and got up.
The air around him was chilly, as it was the day before, and Syaoran quickly hopped around to find his pants and shirt. Once he found them, and dressed, he tiptoed out of the room to the second room. On the table today where three plates, two of them filled with something that resembled a piece of bread and a slab of meat. The third plate only had crumbs on it, evidence that someone was already up.
Syaoran looked at the food and, though his stomach was crying for a meal, decided to look for the prince. Outside there was still one moon in the sky, making it easy for Syaoran to find Arutha. Arutha was by the horse, petting and muttering reassuring phrases.
"When are we leaving?" Syaoran asked, his teeth chattering.
"Before the sun rises, so we best get Sir Hiyoshi up," Arutha turned around and looked at the shivering boy. "Goodness, what are you doing without a coat? Get inside, I'll be done here soon."
Syaoran did not protest and followed the prince's instructions. When he went back inside of the hut, Hiyoshi was at the table, wolfing down his breakfast. Syaoran went down to sit at the table when he remembered the prince's words.
"How did you get up so quickly? Arutha-san just said-"
"That's the problem with being a seer," interrupted Hiyoshi, not looking at Syaoran, "You get visions, even if you aren't looking for them."
He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Syaoran said nothing more, feeling as though none of them were awake enough to make any sort of conversation until later in the day. He had guessed right, for when Arutha walked back into the room, he merely nodded at them and said a simple, "Morning lads. Horses are ready."
They said nothing else to each other until they were out the door of the hut and climbing onto of the horses. Syaoran was once again in his itchy, smelly clothes and heavy chain mail. He sighed, watching his breath steam out and disappear, and, for the first time, was grateful that the clothes he wore were at the very least warm.
Another thing he found himself surprisingly happy for was the horse. Not one very fond of the animals, he was glad that he was not going to have to walk much with the chain mail dragging down his every move. Hiyoshi had no trouble jumping up onto the horse into the saddle, his height helping him a lot, and looked at Arutha and Syaoran. Arutha imitated his move with the skill of a master. Syaoran was sadly not as lucky.
He hopped up once and slipped. He tried again, and failed. Getting frustrated, he tried once more, but was not able to get his leg over the horse to the other side as Hiyoshi and Arutha had done. Under Hiyoshi's watchful eyes, Syaoran felt himself flush from anger and humiliation. He cast his face away from his companions, hoping he would not betray his emotions.
"Here, Syaoran let me help." Arutha said, riding up next to Syaoran's horse and extending his hand down.
Syaoran glared at the hand. Help? He would not have it. Keeping his bangs over his eyes, Syaoran did not bother anymore with trying to jump up like a normal human, opting instead to use his magic. He bent his legs and sprung up, a few feet above the horse, than glided down softly on the saddle.
"Show off." Hiyoshi muttered under his breath. Now that Syaoran was ready, Arutha kicked his heels into the horse, speeding off into a trot. Syaoran followed behind him, Hiyoshi behind him. As the small hut began to disappear behind them, each silently said their own thanks to the small haven of safety. The clouds were gray, unwelcoming, almost a foreboding of what was to come on their journey.
Snow began to fall as the morning went by, and the three companions busied themselves by quizzing Arutha over the land and territory. After today's horse episode, Syaoran wanted to make sure he was better prepared for whatever came their way.
"Well," Arutha said, "We are going to cut north through the woods to a city named Durin. There we will be able to find out the latest of what is going on about the war, and a few of my friends." he grinned at Syaoran, the skin by the corners of his eyes wrinkled.
"What is the city of Durin like?" asked Syaoran.
"Oh, well," Arutha eyes squinted for a moment, "-for one thing, Durin is a port city, which opens up to the sea. It has the biggest harbor of the Free Territories-"
"What are the Free Territories?"
"They are the lands along the coast and some islands which no country has claimed, and quit asking questions, or else I never be able to tell you anything!" Arutha said, trying to sound tough, but his grin slipped through after a moment.
Syaoran bit his tongue as he listened to Arutha. "Now than, where was I? Ah, yes, Durin! Durin is one of the biggest cities in the north, which is a surprising thing in itself considering it is so close to Sumarr. Since Durin is a part of the land that no one wants, it is overrun with smugglers and slave traders. But if you know which parts of the city to avoid, it is an amazing place of trade and merchants, of wine and women."
"If Durin is so close to Sumarr, why has it not been seized by Dark Creatures?" Syaoran had the words out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
"Have you not been listening to my words, Sir Syaoran? The Free Territories is a place no better than Sumarr when it comes to land. Snows much of the year around. And even if you do get farmland, you would not be able to plant anything on it, for all there is only rock and foul grass. No good soil."
"But there is a positive side to the Free Territories, is that it is a major trading center. Since the Free Territories are not owned by anyone, everyone comes there and there no one can shut anyone else out. So many people that have been exiled come to Durin, place of second chances!" Arutha threw his hands up into the air and let out a raspy laugh.
"So we are going to a city devoted entirely to criminals!" Hiyoshi exclaimed, disbelief evident in his shaking voice.
Arutha looked back at him and grinned again, his eyes sparkling. "Now I did not say that, did I, Sir Hiyoshi? I merely mentioned the fact that Durin has many questionable people. They are quiet lovely people if you know their language, and wonderfully loyal at times."
Syaoran could not help but feel doubtful again about the mission. The prince's past was beyond questionable as far as he was concerned, and Syaoran wondered what type of friends the prince was talking so fondly about. Where they criminals? If so, how where they loyal?
So far the mission was a complete waste, Syaoran thought with a grunt. What were they exactly doing?
Ah, yes, searching around for a demon portal that has been opened somewhere on this planet, while trying not to get anyone killed in the process. How where they going to try and find the portal? By going to a city that is run by criminals, lived in by criminals, and was built upon by criminals and look around for clues.
They were small mice running headfirst into a lion's pen. Syaoran could still feel the mission's weight in his chest, heavy as the chain mail he worn, yet thousand times worse.
Sakura stared out of the window, blowing a strand of stray hair out of her face.
'Good morning,' a soft voice said inside of her head. Sakura looked up and towards the door. Messenger stomped into her room. 'That is what humans on Earth say, is it not?' it asked.
Sakura smiled, pleased to see someone she knew. "Yea, it is."
The centaur made no motion it heard her, then again, it never did. Messenger balanced a tray with its long fingers and walked over to where Sakura was sitting. It set down the tray and backed away from her, bowing its large head.
"Are you coming back?" Sakura asked, reaching for the food on the tray.
'Yes,' Messenger replied, not slowing down its pace toward the door. 'I have a few duties to accomplish, then I shall return.' It left without waiting for another word from Sakura.
Sakura sighed and looked out the window again.
Below her was a world of unknown, and somewhere, a mile or two down, was Syaoran, Hiyoshi, and some other person who Sakura did not know the name of. She was up in a castle of clouds, quiet literally.
From what she saw out of the window, she was very high in the sky, for clouds floated sluggishly along below her. Yet she could breath fine from this height, which confirmed her suspension that this place was magical. The castle was made of clouds; at least, the outside of the castle was made from clouds. Sakura doubted that anyone else on the world below her knew this place existed.
She had woken up three days ago in the same room that she was in now. In fact, Sakura had not been allowed to go anywhere but her room. The room was more like a suite than a true room. It was many times the size of her own bedroom in Japan and had the luxuries of a royal family with it.
When she first woke up, she had woken up to a freighting unfamiliar ceiling. She had scrambled out of the bed she laid in and almost ran into a large half horse-half man creature. It had not been a pleasant welcoming. In her heightened state fear and fright, Sakura had tried to use her powers against the blue creature. Luckily, she had been stopped when an image of Syaoran appeared in her mind.
It had taken a few more images, which Sakura later learned were memories, to calm her down to a point where the creature could explain things (though Sakura thought it had done a terrible job of it.) The creature, a guardian of the world below her, told her that she a to be held in this room until the time when she must fight a demon.
Sakura remembered she had laughed at first, out of fright or the out of the insanity of everything or both, but had stopped after the realization of her situation dawned on her. The guardian, who introduced itself as Messenger, was a terribly odd and somewhat cold ...thing.
This, apparently, was the creature that was searching for her on Earth. This, she thought with a note of bitterness, was also her captor. Though Messenger meant her no harm, she could not avoid the matter that she was technically kidnapped. After all, Messenger took her without any regard to her thoughts and feelings over whatever she was supposed to do.
Messenger, itself, was the strangest of the mess she got put in. The guardian was the only thing that came to see her in her lonely days, normally when it was bringing food. Sometimes its' visits were short, merely a 'hello' and putting the a tray filled with food on the table by her bed, other times it would come to observe her, which at first made her nervous to no end, and other times it would stand and talk with her. (Sakura later found out it did not know how to sit, having never had a physical body like a centaur before.)
During their discussions (there had been six so far, the longest one stretching six hours) Sakura learned many things about her alien companion and the world below her.
The world below her was coming to a major turning point, one that Syaoran, Hiyoshi, and the other man was supposed to help with. With their help, the world would have a chance at surviving, and the nations that would evolve would eventually come to peace with each other. However, this was only one possibility out of many, and if something went 'wrong' than adjustments would be made.
Sakura's curiosity was sparked by Messenger's odd choice of words, and urged it to continue. The guardian was too smart for her though, and answered all of her questions with an irritating 'You shall know when the time comes.' She never got anything more out of Messenger and had to drop the subject.
Messenger came back into the room one hour later. 'Today is the day,' Sakura thought, 'today is the day that Messenger will answer all of my questions about Syaoran.'
Since day one, Sakura had pressed Messenger to tell her about Syaoran and the others. It never replied, so when Messenger came into the room, Sakura's determination swept her up again, and though she knew the answer, she asked again, "When will I see Syaoran and Hiyoshi again? What are they doing on that planet?"
'You shall know when the time comes.' Messenger said.
"And when would that be?" she had asked, determined not to let Messenger go without answers.
'When your other is done with his mission,' it said.
Though Messenger could not display any emotions about what it just said, Sakura had the look of someone who had been run over and shocked back to life.
"WHAT!" She exclaimed, jumping up from the chair she was sitting on. "What do you mean, my other?"Sakura let herself believe that she had not heard Messenger, though deep down she knew it was impossible for its' soft voice could not be ignored in her mind.
'Other and One are the same thing, only using different sounds. Renewed Human used the term One.' it replied, using the nickname it had for Eriol.
A small silence passed, Sakura listening to nothing but her breathing, which had speed up considerably. The green aura in her swam around, giving off its warm waves. It was frustration, annoying her to no end with its mystery of who it was. Now she had the key to unlock the mystery and end her suffering once and for all.
She opened her mouth, than paused, feeling the aura give off more warmth. Suddenly, she knew. She knew the answer to the aura. Yet she for the life of her she could not say it. Sakura felt cold, despite the warmth, for there was a cloud of dark and ugly doubt hanging over her head, over her heart. There was still that question, a far off and distant, one asked by a caring friend so long ago.
'What if the person you love today is not who you were meant to be with?'
It was either Syaoran or Hiyoshi, Syaoran or Hiyoshi. They were both there when Messenger first showed up at the theator, and either one could be her One.
As much as Sakura wanted it to be the person she thought it was, there was always that possibility. Could she handle it if that was the outcome? She did not know. She did not want to think about that. 'I am weak,' she thought, biting her lip. 'Messenger knows who it is. It can tell me and end this. So why can't I say anything?'
She cursed, biting her lip more. 'But what if I am wrong? What if, what if, what if!' She pressed the tips of her fingers into her temple, cradling her head. 'Be Quiet, Sakura,' a voice inside her head said, sounding oddly like Syaoran. 'Ask yourself what will happen if you don't know. You are a doomed person, Sakura. Doomed forever. No one will ever, ever make you truly happy, or your other. Do you want to condemn someone else to the same fate just because you are scared?'
Messenger waited patiently, watching the conflict in Sakura's eyes with fascination. The girl was about to say something, it was sure of it. Messenger had no problem waiting for Sakura to finish whatever she was going through. Silence was always welcomed, and it knew that what she choosing her words carefully. Choosing words carefully (however much Messenger did not like words) was a trait that Messenger admired and respected. In doing so the human girl had gained in status, in its' opinion at least.
Sakura was bleeding now, from biting her lip so hard unconsciously. Messenger watch the drop of blood with only more fascination as it skate down her lip, onto her chin, where it remained. The girl did not notice the blood and Messenger was overcome with a powerful desire to enter her mind, however fragile it was at the moment. The desire turned into a pounding, inescapable need as Messenger watched her for another minute, and it inched forward toward her.
Entering someone's mind was a born skill Messenger had. As long as the object did not notice its' presence, the guardian could easily enter someone's mind, trap them, and control the body. It was difficult with people who had magical abilities for they already had acute hearing and vision, not to mention other hereditary traits they might posses. However, with surprise and quickness, they could be overcome using little energy.
Once the person is locked within their own minds, Messenger is free to uncover any memories or emotions the person has. The emotions and thoughts of the people are the most interesting to Messenger, since it can't understand emotions, and must use the person's thoughts to decipher emotions. Itwas only enjoyable when Messenger takes over a person that it admired, which was hardly ever.
Of late, there were many interesting people Messenger had the pleasure of taking over. Renewed Human, the Seer, the Prince, and Simple Human. Sadly, all of them had some magical power, three of them even more powerful than Messenger itself, and Messenger could not examine their minds to the extent of which it wanted to, thus having to leave their minds before they drained it of its powers.
There was a major downside to opening one's mind for pleasure, was that Messenger was also in charge of the body. Since it was born without a physical body, it did not know the function of some of the limbs and confused them time-to-time, causing the body to respond in odd ways. Most of the time Messenger could control the legs and arms with ease, yet when it came to things like fingers, toes, and blinking, it did not bother with such silly things. (Nothing needed some many bones, anyways, Messenger believed)
Messenger stopped inching forward when Sakura looked up at it. She noticed the blood on her chin and wiped it away with the back of her hand, not break eye contract with the guardian. It seemed she had come to a conclusion of her thoughts.
"I want to know, Messenger," Sakura whispered, the emotion inside of her ready to burst, causing a pain in her chest. "I want to know who my One is."
'It is...'
To be continued...
Author's note: Please review. Constructive criticism always welcomed (and always needed) flames not.