Author's note: Best food and drink that goes with this chapter: a subway sandwich and root beer. Enjoy.
Syaoran opened his eyes to a gray sky. The moons, stars, and sun were all hidden behind a tall wall of clouds, which seemed ready to burst with snow. Syaoran watched his breath float up and disappear into nothingness. Nature seemed slow this morning, for the songs of birds that normally accompanied them were gone, and the only sounds that Syaoran could hear were the occasional grunts of his companions.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, Syaoran could see Arutha was up. He held in a groan; when Arutha woke up he and Hiyoshi would soon be woken from their slumber as well. So far the world offered nothing much other than a cold butt, Syaoran bitterly noted.
Though the smell of food over the nearby fire did call to him, Syaoran figured his immediate need for warmth greatly outweighed the former. Praying that Arutha did not see his eyes open, he snuggled back into his heated cocoon of blankets.
"Don't think I did not see you, Sir Syaoran." Arutha's raspy voice chirped. "You have horrible acting skills when it comes to the art of feigning sleep. Best get up."
Dang Arutha.
Syaoran did not retort. He stood up with a groan; sleeping two nights on uneven ground with numerous cuts and scratches from the past day took its toll on Syaoran's body, his aches ringing out in a symphony of pain. Syaoran took a mental note of where all the cuts were, hoping that this knowledge would somehow help him in avoiding more.
He stood up and hopped to the fire, greatly disappointed with its diminutive size. He would not dare ask if they could build a bigger one, fully aware of the danger of doing so without knowing who was nearby. As Arutha said, "Dark Creatures are all around."
A cold, whispering wind blew, chilling Syaoran's bones to a point where he was sure they were rattling. It took him a moment of looking into the bright yellow of the flames before he realized something - a soreness, a stiffness that alarmed him, made him more awake.
'What am I doing? I don't need this fire, I have that aura inside of me!' Feeling quite stupid, Syaoran closed his and called the pink aura. It came forth in an instant and automatically gave Syaoran want he wanted. The corner of his lips turned up as he felt the heat of the aura fill his body, traveling down to his numb toes, then all the way to the hair on the back of his neck.
For extra fun, he jumped around and ran in place until his heart beat speed up and plumped more blood through his viens.
Crack! Crack! Snap! He rolled his neck and shoulders, shook his legs out almost violently, and hopped onto the palms of his hand in a quick, walking handstand. Jumping back on his feet, he waited for his vision - dizzied by the sudden, early-morning activity - to clear.
'Well, at least my body still behaves the same.' Syaoran thought, oddly pleased. His body's cracks and snaps were, was, at least, the reaction he expected from his body, no matter where he was- there, at least one constant in his all too shook-up life. It pleased him.
Snap!
'...To a point' Syaoran noted at he swung his head side to side, listening to the cracks.
Years of martial arts and other rigorous sports had left a strong impact on the boy. Keeping himself flexible was not a loathed chore anymore, it was a necessity. If he neglected to stretch out pains and stress, his body reminded him in simple ways, such as it was doing now.
In all truth, his body was a terrible mess. Besides his bones popping and cracking when he moved them, there were numerous small fractions and breaks, scars and gashes. Bruises came in a variety of stunning colors, dotting his body all over.
There were small oddities in his arms and legs, if one cared to look for them. Syaoran glanced at his left wrist, rotating it slowly, listening to it snap every time he completed a circle. A few years back, when he was 11 or 12, he must have done something to it, yet he could not remember what.
It did not matter anymore anyways. His left wrist was slightly different from his right. It was angled differently and there was a piece of something, bone Syaoran assumed, that poked out occasionally through the skin. If he touched his wrist at a certain point, he could actually move the loose bones around.
"Dear Lord, that was you making all that noise!" a voice exclaimed, scattering Syaoran's thoughts into the wind.
He looked at Arutha, whose mouth was agape. "What in Havvan's name is the matter which your body, Sir Syaoran? It sounds like nothing is in the right place!"
Syaoran was taken back for a moment. He had not been trying to be so loud. 'I need to stretch more often,' he noted.
Arutha waltzed over from his horse to Syaoran and lifted his arm. Syaoran pulled it back reflexively, but relaxed when he saw the prince was not going to do anything. He had been in one too many situations that required him to sit still while someone else toyed with him: usually to make a shoulder pop back in, or in one extreme situation, an elbow.
Arutha did nothing of the sort. His blue eyes studied Syaoran's arm, wrist, and hands like they were scrolls.
"What are you doing?" Syaoran asked, raising his eyebrows at the prince.
"Sir Syaoran, please excuse my directness, but how many broken bones do you have?"
Syaoran shrugged.
"You don't know?" Arutha gawked. "What do you mean, you don't know?"
Again, Syaoran shrugged. He did try to count, once, but at the age of 13 when he tried, almost everything distracted him and he never finished.
Arutha let out a raspy laugh, than told Syaoran to sit down. "Can't have you going about the country side in your condition."
"What are you going to do?"
"Ah, Sir Syaoran! Did the guardian not tell you of my little trick?" Syaoran shook his head.
"Well, it is extremely helpful. Not everyone has it, you know." Arutha gestured for Syaoran to lie down and stretch his arm out perpendicular to his body; he then set it so that it lay straight while Syaoran watched, his head canted sharply to the side. Arutha ran his hands to the middle of his forearm where a rude tree gave him a nasty cut for disturbing it. Syaoran felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as magic gathered.
"It is the art of healing." At this moment, bright red light emitted from Arutha's hands and Syaoran felt a tingling sensation running up his hands. The cut closed up and in seconds vanished in front of his eyes!
Syaoran looked at his forearm with the eye of a hawk, picking at the skin. It was almost as though he had never been hurt. He stared at the prince, eyes wide in amazement.
"You can use magic, too!" Syaoran exclaimed. While Syaoran could sense that Arutha had a tiny drop of magical power, his aura was so weak in general that Syaoran figured he could not gather the energy needed for spells.
"Surprised?" Arutha laughed. "Yes, I can. In fact, everyone here on this planet can."
This shocked Syaoran. "WHAT?"
Arutha nodded, amused by Syaoran's expression. "Yes. All humans, elves, and other beasts. The Dark Creatures, also."
Syaoran went from shock, to complete misery in less than two seconds. "Everyone here can use magic?" he said, his throat dry. The worst possible situations formed in Syaoran's mind. Magic was a wonderful, powerful, and deadly thing. To have everything and everyone in this world with that ability was almost certain death for this planet.
"Arutha-sama," Syaoran croaked, "If everyone here can use magic, how in Kami's name can I defeat-"
"Oh, you don't have to be upset about that!" Arutha said, noticing the worry in Syaoran's eyes. "Let me explain; while everyone here on this planet can use magic, all but a few crazy ones don't dare. Guess which one I am?" Arutha grinned, jerking his thumb toward his chest.
Now Syaoran was confused. "Why doesn't everyone-"
"What did I tell you about asking so many questions! Let me finish!" the prince glared at Syaoran, but still grinning. "Now then, while all people here can use magic, to do so on a regular basis is certain death. Only a few masters can become full time magicians, and those live a short life time."
"The reason is, is that a the core of every being is what we call the life source. This is where all magical energy comes from. In order to use magic, you take the amount needed from your life force, but at a cost, for the life source limited only to your natural life span. So each time you take energy from your life force, you lose a year or two of your life."
"That means, is that if you want to become a magician, you only live till age 30, if you're lucky, 35. Most people never aspire to become magicians, for to do so means certain death, and so, most people don't even want to learn how to take energy from their life source."
Syaoran nodded, soaking up the words. He glanced at his forearm, guilt crawling the walls of his stomach. 'I let Arutha heal me.' he thought. 'He shouldn't be doing that.' Syaoran had so much power - none of which he'd asked for, it had been a gift at birth,- but he would not die of using it or learning to control it. Would he die here for using it? He was not sure whether to ask or not. And, if it did shorten his lifespan - and considering the immensity of his magical power - how long could he live in this world?
Again, Arutha seemed to know what was on Syaoran's mind as he saw the boy glance nervously from his arm to him. "Don't worry about that, Sir Syaoran. I can use a small bit of magic now and then. For fixing your arm, I'll only lose a few hours or days. Nothing big at all."
This statement did not help ease Syaoran's guilt, if anything, it made him feel worse. But his curiosity with the prince only grew.
"But you are not a magician. So how did you learn to use magic?"
"Some people have natural powers. Mine happens to be healing. My father recognized this when I was a boy and taught me to use my life source." Arutha replied, his eyes drifting off into space, deep in memory. "It is quite useful when you are in my profession. I can only fix minor breaks and pains, though. But that is more than enough sometimes."
Arutha patted Syaoran's shoulder and stood up. "Now that we have had our little chat, I shall wake-"
"I'm up already," a deep voice announced, startling the prince and Syaoran.
The prince looked at Syaoran for an answer. "He sees the future, that's all I know." Syaoran said.
The rest of the morning passed without much excitement. The trio did not talk while they rode their horses. All three had come to a silent agreement that no one would try and engage the other in any conversation until the sun was well into the sky and they were more awake, and in a much better mood.
It was the second day since they left the hut. They were still in the woods, with no sign of anything else of miles.
"I need coffee." Hiyoshi stated when they paused by a river.
Syaoran did not even think once of coffee since he left Earth, but desperately craved some when Hiyoshi mentioned it. "Me, too," he sighed.
"What is 'caa-fee'?"
Syaoran and Hiyoshi exchanged raised eyebrows. Hiyoshi turned away and shook his head.
The next hour passed again in silence, nothing but the muffled sound of hooves crushing snow.
During this time, Syaoran turned his attention away from the mission, away from the man in front of him, away from everything about this planet and concentrated what he was thinking about before he went to sleep last night; Sakura.
Thinking about Sakura did calm him down greatly. He thought back on the week he lived in her home. It was a small week, but it cured him of most of his loneness. There was something very different about this visit, though. Sakura seemed more... well, clingy. Throughout the whole week, she would do odd things, like put her arm around his shoulders, or nudge his cheek with her hand.
Her actions generally confused him. He had never been one for hugs and other forms of emotion one normally gives. He was a protector. But when Sakura touched his arm, or his face, he felt more alone than ever before. A small part of him realized that he did not want to protect Sakura; he wanted her to protect him, to touch him, to hug him. He wanted her to put her arms around him in a full hug and hold him and kiss him and whatever else one could communicate through touch, and when she did not, he felt alone.
He had been a protector all his life, just like he was now, protecting a world from destruction. But what if he failed? Who would be there for him?
"Stop!" Hiyoshi's deep voice ordered.
Syaoran snapped out of his thoughts and pulled the reins on his horse. "What is it?"
Hiyoshi closed his eyes and Syaoran felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as Hiyoshi gathered magic. He rocked on the horse for a moment. Then his eyes snapped open and whipped his head side to side.
"I saw something. Something is coming. And-" Hiyoshi said, a sudden panic in his voice.
"What did you see? Tell me!" Arutha demanded, turning his horse to face the seer.
Hiyoshi shook his head; his eyes wide and his voice shook as he answered. "I don't know! It looked really crazy! It was-it was-blue!"
Arutha cursed. "Dark Creatures. Why would they be so far out-" Arutha never finished his sentence before an arrow sailed through the air, embedding itself in a tree trunk right by the prince's head.
The whizzing of the arrow startled the horses, which cried out and stood up, almost throwing their masters off. Before any could react, they stomped their hooves into the snow and speed off in different directions.
"Syaoran!" Hiyoshi's panicked voice shrieked as Syaoran's horse tore away from his, "-a turning point-don't use-" Syaoran never heard the rest of Hiyoshi's warning as more two more arrows came blazing through the trees.
His horse was out of control, driving by fear. Syaoran grasped the reins and pulled sharply back. It did not matter, for the horse was now the master of its own moves. It paid no heed to Syaoran's desperate calls and clicks.
All Syaoran could do was hold on. Another arrow whizzed by and the horse stumbled over an uplifted tree branch, catapulting Syaoran into the air. He landed very unceremoniously in a pile of snow and broken tree branches. Syaoran jumped back up, releasing the guard on his aura.
'I can't keep this up.' Syaoran thought. He knew that once he took off his guard on his aura, he was no longer hidden and anyone with enough magical energy could sense him.
He was like blood to sharks. All Syaoran could do now was pray his attackers were as weak as the prince presumed they were. In moments, his bait worked and Syaoran got his first look at a Dark Creature.
Two large, yellow eyes glared out at him from a small head, with a few hairs growing out of its scalp. Syaoran would have guessed he had the trademark ears, but they were bent at a horizontal angle out of its head with black tips, giving the impression of a burn victim.
Though the Dark Creature had a small build, all of it was pure muscle. His long arms and legs were nothing but muscle and bone. As if that was not enough, growing out of its fingers and toes were black knives of nails. It seemed as though every single part of this creature was designed for fighting, and killing.
The Dark Creature licked its purple lips, a glimpse of brown smudged teeth showing, as it eyed its prey. Then it did something that made Syaoran tense up even more; it smiled. It smiled at him, like it was having fun.
But this was not the greatest of Syaoran's worries. In fact, it did not come close. For there was not only one of these creatures; there were two. Two heavily muscled, eager murderers.
That was Syaoran greatest worry.
The two Dark Creatures lunged at him. Syaoran never had a chance to decide which way to go as his body automatically reacted. He was not fast enough and one of the creature's claws ripped at his arm, held over his head in defense, and ripped it open.
Syaoran gritted his teeth as his arm bled. For the first time today, he was thankful for the chain mail he worn, which, though it would not do much against the claws of the Creature, would protect some vital areas.
He twisted his body out of the way of another punch and stepped aside, putting one of the Dark Creatures in front of the other. He then put on an assault of kicks and jabs on his enemy. His battle cries tore from his throat in his attack, heightening the heady sensation serious fighting gave him. Syaoran roared as his arms flung back and forth, faster and faster.
His mind went blank as his body acted on its animal instincts, naturally tied into that well of magic in his being. Syaoran kept pounding, but it had no effect. The dark Creature was just as fast as he was and blocked his every move, cutting and tearing his arms with its nails as they came near. The second Creature finally figured its way around the first and came at Syaoran's throat, attempting to latch on.
Syaoran set his foot on one of the Dark Creature's chest and pushed himself backwards, flying through the air. He did not judge his distance correctly and smacked into the trunk of a tree.
His ribs hurt. His lungs burned. 'Use your magic, idiot.' a loud voice inside his head commanded. 'No! I can't. I won't be able to do another spell!'
The Creatures hesitated for a moment then rushed forward to him again. Syaoran flung his feet outnow that he had distance he could use his feet to blockand swung around.
His feet never made contact with either creature; instead, his eyes glazed over and he dropped to the ground in mid-leap. A blast - heat rolled over his body, not harming him - pulsed, and exploded, propelling the Dark Creatures into the air, and over the treetops.
Syaoran never saw were they landed, for he fell to his knees, pausing only for a moment as his torso rocked backwards and forwards before it made the decision to crash forward onto the snow covered ground. Syaoran's mind was blank, a sheet of white paper, and he lay dazed, unknown of his actions and dead to the world.
He did not know how long he lay there, only that by the time he heard voices- Arutha's raspy one and Hiyoshi's panic filled one- his cheek had gone numb. They came rushing to his aid moments later and hoisted him up, both raining questions on him.
"I saw two Dark Elves on a branch in a tree! What in Havvan's-"
"That bright light! What did you do? What did-?"
"-most amusing! To see a Dark Creature in a-"
"-could sense you miles away! I told you not to-"
Syaoran's head was throbbing again. He rolled his eyes toward Arutha, who was grinning ear to ear, than to Hiyoshi, whose big eyes were flashing left and right. Throb, throb, throb.
They carried him a few meters and propped him up against a tree trunk like a marionette with its strings cut. Syaoran could see the horses- all three of them- tied to another tree. He closed his eyes. Throb, throb, throb.
When something warm was pressed up against his lips, Syaoran opened his eyes. Arutha was squatting in front of him, holding up a hollowed-out horn, which contained bittersweet ale in it. Syaoran could not control his actions, his mind in a mist of haze, and opened his mouth willingly, though his tongue drew back. He hated ale.
"Now, Sir Syaoran, you best drink this up," Arutha was saying, tilting the horn upwards, allowing the liquid to slosh into Syaoran's mouth, a bit of it dripping down his chin. "Than you must tell us how you defeated a Dark Elf! I am most interested! My, my, the guardian was telling the truth when he said he would get someone of astonishing power!"
Syaoran could only nod, his head throbbing more painfully with the motion. 'What happened? How was I able to use magic so quickly? Why am I so drained? What is blocking my power?' His questions were only responded with silence.
He swallowed more of the ale, and than looked at Arutha. "What happened? After-"
"-After the horses separated?" Arutha finished for him. " My horse took off north, and one of the vermin went after me. I believe the other took off after Sir Hiyoshi. Last I saw of you was when you were hanging on to the side of your horse." He paused in thought before clearing his throat and continuing.
"Since I was on a horse, and the elf was on foot, I out ran him and circled around back to find Hiyoshi, who was having a bit more trouble than I. We were in the midst of running when there was this...feeling. I believe it was you. It was simply incredible! I suddenly knew where you were! Unfortunately, so did the Black Elves and they ran off into the woods.
"We were just about to follow them, when by a stroke of luck, your horse happened upon us. Sir Hiyoshi and I than tied them up right when a blinding light blacken the sky." Arutha stopped pouring the ale into Syaoran's mouth, so consumed in what he telling that he did not notice that Syaoran had stopped drinking and the ale was simply pouring down his chin, onto his clothes.
"We figured you were the only one who could release such a strong amount of power and ran towards it. We found you a few minutes later." Arutha took a deep breath, at last finished. "What did you do, Sir Syaoran? To defeat one Black Elf is a victory in itself, but you defeated two! How?"
Syaoran shook his head. "I don't know what happened, I-"
"You FOOL!" Hiyoshi's deep heightened as he jumped in front of Syaoran, jabbing his finger in Syaoran's face. "How could you use your magic! I told you- I warned you- NOT to!"
Hiyoshi could not finish his sentence, and he held his head in his hands. "You weren't supposed to do that! You weren't supposed to do that!" Panic rose in his voice again.
Arutha glanced from the boy on the ground to the boy running his fingers through his spiked hair. The events of the past hour were beyond his understanding, yet Hiyoshi's reaction to Syaoran was most unusual. "What is wrong, Sir Hiyoshi?" he asked.
Hiyoshi did not seem to hear him, instead continued to say meaningless things. " Everyone can sense us, they know where we are! Syaoran, you fool! You stupid fool!" Hiyoshi's panic grew into anger and he took a step toward the boy on the ground. "How could you!" Hiyoshi raised his arm threatingly, preparing to strike Syaoran, "You're gonna get us killed!"
Before Hiyoshi could proceed, Arutha intervened. Though Hiyoshi towered over Arutha, the latter had much more strength and the upper hand of surprise. The prince stood his ground and placed his gloved hand on Hiyoshi's chest, restraining him from doing anything further.
Hiyoshi eyes blazed with fire for a moment, than died out, and Hiyoshi succumbed at last, letting his anger flee. He stumbled backwards and tripped over a stone, falling onto his bottom, his legs sprawled out.
Arutha stood in between Hiyoshi and Syaoran, glancing from one to the other. For the first time, he saw them, in a way he had regrettably overlooked, or refused to see. 'They are just boys.' Arutha thought. They looked so young, so gangly as in the way of adolescents. They were alone, confused, and scared.
The prince sighed, letting silence fill the lull of conversation.
He should have known. In his mind, he made these two boys to be men: strong and brave; heroes, capable of doing anything and correcting his world. Now, he saw them for what they were; two boys lost in a world and scared. They had enormous power, yet no idea what to do. Seeing them in such new light, he pitied them and felt their burden.
'Why did the guardian send these two?' he asked. 'Why them?' There was no answer.
Now that Hiyoshi had calmed down, and Syaoran seemed more alive, Arutha sat.
"I think its time to get some matters straightened out before we continue our little quest, eh?" He said, trying to keep his voice light. Hiyoshi and Syaoran did not respond, but nodded their heads after a minute.
"Good. Now then, first order of business, let's figure out this problem with Sir Syaoran's power." He turned to Syaoran. "Tell us again what happened, more clearly, this time."
Syaoran closed his eyes, replaying the images of the battle in his mind. "-And than all my magic exploded. The next thing I remember is hearing you call my name." he summed up.
Arutha stroked his chin for a moment, than turned to Hiyoshi. "Sir Hiyoshi, what were you speaking of when you spoke of a 'turning point'? I believe I heard those words coming out of your mouth before we got separated."
Hiyoshi eyes glazed over. "I saw two outcomes."
"What do you mean?"
"Two outcomes." Hiyoshi repeated. "Two different futures, each one just as likely as the other. That is part of being a seer." his eyes dropped to the ground, "Seeing the future is harder than anyone knows, because it is so unpredictable most of the time."
"What happens when it is not?"
"It depends on the situation. Most of the actions we do day-to-day roll into the next day, that is when something becomes routine, and it is somewhat easy to know what will happen in one hour or even next week. However-" Hiyoshi paused, collecting his words.
"What?" Syaoran asked, his curiosity sparked.
"There are times when there are only a few outcomes, and we call those 'turning points'. All people have turning points in their lives, though half the time they aren't aware. Like when a lady walks down the street. She comes to a sign that says go left or right. She chooses left. What she does not know is that if she had chosen right, a mugger waiting just a block away would have killed her. Her decision was an unknown turning point between life and death."
Syaoran did not like the sound of turning points. What was the turning point Hiyoshi mentioned earlier? He asked this.
"I don't know. Whenever there is a turning point, I can see only glimpses of a few of the outcomes. The rest of the time it is black. But once a turning point has been made, all the other outcomes are erased and I can only see what is coming along this road that you-" he glared at Syaoran, "-have chosen."
"What did I do?" Syaoran questioned, his head still throbbing.
"What I saw was two outcomes in that fight. You used your power in one, you did not in the other."
Syaoran opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the prince. "So that battle was a turning point. I am assuming there are different degrees of turning points, am I right?"
Hiyoshi nodded.
"So was this turning point very large? Will this have anything to do with destroying the portal?" Arutha looked at Hiyoshi, who stared at the ground. In a slow, almost pained motion, his head bobbed up and down. Arutha's face darkened. "What were the outcomes you saw again?"
"In one, Syaoran used his magic. In the other, he did not."
"What about after the battle? What would have happened to Syaoran if he did not use his magic?"
Hiyoshi shrugged. "I did not see that far, which means that a lot depended on this battle, for some reason. The greater the turning point, the more it depends on the actions to decide the future, and the less I can see."
All three were hushed into silence as snow began to fall once more.
"What will happen now?" Arutha asked, his voice far off and distant.
"They can sense us. They know we are here." Hiyoshi stated. "The amount of power Syaoran let go was too much to be ignored. We felt it, and we were at least a mile away before we found him. In a world were magical power is frowned upon, who knows how many people felt him."
Syaoran felt his mouth go dry, as though it was stuffed with cotton. He felt numb and cold and pain. Pain from all parts of his body. Throbbing from his mind, echoing to the back of his head and rebounding. Though Hiyoshi and the prince were only a few feet from him, they seemed leagues away. Their voices were soft, almost childlike.
"Who's 'they'?" Arutha asked.
"The enemy." Was Hiyoshi's solemn reply.
Darkness bit at the corners of Syaoran's vision. He could not hear sounds or feel the snow on his face or even begin to think of the mistake he had made. His face slumped down, and he fell into unconsciousness. 'Sakura...'
Author's note: Please review. They lift my spirts and encourage me to write. As for the next chapter, I believe it will be completed sometime next week. Thank you.