Well peoples! I'm back for chapter 2 of my new CCS fic. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS or any of the characters. Any original characters are mine. Any explanations of the chapter will be in my author's note at the end.
On with the story:
Where we last left off . . .
What am I, contagious? She thought bitterly, a tear dripping on her cheek, and landing on Kero, who felt his heart breaking for his master. She was kind and sweet, and didn't deserve what was happening to her.
Poor Sakura. He thought. Poor Sakura.
Chapter Two: 'You're Not Alone.'
Sakura sat in the small room of the tiny hut that she had been sent to. It seemed that her life had hit rock bottom.
flashback
The man who led her hear made no effort to help her with her suitcase or her belongings. When she tripped, he hadsimply turned around and glared at her, and then resumed walking. He was nearly out of sight by the time she caught up with him. Sakura was panting, and her ankle throbbed painfully.
Once he had done his duty, Sakura found herself standing in front of a tiny, rundown shack that looked like one more gust of wind would blow it over. Sakura stepped inside the doorway, and set her things down. She surveyed the room with a neutral expression
"It could be worse." Was all she said.
"Oh really? I don't see how." Kero was angry, and it cheered Sakura slightly to see Kero having some form of emotion. Truly she felt numb. She couldn't feel anything anymore. She didn't want to feel anything. If she let herself go, she wouldn't be able to come back to the world of happiness.No. It was better to be cold and unfeeling than to feel immense pain.
End flashback
Sakura heaved another sigh as she lay on the small iron bed staring at the ceiling. Suddenly a blue aura seeped into the air, and it surrounded her. Sakura tensed. Shit. It must be a card. Her senses on full alert, she quietly got up from the bed and glided towards the door. She heard a voice call from the other side.
"Hello?" Sakura stopped in her tracks, confusion clouding her face.
Ok. That can't be a card. It's definitely a human voice. Suddenly another thought occurred to her. Can it be-? Without another word, she whipped open the door."Syaoran!" she yelled, blindly running outside and crashing into something hard. And warm. Sakura felt dizzy.
"Are you alright?" the voice didn't belong to Syaoran. It sounded unfamiliar. Great. Now I've gone and embarrassed myself. When she looked up however, she saw to her great relief that the person was smiling at her, and offering her his hand.
"Thanks." She said, taking the offered hand. Once she was pulled to her feet, she regarded the person standing in front of her suspiciously. He had dark blue hair, strikingly pale skin, and intense gray eyes that were looking at her through a pair of glasses. He looked vaguely familiar, and yet she was certain that she didn't know who he was.
"Who are you?" she asked. The teen simply smiled at her in an odd way, as if he knew something that she didn't.
"Ah Sakura." He finally said, making her look up at him in shock. "I didn't think you would recognize me after all these years, but I would know those emerald eyes anywhere."
"Who are you?" she asked again, this time with an edge of panic in her voice. How does this guy know my name?
"Think really hard." Was all he said, with a wave of his hand.
Suddenly Sakura was bombarded with memories of her early childhood.
Flashback
Sakura was ten years old and midway through the fifth grade. One day she went to school, and there was an unfamiliar person sitting in the desk next to her. He had blue hair, and gray eyes, and had an aura about him that confused Sakura greatly. Most people had a gray aura, or no aura at all, but this boy's aura was blue.
"Hello." She said sweetly. The boy turned to look at her, and she felt his eyes peering into the depth of her soul. He smiled at her, and she wondered just how much he knew about her. Maybe he knows about my magic! She thought, suddenly feeling on edge. Luckily for her, Syaoran had just come into the room. He took one look at her pale face, and knew that something was wrong.
"Sakura?" he asked, approaching her carefully. Sakura whirled around to face him, and he saw fear in her eyes. He inwardly blanched.
"Syaoran." Sakura said, putting her usual sunny smile back onto her face. Syaoran looked at her for a moment, but she was smiling again. Syaoran knew something was up, but he knew that she didn't want to talk about it right now. He reached out and gave her a hand a comforting squeeze, before sitting down at his desk, his face cherry red.
A few hours later, Sakura was running late, and was running blindly in the halls. She crashed into someone, and her books tumbled over her. "Gomen nasai!" she said, picking up her books, and coming face to face with the boy from the morning. Sakura felt herself tense up. She tried to calm her raging emotions."It's ok. You don't have to be afraid of me. I'll always be your ally." The boy said, before getting up, and walking down the empty hallway. Sakura couldn't take it anymore.
"Wait!" she called. The boy turned around.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Eriol Hiiragizawa" he replied, before he reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner.
The town was in court, because someone had been caught doing magic. As the town assembled in the courtroom, Sakura felt sick to her stomach. What if it's me? She thought. She had been out the previous evening, trying to capture a card. What if someone saw? She was shaking like a leaf as she sat down next to her brother.
"What's wrong kajuu?" Touya asked, sensing her discomfort.
"Nothing. I'm fine." Sakura said, trying to smile at her brother, but it came out very weak. Her brother gave her a look, but the court was in session, so he shrugged it off for now.
"We are now in court with the honorable Judge Shinto presiding." A man in his late twenties came out into the courtroom and took his place. Once he had sat down, he got down to business.
"As you are all aware," he began. "There was someone caught using magic late last night."
Sakura had gone so pale, she was nearly white. She clutched at her skirt so hard, it was a miracle that fabric didn't rip. Her brother gave her another look, but she gave him another weak smile. Touya turned away, but kept one eye on his sister who was all of the sudden acting strange.
"The person responsible for this monstrosity," The judge continued. "Will stand trial, and be exiled from town indefinitely." Collective gasps were issued throughout the courtroom. The judge waited for them to die down before he continued.
"And now I will call Mr. Eriol Hiiragizawa to the stand."
Sakura felt her body sag in relief, and shock as she stared at the young boy with the blue hair and gray eyes approach the stand. It was . . . him? Last night Sakura had thought she had sensed another presence, but she had brushed it off. Now she knew who it was. She watched through a veil of tears. Eriol went through the trial, and was exiled from the town, and Sakura never saw him again.
End flashback
"Oh my gosh!" Sakura yelled, breaking through her memories. I know I promised myself I wouldn't feel anything, but now I'm not alone. She stared at the teen standing in front of her, shocked beyond belief. Eriol chuckled.
"I knew you'd figure it out." He said quietly. Sakura lost it. She broke down sobbing, and flung herself in his arms. He held her while she cried her heart out.
"It's going to be alright you know." Eriol said soothingly to Sakura, who was trying to calm down.
"How do you know?" she asked, staring at him through teary eyes.
"Because I've lived here for the better part of 7 years. And now you're here. I always knew you had magic, and I was surprised it took you this long to come here."
"But I love that town!" Sakura said loyally.
"What, the town that's afraid of their own shadows?" For once, Eriol's voice was bitter.
"But it's where I grew up with the people I loved. My father and brother and Sya-" Sakura clamped her hands on her mouth, and turned bright red.
"It's ok you know. I always knew that you loved Syaoran." Sakura looked up at Eriol with wide eyes.
"But now he hates me, because he knows who I really am." She whispered, feeling tears well up inside of her again. It's not fair! She thought to herself.
"You can't say that. You don't know how he feels." Eriol said.
"Well I really don't think he'll talk to me now, because he doesn't know where I am, and he's probably like all the other magic haters in that town."
Eriol sighed, and inwardly groaned. Sakura is really naïve to think that, but she'll learn in good time. He looked down at his dear friend who was looking especially morose.
"Say, I have an idea." Sakura looked up, mildly interested. "Why don't you come with me, and I can introduce you to the others."
"There's others out here?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"Like I said, this town is paranoid. Come with me." He grabbed her hand, and led her away from the loneliness, and towards the hope of finding others who were like her; trying to find themselves in a world that was full of fear. But Sakura was no longer afraid, only anxious to begin her new life of freedom.
Perhaps everything really will be alright.
It was dark and dusty, with the only source of light coming from the lamps lit in the courtroom below. Syaoran was feeling extremely uncomfortable, but didn't dare move. He needed to know where they had taken Sakura. Her aura was so faint, it barely even registered. After he had spent the better part of the day searching tirelessly for her, Syaoran slowly began to realize that she wasn't even in the city, because he was certain he would have found her by now.
Syaoran knew that the situation was not looking so great for him, and that he needed to go into hiding if he wanted to avoid capture. After all, how can I help Sakura if I get captured? He had no idea where those who were exiled were sent, but he assumed that they were in a remote, isolated spot. Now I just have to figure out where that spot would be.
The sound of voices in the courtroom below shook Syaoran out his reverie. Peeking between the rafters of the courthouse roof, he could see several of the city's officials, and Judge Shinto gathering for an important meeting. Jackpot! Syaoran thought, leaning in close to listen to their conversation . . .
"Well what are we going to do about it then?" one of the city officials, a plain looking woman asked anxiously.
"We need to get rid of the source. We can no longer exile those who posses magic. We need to do something drastic."
Syaoran tensed. This is not good. He thought, leaning even closer to hear the Judge's next words.
"So what are we going to do with them?" another official asked.
Shinto looked at the city officials, all ten of them with a grave look on his face.
"It seems that we'll have to fight fire with fire." He said simply.
"Come again?"
"It has come to my attention that the 'magicians'" he said the word like it was dirty. "Are planning on attacking the town and overthrowing the government."
All of the officials gasped in both shock and surprise.
"And how did you come to obtain this knowledge?"
"I have my ways." He smiled in a mysterious way that did nothing to comfort both the officials, and the hidden boy who was listening with rapt attention to their conversation.
"Anyways," he continued. "I have taken it upon myself to call in an expert." He made a gesture with his hand, and a newcomer came into the room. Upon inspection of said newcomer, Syaoran nearly fell from his hiding place. Shit. This is definitely not good. He thought, surveying the person who now stood at Judge Shinto's side.
He had long, flowing white hair that pooled around his ankles. His eyes were an intense shade of icy blue. He was dressed normally enough, in a white shirt and blue jeans, but even people who feared magic could sense that he wasn't normal. Everyone was staring at him, absolutely entranced by him, and the demeanor he gave off.
"What is this?" one of the officials barked, coming out of his trance. "He's one of them." He spat, looking at the Judge accusingly.
"No actually he's not. He just looks like it. This man actually hunts down magical people as a profession." Judge Shinto said everything with an air of calmness around him.
"My name is Yue." The man spoke, his voice flowing like water and ice, and once again everyone was staring raptly at him. Silence reigned for a few moments, but luckily for Syaoran, no one could detect his heavy breathing, as he struggled to conceal his aura from the man who hunted and presumably killed magical people like himself.
"So what you're trying to say, is that we're going to send this man into the forest, where we've placed all of those magicians into exile to hunt them down and kill them?" the city official who had spoken before was now speaking again.
"Yes, that's correct."
There was another moment of stunned silence. Finally, another official spoke up.
"Isn't that a little harsh?"
"Are you kidding me? It's brilliant! We should of thought about this years ago!" another one said. One by one, the city officials all voiced their opinions, and it was obviously that out of the ten officials, only two of them were strongly against the new plan.
"Well it doesn't matter what you think." Judge Shinto said, glaring daggers at the two officials. "As of tomorrow, you're no longer in office."
"WHAT?" one of them spluttered. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"
"Actually I can, because the city law states that the judge has the power to remove officials from office as they see fit."
"This is preposterous-" the other one began, but was cut off when a guard clamped his hand on her arm.
"Kindly escort these two off the premises immediately." The guards obeyed, and the struggling officials were soon out the door and out of sight. Judge Shinto turned back to the eight remaining officials.
"So here is the plan . . . "
Shinto gave each of the officials an assignment that was to be carried out 'as soon as possible'. Once they had all left, Shinto turned to Yue.
"And you have the most important job of all." He showed Yue a map of the town, and the forest next to it. "This is where the magicians are-" he trailed off, when he saw Yue tense.
"What is it?" Shinto asked.
"I sensed an aura in the room. A magical one." Yue said.
"What?" they looked around the courtroom with sharp eyes, but couldn't see anything. A few moments passed, as they continued to search the room thoroughly with their eyes.
"It's gone now." Yue said after a moment.
"Good." Was all Shinto said. Yue regarded him with a cold look. "I still don't know why you wanted me to work for you now. I paid my dues."
"You may have 'paid your dues' but you neglect to remember who rescued you and raised you, when I could have left you for dead."
Yue blanched.
"Someday." He said, anger spilling from his voice. "Someday you'll get yours."
Shinto merely laughed.
"You know what needs to be done, so get going." Yue turned and walked towards the door, but was called back. Yue stopped walking, but kept his back to Shinto.
"If you stray from your mission, you know the consequences, and no one will save you this time."
Yue stalked out the door, and once he was out of sight from Shinto then, and only then did he let out a growl which issued low and deep from his throat.
Bastard.
Syaoran was crouched in the bushes, trying to calm his racing heart. Shit! That was way too close for comfort. He knew he was in trouble when he saw Yue tense. Damnnit! My aura. Syaoran got the hell out of there at lightning speed. Now safely concealed in the bushes, Syaoran remembered the map that Yue and Shinto were pouring over. He recalled Shinto saying something about the forest.I'll bet the people he sent into exile are in the forest! Syaoran wasted no time. He leapt from his hiding place, and set off at a dead run. A few minutes later, he sensed the evil silver aura and panicked. Oh great. Not him again. He closed his eyes, and concealed his aura, and leapt into the nearest tree not a second too soon. Through the leafy canopy of the tree, Syaoran saw Yue emerge from the shadows, looking pissed.
"That stupid bastard." He was muttering to himself. Syaoran was perplexed. Who's he talking about? He wondered.
"I might as well get this over with so I can go back home." Then to Syaoran's utter shock, Yue closed his eyes for a moment. Suddenly two huge wings emerged from his back, and his clothes changed. He was now wearing a white and purple outfit that seemed to match the rest of his demeanor. He slowly rose into the air, and flew off into the night. Syaoran followed him with his eyes, until he was out of sight.
Wonder where he's going? Then in an instant, Syaoran remembered what the judge was planning to do. He's going after the people with magical powers! Shit! Sakura. Syaoran felt his heart beating even faster as he jumped from his tree and ran faster than he ever had in his life. He needed to find Sakura now. He had to find her before it was too late.
Please let Sakura still be alive. He thought, as he ran through the town running faster than the average human. Luckily for him, he was in the cover of night, but Syaoran wasn't thinking of being seen. The only thing that mattered to him was getting to Sakura.
Before Yue did.
A/N: Well where to start? Yes I included Yue in my fic, because it works with the advancement of the plot. Yes he is OOC, but this fic is A/U, and I'm trying to stick to having as much originality with the other characters (aka Sakura and Syaoran) as much as possible. This chapter is slightly shorter, because I want to leave the inevitable meeting of our favorite couple until the next chapter, and also I left you all at a slight cliffhanger, so it's more interesting that way. Anyways, please review and let me know what you think so far. God Bless CelestialMoon17.
