Authoress's note(must read, really important!): ok this is an announcement. By March 1st my penname will change, to what I don't know yet. Ya newaz oda than that enjoy reading this chapter.

Chapter 2: On the Road

The trees are at their greenest, the flowers are in full bloom, and the birds' young have begun to fly on their own. It is a beautiful day despite the fact that the kingdom is covered in darkness (not literally, basically like evil rampage kind of darkness). The princess, Tomoyo, and Kero-chan travel along the dirt road, starting their search. Tomoyo is a raven black haired girl with dark blue eyes who's been Sakura's best friend since they were youngsters. Kero-chan is a small yellow teddy-bear like creature with white wings and a long tail. When Sakura had to capture the cards, Kero-chan was there to guide her.

Kero spoke up, "So…what are we lookin' for again?"

Sakura smacked her forehead while Tomoyo covered her mouth, giggling innocently. Sakura almost screamed at the top of her lungs, "Kero! How many times do I have to tell you! And every time I tell you, you're stuffing your face with food!"

Kero yelled back, " Well, I need energy to live! And food is one way I can get it…besides it tastes delicious."

Sakura sighed, "Ok, Kero, I'll say this one more time. WE. ARE. LOOKING. FOR. THE. RODS. The very rods that Clow made during his rule. Legends say that the rods were the very essence of-"

The winds gently blew, stirring the leaves in the trees and on the ground. The birds stopped their singing, the squirrels froze in their places, the deers halted, their ears pricking. The leaves on the ground danced in circles while the leaves attached to the trees gracefully twirled down.

Sakura signaled Tomoyo and Kero to hide in the bushes. Both Tomoyo and the guardian were about to protest when Sakura gave them a look of concern and fear… for their lives. Slowly and carefully, Tomoyo and Kero slipped in the bushes, making a small opening in the bushes to watch the princess. Sakura stood there motionless, eyes closed. She was sensing, sensing if there was someone close and if they are on their side or their enemy. A blur running through the trees flashed in her mind. Yes, someone was present and near. Whoosh! Another blur. Was there more than one? She could not tell for 'it' moves too fast for her to identify. One thing she knew was to stay alert; the first rule of combat …and life. She stayed calm, like her teacher taught her. Eyes are still closed as she continues to search. Moments pass. A shadow hides itself behind a tree. Sakura can see it's a boy. Her hands gently brush the hilts of the swords, one on each side. The target moves yet again and at the same time Sakura's eyes open, searching the shadows for any irregular movements. Still searching until she quickly turned around letting swords meet a sword.

The attacker was very agile. He constantly moved his sword, trying to hit Sakura in any open spot. He tried to hit her side but Sakura blocked it. After she blocked, he immediately aimed for her head, but she blocked it with her other sword. He continued attacking and she continued to block. Sakura saw no way out of this. When it came to attacking physically, she wasn't the best. He just kept attacking, left, right, center, right. He continued his rapid attacks, backing her into a tree.

Sakura continued blocking until she felt a tree behind her. His sword clashed against her swords, knocking both out of her hands. The steel blade of his sword touched the skin of her neck. Now Sakura was cornered. Her captor has messy brown hair and amber deep eyes, His breathing was normal, seems as if he had no struggle at all fighting the princess. His body was so close she felt her face burning. Nobody has ever been this close to her. It seems as if this is the end for her and her search. She failed her kingdom. The thought of failure to her kingdom and brother made her extremely depressed. She felt tears begin to water in her eyes.

Syaoran had his enemy in his hand (not literally). He could kill her right now and rid the world of one of the evils, but he couldn't. Looking in her emerald green eyes was mesmerizing. Those eyes showed happiness, joy, and everything pure, but right now they held fear and deep sadness. It did not matter. It's his mission to find the rods and stop anyone else who wants their greedy, power-hungry hands on them. He was ready for the kill when suddenly her eyes shut and tears began streaming down her cheeks. Syaoran was stumped. Never in his life has he seen his enemies cry as they were about to die. He was staring to have second thought. Maybe she wasn't the enemy. While he was pondering about it, he temporarily let his guard down.

This was the chance Keroberos was waiting for. He transformed into his true form and went charging in, ignoring Tomoyo who was about to protest. Keroberos wasn't going to let some swordsman hurt his mistress. His duty was to protect her and protect her, he shall.

Syaoran was slowly pulling his sword away from her neck when out of the corner of his eye he saw a stream of fire coming his way. By reflex, he jumped away amazed that the fire didn't even touch the young girl. He landed on a tree branch and stared into the eyes of his attacker who is a golden yellow lion with white wings. The most incredible creature he'd seen. Nonetheless, the creature tried to attack him so therefore 'it' got in his way of his mission. Syaoran went charging in, jumping from the tree branch toward the beast, who was preparing to fire, with sword vertically above his head.

Sakura opened her eyes when she felt a blaze of fire pass her. She immediately turned her attention to her flying guardian. From the looks of it, it seems as if a brawl was about to begin. She watched the horrific event happening in front of her.

The two opponents clashed at each other; neither one giving up nor giving in. Syaoran dashed toward Keroberos while Keroberos spurted out a line of fire. Syaoran quickly changed directions and landed safely on a tree while at the same time drew out a magic paper tablet, leaving it in the air. He thrust the flat edge of his sword at the paper and shouted, "Wind!" Keroberos barely had anytime to react of it came so fast. A stream of spiraling wind came out of the tablet and went straight for him. The attack hit its target and soon Keroberos was thrown into a tree, badly injured.

This was the opportune moment for him to deliver the final blow. He jumped off the tree and started the dashing attack. He ran as fast as he could as to not give the beast a moment to recover. Just as he was about to pierce the beast's heart with his sword, Sakura stood in front of Keroberos, arms spread out while shouting, "Stop!"

Syaoran skidded to a halt. Breathing heavily, he shouted, "Get out of the way! That beast tried to attack me. I'm only doing what I'm trained to do."

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed, she stated, "That beast is my guardian. He was only doing his duty to protect me. And if I can recall you attacked first, remember?"

Syaoran yelled, "Well. I overheard you talking about the rods and I assumed you were the enemy!"

Sakura simply said, "Maybe they should've taught you to never eavesdrop and have a better judgment of character." She added, "Also to never attack poor, defenseless girls."

Syaoran had to keep himself from laughing. "Poor, defenseless girls? I definitely did not attack a defenseless girl. You have twin blades."

She stomped on the ground, sending dirt flying around her foot. She argued, "If you noticed, all I did was parry and you easily defeated me."

Now Syaoran was stumped. He knew she was right. Darn, he had nothing to say to argue with her. There she was with a smile on her face, knowing she won.

Keroberos returned to his mini form and rested on Sakura's head. A quizzical expression appeared on Syaoran's face. Sakura simply smiled and laughed at Syaoran's sudden change of expression.

"This is Keroberos's alternate form."

Syaoran poked Kero and said, "You mean to tell me that the great beast I fought was just a stuffed bear?"

At that moment, Kero bit his finger. Syaoran waved his arm violently, trying to get the thing off him. Finally, Kero let go and flew toward Syaoran's face with his paw pointing at him and head throbbing.

"Look kid. I. AM. NOT. A. STUFFED. BEAR!"

They heard the bushes moving. Syaoran drew his sword , ready for whatever it was. Tomoyo came out, removing the leaves in her hair.

She smiled and sweetly said, "Thought I'd come out since it's safe now." She faced Sakura. "You're not hurt, are you Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head and replied, "I'm fine Tomoyo. Don't worry."

Tomoyo smiled, "That's good." She looked at the sky. It was getting dark. The sun was already setting. "I think we should make camp tonight. You can join us if you want Mr…."

"It's Li. Syaoran Li." Syaoran pondered about the invitation for a moment. He usually traveled alone, but traveling with them might help him figure out why these people are looking for the rods and what their purpose for the rods are. "Sure. Why not? The more the merrier right?"

Tomoyo clapped her hands together. "Excellent! You can help by gathering wood. Sakura, you go gather some mushrooms and berries. Kero and I will set up the tent and prepare the bonfire."

They all nodded and went to do their chores. Moments pass. Sakura came back with white mushrooms and blueberries and a gallon of water. Soon after Syaoran returned with an armful of twigs and branches. Kero was already done preparing for the bonfire and was soon getting wood from the pile Syaoran just gathered and placing them in position. He then spurted fire in the pile of wood. Kero was definitely an amazing creature. Tomoyo got out of the tent, pot in hand. She placed the pot above the fire and poured water into it.

Syaoran sat near the open fire, observing Kero, Tomoyo, and especially Sakura. Tomoyo is wearing a long white dress, a white hooded cloak, white elbow-length gloves, and white shoes. Judging by the clothing and color, Syaoran would guess that Tomoyo is a white mage. White mages specialize in healing and other magic that help raise status during battle. Tomoyo and Sakura talked to each other with ease, laughing and smiling. From the looks of it, they must be very good friends. As for Sakura, she appears to be the cheery type; always a smile on her face. Just the thought of it, put a small smile on Syaoran's face.

Syaoran was so concentrated on his thoughts that he did not notice a pair of red glowing eyes hiding in the dark corner of the trees.

Well there you have it, chapter two. N Ya about the fighting scenes, I'm not very good describing it or thinking of it as I write. Hehe but I hope it was good enough. As usu. Review.