AN: I'm soooooo sorry for not getting this up sooner. You see, I was piled
up with projects and such. Oh, and I'm so sorry for not using the correct
incantation. (Oops...)
Oh, and thank everyone who helped me with the incantations! I'm so sorry for the mistake I made the last chapter, but I'm still too lazy to change it.
As usual, I thank everyone who reviewed!
DISCLAIMER: Well, isn't this nice? ANOTHER disclaimer. Argh.. I hate these things. Well, I don't own CCS.
".."=talking ..=thinking ^*^*^*^*=change of setting [AN.]=Author's Notes
Friend or Foe, by KawaiiSakuraAngel... Chapter Twelve:
^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Syaoran's POV ^*^*^*^*^*^*^
I sighed as I saw the sun begin to rise above the mountains. Oh great... another torturous day. I can't believe it. I usually heal pretty fast. For some strange reason, the wound on my arm seems stubborn about the healing process. Wrapping up the cut, I prepared myself for another day. It had begun bleeding again when I tried to practice my martial arts in the morning. I'm lucky I'm not the type of person who is afraid to see blood. If I were, I'd be dead by now.
At least nobody seems to know about my secret. Well, except for Hiiragizawa. I just HATE the way he reads my mind. It's so annoying. If I had a chance to kill him, I would. Of course, that would begin war.
I winced. WAR. That word meant a lot to me. That word had caused my father's death. Kinomoto's army killed him. There - that's another reason I could kill the girl. I could take the chance to get revenge. I began to balance this out in my head.
Why I should kill her: Her father's army killed my father. She's the card mistress. It's the only I can get the cards from her.
Why I shouldn't kill her: ... Um, is there a reason why I wouldn't want to kill her? Oh yeah.. she's pretty. [AN: haha... Syaoran's beginning to think Sakura's pretty. ^.^]
Oh wait. Scratch that thought. If mother or Meilin found out I was thinking that, they'd kill me. Besides, I don't think she's pretty anyway. If I did, I wouldn't have tried to kill her. If I did, I wouldn't be her enemy. On a second thought, maybe I do. Do I?
Grrrrrrr... I'm getting myself all confused. I mean, it's impossible for me to actually think that, right? I had never said (or even thought) of a girl like that before. That would include my annoying cousin, who also happens to be my fiancé. Not that I even care about it. It was a stupid childhood promise I made years ago, and she took it for real.
Come to think of it, my life is pretty complicated. But while I'm here, my focus is on getting the cards, so I shouldn't be thinking about this stuff. But if I'm to get the cards, I might have to kill the mistress, who I just said was 'pretty'. So these thoughts DO have something to do with my mission. My cousin has nothing to do with this, but she also DOES have something to do with this. If she knew I thought another girl was pretty, she'd strangle me.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" I yelled into the woods. Well, I least I calmed down a little. But calming down didn't' slow down the thoughts that were overflowing the sup that was my capacity to think. All of a sudden, there were noises from some bushes around me. I guess my yell woke up a lot of the forest anima- wait, I don't think there are even any animals in this forest. For the past few weeks, I'd been sitting here watching Sa- Kinomoto train. There had never been any animals around.
Before I could figure out the situation I was in, a huge branch right above my head came crashing down. Just in time, I leapt away. Somehow, I have the sneaky suspicion that Hiiragizawa was behind all this. Turning around, I proved my theory true: whenever you're in trouble, Hiiragizawa is the cause of it.
What I saw was worse than I ever could have imagined.
There was Hiiragizawa, standing there. Dreadful thing is, he looked like he was going to die laughing any moment. I felt my anger build up inside me. He had been reading my mind. And this time, it felt horrible. Now the stupid, annoying idiot knew my weakness. Suddenly, he just started laughing harder. Oh great, now he knows I just insulted him.
Hiiragizawa started to choke, he was laughing so much. I stood there, to angry to know how to move. The next thing I knew, a small branch fell on my head. Well, if you call an arm-sized branch small. I snapped out of my trance. Glaring at Hiiragizawa, I silently challenged him. No, not to a duel. I can't win against the reincarnation of Clow Reed. I don't even know what I challenged him to myself. Somehow, he found out the answer before I did.
"So, the little wolf does have an Achilles' heel after all," He smirked. Of course he smirked. It was 'normal' for him. But this smirk was daring me to talk back. I smirked back. I'm not that stupid. Some guy said that, the more you hide away from something, the more you are scared of it. Well, I'm not SCARED of Hiiragizawa, but I'm just stating the quote.
Hiiragizawa continued talking. "If you want, I think I can find a way to help you with your problems." I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He continued: "Well, here are some ideas:
1) You could 'kill' Meilin. 2) You could abandon your mission. 3) You tell Meilin your feelings for Sakura. 4) You forget my half-daughter 5) You commit suicide.
How does that sound?"
I scowled at him. Every single one of those ideas were impossible for me to do, and he knew it. Clenching my fists, I walked away from him. As I did, I silently wished that my troubles could have stayed with Hiiragizawa. Then at least they won't bother me anymore.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^ A Few Weeks Later ^*^*^*^*^*^*^ (3rd person)
Sakura was very familiar with the Clow Cards by now, and rarely used them, except when she was bored. Eriol had even taken away Sakura and Tomoyo's jobs, and treated them like his special guests. Being a guest wasn't necessarily good, the two girls found out. It was really boring. All day, the only thing they did and were able to do was to sit, and talk. (This excludes eating, breathing and sleeping, which are required for a person to live.)
Often, Sakura would use the flower cards to create flowers. Since Tomoyo loved to draw Sakura so much, Sakura sometimes made a lot so that Tomoyo could draw her with flowers in the background. After a time, even this got boring. Especially for Sakura, who had to stay in the same pose for a long time, just so that Tomoyo could finish her drawing.
This afternoon, the girls were in Sakura's room, sitting and having nothing to do. Suddenly, Tomoyo's eyes lit up. She had a wonderful idea. "Sakura," she said, to get Sakura's attention. "I know, I'll make some gowns for you!" Saying this, Tomoyo began jumping around the room feverishly, shrieking. To anyone who didn't hear what she was saying, they would have thought that someone was in distress. Luckily, the guards outside made some sense of the speech, and ordered a maid to get some materials.
By the time Tomoyo calmed down enough to go to the door to ask for some material, the materials came to her. Before Sakura could even mutter a "hoe", Tomoyo already set to measuring her with pieces of string. [AN: Let's just say they didn't have rulers and stuff like that back then.]
And so the day went on...
^*^*^*^*^*^*^ That Same Night ^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sakura was still bored. In fact, so bored, and so full of energy, that she couldn't sleep. Tomoyo was in her own little corner, muttering to herself as she continued to make Sakura's gown.
Sakura sighed. So maybe this is what living like a noble would be like. I mean, if my... father's kingdom was still here, I'd be a princess. Oh, why does a noble have to lead such a dull life? Sakura continued to think about her state. She had no choice but to stay, since her father and brother's safety completely relied on Eriol. If she left, she would have nowhere to go anyway.
Suddenly, Sakura looked towards the window. Just like that night a few weeks ago, a shadow ran cross the wall of the room. A figure had passed her window. It definitely wasn't just a bird. According to Eriol, not a single creature lived in the woods. As Sakura got up, Tomoyo followed suit. Apparently, she saw the shadow too.
"Oh Sakura!" she shrieked, thought careful to keep her voice down. "This is so cool. And look-- I just finished a costume for you to wear! You HAVE TO try this on."
Confused, Sakura allowed Tomoyo to persuade her to put on the costume. The costume was purely Tomoyo's design, and completely out of this time period. It was a pink skirt that went down to Sakura's knees, and a white tank top, with matching hair ribbons, and boots to go along.
Sakura almost fainted when she looked down at herself. "Tomoyo, isn't this a bit too exposed?" she whined, wanting so badly to get out of her costume.
Tomoyo looked over her own masterpiece. "Of course not, Sakura. You look so pretty! Hold on, I have to draw you in this." Sakura knew she didn't have the time to stand around and pose, so she grabbed the Clow Cards, and proceeded to the window. Meanwhile, Tomoyo woke up Kero, who flew towards his mistress.
"Key of the Star,
With powers burning bright,
Reveal the staff,
And shine your light.
Release!"
In an instant, Sakura had her staff in her hand. "Fly!" she called, as she disappeared out the window. Just as she vanished, another shadow crept across the room, and out the door.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Outside ^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sakura didn't bother to fly around this time. Skillfully, she landed on the roof next to a nearby tower. In fact, the one where she found the Clow Book. The night air was chilly, and Sakura shuddered. Leave the costumes to Tomoyo. she thought sarcastically. It was Tomoyo's fault she was here, freezing to death in the first place. Of course, Sakura wasn't mad.
Kero became impatient after a while. "Sakura, you think you can locate the person with your magic? He should have an aura, you know, since he was able to turn his sword into a pendent the last time."
Sakura looked at the little figure beside her. "Kero, we're not even sure if it's the same person! Besides, Eriol said that there were many people out there who wanted the Clow Cards." Kero ignored her, and continued to scrutinize the castle grounds for anything. Somehow, he couldn't concentrate. His mind was on the big, huge, bowl of pudding Tomoyo promised him. (Otherwise he'd still be asleep right now.)
Out of nowhere, the expected thief appeared behind them. Now sakura was trapped on the edge of the roof. Pulling out a card, Sakura yelled, "Jump!" Little wings grew on her feet, and she landed smoothly on another rooftop. Luckily, this one was bigger -- way bigger.
Syaoran (Sakura doesn't know it's him, in case you forgot) jumped after Sakura, and landed across from her. Sakura was surprised that he was able to land so well. Breathing in deeply, she pulled out the sword card, ready to fight.
Syaoran didn't bother with his martial arts today. Nah, he wanted to use some magic. Taking out an [AN: seriously, I need to know what those things are called. Ok, I know this is laughable, but still, I'm completely stupid when it comes to these things, ok? Just someone help me!!!] --(blah, blah)-- , he touched his sword against it.
"
" he yelled. A bolt of lightning came out of nowhere, and aimed itself at Sakura. Sakura jumped to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, she forgot to call back the jump card, so she fell right off the roof. Syaoran feel proud. Proud - but not happy. So now the mistress should be dead, or half-dead. It'll be easier to get the cards this way.
Looking over the edge, Syaoran saw Sakura on top of Tomoyo, who she fell on. Whacking himself on the head, Syaoran sighed an exasperated sigh. In doing this, he accidentally removed the black cloth covering his face. Not hidden anymore in the shadows, Sakura saw the person's eyes. They were amber.
Ooooo.... so will Sakura EVER figure out who the 'thief' is? Hmm... I have to think about that. She'll find out either at the end, or somewhere in the next chapter.
Oh, and I mean it when I say that I need help with the thingy that Syaoran uses. What were they called again? I think it was ofu- something or other. Please help! I know this is not the first time, but I really need to know. And again, thank you to all those who helped last time and last-last time!
~KawaiiSakuraAngel~ Please review! This chapter is so much longer than the other ones, and it took me a long time to write. Tell me what you think!
Oh, and thank everyone who helped me with the incantations! I'm so sorry for the mistake I made the last chapter, but I'm still too lazy to change it.
As usual, I thank everyone who reviewed!
DISCLAIMER: Well, isn't this nice? ANOTHER disclaimer. Argh.. I hate these things. Well, I don't own CCS.
".."=talking ..=thinking ^*^*^*^*=change of setting [AN.]=Author's Notes
Friend or Foe, by KawaiiSakuraAngel... Chapter Twelve:
^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Syaoran's POV ^*^*^*^*^*^*^
I sighed as I saw the sun begin to rise above the mountains. Oh great... another torturous day. I can't believe it. I usually heal pretty fast. For some strange reason, the wound on my arm seems stubborn about the healing process. Wrapping up the cut, I prepared myself for another day. It had begun bleeding again when I tried to practice my martial arts in the morning. I'm lucky I'm not the type of person who is afraid to see blood. If I were, I'd be dead by now.
At least nobody seems to know about my secret. Well, except for Hiiragizawa. I just HATE the way he reads my mind. It's so annoying. If I had a chance to kill him, I would. Of course, that would begin war.
I winced. WAR. That word meant a lot to me. That word had caused my father's death. Kinomoto's army killed him. There - that's another reason I could kill the girl. I could take the chance to get revenge. I began to balance this out in my head.
Why I should kill her: Her father's army killed my father. She's the card mistress. It's the only I can get the cards from her.
Why I shouldn't kill her: ... Um, is there a reason why I wouldn't want to kill her? Oh yeah.. she's pretty. [AN: haha... Syaoran's beginning to think Sakura's pretty. ^.^]
Oh wait. Scratch that thought. If mother or Meilin found out I was thinking that, they'd kill me. Besides, I don't think she's pretty anyway. If I did, I wouldn't have tried to kill her. If I did, I wouldn't be her enemy. On a second thought, maybe I do. Do I?
Grrrrrrr... I'm getting myself all confused. I mean, it's impossible for me to actually think that, right? I had never said (or even thought) of a girl like that before. That would include my annoying cousin, who also happens to be my fiancé. Not that I even care about it. It was a stupid childhood promise I made years ago, and she took it for real.
Come to think of it, my life is pretty complicated. But while I'm here, my focus is on getting the cards, so I shouldn't be thinking about this stuff. But if I'm to get the cards, I might have to kill the mistress, who I just said was 'pretty'. So these thoughts DO have something to do with my mission. My cousin has nothing to do with this, but she also DOES have something to do with this. If she knew I thought another girl was pretty, she'd strangle me.
"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" I yelled into the woods. Well, I least I calmed down a little. But calming down didn't' slow down the thoughts that were overflowing the sup that was my capacity to think. All of a sudden, there were noises from some bushes around me. I guess my yell woke up a lot of the forest anima- wait, I don't think there are even any animals in this forest. For the past few weeks, I'd been sitting here watching Sa- Kinomoto train. There had never been any animals around.
Before I could figure out the situation I was in, a huge branch right above my head came crashing down. Just in time, I leapt away. Somehow, I have the sneaky suspicion that Hiiragizawa was behind all this. Turning around, I proved my theory true: whenever you're in trouble, Hiiragizawa is the cause of it.
What I saw was worse than I ever could have imagined.
There was Hiiragizawa, standing there. Dreadful thing is, he looked like he was going to die laughing any moment. I felt my anger build up inside me. He had been reading my mind. And this time, it felt horrible. Now the stupid, annoying idiot knew my weakness. Suddenly, he just started laughing harder. Oh great, now he knows I just insulted him.
Hiiragizawa started to choke, he was laughing so much. I stood there, to angry to know how to move. The next thing I knew, a small branch fell on my head. Well, if you call an arm-sized branch small. I snapped out of my trance. Glaring at Hiiragizawa, I silently challenged him. No, not to a duel. I can't win against the reincarnation of Clow Reed. I don't even know what I challenged him to myself. Somehow, he found out the answer before I did.
"So, the little wolf does have an Achilles' heel after all," He smirked. Of course he smirked. It was 'normal' for him. But this smirk was daring me to talk back. I smirked back. I'm not that stupid. Some guy said that, the more you hide away from something, the more you are scared of it. Well, I'm not SCARED of Hiiragizawa, but I'm just stating the quote.
Hiiragizawa continued talking. "If you want, I think I can find a way to help you with your problems." I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He continued: "Well, here are some ideas:
1) You could 'kill' Meilin. 2) You could abandon your mission. 3) You tell Meilin your feelings for Sakura. 4) You forget my half-daughter 5) You commit suicide.
How does that sound?"
I scowled at him. Every single one of those ideas were impossible for me to do, and he knew it. Clenching my fists, I walked away from him. As I did, I silently wished that my troubles could have stayed with Hiiragizawa. Then at least they won't bother me anymore.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^ A Few Weeks Later ^*^*^*^*^*^*^ (3rd person)
Sakura was very familiar with the Clow Cards by now, and rarely used them, except when she was bored. Eriol had even taken away Sakura and Tomoyo's jobs, and treated them like his special guests. Being a guest wasn't necessarily good, the two girls found out. It was really boring. All day, the only thing they did and were able to do was to sit, and talk. (This excludes eating, breathing and sleeping, which are required for a person to live.)
Often, Sakura would use the flower cards to create flowers. Since Tomoyo loved to draw Sakura so much, Sakura sometimes made a lot so that Tomoyo could draw her with flowers in the background. After a time, even this got boring. Especially for Sakura, who had to stay in the same pose for a long time, just so that Tomoyo could finish her drawing.
This afternoon, the girls were in Sakura's room, sitting and having nothing to do. Suddenly, Tomoyo's eyes lit up. She had a wonderful idea. "Sakura," she said, to get Sakura's attention. "I know, I'll make some gowns for you!" Saying this, Tomoyo began jumping around the room feverishly, shrieking. To anyone who didn't hear what she was saying, they would have thought that someone was in distress. Luckily, the guards outside made some sense of the speech, and ordered a maid to get some materials.
By the time Tomoyo calmed down enough to go to the door to ask for some material, the materials came to her. Before Sakura could even mutter a "hoe", Tomoyo already set to measuring her with pieces of string. [AN: Let's just say they didn't have rulers and stuff like that back then.]
And so the day went on...
^*^*^*^*^*^*^ That Same Night ^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sakura was still bored. In fact, so bored, and so full of energy, that she couldn't sleep. Tomoyo was in her own little corner, muttering to herself as she continued to make Sakura's gown.
Sakura sighed. So maybe this is what living like a noble would be like. I mean, if my... father's kingdom was still here, I'd be a princess. Oh, why does a noble have to lead such a dull life? Sakura continued to think about her state. She had no choice but to stay, since her father and brother's safety completely relied on Eriol. If she left, she would have nowhere to go anyway.
Suddenly, Sakura looked towards the window. Just like that night a few weeks ago, a shadow ran cross the wall of the room. A figure had passed her window. It definitely wasn't just a bird. According to Eriol, not a single creature lived in the woods. As Sakura got up, Tomoyo followed suit. Apparently, she saw the shadow too.
"Oh Sakura!" she shrieked, thought careful to keep her voice down. "This is so cool. And look-- I just finished a costume for you to wear! You HAVE TO try this on."
Confused, Sakura allowed Tomoyo to persuade her to put on the costume. The costume was purely Tomoyo's design, and completely out of this time period. It was a pink skirt that went down to Sakura's knees, and a white tank top, with matching hair ribbons, and boots to go along.
Sakura almost fainted when she looked down at herself. "Tomoyo, isn't this a bit too exposed?" she whined, wanting so badly to get out of her costume.
Tomoyo looked over her own masterpiece. "Of course not, Sakura. You look so pretty! Hold on, I have to draw you in this." Sakura knew she didn't have the time to stand around and pose, so she grabbed the Clow Cards, and proceeded to the window. Meanwhile, Tomoyo woke up Kero, who flew towards his mistress.
"Key of the Star,
With powers burning bright,
Reveal the staff,
And shine your light.
Release!"
In an instant, Sakura had her staff in her hand. "Fly!" she called, as she disappeared out the window. Just as she vanished, another shadow crept across the room, and out the door.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^ Outside ^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Sakura didn't bother to fly around this time. Skillfully, she landed on the roof next to a nearby tower. In fact, the one where she found the Clow Book. The night air was chilly, and Sakura shuddered. Leave the costumes to Tomoyo. she thought sarcastically. It was Tomoyo's fault she was here, freezing to death in the first place. Of course, Sakura wasn't mad.
Kero became impatient after a while. "Sakura, you think you can locate the person with your magic? He should have an aura, you know, since he was able to turn his sword into a pendent the last time."
Sakura looked at the little figure beside her. "Kero, we're not even sure if it's the same person! Besides, Eriol said that there were many people out there who wanted the Clow Cards." Kero ignored her, and continued to scrutinize the castle grounds for anything. Somehow, he couldn't concentrate. His mind was on the big, huge, bowl of pudding Tomoyo promised him. (Otherwise he'd still be asleep right now.)
Out of nowhere, the expected thief appeared behind them. Now sakura was trapped on the edge of the roof. Pulling out a card, Sakura yelled, "Jump!" Little wings grew on her feet, and she landed smoothly on another rooftop. Luckily, this one was bigger -- way bigger.
Syaoran (Sakura doesn't know it's him, in case you forgot) jumped after Sakura, and landed across from her. Sakura was surprised that he was able to land so well. Breathing in deeply, she pulled out the sword card, ready to fight.
Syaoran didn't bother with his martial arts today. Nah, he wanted to use some magic. Taking out an [AN: seriously, I need to know what those things are called. Ok, I know this is laughable, but still, I'm completely stupid when it comes to these things, ok? Just someone help me!!!] --(blah, blah)-- , he touched his sword against it.
"
" he yelled. A bolt of lightning came out of nowhere, and aimed itself at Sakura. Sakura jumped to avoid being hit. Unfortunately, she forgot to call back the jump card, so she fell right off the roof. Syaoran feel proud. Proud - but not happy. So now the mistress should be dead, or half-dead. It'll be easier to get the cards this way.
Looking over the edge, Syaoran saw Sakura on top of Tomoyo, who she fell on. Whacking himself on the head, Syaoran sighed an exasperated sigh. In doing this, he accidentally removed the black cloth covering his face. Not hidden anymore in the shadows, Sakura saw the person's eyes. They were amber.
Ooooo.... so will Sakura EVER figure out who the 'thief' is? Hmm... I have to think about that. She'll find out either at the end, or somewhere in the next chapter.
Oh, and I mean it when I say that I need help with the thingy that Syaoran uses. What were they called again? I think it was ofu- something or other. Please help! I know this is not the first time, but I really need to know. And again, thank you to all those who helped last time and last-last time!
~KawaiiSakuraAngel~ Please review! This chapter is so much longer than the other ones, and it took me a long time to write. Tell me what you think!