Summery; Warning; Disclaimer: See First Chapter.
Credit goes to SasukeBlade for the next world idea and the snake scene (you'll see what I mean in a bit). Thanks to SasukeBlade, Aki-Shi-Kistune's, and dbzgtfan2004 for reviews, and especially to SB for support and ideas. I'm glad this story is being read! Sakura and Syaoran are in this chapter, as promised, as well as a new world.
Please review if you read. Comments, ideas, suggestions, and helpful criticism is welcome.
NOTE: I reposted this chapter due to some word and spelling mistakes I noticed.
"What the hell is that?" someone yelled, as Fai's kudan flew overhead. Kurogane's kudan swooped down and skimmed the crowd, quickly causing a panic.
"It's a kudan!" another person shouted. "Those two guys up there are controlling them!"
"Anyone want to take us on?" Kurogane challenged. "Come on, someone in this town must have a kudan that's worth beating on!" Moments after he finished his boast a huge black kudan, resembling a dragon, suddenly appeared beside the building, it's red eyes glowing viciously. A person stood atop it's head, wrapped in a cloak.
"Is it that guy from Oto?" Fai wondered, peering at him. "No – it's someone different."
"That's…" Aea jumped back as the kudan suddenly attacked the building. The roof began to collapse, and Fai quickly caught her, riding on his own kudan.
"Need a lift?" he asked teasingly, as they flew towards the ground.
"Thanks," she began, and looked up as he lowered her to the ground. "Look out!"
"I got it!" Kurogane shouted, using his sword-kudan to attack the black dragon, blocking the attack from Fai and Aea. "Geez, get a move on!" he yelled.
"Aw, Kuro-chan, you were worried!" Fai called, and Kurogane turned red.
"Shut up or I'll kill you myself!" he threatened, dodging another blow from the kudan. The man on it's head still stood silently, gazing down at the trio on the ground.
"Mokona's sensing the power coming from that man," Mokona whispered in Aea's ear, and she froze for a moment.
"What?"
"Mokona's –"
"I heard," she said quickly. "Fai! Mokona's sensing the power from the guy controlling that kudan there!"
"All right!" he waved to let her know he heard her, concentrating on the battle. His movement caught the attention of the dragon's controller, and his gaze turned to see what Fai was waving at. At seeing Aea and Mokona on the ground his eyes narrowed, and the kudan suddenly shot his tail toward them, spikes covering the end.
"Aea!" Fai yelled, seeing what was going to happen.
"Damn it!" Kurogane swore, both too late to stop the tail as it swept the two defenseless companions into the nearby building, bringing down the rubble on top of them. "Bastard – there wasn't any need to involve them," Kurogane growled, turning back to the man. "Now I'm really going to kill you!"
"Mokona safe!" they heard suddenly, and the man's eyes widened as his kudan's tail became caught in something. As the dust caused by the collapse settle, it looked like the tail was wrapped in green vines that were covered in crimson thorns. Aea was sitting awkwardly farther back looking shocked, while Mokona danced on top of her head. The vines, thorn-free where she was, lifted her up into the sky, wrapped around her legs and hips.
"What the hell kind of kudan is that?" the man demanded, turning his attention away from the other combatants momentarily. "How the hell did you manage to get one here? You little bitch – that won't be able to stop me – what the hell!" His threat ended in a shriek as Kurogane suddenly appeared directly in front of him, a murderous grin on his face.
"You shouldn't have let yourself be distracted, buddy," he informed his opponent, gripping his sword. The man dodged several blows from Fai and Aea's kudans before leaping to the ground, and creating a dimensional gateway again.
"It was you!" Fai realized, landing on the ground as Aea was lowered next to him.
"We'll see each other again, I'm sure," the man said, smiling bitterly as he stepped into the gateway. Kurogane, being the closest, tried to jump in and follow him, but it closed before he came near it. Mokona climbed out from Aea's shirt, looking cheerful.
"Mokona doesn't sense the power anymore!"
"That's because he got away, you stupid pork-bun!" Kurogane yelled, and Mokona glared at him. Aea grabbed the white creature before it lunged at Kurogane and held him firmly.
"Do we have to go through this every time?" she demanded to no one in particular.
"We should probably be going," Fai suggested. "It seems that the people around here really don't like us now." Looking around, they realized they were being surrounded by an angry-looking mob. Fai grabbed Aea and jumped onto his kudan, while Kurogane followed on his own.
"So, you knew that guy?" Kurogane prodded, as they hid in a forest several miles outside of the town. When she remained silent he straightened up and glared down at her, resisting the urge to haul her to her feet and force it out of her. "You better tell us, 'cause I'm not gonna get myself killed by some guy because you didn't open your mouth."
"Was that necessary, Kuro-poo?" Fai asked quietly when Aea merely frowned and shrugged. Mokona opened his mouth to speak but she grabbed him and held her hands over his mouth firmly, causing only muffled tones to emit from the pork-bun copy.
"He was the one that left me on that island to die," she finally said, her tone hinting that there was much more to her story than that. "He must have acquired something to boost his power, because now he's dimension traveling on his own. I heard about it, but I can't be sure what it is until I see it."
"I see," Fai said thoughtfully, as she avoided eye contact with either of them. "Well, it seems that he's not targeting you as he travels for now, so I don't think we should worry about him directly. I say Sakura and Syaoran take first priority."
"Well, that's a no-brainer," Aea pointed out. "That's what you were doing when I got here, right? So I may as well help since Yuko sent me here. And I think your friends being kidnapped is a little more important than what I'm dealing with – I don't want anyone to think otherwise. I'll do what I can, I guess."
"Glad we cleared that up," Kurogane grunted, slouching back again and still suspicious of Aea's connection with the cloaked man. "Now, pork-bun, can we leave yet?"
"Yep!" Mokona said cheerfully, growing wings and flying up into the air. "And Mokona not a pork-bun!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"I really hate this way of traveling," Aea muttered, and Fai glanced at her. "What?"
"Need a hand?" he asked, offering his hand to her with a cheerful grin on his face. She peered at him for a moment before nodded with a slight smile. Taking his hand firmly she stepped into the whirl of light beneath Mokona, and closed her eyes in preparation for another trip.
"Where are we, Syaoran?" Sakura asked quietly. The two teenagers were locked in a cell that resembled a teardrop, and was suspended almost twelve feet off the ground, hanging by a gold chain from the ceiling, gold plates on the very top and bottom as supports.
"I don't know," he admitted, holding her close. Their surroundings gave no hints as to where they were, except that it was a world they had never been in before. The room was a reddish-brown color, and Syaoran was almost certain that it was almost as hot as it was in Clow during the day outside their chamber.
"Where are Fai and Kurogane?" she wondered. "And Mokona?"
"Mokona didn't bring us here, that's for sure," he muttered. "And who knows where Fai and Kurogane are. Maybe they're in another room trapped like us."
"I wouldn't count on it," a figure told them, wrapped in a cloak. For a moment Syaoran thought it was Seishiro, but realized that he had both eyes, which were a deep gold color.
"Who're you?"
"You may call me Zervian," he said with a bow, no older than his early-twenties. "And you both are Syaoran and Her Highness Princess Sakura, from the Kingdom of Clow."
"How'd you know that?" she demanded.
"I have my ways, Princess," he said with a smirk. "Don't worry, I won't harm either of you. Bait is useless unless it's alive, you see."
"Bait?" Syaoran repeated. "For Fai and Kurogane?"
"No – though they're certainly welcome," Zervian added. "No, for Mokona and a certain woman traveling with them. Of course, Mokona was the original target, but she's just as good, if not better. That time-witch's apprentice…how much would that be worth, I wonder?"
"Who are you talking about?" Sakura asked, now becoming annoyed. "There wasn't any other girl except me!"
"Ah, but you're mistaken," he said in amusement, wagging his finger at them. "Oh, I forgot – she arrived after you were taken. Of course you wouldn't know her."
"What do you want Mokona for?" Syaoran glared at the man, who merely laughed.
"If it isn't obvious to you by now, then there's no point explaining it to you. As for the girl, who I'm sure you'll ask about next, let's leave it at that I have a personal interest in seeing her dead – or under my control, whichever she chooses in the end."
"You're a horrible person!" Sakura accused, and he bowed mockingly.
"So I've been told by my companions. But an assassin has to be horrible, does he not?"
"Kurogane isn't!"
"Kurogane is a ninja, Princess," Zervian corrected her. "Assassins are ruthless killing machines with no other purpose in life than to destroy it. Their goal is to kill as much as possible before they die, and to die fighting a worthy opponent. We may be mercenaries or hired men, but either way, we're not to be trusted – even by each other. Keep that in mind, you two."
"This is…interesting," Aea managed, finding herself stuck to her hips in thick swamp water. Fai and Kurogane weren't any better off, but Mokona was sitting happily on Fai's head. "At least I'm in pants," she muttered, having kept the clothes she had acquired in the Hanshin Republic. As an assassin she normally wore pants, but her attackers had taken her by surprise when they left her on the island due to circumstances she preferred to forget.
"Where the hell are we?" Kurogane demanded angrily, trying to pull himself from the muck. Suddenly, a huge creature dropped into the slime in front of the ninja, whose eyes promptly bugged out. "AGH!"
"It's just a snake, Kuro-pippi!" Fai called cheerfully. "I'll save you!"
"Easy for you to say it's just a snake!" he retorted. "How the hell can you be so cheerful?"
"Never fear, Mokona is here!" the white thing cried excitedly, and danced over to Kurogane, where he plopped himself onto the freaked-out man's head.
"We're all going to die," Aea realized calmly, as a laughing Fai tried to make his way over to Kurogane, who was swearing as he attempted to chop the offending snake in pieces, while Mokona continued to offer 'helpful' advice. Stumbling in the muck she clung to a low tree branch to prevent herself from falling in, her magic utterly useless against this new enemy.
"Why don't you go help her instead?" Kurogane asked in annoyance, desperate to get the over-excited Mokona and too-helpful Fai away from him so he could get himself out of the mess.
"Sure thing, Kuro-nin!" Fai replied, and managed to make it over to Aea without falling over. "Do you see a bank anywhere nearby?"
"Bank?" she repeated. "What do you need to get money for at this time?"
"No, no, not that kind of bank – the riverbank," Fai explained, and thought for a moment when she still looked confused. "The edge of the land where the water begins."
"Why didn't you just say so?" she asked. "Nope. Hey, where'd Kurogane go?"
"Mokona flying!" it cried, as it went soaring over their heads and landed somewhere past the trees. A moment later Kurogane somehow managed to follow Mokona, and the pair heard an 'oof'' as he landed somewhere where they couldn't see him, hopefully where Mokona had gotten off to.
"Kurogane?" Aea called hesitantly, when they didn't hear anything. "Mokona? Are you guys okay?"
"Tell this white thing to get the hell off me!" they heard him yell, with Mokona faintly yelling protests that sounded like he didn't want to go on the ground for some reason.
"I think I see what they did," Fai realized, looking back. A vine hung stretched between the two trees, and he grinned. "I see – they used it like a slingshot to propel themselves out of the swamp! I think I'll give it a try," he finished, and made his way over to the spot. Aea watched as Fai balanced himself on the vine. A few moments later the magician went soaring into the sky, and barely made it on relatively-dry land nearby Kurogane.
"I guess it's my turn," she shrugged, and released the branch she had been holding onto. Suddenly, something moved around her ankles and wrapped itself securely around her legs.
"What was that?" Kurogane looked up, hearing a shriek, followed by a splash.
"I guess Aea didn't quite reach far enough," Fai said jokingly. "Hey, try to move closer and we can pull you out! Aea!"
"Aea?" Mokona called as well, jumping onto a tree branch. "Mokona doesn't see Aea anywhere in the icky water!"
"Damn woman," Kurogane grunted, before surprising them by plunging back into the swamp. Taking a deep breath he dove beneath the murky surface, and found the water underneath surprisingly clear. A few yards away he spotted Aea, being dragged deeper by a snake-like creature. Her magic useless, she was powerless, and barely had enough air left to remain conscious. Mentally swearing, Kurogane made his way through the water to her and used his sword to slice the creature's tail off of her legs, releasing her from its grip. She clutched his shoulder as he pulled her to him and paddled upward, almost running out of air himself.
Breaking the surface he muttered to himself – when he was finished gasping for air – when he heard Fai and Mokona cheering, and turned around to begin heading back. Aea was almost unconscious and he was forced to support her weight as he stumbled back to the bank, where Fai helped pull him to his feet.
"You could've helped, ya know," he growled, but Fai merely smiled at him innocently.
"But you were doing such a good job, Kuro-chan!"
"I told you before to cut it out!" the ninja yelled, and glanced back at Aea, who was coughing on water. "Don't you even know how to swim?" he demanded, helping her to sit up to breath easier.
"No," she admitted, shaking her head. "Thanks, Kurogane. That's two I owe you, I guess."
"Just don't expect me to save you on every damn world we go to," he warned her, looking away. "Doesn't a damned assassin even know how to save herself – especially one that uses magic?"
"My magic's blocked for some reason," she informed him. "I think it's the water. We'll see what I can do once I'm dry. In the meantime, what are we in?"
"Beats me," Fai shrugged, and she groaned.
"It's getting dark," Aea realized in dismay, Mokona sitting on her now-dry head. "And we're still stuck in this place – whatever it is. You two have any bright ideas?"
"Making camp sounds like a good idea to me!" Fai grinned, and Kurogane sighed.
"Yeah, great idea – if we want to get eaten," he pointed out. "Who knows what the hell is in this place? I think we should take to the trees for now. It's probably safer than the ground at the least."
"All right. Mokona go first!" he volunteered, and promptly shot up into the nearest tree. Fai shrugged good-naturedly and climbed up after it, while Kurogane waited until Aea was up in the tree before taking to the branches himself. "Mokona comfy," he sighed, settling himself in Kurogane's cloak. The ninja muttered something but folded his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, apparently going to sleep.
"Aren't you tired?" Fai asked Aea, seeing her stare out at the sky.
"Not really," she shrugged. "I have a lot on my mind, to be honest."
"Oh, so do I," he agreed. "But I don't dwell on them, that's all. Sleep is sleep, after all, and who knows the next chance we'll get for it?"
"Good point," Aea admitted, and settled back into the trunk. Luckily the branches were wide and thick, providing perfect seats for the three companions – since Mokona was on top of Kurogane's head at this point. "I think my magic is still blocked," she thought out loud, examining her hand. "I hate that. When I find out what's causing it, I'll turn it off no matter what."
"Pretty strong words, considering you don't even know what you're up against," Fai commented. "It must be a trait of an assassin."
"No – just a trait of me," she shrugged. "I've always been headstrong and impulsive. It usually gets me into trouble, which is why I decided to become an assassin. I figured it'd help me control my emotions – which it did, by the way."
"Do you enjoy it?" he asked, lowering his voice so as not to wake the other two. She blinked in surprise, and then looked back at the sky blankly.
"I don't know," Aea said finally. "A part of me does, certainly. But I'm not really sure. I think I numbed up when I came to that world, you see. I try not to get emotionally involved – and this escapade proves it," she finished with a groan. "After all this, I still haven't learned, and now I'm stuck with you guys."
"You make that seem like such a bad thing!" he protested teasingly, and she eyed him.
"How would you know if it is or not?" she retorted. "You're you."
"That's pretty odd logic," he commented, and she shrugged, crossing her arms behind her head as she stretched out more. "Be sure not to fall off," he added, preparing for his own sleep.
"Whatever," she yawned, before closing her eyes.
"Holy crap!" Aea jumped awake, startled by the sudden bright light. "What the hell is that?"
"I think it's the sun," Fai suggested, as Mokona yawned. "A very bright sun."
"Genius," she rolled her eyes and poked Kurogane in the side to wake up. "Hey, you – wake up already, or we'll leave without you." She moved to poke him again, and jumped when he suddenly grabbed her wrist, his hand moving to fast for her to even see.
"If you poke me again I'll cut your hand off," he said quietly, gripping her wrist firmly while his gaze met hers. She nodded silently and he released her, jumping down from the tree. She copied his movements and landed on her feet, wobbling only slightly after spending a night in a tree. Stretching lazily, she looked around curiously.
"I don't see any new paths," she commented.
"Mokona isn't sensing any power anywhere," it spoke up, inside Fai's jacket to protect from the morning chill.
"Then why the hell are we here?" Kurogane demanded, wrapping his cloak around himself. "Now this place is freezing us out all of a sudden!"
"Mokona doesn't know! Mokona goes where the gate sends him!" Mokona protested, glaring at Kurogane from Fai's clothes.
"Is that another one of your special abilities?" Fai asked cheerfully, and Mokona jumped onto his open palm suddenly.
"Yep!"
"Are you going to tell me what the others are now?"
"Nope!"
"Mokona, you're such a tease! I'll have to tickle you now!" Fai laughed, while Mokona twirled around on his palm. Kurogane had a look of absolute disgust on his face, while Aea tried to figure out how a grown man could act like that. The ninja whirled around and began to march off.
"Have a nice life, you two," he muttered, and Fai looked up in surprise.
"Kuro-nii, wait for us!" he called, rushing after him. Aea blinked rapidly for a moment and then chased after the two young men, wishing Yuko to the very depths of hell for sticking her with those two guys.
I'm sure anyone that's read the manga recognizes the tickle scene between Fai and Mokona. I love that scene so much, I couldn't help putting it in there! As you can tell (I hope) Aea's starting to grow on the two guys there, but it'll be a while before any relations start to develop, trust me. If anyone has any suggestions and whatnot, feel free to let me know! I hope this was a good chapter, and please review!
I'm also thinking of doing a Pretear fic. If anyone wants to suggest a name, or let me know if you'd read it, please let me know!