No, this is not feather only-I've got all the characters from the manga. Sorry to all the people who were confused! By the way, if you're gonna review, could you help me think up names for Fai to call Kurogane? I think I'll be running out shortly. Anyway, has anyone else noticed it's always the fox who sees all kinds of weird things? Harry Potter…Lord of the Rings…think about it…
Disclaimer: If I owned Tsubasa and LoTR, then right now I'd be enjoying some delicious muffins at the Cat Café with Frodo and Legolas. But I'm not. So yeah.
September 29th, 3018
Just outside of Bree
"Here we are!" Fai commented cheerfully once they had materialized in the shady grove, scaring the living daylights out of a passing fox. Beside him, Syaoran took a moment to stretch after checking if Sakura was alright. Looking up, the boy absently noted that it was the late afternoon.
"Kuro-nya, could you climb a tree and see where we are?" Fai asked sweetly.
Kurogane growled in frustration, but climbed a particularly tall oak - after all, the suggestion was a practical one. The air above the treetops was crisp and fresh, with a lively breeze flowing through the sky. Scanning the horizon, Kurogane spotted a large town not too far off, with a clear road that headed straight towards it. Descending, he told the others of what he had seen once he had touched the ground.
"Did it look hostile?" Syaoran asked, his gaze instantly flicking to Sakura, who was playing with Mokona.
"It's hard to tell from such a distance, but it looked fairly peaceful. We'll have to chance it," Kurogane replied.
Fai turned to Mokona, asking "Do you sense a feather?"
Mokona, who had been his usual bright and peppy self, sobered suddenly. "Mokona senses it here, but it's separated," he answered, "…it just…is."
They all exchanged confused and worried glances for a moment. Sakura was the first to break the silence. "Well," she said smiling, "We'll never know what that means unless we look for it."
o.0.o.0.o
They had reached Bree at dusk, right as its town doors were closing. Using the same excuse that they made in the country of Jade, with some minor changes, they were able to enter. At the moment they were in the tavern area of a small but clean inn named the Prancing Pony, where they had lodged. Kurogane had immediately forbidden them all from drinking, before heading off to try some of the Pony's touted beer himself. The others headed to a quiet table near the back of the tavern, and watched the inn slowly fill up with Bree's residents.
Surveying the assortment of men and the dwarf-like beings named hobbits, Syaoran saw to his disappointment that not one of them looked like seasoned travelers, much less competent fighters. Leaning back, he watched with some amusement as Sakura and Fai entered a game of dice, betting the statuesque Mokona. He caught the eye of the innkeeper, who hurried towards him.
"Anything I can do for ye sir?" the man asked, absently polishing a mug. Syaoran nodded, before asking, "Butterbur-san, is there anyone in this town that has ever done some traveling?" Butterbur was silent for a moment, counting up people on his fingers. Syaoran was dismayed to see that the tally ended on only one of the hands.
"There's Clary Sageleaf, and Clo - but you'd be looking for a real wanderer, wouldn't you?" Butterbur said, cutting himself off at Syaoran's slightly disappointed and worried face, before continuing, "You won't find anyone here in Bree that's ever been to the White City, if that's your intention. But…you could always ask Strider there in the corner. Best not to though. He's one of those Rangers - shifty sort of folk. Unless you're really desperate, it's better to go alone. The roads are clear, and you and your friends look like they can take care of themselves and yon maiden." His face took on an uneasy cast as he finished, belying the easy tone.
Syaoran looked in the direction that Butterbur had just nodded his head, a corner of the tavern strangely clear of laughing people drinking ale. Jutting out of the shadows was a table, with an empty plate set on it. Behind it, Syaoran could barely make out the form of a person, hidden in the folds of a cloak. The person - Strider, Syaoran thought - exhaled into his pipe, illuminating the shadows briefly as the embers of burning pipe-weed flared at the release of oxygen. Grey eyes stared with a dangerous intensity that Syaoran struggled to match. Slowly, the darkness formed around Strider once more.
Syaoran turned away. They would chance it alone.
o.0.o.0.o
Aragorn stared down at the four hobbits in exasperation. They had stopped again to eat a light lunch. It was only then, of course, that he had remembered that the hobbit version of a light meal consisted of considerably more than what he would eat for a filling dinner. He resisted the urge to just sweep the food out of their hands and make them march. Doing that, though, would betray the trust that he was working to build up, particularly with the heavyset one, Sam. For now, all that he could do was send them cutting glares, which did little good, since they had all turned their backs and were ignoring him. Or trying to.
For not the first time that day, he found his thoughts turning to the youth who had met his eyes the evening before. From the beginning, he and his companions had intrigued the tired Ranger, who had only expected a few dwarves at the most. One dark, ale swigging warrior in the strangest garb he had ever seen, a slim northern man with a perpetual grin and a sunny disposition, and two youths that spoke with the tone that only the educated and rich carried. At first, he had thought the blonde to be among one of the higher noble families, taking the children of another house along with him as a favor as he fled the impending doom that festered in the Black Land. They had arrived penniless, yet clad in clothes of the finest make.
He had given little thought to them after his initial examination, until he had met the eyes of the boy. A fire blazed in his eyes, and Aragorn had been surprised. Ordinary nobles did not possess the determination that boy had held, even in that moment of respite in the tavern. After the boy had broken eye contact, Aragorn had begun to watch the band more carefully. Something was different about them. The young maid, who he assumed was in her bedroom, was instead participating in a dice game, with an innocent and slightly confused expression on her face. Behind her, the blonde had leaned in with a knowing smile. The source of his amusement had quickly become clear, as the girl cleaned out the pockets of all who were playing.
Shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts, he sat up, deliberately rustling the leaves loudly. The Ring-bearer turned, half-way into biting an apple. Aragorn gave him an impatient look before turning to untie Bill the Pony's reins. He took the half loaf of bread still left, and carefully wrapped it up. Opening one of the packs, he was surprised to see the toy the young noble girl had cradled the night before. He pulled it out, examining it. It was…fluffy. Very. Fluffy.
Setting it back in the pack-how had it gotten in there?- he turned to the idling hobbits once again, leveling a hefty glare at them. It was doubtful that they would ever meet up with the girl again, but it seemed a shame to just throw it in away in the wilds. Besides, it would just leave something for the wraiths to track.
o.0.o.0.o
Kurogane mentally cursed the stupidity of both himself and the white manju bun. Himself, for not noticing the disappearance of their only avenue of communication, and said manju bun for being stupid enough to leave. They had searched everywhere, to no avail. At least the princess and the boy could still communicate, but faking a collective sore throat was definitely not the best way to leave the inn, never mind the suspicion that the girl had caused with her flawless winning streak in the dice game.
It was at times like this that he really missed the presence of his princess. For all his defiance and bravado, they both had known that he would never even consider leaving. Tomoyo had always been able to calm things down, and leave both sides happy. She was unique in this quality, and Kurogane respected her deeply for that.
Turning away his thoughts on Tomoyo, he focused on the problem at hand. It would take weeks to be able to understand the basics of all of the three languages they spoke, but Mokona did had a habit of turning up whenever it was really needed. Or when there was food, but that was irrelevant. Of course, no one knew when it would turn up, and they certainly didn't want to end up in any situations that put them under scrutiny. Thus, it was up to them to figure things out. He knew Syaoran's world used kanji-perhaps they could communicate that way…
He stopped and waited for the others to catch up. While Sakura was able to sustain herself for much longer periods of time than when they had all first met, she still had to watch herself, and the fainting spells appeared without warning. With that in mind, they had set an easy pace for the day.
As he scanned the horizon, idly wondering where they would sleep, he spied an ancient looking tower that stood out, a crumbling wreck that managed to hold itself in dignity while it was falling apart. When the others finally fell in pace with him, he pointed it out to them. As usual, Sakura and Fai looked utterly confused. Kurogane grit his teeth. At least Sakura was genuinely confused. The blonde idiot, on the other hand, had a tell-tale glint of mocking amusement in his ice blue eyes. It…annoyed him.
He mimicked sleeping, before pointing to the tower once again. Thankfully, Syaoran relayed the information to Sakura, who nodded her agreement. Fai shrugged, and they all headed for the tower, the thought of a good sleep prevalent in everyone's minds.
o.0.o.0.o
Pippin's feet hurt.
It was all fine and well to stroll through the downy grass of the Shire - indeed, sometimes it was very refreshing. But tramping through wilds filled with snakes, thorny brushes, and annoying little pebbles was enough for any hobbit to wish for home with a big plate of steaming mushrooms and a warm fire. Needless to say, Pippin had begun to understand why the Big Folk liked wearing those annoying strips of leather called shoes. Furthermore, there had been no afternoon tea, which was ludicrous. Endless marching, without any rest or food, was now what Pippin considered torture of the worst possible kind. Before, it had been being caught by Farmer Maggot. And/or his dogs.
So preoccupied was he in his sorrow, that he did not notice that the others had stopped until he bumped into Merry. He looked up. Strider had halted in his tracks, gazing up with the oddest expression at a crumbling tower. With a start, Pippin realized they were in a small island amidst the thorny bracken. He glanced up at the tower, and froze. Did he see something shift in the shadows, at the very top of the tower? He squinted intently, but he could find no other trace of life. Probably just the light playing tricks, or some animal, he thought to himself, annoyed. There was too much nonsense going on already for him to be jumping at every cracking twig.
"Stay here. I'll examine the wilds around us, and see if we can shave off any more time," Strider ordered, before melting into the shadows. They did as he bid, staying in the little hollow dug into the side of the tower that Frodo had discovered. It fit four hobbits comfortably, giving them room to stretch. Frodo immediately dropped off, the stress lines that had adorned his face fading away.
Before long, Pippin was bored.
Looking around, he noticed that Strider had left the pack with food behind. Mentally cackling, Pippin quickly opened the pack, pulling out several tomatoes and some bacon. To his surprise, there was a child's toy in the pack as well, a white, fluffy sort of thing. He ignored it and set his conquests in front of Merry and Sam. The reaction was instantaneous. The fire was quickly set up, and before long the scent of bacon filled the air. The three sat quietly, letting Frodo catch as much sleep as he could.
A rustling sound came from the pack, and Pippin whirled around, furious that some animal had the nerve to try and steal their precious foods. He relaxed as he saw that it was just the fluffball, dusting itse-wait. He watched in mute astonishment as the thing shook itself slightly to free any dirt it had accumulated during the trip before bounding over the fire and into the arms of the startled youth that had somehow appeared behind them, scaring the living daylights out of Merry
"Mokona?! What are you doing? Never mind, it'll be a relief to speak to everyone. Come on, Kurogane's furio-ah…" he trailed off as he noticed the three pairs of eyes trained on him. At that moment, two very important things happened. Firstly, Frodo, awoken by the ruckus, spazzed out. Not because there was a strange young man with a furball sitting on his head. No, it wasn't that by a long shot. He dashed straight for the fire, stamping it out with the soles of his feet, a fearful look in his eyes. "Put it out, you fools!" he screamed, fear keeping him from regaining the calm that characterized his being.
Secondly, a piercing scream echoed from above them, causing everyone to pause. It was filled with horror and pain, and enough to stop any argument. "Sakura," the boy breathed, clenching a sword belted to his waist, before saying, "You'd better come with me. Anything that can get Sakura to scream like that is definitely not going to be anything good, and you'll be safe with me and my companions."
The Hobbits quickly took their own swords and belongings, tension thick in the air. Just as they were going to leave, Sam hesitated and reluctantly said, "…What about Strider? We should leave him something…" The boy hesitated, before answering, "I'm pretty sure Strider can take care of himself well enough. By the way, my name's Syaoran. Now hurry!" They raced to the top, where there were three people waiting. There was a young girl about Syaoran's age, who looked like she was about to wretch. By her side was a slender blonde man, who seemed quite at ease with the situation, even as he murmured comforting phrases to the greying girl. Another, a tall man with cropped black hair, was looking out into the dark with an intent expression on his face.
"You're those weird people who won the dice game!" Merry cried out in astonishment. The boy, Syaoran, smiled faintly before hurrying to the girl's side. The blonde left the two, kneeling down in front of the hobbits. Even so, he was still a few good inches taller. "My name," he said with a smile on his face, " is Fai D. Flowright. The boy's name is Syaoran in case he already hasn't told you, the fair maiden's is Sakura, and the man wrestling with little Mokona there is Kurogata!" The tall man, who was currently stretching out the fluffball's cheeks, paused for a moment to shout a heated denial.
The hobbits looked askance and the odd group. How could they be so relaxed when there was something so obviously evil near and closing? Fai noticed their worry and smiled again. Only this time, it was a smile that hinted at a more dangerous persona than the one he presented. "Do not worry, little ones, we have been in worse situations than this," he reassured them, no sign of concern in his face.
A shriek echoed from below them. Instantly, the tall man stopped tormenting the fluffball and drew his sword with a feral grin. Syaoran drew his sword as well, and the girl blanched on last time before staggering to her feet with a determined expression. Once again, the predatory grin appeared briefly on Fai's face. He gently herded the hobbits behind the two swordsmen. The girl looked as though she was about to collapse again, but she managed to murmur out a soft greeting and curtsy slightly.
"Now," Fai murmured, "don't worry little ones, you're quite safe. Just sit back and watch the show."
o.0.o.O.o.0.o
I can't believe it. It's done. At first, I was just being lazy, and then school got in my way. A lot. Which brings up my recurring hatred of Chemistry…please don't expect any more updates in the near future as well. While I'd like to write, school is just a little too much right now.