A/N: finally! I have soooooo much things to do! I've been staying up late just to write these stories of mine! man…I just hope they're not bad…sigh…it's tough being a teenager, isn't it?
Anyway, back to the story!
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Worthy Love
Chapter 10:
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Tomoyo went outside in search of Sakura. Walking behind the inn, she found an old, tiny trail that led into the depths of the dark, luscious woods. Tomoyo followed the trail in a bit, but only deep enough that she was still able to see the inn.
"You won't find her here, if that's what you were thinking."
Tomoyo spun around, frightened by the deep, low voice. "Who-What are you doing here?"
The man with the wild chestnut colored hair jumped down from the branch he was standing on and walked toward Tomoyo. In one hand, he held a carving of a deer and in the other; he held a short metal knife.
"Well, I come out here sometimes to carve animals."
Tomoyo crossed her arms and raised her left brow. "To carve animals? Uh-huh. I'm sure." She said sarcastically. Tomoyo looked up and down, checking for some other clue he might be hiding. He was wearing a dark green cape, which hung loosely around his shoulders. Tomoyo's eyes traveled across his well-built shoulders to his neck where the ties of his shirt had come undone, revealing a small part of his muscular chest. Tomoyo looked down at his boots, seeing if something was hidden there. Finally done checking him over and not finding a thing on him, Tomoyo flicked back a piece of her dark violet hair that had come loose. Then turning her back to him, she walked over to a near-by tree and leaned casually on it. "So you like carving animals, huh? That's the weirdest thing I have ever heard a prince liking. Don't princes usually like to do kendo or something with the art of war?"
"Of course! I like doing kendo. It helps me relax."
"Really? You know, Sakura likes doing kendo, also. She's very good at it."
"What? Sakura knows how to sword fight?" Syaoran asked, showing his surprise, but only in his captivating amber eyes.
Tomoyo nodded, pushing herself a little away from the tree to keep herself from leaning on it. "Yes, she very good at it. Her brother, Touya, whom you've met and seem to dislike very much, taught her how to wield a sword." Tomoyo put a finger on her chin, appearing to think. "Come to think of it, Sakura's very good with a bow, also. She knows how to wield practically every weapon, since her father and brother owns a blacksmith. But I think her favorite hobby is collecting herbs."
"She likes to gather leaves?"
Tomoyo looked directly at him, meeting him with her eyes. She had on a "don't be so stupid" look on her face. "Collect leaves? No. she likes to gather herbs for medicinal remedies. It was something her mother did, and so, she too took up the art. She can set a broken bone and bind a large wound, stitch, clean cuts and make them, too!"
"You say she knows how to do all these things, yet she looks childish and arrogant. Are you sure you were not imagining it a little too much? Maybe your fantasies has got the best of you." He said, waving his knife around. "Sakura does not look to know these…arts."
Tomoyo got angry, then deciding to not show her anger, she merely brushed imaginary dort off her sleeve. Then looking up at him, she smiled. "You should not underestimate Sakura. Though she may look a child and act like one from time to time, she is very strong. Like the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover." After declaring her opinion, she turned her back on Syaoran, taking a couple steps forward. "Which way did you say she went, again?"
"Oh, Sakura went that way." Syaoran pointed. "Uhh…I mean…she…uhh…" he stuttered, trying to cover his mistake.
"I'm sure you didn't follow her out here. You just came out here to merely carve your wooden animals, am I right?" Tomoyo smiled and walked down the way he had pointed out to her. Then remembering something, she stopped and turned back to Syaoran. "Oh! I forgot to thank you! Thanks for pointing the way for me!" Tomoyo waved and skipped off.
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Sakura hummed to herself as she picked the ripe berries on the bush, discarding them into a yellow basket. She stopped when she heard the snap of twigs behind her. Putting down the basket, Sakura wiped her hand on the apron she was wearing and turned around.
"Sakura, how could you come back here? It's so…woody." Tomoyo stood with on hand on her hip as the other gripped onto a low branch tightly. She had on a
This made Sakura laugh. "Tomoyo, is that why you rarely come visit here?"
"Yes! That's why I live in the town and not in the woods. There's too many trees." She shuddered with the word.
Sakura smiled. "Come here. Help me pick these berries."
"Okay." Tomoyo went over to where Sakura was knelt and sat down. She began picking the juicy berries, popping a couple inside her mouth as she did so.
"You're suppose to help me pick them, not eat them."
"I know, but they look so good." Tomoyo ate two more and began picking again. "What are they for? Jam? Or are they for the tart you were going to make later on?"
"Both. You have to help me. I just love your jam."
"I know. And I just love your tarts. They're so yummy!"
"Sure." Sakura began humming to herself once more.
Tomoyo listen to the tune for a while, catching the pitch and melody of the song. Then, adding her own voice, joined Sakura's humming, weaving her own tune in and out of Sakura's voice.
Sakura smiled, remembering the old days they had done this when they were but little girls. Sakura stopped humming and thought of some rhymes that would go along with the melody. Opening her mouth, Sakura let the words flow out gracefully, making the words sound like they belonged.
A couple feet away, Eriol watched the two girls as they sang and hummed, while picking the berries. He closed his eyes and listened.
"Beautiful." He said as he opened his eyes again and turned to look at Syaoran. "Right?"
Syaoran, eyes stilled closed, nodded. He put his finger to his lips and said, "Shh…" as he continued to listen to the relaxing angelic voices of the two young women.
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(Somewhere else)
"So…You've been traveling with those three, huh? For how long?"
"For about, seven years. We've been battling giants and you wouldn't believe the size-ouch! Chihar-ru-u!"
Chiharu pulled his ears roughly. "Quit it with your stories already! I thought that you said you'll stop?"
"O-Okay! I promise that I'll try to stop!"
"Try? Try!" Chiharu pulled onto his ears harder. "I'm sorry mister, but trying isn't good enough for me!"
"Okay! Okay! Just stop pulling! My ears are fragile!"
Chiharu let go and looked at him.
"I really thought they were going to ripe right off! I guess I'll just have to go to the forest witch and beg her for another ear."
"Yamazaki!" Chiharu warned, lifting up her hand.
"Ahhh!" Yamazaki covered his head with both of his arms and stuck it under one leg. "Okay! Okay! I give up!"
"Good."
Yamazaki moved back to his original position. "Are you really going to make me stop with the story telling? It's my life, what I live for, besides you of course, but without it, I wouldn't be Yamazaki."
"I know. But I'll always threatened you to stop, because that's me." Chiharu said as she looked up at the sky. "I won't ever make you stop your story telling. That's what I like about you."
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Two young men walked side by side deep inside a darkening forest full of pine, oak and ash trees. The two kept walking until the forest thinned and a wide succulent meadow full of brilliant green grass opened up before them. The young man with dark blue hair walked out into the waist level grass and dropped down, positioning himself comfortably on the ground. The grass for cushion and his arm for a pillow, he closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep.
The other male who had accompany him, had messy chestnut hair. He took a few steps into the verdant meadow, taking in all of its beauty. The abundant grass swayed back and forth in the nice cool breeze. The sun shone brightly, reflecting the colors of the rainbow and giving each plant and animal it's coat of varieties.
"This is the life, no?" The voice of his friend brought him back. "Syaoran?"
"Yeah, it's beautiful here." Syaoran said as he walked over to where his childhood friend laid. Sitting, he wrapped his arms around his legs and started up at the sky.
"I was talking about relaxing and not having to do court work back at home, not the beauty of this place." Eriol turned his head sideways to look at Syaoran. Both his arms were folded back to support his head. Smiling at him, Eriol looked back up at the clouds. "You're such a romantic, my lovely Syaoran."
"Shut up."
Eriol laughed. "You know it's true. You're always looking at 'beautiful' scenery when there are beautiful girls to look at."
Syaoran crossed his arms. "I don't see any girls around here."
"Yes, I forgot." Eriol sat up and sighed playfully. "You've already met your dream girl, right? Her name is-"
"I said shut up!" Syaoran yelled, wrapping Eriol's ungrateful mouth with his hand.
"Mmmhmmumm…" Eriol struggled with Syaoran. Finally freeing his mouth with a few minutes of wrestling with Syaoran, Eriol jumped up and fixed his glasses, straightening it. He huffed a slightly from the brawl.
Syaoran was huffing a great deal more. He was flushed and hot, not only from the rays of the sun.
Around them, they had emphatically flattened down the succulent grass around them, created from their little rumble. The wind blew a strong fresh breeze that made the heat more bearable.
Syaoran looked at Eriol, standing up and brushing the dirt off of his attire. "Unfair! You use magic!"
"It's not like you didn't have any yourself. You have plenty of magic within you. Why not use it?" Eriol said slyly.
Syaoran turned his back and mumbled quietly to himself. Then saying aloud so Eriol can hear, he announced, "You're lucky you didn't ruin my clothes or I would have never let you off so easily."
"Huh, yeah right. you never give up, do you?" Eriol looked at him. Putting his hands on his hips, he coaxed his head sideways, saying, "I wonder what she did to make you so infatuated with her."
"Why should I tell you?"
"So you admit it!"
"Shut up!"
Eriol grabbed his chin and smiled nefariously. "Hmm…I wonder what you did with her. Did you make any moves that were, let's say, inappropriate?"
"I said shut up! I didn't do anything your sick twisted mind is thinking of." Syaoran threw up his hands in frustration. "I thought we came here to relax. If I knew you were going to do this, I wouldn't dream of coming here."
"Oh? Is there some type of secret you don't want to spill out?"
"…" Syaoran didn't reply. Instead, he got up and walked over to the edge of the forest. Looking around, he picked two sturdy sticks.
Eriol stood up to see what Syaoran was doing. Seeing the sticks, he figured Syaoran wanted a good fight for the information. He watched Syaoran jog back to where he was at and tossed him a stick. Eriol raised a hand to catch the thing. Swinging it, he practiced a couple of moves and fighting styles.
"I've already tested its durability. It'll hold."
Eriol stopped his warm ups and watched Syaoran practiced his. They had come from two different kingdoms and had learned different techniques. Learning your opponent's moves is a great way to find a weak spot.
"Stop studying me and do your warm ups." Syaoran growled from underneath his wooden rod.
When the two were done, they stood across from one another.
"Ready, heir to the Hiiragizawa kingdom?"
"Yes, heir to the Li kingdom."
After a few seconds of staring down the opponent, they both jumped forward rushing at one another. "Go!"
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A/N: wow…I reread part of it and it was really lame! Sorry! The next chap. is almost done!
