Disclaimer: I do not own Cardcaptor Sakura
Chapter 8
Tomb of an ancient hero
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Shenhua cities' Lion Gates, early morning
It was 6.00am and the sun was slowly rising over the sleeping city, bringing light to the streets that were empty minus the guards who patrolled them. At the very edge of the city just behind the Regents estate lies the entrance to Shenhua, the Lions' Gate, where the group are preparing to leave for Gui Zangs tomb.
"That's a very nice dress you're wearing Miss Sakura. It certainly looks different to what Miss Tomoyo usually makes for you" Eriol complimented Sakura in her costume.
It was a light pink Chinese-looking dress with short sleeves and a white under shirt. The long skirt went down to just below her knees revealing the light grey baggy trousers she wore underneath, and it was all completed with the silhouette of a cherry tree and it's falling blossoms.
"Thanks. It seems to be the only normal looking outfit that Tomoyo-chans made for me" Sakura blushed noticeably when she saw that Syaoran was staring at her with his jaw hanging
"I created the dress in a way to match Li-kuns' adorable wolf suit!" Tomoyo giggled
"And…what is that?" Eriol asked slyly when he saw the bear necklace Sakura wore along her star key.
"It was a…uh…gift…from Syaoran…" Sakura whispered slightly embarrassed, as both their faces reddened quickly
"Really? Could that have been what was in that parcel Li-kun gave you last night?" Tomoyo wondered aloud, making the pair suddenly look to her with half confused half shocked expressions
"W-what?" Syaoran choked out, looking at the devious smile Eriol and Tomoyo where sharing
"Where you…did you…?" Syaoran knew they were up to something, but before he could get any further into it Stranger called over to them
"You guy's know how to ride these things, right?" He and Raine walked over to them leading five horses by their reigns.
Deciding to throttle answers out of the two later, Syaoran answered Stranger
"We should be able to manage…" Syaoran looked nervously up at the horse Stranger left in front of him.
The others, except for Raine and Eriol, shared Syaorans nervousness. They hadn't really ridden them before. Raine quickly took the time to explain the basics of horse riding to them, while Stranger helped them onto the saddles.
"I'll go get these gates open so you can be on your way" Stranger went to speak with the gate guard, but was stopped by Raine
"You know you won't be able to communicate with anyone while I'm gone. I'll be three miles away, so…"
"Alright don't worry, I'll explain it to everyone else as soon as you leave. By the way, when you see the Regent give him this. He loves this stuff"
Stranger reached to the back of his belt and removed his hip flask. He then handed it to Raine, who smiled and nodded in understanding.
"Just make sure he doesn't have too much. You remember what happened last time…" he finished with a grin
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Gui Zangs tomb, three miles west of Shenhua
The weather was only slightly warm out due to it being so early in the morning and it hadn't taken longer than seventy minutes for them to cross the desert and reach the tombs' location (they would've been quicker, but Syaoran kept falling of his horse). They stared at the structure in amazement; it was a pyramid style structure that was half in ruins, yet the sheer size of it was impressive.
"This is it…" Raine said
The group dismounted their horses and tied them up in a shaded spot near a half collapsed stonewall. They proceeded closer until Syaoran stopped and noticed something
"The magic is very strong here"
The others stood around, also feeling the strength of the magic. Syaoran took a few more steps forward, until…
"Whoa!"
He was shot backwards forcefully by an invisible wall and collapsed into the sand
"Syaoran! Are you okay?" Sakura quickly rushed to his side and helped him up
"Yeah, but…what the hell?" He looked to the spot from where he was knocked back
"That must be the barrier. We should hurry up and break it" Raine said to the confused Syaoran
"How?" He asked, sounding pretty pissed off
"We'll need to use our strongest attacks to get through this" Raine replied before turning to Eriol and Sakura "By casting our spells all at once, that should be enough to bring it down"
"Alright" Sakura and Eriol nodded as they released their wands
"Do you want me to help?" Syaoran asked
"Don't worry. The three of us should be enough to take care of it" Raine said, indicating that Syaoran and Tomoyo should step back.
The three magicians stood in a line beside yet a good few metres away from each other, and began to chant their spells. Sakura pulled out her FIREY card, Eriol was charging a large red beam and Raine was summoning some sought of purple light. After a few seconds the three sent a huge blast of fire, red beams and a purple light straight towards the invisible barrier causing a huge multicoloured explosion and causing the ground to violently shake. Not long afterwards, the invisible wall flashed a blue colour before shattering like glass and making an entrance for the group.
"That was really amazing!" Tomoyo cheered as the mages finished their spells
"The barrier has been destroyed so lets hurry up and find this Regent" Syaoran said, looking towards the tombs' entrance.
"You don't waste much time do you, my dear little descendant" Eriol chuckled lightly as he and Sakura converted their wands back into keys.
"Shut it, Hiirigizawa" Syaoran growled back
Walking up to the entrance and standing just outside, they all peered in through the doorway. It looked dark, and maybe even a little bit scary…
"Uh…T-there w-wouldn't be a-a-any…" Sakura began to shiver slightly, despite it being a warm day
Syaoran, noticing this and understanding she was afraid that there might be ghosts (It was a tomb, after all), placed his left arm protectively around her
"Stay by my side and you'll be okay" He whispered into her ear and, knowing that she really would be okay with Syaoran by her side, she sure enough began to feel less frightened
"Thank you" She smiled gratefully and hugged his body
"What's wrong with Kinomoto-san?" Raine asked Tomoyo, who was chuckling at the wonderful footage she had just captured on her camcorder
"Sakura-chan has a very strong fear of ghosts" Tomoyo said as she walked along beside Eriol towards Sakura and Syaoran
'Then she's not going to like my home world…' She thought worriedly to herself, before following the others inside
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Inside the tomb
It was dark inside the tomb, with only a tiny bit of light bringing it away from being pitch black. The group moved in, noticing that it was very cold compared to the outside.
"I can't see a thing" Syaoran complained as he scraped the wall
"I could use the LIGHT card" Sakura suggested, but Raine turned to her and shook her head
"No need. Mrs Chen gave me this" She smiled as she lifted up a crystal pendant shaped like a tear, which suddenly emitted a bright blue light. They could now see perfectly down the dark hallway.
"Handy" Tomoyo stared at the pendant in amazement while keeping her camera fixed on Sakura and Syaoran.
Raine handed the pendant to Eriol who was holding the map of the tomb in his left hand. He held the pendant up so he could begin reading it, while the others huddled round him
"Well, now that we can see where we are going, we should be heading…" he lifted his finger to point in the direction "Down that corridor. But be careful, a trap has been set up there"
"How is it activated?" Sakura asked
"Ah…it doesn't say. This map only shows us where the traps are" Eriol stated, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Then we'll just have to watch our step" Syaoran grunted in annoyance and folded his arms.
They began to walk down the corridor Eriol pointed out, very slowly. Raine
walked in front of the group waving the pendant around, scanning the whole area for anything that looked like an activation lever for a trap. They made it halfway down the corridor before Eriol suddenly stopped.
"Eriol-kun, is everything all right?" Tomoyo asked in concern when she noticed the sudden change in his expression
"I seem to be standing on something…" Eriol looked down and his eyes widened in horror. He was standing on some sought of switch.
Everyone stood completely still, looking at Eriols' worried expression. It had been a few seconds and nothing had happened. Syaoran then looked to Eriol, and spoke quietly
"Try not to move" Syaoran held his right hand out to Eriol and waved his left to the others, signalling them to back away slightly.
"The thought had occurred to my cute little descendant" Eriol gave a shaky grin, trying his best to keep calm.
Syaoran slowly edged forward, reaching out his right had towards Eriols' foot. The other three stood back and watched in worry as Syaoran attempted to help him, but Raine suddenly noticed something about the ceiling. It was cracking fast.
"Move!"
Raine ran forward, knocking Syaoran back and shoving Eriol away as the ceiling caved in, a ton of sand and stone quickly filling the hall.
"Eriol-kun! Raine-chan!" Sakura ran forward to try and help them, but Syaoran quickly shot up off the floor and pulled her back to avoid any of the ceiling from crushing her.
It took a few moments for the ceiling to cease falling. Syaoran, Sakura and Tomoyo stood in shock from the sudden event while hoping the other two were not hurt. They were in complete silence until they heard Eriols' muffled voice from behind the rubble.
"W-we're all right"
The three sighed in relief that they were okay.
"Hiirigizawa, have you got the map? Can you find you're way to us?" Syaoran called out, swinging his arms to clear away the dust that filled the air. Raines voice was the one that answered him
"Yes, we have the map. And Li-san, you're near Gui Zangs burial chamber. If you head down the hall and turn left, you'll find the entrance halfway down that corridor. There are no traps more traps on the way, so we'll meet you there"
"Okay, we'll see you there. Be careful" He replied, turning towards Sakura and Tomoyo who both nodded in understanding
They all walked together slowly, hugging the wall hoping it would lead them to their destination. Eriol and Raine had the glowing pendant, so it was difficult to move through the dim halls.
"Sakura-chan, I can hear something behind this wall" Tomoyo said, tugging on Sakuras shoulder.
Sakura stepped beside her friend and pressed her right ear against the wall. It was cold, dusty and…
"I hear it too" She said, her eyes widening as she backed away
"There's a door here" Syaoran pointed to a section of the wall, where a small gap ran down it.
"Keep back" he warned the two before stepping in front and placing his hands onto the centre of the stone door. Forcefully pushing it open, it revealed a room completely shrouded in darkness.
Syaoran placed his hand on his swords' hilt and Sakura released her Star key.
"There's something moving in there!" Tomoyo whispered as she caught something on the screen of her camera
Sakura froze up at the thought that it might be a ghost, while Syaoran quickly shifted inside the room with his sword drawn. He took a quick glance around, and saw nothing. Turning his head back to Sakura, and motioned that it was okay to enter. Sakura grudgingly moved inside with her wand raised followed by Tomoyo
Syaoran suddenly saw movement from the corner of his left eye, and immediately sprung into action. He charged and tackled whatever it was to the ground, pinning it down with one hand and laying one of his sword's sharp edges across it
"Wait!" a deep voice cried in horror, surprising Syaoran greatly
A dim light crossed over him so he could now see that he was pinning down a man in silver armour. It was a Royal guard from Shenhua.
"Get off him now!" Syaoran looked up to see five other royal guards standing across from him, one of which was holding a glowing pendant similar to what Raine received from Mrs Chen.
"Syaoran, I think it's them!" Sakura lowered her wand and looked at the men in shock. They all looked like they where in a horrible state.
Syaoran slowly sheathed his sword and got up off of the man. He held out his hand and helped him up
"Sorry about that" Syaoran apologised to the man who continued to slightly tremble. He then noticed the guards where standing in front of someone sitting down on the floor.
"Are you… the Regent?" He asked, noticing the man was holding a large weapon. Gui Zangs staff.
"Who are you?" the middle aged man replied. He had a brown hair, a short beard and dark blue eyes.
"I'm Li Syaoran, this is Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji. We've come to help you"
"You're the descendant of Li Kai ku? That means…you came with Stranger and Lady Raine?" The Regent looked to Syaoran with a questionable look and the sound of hope in his voice
"Stranger is back at the city and Enoeda is with us, although we got separated back in the corridor. She'll be meeting us here" Syaoran slowly replied, and noticed how the Regents' face drooped
"So we'll just have to wait" the Regent sighed, resting the staff beside him.
"How did you get trapped inside here?" Syaoran asked the Regent who looked back to him with tired eyes
"We removed the weapon from its resting place on top of Gui Zangs sarcophagus. I guess it then set off the barrier, trapping us inside. I thought no one would ever get in to help us, or supplies where running out" He weakly smiled before lowering his head
At this moment Tomoyo was busy recording Sakura wearing her dress, but noticed she was looking around for something
"Sakura-chan? What's wrong?" Tomoyo asked, not taking the camera off of her
"I can sense something familiar" She looked into the darkness, trying to think where she had sensed this before. All of a sudden, she felt whatever it was moving very quickly towards her
"JUMP"
Sakura moved just in time to avoid a blade strike, which smashed the ground she stood on. Syaoran became very alert and ran to where Sakura once was, catching a glimpse of the attacker
"Ninjas!" He quickly drew his sword and pulled out one of his ofuda
"GOD OF FIRE, ANSWER MY CALL"
A huge blaze swept across the room, but the ninja reacted quickly and avoided the attack. Before Syaoran could pursue him, another blade flew through the air towards him making him stop in his tracks and duck. It came from the shadows; he barely even saw it coming
"It's the same ones from the park" Sakura called out as she landed back down
"Protect the Regent!" the guards quickly circled around the Regent defensively
It was hard to see. The room was very dark and the ninjas where using this to cover their movements, making it hard to predict the attacks. Syaoran had very narrowly avoided a kunai that flew past his ear
"Dammit I can't see them!" Syaoran frantically scanned the darkened room with his eyes, trying to locate the enemies
Knowing they couldn't fight in the dark, Sakura pulled out the one card that could destroy the enemies' advantage
"LIGHT"
There was a bright flash of light which pushed away the darkness that filled the room, revealing its true size. The room was enormous, maybe twice the size of the school gymnasium, with pillars supporting the ceiling and a large staircase starting from the centre of the room leading up towards what appears to be Gui Zangs sarcophagus. Everyone looked up to see maybe even more than fifty ninjas clinging to stone pillars, the walls and even hanging from the ceiling.
"Looks like they can't hide now" Syaoran smirked as he readied his weapon
The ninjas then began their assault, leaping around the room while throwing kunai and flying in to strike with their swords. Syaoran blocked and dodged a barrage of attacks from multiple angles, occasionally countering and successfully cutting down the enemies. He also threw in some kicks, which helped considerably when they knocked back large groups.
"SWORD"
Sakura released the SWORD card and now used the elegant blade to fight back against the attackers. Thankfully she had been practicing with it recently, so she was quite good at striking and blocking. After countering several attacks from multiple opponents she leapt across the room and landed beside a large stone pillar, but unbeknown to her there was a ninja hiding behind it who saw his chance to sneak around and try to strike the girl.
"Sakura-chan! Look out behind you!" Tomoyo screamed to her friend, and Syaoran also looked over to her after throwing an enemy into the wall
Sakura looked over her shoulder to see a ninja lunging with his blade towards her. Luckily she was quick enough to react to this and spun to the right side allowing the ninja to pass by her, then hooked a fierce kick into the back of the enemies' head sending him forcefully into the ground. Syaoran stood watching in shock, never realising his gentle cherry blossom was capable of such a thing.
"Where did you learn how to do that?" He asked with his eyes open widely as Sakura jumped to land beside him
"I picked it up from you" She gave a light smile before turning to face more enemies.
The Royal guards where trying their best to fend off the oncoming attacks and to protect the Regent, but the ninjas where wearing them down. They couldn't hold out for long, they were barely able to stand let alone fight. Picking up Gui Zangs staff the Regent began to swing it wildly at the enemies, trying to give his men some support.
"Sir, you're not strong enough to fight!" One of the guards tried to hold the Regent back, but he just pushed him away
"Says who? I won't just sit by while my best men are getting killed" He grunted before turning and swinging the staff towards a ninjas head
The ninja the Regent had struck down was halfway through casting a fire spell, and when he fell the blast was sent upwards towards the ceiling. This caused a large stone block to tear out of the ceiling, which began to fall down towards the Regent and his men.
"WATCH OUT!" Syaoran cried
A/n I've decided to try and make my chapters a bit longer, and I did it. Updating may take a bit longer as for some reason I'm entering a paintball tournament with my friends (war, it's fantastic!). I'm also starting another story (It'll only be a few chapters long) where Sakura is involved in a car accident and dies, while Syaoran in a fit of grief travels to a spirit world to fight the king of hell and bring her back to life. But whether it'll be any good or not…nyah.