AN: Hey guys. Sorry it's taken me a while to update, but I have another story going right now as well. So I was focusing on that one for a while but now I'm going to try to split my attention between the two. Well, I hope you all enjoy this new chapter.
Review from last chapter:
As they traveled through the tunnel that would take them to a new world, Syaoran looked behind him and saw their kudans disappear back in the Hanshin Republic. He was sad to see them leave, but he knew that they could not come with them. They didn't belong one any other world besides Hanshin. "Thanks for the help." he said. He then felt a hand slip into his. He looked to the side and saw Sakura there. "I'm scared." she said. Syaoran smiled, happy that she still found some sort of comfort in him. "It'll be ok." he replied softly. "I'll always look out for you." Sakura gave a happy smile upon hearing this and the two of them looked head toward the new world that they were quickly approaching.
Episode 7: The Broken Memento
Everyone was expecting a nice smooth landing like the one they had in the Hanshin Republic, or at least they thought they had for they had been momentarily unconscious when they had arrived. However, that wasn't the case this time, not only were they wide awake but they crash landed…right into a produce stand filled various vegetables. The stand shattered from their weight and sent bits of wood and vegetables flying in all directions. Syaoran pulled himself out of the rubble and immediately looked for Sakura. Upon seeing her sitting a few feet away he worriedly said, "That was a hard landing. Are you alright Princess?" Sakura nodded her head and looked over at Kyoya who was also pulling himself out from the rubble. "Man, Mokona's got the concept of 'dropping in' down to a tea. Maybe next time he can 'drop' us 'in' a more comfortable place. Wouldn't you agree Sakura." he asked as he smiled at her. She nodded her head in return and a smile came to her lips. Syaoran smiled too; he loved her smile and wished that it would never leave her face. "So, where are we? It looks like a market place of some kind." Syaoran looked around him and noticed that it was indeed a market place full of people and many of the people were looking at them in curiosity and shock.
"Lookie, we're safe and sound in a brand new world." said Mokona.
"I don't know why I was expecting to see my home." said Kurogane.
"Come now Biggs, you couldn't think it would be that easy." said Fye. Syaoran stood up and dusted himself off and when he looked up he saw a beautiful palace with high cement walls with two fast flowing waterfalls spilling over the sides. "Look at that." he whispered to himself. "I wonder who lives there." Kyoya walked over to his brother and was about to say something but instead followed his brother's gaze to the palace. He gave a low whistle. "Get a load of that place. Who ever built it must've had great taste for the extravagant." A sudden rough voice caught their attention. "Out of my way." They looked over and saw a huge, lanky man standing in front of Sakura. He had on black pants, a long sleeve, olive colored shirt with a yellow border that went down well past his hips. There seemed to be a red skinny eight on the front of the shirt and a belt wrapped around his middle. On top of all this, he had black shoes that slightly pointed up at the tip and a funky black hat that made him look like he had wings and a fin on his head. Kyoya nearly laughed out loud at the hat, it made the guy look completely stupid. Behind the man were half a dozen men dressed in gray holding sticks. The burly man glared down at Sakura. "Explain yourself now. Just who are you and what are you doing here?" he growled. Both Syaoran and Kyoya tensed, ready for any sort of action if this confrontation became unfriendly.
"Oh dear." said Fye as he looked around to see that the men in gray had completely surrounded them. "We seemed to have gathered an audience."
"Mokona's the center of attention. Yup-yup."
"This isn't a game hairball." tensely stated Kurogane. He like the boys was ready for any type of action.
The burly man, who hadn't taken his eyes off of Sakura, gave a slight smile as he reached down and grabbed her arm. "You're coming with me litte girl." he said. Sakrua let out a pained gasp, which sent Kyoya and Syaoran into action. Kyoay ran forward and hit the man arm at the elbow causing him to release Sakura's arm. Before the guy could give any sort of protest Syaoran lept into the air and threw a kick, which made a solid connection with the man's face. The man, whoes name was Bugal, fell to the ground with a thud. Syaoran landed between Sakura and Bugal. He straightened himself and glared down at Bugal, threatening him to back away. Behind him Kyoya stood beside Sakura with his arms wrapped protectively around her and was also glaring at Bugal with cold eyes. "Try that again dumbass and I'll knock you and your stupid hat down till you can't move ever again." he thought. Fye, Kurogane, and Mokona watched all this with big smiles on their faces. They had only been traveling with Kyoya and Syaoran for week but they knew that the boys won't let anything or one hurt Sakura and if someone did hurt her they were dead meat. Bugal, with the help of two men in gray, stood up and yelled, "Hey you kids, do you even have a clue who you're messing with or what kind of trouble I could make for ya." Niether Syaoran or Kyoya answered they just stared at him, Syaoran with clam eyes and Kyoya with deadly eyes. Bugal let out a low growl and took a step toward them but that as far as he got cause another voice entered the conversation. "Give it up." They looked up at the roof of one of the near by buildings and saw a young girl dressed in a white pants and shirt with a red trim. She also had on a pink skirt over her pants, a small red and yellow jacket, and a black wrap around her waist. "Why do you have to bully everyone around you, huh? You're so pathetic." she continued.
"Chu'nyan! I should have known you'd chime in you brat. Unlike them," Bugal said motioning over to Syaoran and Kyoya. "You know me so what's your excuse. You think it's a good idea to insult your Lord's son? You of all people know the consequences."
"Don't make me laugh. Your father's no Lord. A year ago you two were nothing but magicians." said Chu'nyan.
"You're in dangerous territory girl. My father won't like talk like that. You keep interfering and I'll let him know what you said and we'll see what happens then. Foolishness must run in your blood." Everyone was quiet for a minute and didn't move a muscle. Even the passer-byers were deadly silent, having realized the intensity of the moment, but the silence was finally broken by the voice of a man. "Sir." he yelled and hurried up to Bugal and whispered something into his ear.
"He said immediately, huh. Very well." he quietly said to the man and then called out to Chu'nyan. "This messenger's bought you some time but I'm not done with you yet. Mark my words Chu'nyan. Back to the fortress!" With that Bugal and his men turned and hurried to the beautiful palace that Syaoran and Kyoya had admired a few minutes ago. Once they were out of sight Kyoya moved his from around Sakura but didn't move from her side. Syaoran turned around to face them. "Are you hurt?" he asked Sakura.
"No, I'm fine." she replied in a tired, emotionless voice.
"Well, that was quite a welcome we got huh kids." said Fye as he, Kurogane, and Mokona made their way over to them. Kyoya clentched his fists, "I'm not a kid. Got it. Not…A…Kid." he said under his breath threw clentched teeth. Fye lifted up his hands in defeat and gave an apologetic smile. Syaoran gave smile as well, his body relaxing. "Well, things are back to normal, or at least as normal as it can be in this group." he thought. "Syaoran, look, Mokona kicks like you." he said as he flew toward Syaoran with a little kick and landed on his shoulder. Syaoran looked away from the group and finally noticed the state of the market. "Uhoh, we made a real mess." Aparently, when they arrived, they hadn't just landed on one cart but four or five. Pieces of wood were scattered all over the place and vegetables, were lying on the ground, some of them completely squashed. Well, this looks familiar." thought Kyoya, remembering how he had given Syaoran and Sakura some time alone and had ended making a mess in the market at home. "Let's help them clean this up." said Syaoran. Kyoya rolled his eyes and began looking for a place to hid till the mess was clean, but he found himself being pulled by Syaoran over to the nearest mess and was made to start helping. He glared over at Syaoran, who wasn't looking at him, but he was sure the smile on his face had something to do with making him help clean up the mess. "Brothers." thought Kyoya, letting out a sigh while he picked up the vegetable that weren't squashed.
"Come on Kuro-pu, we'd better help clean up too." said Fye.
"Do I look like a servant." replied Kurogane as he huffed and walked away.
"Mokona helps, Mokona helps." he said as he handed a potato to Syaoran. "Next time Mokona will try not to land us in the middle of a market"
"As long as we don't land in the middle of a wall I won't complain." said Syaoran with a small laugh.
- Inside the Fortress -
Bugal walked through the halls of the fortress till him came to a huge door with many elaborate carvings and made of a think, strong wood. He pulled the door open and walked inside. There was a big pond in the middle of the room and on the other side was a small podium holding a glowing, pink sphere and there was an old man looking into the sphere. Bugal quickly made his way over to the man. "What is it Father? Your messenger said it was urgent." The man, who's name was Tambal, had on a black, gold, and purple robe, a black hat with orange tassels hanging from it. There was also a pattern of red lines painted onto his forehead, but most distinctive feature on his face were his earlobes, which fell down to about his shoulders. "My power sorce is acting strangely." he said. "A while ago it gave off a mysterious aura. Did anything unusual happen in town today?"
"You're as wise as ever Father. In the market place this afternoon I met an unusual group of new comers."
"Tell me everything." asked Tambal.
- Back On The Street -
"Ok, this should do it." said Syaoran as he placed the last box of potatos on top of the others. It had taken everyone 45 minutes to clean everything up but it was finally done and Kurogane casually sauntered back to the group, having successfully escaped having to help in the clean up process. "Hey." said Chu'nyan to the group. "I found another pile over here."
"Oh, you're the girl from the roof aren't you." said Syaoran. Thanks for sticking up for us, that took some courage."
"Why are you dressed funny?" she asked.
"Do you hear that Kurgy? She thinks you're funny." teased Fye.
"Kurgy is funny." stated Mokona. Kurogane's growl became fiercer by the second until he finally exploded. "Hey, if I dressed wierd so are you guys!"
"We're not the ones who are dressed weird, that title belongs to you." said Kyoya to Chu'nyan.
"What, I'm not dressed funny."
"You are to us." Kyoya plainly stated. Chu'nyan half glared are Kyoya. "Who does he think he is calling me funny. In fact who are all these people? I wonder where they come from to be dressed like that." she thought. Her eyes suddenly became big as a thought made its way into her head. "Wait a minute." she softly said. She hurried over to where Sakura was standing and grabbed her hand, looking up at her with hopeful eyes. "Come on." she said happily as she began to pull Sakura away from the group, with the rest of the group right behind them.
"Do we have to follow the first kid we meet." sighed Kurogane.
"You have a better idea Kurgs." said Fye with that funny smile of his.
"A few, but they all require a blade." said Kurogane under his breath. Chu'nyan led them all the way through the market and through a nice little wooded area till they came to a house that was surrounded by an orange wall with rocks at the base of it. It was a very peaceful place, not to much noise and the trees surrounding the house made it seem like they were hidden from the world. Chu'nyan hurried them through the front gate and into the house. Once they were all seated in the 'livingroom' area Syaoran finally asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "So, uh, where are we?"
"This is where I live. Now tell me, why have you all come here. Just between us." asked Chu'nyan.
"What's this girl up to? At the market place she was fine but then she suddenly became very excited and now she's serious and telling us that it's 'just between us'. I don't think her brain's firing on all cylinders." thought Kyoya.
"Oh, uh, ok, we just arrived in your country today and we're kind of looking for something. Is there a reason you're asking us all these questions?" said Syaoran. Chu'nyan scooted closer to Syaoran. "Well don't you have any?" she asked.
"Well, not really, no." said Syaoran.
"I see you're not the ones." dejectedly sighed Chu'nyan. "What was I thinking, I mean, why would they recruit kids like you as Miteshu anyway."
Kyoya clenched his fists at the word 'kid', while reminding himself that he shouldn't hit girls. "Miteshu?" softly asked Sakura.
"Uhuh." said Chu'nyan. Kyoya opened his mouth to speak but Syaoran beat him to it.
"Like I said we're new here, maybe you can explain?"
"Miteshu are investigators sent out secretly by our government. They travel around the country in disguise to make sure none of the local rulers are misbehaving. It's their job to see that our country is ruled fairly." explain Chu'nyan.
"Hey that's just like Mito Koamon." excited said Mokona whiling jumping up and down. Everyone just stared at the little creature in confusion. "What's, Mito Koamon?" asked Kyoya.
"He's on Yuko's fun picture box." explained Mokona before he went on to say the main character's catch phrase on the TV show. "Noble protector of innocence, vanquisher of evil lords." The confused stares of the others didn't go way, in fact the look only deepened. "It's the truth." reaffirmed Mokona taking the confused stares to mean that they didn't believe what he was saying, that he was getting the show mixed up with something else.
"I'm sure it is. We just don't share your history." said Syaoran.
"I've been meaning to ask, what is that, some sort of talking rabbit?" asked Chu'nyan.
"I've been wondering the same thing girly." thought both Kyoya and Kurogane, except only Kurogane added the 'girly' part.
"Mokona is Mokoda." laughed Mokona as he hopped into the air and landed in front of Chu'nyan.
"How can I do it justice." said Fye. "Mokona is sort of like our mascot and our guide, oh and very good company of course." Mokona began to sping around on one foot while standing on the tip of his foot. "Ooohhh, I'm so popular." Chu'nyan stared in shock at the spinning white creature in front of her.
"I take back what I said earlier. The only one brain here that's not firing on all cylinders is Mokona's." thought Kyoya.
"While we're at it, why don't we try introducing ourselves as well. First of all, what was your name again?" asked Fye.
"Chu'nyan."
"Oh yes, now I remember. Well my name's Fye and this lovely girl is Sakura. That young man is Syaoran and the other one is Kyoya and over there, that surly boy is Kuro-pu."
"The names Kurogane."
"Kuro-pu, Kuro-pu." chanted Mokona.
"I'll turn you into gloves." snarled Kurogane.
"Anyway, back to what we were talking about." continued Fye. "So you've been waiting for these Miteshu to come here and investigate the local Lord and that son of his, is that right."
"That's right." said Chu'nyan.
"The Lord and his son are really that unsavory?" asked Fye.
"You have no idea. They're evil, beyond evil. They killed my mother." Everyone gave a great start as the front doors began to bang about, as if someone was trying to ram their way through them. "The wind." whispered Fye.
"Something's off. I'll go check." said Kurogane as he stood up.
"No, wait…you can't go out there!" shouted Chu'nyan her eye twice their size and Kyoya could see fear in the big orbs. "What is going on around here?" he thought. He began to get up to go tell her that everything was going to be ok when the front doors flew open with a bang. An extremely powerful gust of wind filled the room, causing Mokona to grab hold of Chu'nyan so he would be blown away. Kyoya was knocked onto his back before he crawled over to Chu'nyan and Mokona, holding onto them and acting as their anchor. Syaoran had a tight grip on Sakura and Kurogane and Fye were standing in front of everyone else, like they were trying to protect the kids from this unknown force. The wind began to swirl around the room creating a twister, which broke through the roof and joined up with another twister that was hanging over the house.
"What's going on?" shouted Kyoya.
"This isn't any natural storm is it." stated Fye.
"It's Tambal. He's doing this!" shouted Chu'nyan over Kyoya's shoulder as she clung to him.
The twister kept growing in size and strength till it was nearly covering the whole house. Syaoran could feel the house sway and groan as the twister tried to lift the house right out of its foundation. Sakura gave a small scream as another section of the roof was torn away. Syaoran could feel both himself and Sakura being lifted up toward the huge twister and began to frantically search for something to hold on to. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Kurogane's face; the man was acting as their anchor. Syaoran quickly glanced around the room and saw Fye doing the same thing for Kyoya and Chu'nyan.
- Inside the Fortress -
Tambal and Bugal stood in front of the brightly, glowing pink orb looking down into the pool and smirking to themselves. In the pool they could see all that was happening at Chu'nyan's place. Bugal let out a happy shout as the twister broke through the roof and Tambal, spurred on by his son's happiness, brought his hands up to the orb and moved his hands in a complicated pattern. The orb shone brilliantly for a second and the twister began to grow bigger and bigger. Bugal suddenly let out a surprised gasp as he spotted Syaoran and the others through the hole in Chu'nyan's roof.
"Hey! What are they doing there?"
"What's the problem my son?" asked Tambal.
"It's that strange group I saw earlier…in the market place."
"Interesting."
"You don't think they're Miteshu do you father."
"Hard to say. Those spies are sneaky. They do seem linked in some way to my power source. Regardless, there's no need to worry. As long as I have this in my grasp, I'll be invincible." said Tambal as he stared at the orb. The orb stopped glowing and in the middle of it there sat a pure white feather with red lines in the shape of a heart…one of Sakura's feathers."
- The Next Morning At Chu'nyan's House -
The only sound that could be heard the next morning was that of a hammer meeting wood. Fye had volunteered himself and Kurogane to fix the broken roof and told the others that they should get out and enjoy the beautiful day. Before they left for the market place Fye pulled Syaoran aside and told him that his plan was for him to scout the area and try to locate where Sakura's feather could be. For 20 minutes after the others left, not a word was spoken between Kurogane and Fye, until Kurogane finally spoke up. "Would you remind me again why we're fixing some one else's house." he said from his place on the roof. Fye passed up another board to him.
"After she let us stay here for the night I figure it's the least we could do."
Kurogane glared down at Fye but his face softened ever so slightly as he grabbed the offered board. "It's weird." he said. "A kid like her living here all by her self, you know, what's up with that?"
"I wanted to ask her more about her mother's death but I stopped. It seemed rude."
"Yeah. How long are we plannin' on staying here anyway."
"As long as Mokona keeps us here I guess."
"Great." huffed Kurogane. "You know as well as I do that rodent always sides with the kid and his quest."
"Well, hopefully they'll be able to find Sakura's feather soon." replied Fye.
"Yeah if she lasts that long. Have you seen her? She walks around like a freakin' zombie most of the time."
"She's stuck in a daze. Poor girl. She hasn't regained nearly enough of her memory thus far. We've only found two feathers and until we find more she won't return to anything close to her former self." said Fye as he began to heat up some water for tea. "She's awake, that's a plus, but she's still got a long way to go. Still, even if every one of her memories is found she will never regain the memories she had of Syaoran and Kyoya before this began. She might always view him as a stranger met on the road, nothing more and Syaoran and Kyoya know all of that, but they'll keep looking. Risking their lives in one world after another until that girl's wings are complete, regardless of how long it takes or how much it will hurt them in the end. It's hard to believe."
Kurogane, who had gone back to hammering in the middle of Fye's speech, glanced down at him when he stopped speaking and his eyes nearly popped out of his head for Fye was now sitting down and drinking a nice hot cup of tea. "What! Why you lazy… put that tea down and help. I'm not doin' this alone!" he shouted.
"Now Biggs, I thought that you'd enjoy the physical challenge. I was thinking of you really." replied Fye as he calmly took another sip of his tea and looked up at Kurogane with a big smile on his face. Kurogane on the other hand was clenching his teeth and fists, trying to keep himself from murdering Fye in the middle of Chu'nyan's living room area.
- In the Market Place -
"Look Sakura, do you like anything?" asked Chu'nyan. They were making their way aroud the entire market place. Chu'nyan and Sakura, who was holding Chu'nyan's hand, were leading the way and Syaoran, Mokona, and Kyoya were a few feet behind them.
"So what do you feel Mokona, anything?" asked Syaoran glancing up at Mokona who was riding on his head.
"I don't know." stated a frustrated Mokona. "It's to hard to tell here. This whole town has a very strange energy."
"I wonder what that means." said Kyoya. Mokona was about to explain but that't when they saw Chu'nyan, Sakura, and a bunch of other people standing in front of one of the shops.
"What's this?" asked Syaoran when they joined the big group.
"It's a lottery the market runs to attract customers." said Chu'nyan.
"A lottery? Oh wait I've seen this before. Remember Syaoran, when we went with dad on one of his many journeys there was a lottery in one of the towns and the prize was money. The lottery guy said that a lottery prize was always money. I want a shot at the prize, move." he said as he shoved past Syaoran, nearly knocking Mokona off Syaoran's head.
"Hey." said Mokona.
"Kyoya…" said Syaoran. Kyoya glanced back at them and understand the tone perfectly, having become very familiar with it when his father was trying to teach him something and Kyoya was misbehaving. And with their dad now gone Syaoran had taken over the role as teacher. For Kyoya was far from knowing everything, especially when it came to holding his temper doing something completely impulsive.
"Sorry." he immediately said before turning back to the shop. "But I just really want to try the lottery…" his voice faded out and he came to a dead stop, for he could now see what the prize was and he had no interest in winning one. "Of course, this is a whole new world. Things are bound to be completely different from home." thought Kyoya. At that moment the shop owner looked over at Sakura and a great big smile went across his face.
"Hello young lady, looks to me like you're a visitor to our humble town. How 'bout it? Would you care to try your luck miss?"
"Yeah Sakura. You should give it a try." encouraged Chu'nyan.
"Go for it Sakura." said Kyoya.
"It looks like fun, fun." chimed Mokona. Sakura looked at all three of them till her dull eyes settled on Syaoran, who gave a nod with his head and smiled softly at her. That smile caused a small of her own to grace her mouth and moved toward the shop, since she knew that Syaoran thought it was alright. The shop owner stared talking again when she was standing in front of the lottery wheel.
"We're raffling four beautiful sets of clothing as the first prizes. If you draw a yellow ball you get to take one of them with you. Please, spin the wheel miss." Sakura took hold of the handle and began spinning, becoming mesmerized by the movement of the wheel and the sound of the balls turning inside. After about the fifteenth spin the told her that that was probably good enough and was blown away, for when she stopped spinning all four yellow balls fell out of the wheel. Everyone stared at the scene in front of them in shock. "You drew all four of them!" stammered the shop owner.
"Alright!" shouted Chu'nyan.
"Yea Sakura! Pretty lucky lady." said Mokona.
"Way to go Sakura!" shouted Kyoya as he gave her a hug. The shop owner handed over the prizes and Sakura, Syaoran, and Kyoya went to change into their new clothes. Within a few minuets they came back out and Chu'nyan looked at them in approval. "Oh yeah. Those look a lot better." she said. Syaoran had on a plain green robe, tan pants, and wearing black slipper shoes. Kyoya's outfit was a brown robe with a thick blue and tan boarder around the neck, sleeves, and down the fold in the middle of the robe. He also had tan pants under his robe like Syaoran and black slipper shoes. Sakura had on a white and pink dress with a black boarder around her sleeves and the little jacket she was wearing. The dress came down into flower shaped petals, making Sakura remind Kyoya of a flower herself. Under her dress she was wearing black pants with black shoes just like Syaoran and Kyoya. "Pretty fancy duds you won there. That shopkeeper certainly isn't skimpy with his prizes and this way you won't stick out so much the next time you go walking around the market place."
"Good job Sakura." said Mokona as he hopped up onto her shoulder. They continued walking around the town and came to a bridge which was arching over a beautiful and peaceful stream. They decided to stop there and watch the sun set over the mountains. Sakura and Chu'nyan sat on the edge of the bridge and dangled their feet over the edge while Syaoran and Kyoya stood behind them. Chu'nyan stared at the water watching it glisten with the rays of the setting sun before she turned to look at Sakura. "You're God's beloved daughter aren't you Sakura. I know it." she simply stated.
"I don't know what you mean by that." said Sakura.
"That's what my mother always called people with extremely good luck. She said God pays special attention to them and that's way they're so fortunate all the time.
"Well, I guess that settles it. I am definitely not God's beloved son." softly said Kyoya. Syaoran cracked a smile when he heard that.
Chu'nyan conintued speaking not hearing what Kyoya had just said. "I mean four first prizes, I've never heard of anyone doing that. Are you always that lucky?"
"I don't really know." replied Sakura.
"What do you mean?"
"I can't tell you if I'm lucky because I don't remember anything. All I remember is my name and a city in a sea of sand. It was a happy place. Eventhough it was hot and dry and surrounded by desert everyone took joy in what they had, no matter how little it sometimes was. They always found something to smile about. That memory is all I have left, but at least it's a good one." explained Sakura. When she had started talking about her memories and Clow both Kyoya and Syaoran became solemn. They were both plagued with memories of life back at that desert city, of their life with their father, and with Sakura. The idea that Sakura would never remember them was still shocking and very saddening to them. At times it still hit them like a ton of bricks especially since Sakura was now awake.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." said Chu'nyan.
"It's okay. Apparently we're journeying from world to world right now to collect the rest of my memories. I don't remember anything about beginning a journey, but that's what I was told by, uh, Syaoran I think."
When Syaoran heard Sakura say that his mind traveled back to the time when Sakura had given him the nickname Syao and had told him that he was to call her Sakura instead of Princess. He was pulled from his thoughts when Chu'nyan suddenly stood up. "What's that?" she asked worriedly. They all followed her line of sight and saw smoke rising from a clump of trees not far off.
"Smoke?" said Syaoran.
"A fire! There's a fire over there. Come on we got to put it out." said Kyoya and ran off in the direction of the smoke column.
"Kyoya!" called out Syaoran.
"I'm coming with you." stated Chu'nyan taking off after Kyoya.
"Wait you two. Come back!" shouted Syaoran but they just kept on going as if they couldn't hear him. "Mokona."
"Yes." he said jumping off of Sakura's lap.
"Run and tell Fye and Kurogane what's going on. If it is a fire, we could use their help."
"Roger." replied Mokona.
"Princess, go with Mokona. Don't worry, you'll be safe with him." said Syaoran.
"But I want to come with you Syaoran."
"Princess…"
"Please Syaoran." said Sakura and Syaoran caved almost instantly.
"Alright. Just stay by me." Sakura nodded in response as Mokona took off toward the town at a speed that surprised Syaoran. "For such a little guy he sure can move fast." he thought. "Come on Princess. We're going to have to run to catch up to the other two."
"Alright." she replied and they took off. In a few minutes they found themselves in a clearing where they were met with a sorry sight. In the middle of the clearing stood the remains of a house, which had recently been burnt to the ground. In front of the column of smoke stood Bugal and few of his men and they all seemed quite pleased with what they had done. "Burn burn, burn. Let this be a lesson. This is what happens to people who don't pay their taxes." evilly laughed Bugal. Behind Bugal and his men stood Kyoya and Chu'nyan standing rigid with pent up rage. Before Syaoran could say anything Chu'nyan yelled, "How could you?"
Bugal turned around at the sound of her voice and sent an evil smile her way. "Huh, you're still speaking up brat. Guess I'll have to teach you better." he said.
"The only one who needs to be taught is you, you spikey haired, clumsy, dumbass bully who hides behind his daddy's power!" yelled Kyoya, his thin thread of patience for bullies snapping.
"Why you…" furiously said Bugal. Hearing his unspoken threat, Syaoran immediately stepped in front of both Kyoya and put his arm out to block Chu'nyan's path. "You again, huh. Out Of My Way!" shouted Bugal when he saw Syaoran.
"I'm not moving." simply and calmly stated Syaoran.
"Then you'll die." said Bugal as he reached behind his back and grabbed the giant fan that was strapped there. Chu'nyan let out a surprised gasp as she recognized the fan. "Don't you hurt him!" she yelled out as Bugal opened the red fan that had a crescent moon shape in the middle. Bugal gave one wave of the fan and sword fighters with red eyes but no face suddenly appeared. Syaoran leapt into action when he saw them come after the four of them. He used one of the burnt wooden pools to launch himself off of and gave one of the faceless fighters a powerful kick to the head, which made it evapoate. He landed gracefully on a taller burnt pool and watched fearlessly as the fighters came toward him. He stared at each one in turn before sending kicks at them and defeating them. For not only was he protecting Sakura but Chu'nyan and Kyoya too and if any of the fighters layed a hand on them, they could go back to hell where they belong.
As Syaoran fought Chu'nyan kept her eyes glued to the fan that was in Bugal's hands. Kyoya was about to go help his brother when he heard her start to speak and what she had to say caught his attention immediately. "I know that fan. I was my mother's before she died. He shouldn't be using it that way; it's wrong!" she yelled. She thought back to the time that her mother and taken her to an old dead tree and had waved her fan, which brought the tree back to life. "My mother told me that hijutsu is the power to bring happiness to the people whom you love. She said it's a serious responsibility and must never be used for personal gain. My mother was telling me about sacrifice and greater good, but it wasn't until later that I learned what she really meant. A year ago a man and his son came to town with some small knowledge of hijutsu, the secret art. They worked as magicians in the market. Then suddenly they became stronger. They drove off the previous Lord and took over the town, imposing cruel taxes and even crueler punishments. Trying to save the towns people my mother fought the new Lord, so he killed her." Sakura and Kyoya listened silently, unsure of what to do or say. All three of them went back to watching Syaoran defeat the faceless swordsmen. It was long before all the swordsmen were lying on the ground in defeat. Syaoran jumped off the pool and stared directly at Bugal as if challenging him. Bugal glared back at him, then he smiled. He knew something that they didn't, his father, Tambal, was watching everything in his magic pool back in the palace and he was going to protect his son. Suddenly, around Syaoran there appeared a circle of wind and Chu'nyan knew what that meant and it wasn't good. "The winds coming!" They all looked up and immediately recognized the tornado forming above them, it was the same thing that 'attacked' them at Chu'nyan's house yesterday. Kyoya had a bad feeling that Syaoran was the tornado's target but before he could say anything the swirling wind crashed down on Syaoran. "Syaoran!" shouted Kyoya. He ran forward hoping that there was some way to get his brother out of the swirling mass, but he didn't even get within 8 feet of it before he was violently thrown backwards. Sakura bent down and looked at him worriedly. "Are you alright?" she asked.
"Forget about me. We got to get Syaoran out of there. Syaoran! Syaoran! Syaoran!" yelled Kyoya trying to sit up but his muscles all cried out in protest. After 3 minutes of antagonizing waiting the wind finally lifted breifly pulling Syaoran up with it until gravity kicked back in and he crashed to the ground with a sickening thud. Kyoya, Sakura, and Chu'nyan hurried over to him. "Syaoran!" Sakura said in a scared voice.
"Is he okay?" said Chu'nyan.
"Is anything broken?" asked Kyoya.
"So, how'd you like that little storm troublemaker." gloated Bugal who was looking quite pleased with himself again.
Kyoya met his eyes and glared, which would have made any intelligent man back away. "See, what'd I tell ya. He's nothing without daddy's power." he said quietly.
"So your father has to fight your battles for you does he! You'd be dead without someone else's weapon to hide behind." furiously shouted Chu'nyan.
"Is that right?" slyly said Bugal as he held up Chu'nyan's mother's fan. He looked down at it then back over at her with an evil smile.
"No! Don't hurt it. That was my mother's fan." cried out Chu'nyan, immediately understanding what Bugal was going to do.
Bugal paid no heed to her pleas and threw the fan up into the air towards the tornado. Kyoya, who was helping Syaoran stand, saw the fan rise up in the air. He immediately let go of Syaoran and used a burnt pool to launch himself up after the fan, hoping to catch it before it reached the tornado. He stretched out his hand as far as it would go, but before he even had a chance to grab the fan a large rock collided with it and the fan was shattered into a million pieces. Kyoya watched the pieces fall back to the earth feeling sad for Chu'nyan. He knew what it was like to lose something that belonged to your parent(s) who had died. He didn't have much time to think about though, cause the rock that hit the fan proceeded to graze the side of his head, leaving a shallow but very pain slash. As he fell back to the ground he saw the small bell that had been tied to the fan and quickly grabbed it as he landed back on the ground. The moment he touched the ground was the exact moment the wind completely disappeared, making Kyoya sure that that Lord guy had specifically set this whole incident up. He looked up to where the other three were standing. Syaoran, who was being held up by Sakura, was staring straight at him, trying to see if he had any serious injuries. Kyoya put his hand up to his head where the rock grazed and feeling something warm brought it away. He stared at the red blood lying on his fingertips. Syaoran must have seen the blood on his head too for his tight mouth quickly turned into a frown. Sakura's unwavering gaze was focused in on Chu'nyan who was just standing there as bits of the fan fell around her. Kyoya vaguely heard her say, "But that was the only thing left of my mothers." He gave a saddened sigh and stood up stumbling a bit. He walked over to Chu'nyan and stood beside her. His body however stiffened when he heard Bugal's voice again.
"If you're so mad then maybe you should go fight my father Chu'nyan. Try it. I'm sure you'll have just as much luck beating him as your truly departed mother did with her pathetic power." he said.
Kyoya was about to yell something back at him but Chu'nyan painfilled and tearful voice stopped him. "Just you wait. I know one day the Miteshu will come to this town and stop you."
"Keep dreaming. No one's coming." said Bugal and with that he walked away laughing with his men trailing behin him. Kyoya glared after him. He was going to make Bugal pay for what he just did. He glanced down at Chu'nyan whoes head was bowed to hide her tear filled eyes. "Chu'nyan." he said softly. She slowly lifted her head and returned his gaze. "I'm so sorry." was all he said as he placed the small bell into her hands. Chu'nyan stared at the bell. Her hands closed tightly around it and held it to her chest as the tears began to flow freely down her cheeks. Kyoya saw her knees buckle and quickly grabbed her before she fell to the ground. Chu'nyan clung to Kyoya as if her very life depended on it, but Kyoya didn't care. In fact he hugged to back just as much as she cried away her sorrows into his robe. Her flow of tears was only broken by the soft cry of "Mother", but soon that cry was loud and heart breaking. Kyoya looked back over at Syaoran and Sakura through watery eyes and noticed tears in Sakura's eyes as well and saw the deep pain behind Syaoran's.
As Syaoran watched his little brother comfort Chu'nyan he was suddenly struck with the words that Kurogane had said to him right before they left the Hanshin Republic. "'Don't look back. There's too much to do to get slowed down. Only look ahead.'" As he watched Chu'nyan cling to Kyoya he realized that Kurogane had been right.