Disclaimer:
I have no affiliation with Cardcaptor Sakura or any other of CLAMP's works. Also any similarities to real life events or people are unintentional unless explicitly stated.
The sun was shining on Meiling's face though the carriage curtains. She could hear the steady pulse of the aerotrain and the sound of someone mumbling. Her muscles ached in spite of the plush upholstery of the seat.
She rubbed the sand from the corners of her eyes. In the opposite seat were her cousin and Miss Kinomoto asleep, leaning on each other and their hands intertwined. The two looked so peaceful and comfortable with each another. Meiling was happy for them, she really was.
Next to her, Miss Daidouji was stirring. She was whimpering but held her eyes tightly closed.
"Hey," Meiling said, shaking her. "Wake up."
Miss Daidouji stood straight up. "Sakura!"
Some of the other students in the carriage shifted in their sleep.
Meiling tapped her gently on the arm. "Are you okay…?"
"Good morning, Meiling," she said quietly, sitting down.
"Good morning? Are you honestly okay?"
"I am all right. It was merely a bad dream."
"More like a nightmare. Is that the first time you had that dream?" Meiling blinked. "What are you doing?"
"I am taking photographs or Sakura and Mr Li to remember this exceptional moment, of course."
"What's going on?" said Syaoran, disturbed by the third flash. "Are we there yet?"
"We should be stopping soon." Meiling peeking through the curtains. The scenery was an unfamiliar lush green. "We're already at the mountain ranges. Maybe you should wake Miss Kinomoto up."
"I wonder what we will be doing for this Walpurgis Night trip," Miss Daidouji mused, taking a photo of Syaoran gently shaking his girlfriend awake.
"I hope that it is more rest and relaxation after yesterday," said Meiling, stretching. "I thought I wasn't going to finish the magical research report in time." At that moment she didn't care whether or not she had a winning report. She was glad that it was over and done with.
"My brother was making fun of me because I was still finishing it off early in the morning," said Sakura sleepily. ""Tradition" he called it."
"Good morning, Sakura," said Miss Daidouji. "We still have the presentations in a couple weeks, so make sure that you do not leave your preparations to the last minute."
The curtains were all magically pulled open to the complaints of the still slumbering students.
"Good morning everyone!" said Guru Clef. "It's time to wake up!"
Ms Mizuki pushed a cart down the carriage aisle handing out cups of aromatic tea and a full breakfast that included toast, eggs, bacon and sausages. Meiling selected a cup of black tea with no milk or sugar and set it on the table that was extending from the wall.
"Guru Clef, I thought you said that we weren't allowed to stand on the furniture!"
"Quiet, Mr Flowright," he said, his head barely visible from the opposite end of the carriage. "We will be arriving at the Brocken Mountain Range shortly after breakfast. All Lecourt Academy students please prepare to alight at the next station."
Meiling heard some other students start complaining about the trip.
"This is such a waste of time," said Miss Pharle in the booth across the aisle from theirs. "We could be preparing for our presentations! And couldn't we go somewhere without arachnids and mud?"
"Don't worry, Presea," said Miss Chizeta. "The arachnids and mud aren't that bad."
"Yeah, it's the drop bears that you have to be worried about," said Mr Flowright.
"Drop bears?" said Miss Kinomoto.
Meiling tuned out of the conversation. She was excited for this overnight trip. Reconnecting with nature is exactly what she needed to rebalance her aura. This is probably as similar reason to why the school sends them on a trip every year.
Last school year, they went to the Snowy Ranges during the winter solstice, which were freezing and they all nearly got buried in an avalanche by an angry White Lady. But Meiling had to admit that the multi-coloured ribbons of lights in the night sky were worth the freezing temperatures, just.
The year before that, the orientation camp fell at the start of the harvest festival. Their year group to a secluded beach where they pulled in fish, played volleyball and took in part of the test of courage where some students mysteriously disappeared and then reappeared back in their cabins without any explanation.
Meiling scrunched up her forehead between her brows. A lot of dangerous events seem to occur during the school trips, but no one had died on a school trip before, and stranger and more dangerous events have happened at school.
"All right pupils," said Guru Clef after they departed the aerotrain. He stood on a large tree stump but was still shorter than Ms Mizuki. "Today we brought you to the Brocken Mountains to celebrate Walpurgis Night and to witness the sunrise at the Hartz Mountain Peak. There are many things you can learn on this pilgrimage about yourself, your powers and your limitations."
Ms Mizuki held up a large thick candle. "We will soon start sending out groups down this path with a candle. At the end of the trail you will come to fire into which you give your offerings. Your guide will meet you at this point. Everyone, could you please form groups of four or five?"
Meiling latched on to Miss Daidouji, and Syaoran who was holding hands with Miss Kinomoto.
"This is really similar to the test of courage we had a couple years ago," whispered Miss Daidouji.
The other Amamiya cousin shivered involuntarily. "Please don't let there be ghosts."
That's right. Miss Kinomoto was terrified of ghosts. This would be fun.
Syaoran walked with Sakura gripping his left hand. She was shaking and kept looking around her and flinched at the sound of every snapping twig. He squeezed back reassuringly.
She suddenly stopped walking. "Meiling what's wrong?"
Syaoran was surprised to find Meiling standing right behind them with her arm outstretched. She flushed, mumbling something before running to join Daidouji.
"Hoe? That was strange," She turned to him again. "Are you sure that there aren't any ghosts here? I keep hearing voices."
Syaoran shook his head. "The place feels old and saturated with spiritual energy which won't hurt us as long as we don't bother them. But I don't sense any ghosts."
"But-," she said.
He took her by the shoulders and peered into her teary eyes. "Take a deep breath and look at me. I don't hear or sense any ghosts in this place. Crying won't help. I'm here, your cousin is here and my cousin is here. They have some of the best magical senses there is. But don't tell my cousin; she'll never let me forget I said that."
Sakura giggled.
"This is no time to be kissing, you two love birds," called Meiling from further down the path. "We think we found the place."
Syaoran reddened. They had never kissed before and he had no such intentions, at that moment. He flushed even more.
Sakura pulled him from his thoughts and along the path. They soon stood at the edge of a glade shaded by an enormous willow tree. A few sunbeams pierced the shadows but a fire burning in a large earthen bowl illuminated the tangled roots close to the gnarled face carved into the trunk. The sounds of the forest were muffled but their voices echoed as if they were in a large chapel.
They scrambled up the roots to the base of the trunk.
"What now?" said Meiling.
"Ms Mizuki instructed us to give our offerings into the flame," said Daidouji.
"Like what? Money?"
"I suppose, if that is what you value."
Sakura searched her bag and took an apple out of her bag. "What?" she said to Meiling. "Food is valuable."
A warm wind circled them and left. She tossed her apple into the cauldron and the flames turned pink. Syaoran dropped an apple into the fire turning it green and Daidouji's apple turned the flame purple. Meiling threw in a gold coin turning it scarlet before it settle back to its original golden hue.
"Now what?" said Meiling.
The flames became a massive blaze and a flame shot out from the cauldron to the candle. Meiling nearly dropped it. A disembodied voice spoke.
"I accept your offerings and grant you, Sakura Kinomoto , Syaoran Li, Tomoyo Daidouji and Meiling Li safe passage and protection through the Brocken Mountain Range."
"HOE!" Sakura pulled on his arm, making them both stumble to the ground. His heart was racing.
"Who are you?" he demanded, crouching over Sakura with his sword drawn. How did it know their names?
"There is no need for weapons, I will not harm you. I am a friend."
When the flames died down there was a small child with glowing eyes standing behind the cauldron. Syaoran's first thought was that it was a young girl dressed in knotted plant matter, but he couldn't recognize any kind of presence from the child at all, and Sakura could see it. What was it?
"Let's go," it said in a sing-song voice. It walked towards a path between the roots clearing he didn't notice before. The reverbarance he heard before disappeared.
They all looked at each another and Sakura started following it. Syaoran and the others ran to catch up.
The path their guide led them along swiftly became so dark that the sky blue of their summer physical education uniforms appeared grey. Tomoyo could hear the distant melodies of the native birds harmonizing together in an eclectic song.
"So do you have a name?" questioned Sakura, walking hand in hand with Mr Li. Tomoyo had to keep reminding herself that what she saw this morning was merely a dream and that her cousin was okay. She could trust that others, Mr Li especially, would also do anything to ensure that Sakura was safe, so there was little need to worry.
"I have forgotten my true name," replied the guide. "You can call me whatever you'd like."
"How do you know our names?" said Meiling, suspiciously.
"Your teachers provided them otherwise you would not be able to enter the mountain range."
That probably meant that the teachers told them the true form as well. Meiling wasn't comfortable with that, but she had to trust them.
Tomoyo observed the guide as it pointed out the lead them through the ancient forest by the candle's unwavering glow. It had short earth coloured hair with shoulder length locks by the side of its face and was dressed elegantly in a garment woven from exotic vines and flowers. She decided upon first meeting it that despite its innocent appearance, it was an entity existing beyond the limitations of mortal structures. Its beautiful, flame coloured irises spoke of wisdom as old as the forest.
"This mountain range is in perfect balance," the guide explained. It paused to observe the broken branch of a nearby shrub. "Therefore, you must do your best to not create any disturbances, or preferably, leave the area in a better condition than you found it." It passed a hand over the broken limb and the wound was gone.
It led them through the forest at a quick pace pointing the different flora and fauna. There were creatures Tomoyo saw that she thought were extinct legends. Sakura, and eventually Meiling, asked numerous questions that the guide patiently answered.
"What about that flower?" asked Meiling. She pointed to tree with blossoms that seemed to reflect the candlelight.
"They are vitra irises. Its petals can be crushed into a liquid that can temporarily enhance the eyesight."
Meiling turned to Tomoyo. Could this be what they were searching for?
"How does it work? Are there any negative effects to humans?"
"When a drop of the flowers' liquid is added to the eyes it is absorbed and then laces the cells with its magical properties," it said. The guide's gaze was unwavering. "It temporarily grants perfect vision and pinpoint accuracy. As for ill effects to humans, there are none. Felines on the other hand…"
"This is it!" declared Meiling. "Is there a way I can have at least one?"
"Try asking the forest."
Meiling instantly sank to her knees, scrunched her eyelids shut and with hands clasped around the candle said, "O forest, I wish to have one of your vitra irises, what would you like in return?"
Wind rustled the leaves above. After a couple seconds she opened an eye. "The forest isn't replying. What does it want?"
"You're hair," said Sakura, quietly.
The guide nodded, staring at her.
Meiling hesitated. Tomoyo knew that she was really proud of her long silky locks.
She balanced the candle down on the uneven ground and undid the ties holding her hair. Meiling took out a dagger from her belt and cut her hair to just below her shoulders. She laid it on the ground where it was absorbed by the roots. Three transparent flowers floated down, glittering in the candle light, into her palms. She carefully wrapped the flowers in a silk square and put it in her bag.
"Your new hair cut suits you," said Tomoyo. She helped Meiling to her feet.
The creature stood with its side facing the light in Meiling's hands. Its eyes still glowed in the half light. "Child," it said addressing Sakura. Mr Li stepped in front of her, protectively. "How did you know what the tree would accept?"
"I h-heard it," she said. Tomoyo saw her hand in Mr Li's tighten slightly.
The creature blinked. It was the first time Tomoyo noticed it do so. "Can you hear the voices of the forest?" it said. The creature stepped forward but stopped with its hands outstretched. "Do not be afraid of your natural powers."
Sakura's stomach grumbled. She smiled sheepishly.
"That is also a strong power," it said, vaguely cheerfully. "It is time to have lunch. Come this way."
They chased after it and immediately came to a wide bridge woven from the roots of the trees that stretched over a rapidly racing river. The teachers and some classmates were already eating lunch by the banks and on the bridge in the vibrant sunlight.
The creature pointed to the path on the other side. "When you are ready, enter the forest through that path and I will meet you there."
When Sakura's group exited the forest they were called over by Presea and the others sitting by the river.
"You're alive!" said Caldina.
"I like your hair!" said Presea.
"Thanks, Miss Pharle," said Meiling, flicking it hover her shoulder. It really did look good.
Sakura spotted something from Caldina's lap float into the water. She activated her ring staff with the seal on the heel of her shoe started jogging after the handkerchief. "Hey, Caldina be careful with your stuff!"
"The guides aren't-," She flicked the fabric into her friend's face, "here."
"Even so," she said, hands on her hips, feeling a little guilty. She didn't mean to hit Caldina in the face.
When she walked back to them, Syaoran handed her the lunch he prepared and they sat down a little away from the others.
Sakura though she heard someone thanking her. Could it have been the river? Had all those whispers she had been hearing the past month been-
"Hey," Syaoran said, nudging her from her thoughts. "What you thinking?"
"Hoe? Noth-,"
He raised one eyebrow.
She sighed. She couldn't hide anything from him. "I was only thinking about what the guide said. I've gotten used to not having magical powers for fifteen years and for it to suddenly manifest, it's a little difficult to believe."
He stole a piece of chicken from her container and ate it. "Maybe you're one of those who develop their powers later."
"Really? I don't feel any different." She had a thought. "Do you think I can make wind or fly by myself?"
"Developing magical abilities is like developing any of your other skills such as Bartitsu or mathematics. Some people are naturally gifted but your skill depends on your determination to become better." He attempted to steal another piece but she swatted his hands away.
"All right! If it's true, and I do have magical powers I'm going to practise with all my might!"
He placed his arm around her and met her eyes. "But don't overdo it otherwise you'll collapse."
She nodded into his shoulder. Her face felt very warm. He was always looking out for her.
"And you're not suddenly a different person because you have magical powers. You're still Sakura Kinomoto."
And he was Syaoran Li, the one she loves.
Author's Notes:
- I am so sorry that this chapter was later than usual. I'm currently juggling a number of different priorities, and I wasn't satisfied with this section, so I had to keep rearranging and rewriting the scenes until I was.
- There have been a few people who have asked in the reviews if Sakura ever develops powers. The answer was always "YES!" but I didn't really want to spoil it for you, so I didn't say anything. I hope that's okay.
- So if you have any questions or theories, write them in the review. If it's a question which won't reveal anything to come, I'll reply, or if it will reveal something, you just have to wait and read. The upcoming chapters will come, but I also have a some very important things to do in less time than I had before, so I can't say that it will update weekly. =S
- I haven't been there, but apparently there is a bridge woven from the roots of trees in India. The google images look mad.
- Also, I imagined Syaoran's clothes during Sakura's birthday to be more like his outfit in the Lecourt Arc in TRC (or if you can make out the details in this story's picture) and Sakura's party gown to look something like one of those she wears in the second opening of TRC (it's pink and I think it has bows on it).
