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.


After lunch they crossed the river over the bridge woven from the roots of impossibly large trees. None of the individual roots were thicker than Meiling's wrist but the intricate system formed a sturdy structure that supported the weight of the numerous students sitting, standing and walking across it, as well as the large rocks and dirt that filled the gaps in the pathway.

The guide appeared in the middle of the forest path past the first bend.

Meiling couldn't figure out how the guide had arrived there before them. She had spotted only one bridge along the wide stretch of river.

She looked behind her and couldn't find the path leading to the river again. Strange things were happening all right.

During lunch she and Miss Daidouji were exchanging stories with Miss Chizeta and Miss Pharle. Using her illusion magic, Miss Chizeta had shown them images of what she saw.

Their guide looked exactly the same. Nobody could figure out what the guide was or decide on the gender. Miss Chizeta called it an "it" and spoke of the guide with a hint of suspicion and fear.

Apparently, when they first met it, Mr Flowright and Mr Lafarga, alarmed by it knowing their names, prepared to attack it but found themselves trapped by the tree roots.

"Well," said Miss Daidouji, "maybe the guide was only acting out of self-defence."

"That's what I said," said Miss Pharle. "They were released after they calmed downed. But check this out!" She took showed them a glowing metallic gem that gave of a strong magical vibe. "It's escudo ore! It's legendary stuff. With this I can make weapons and armour that evolve as the owner grows. We found it when the guide took us through the caves."

"Yeah, but you had to give up the amplifying circlet you were workin' on all year," said Miss Chizeta.

"It was so worth it."

Miss Chizeta also told them how she, Mr Lafarga and Mr Flowright voiced their suspicions and pointed out that their compasses and chronophones were not working to Ms Mizuki at lunch, but the teacher was characteristically enigmatic with her replies.

Looking at childlike figure leading them, Meiling decided that whatever it was it wasn't dangerous.

"Did you have a good lunch?" it asked.

"Yeah," said Miss Kinomoto. "We had chicken with noodles."

"Noodles!? I love noodles!" Its eyes twinkled.

"Oh, I think I have some left over." She started rummaging her bag. "Would you like some?"

The guide sighed. "No. I can only eat purified foods now. But thank you for offering. Come this way."

It asked them to meditate with it under an ancient oak tree.

"Everything is connected," it said. "Everything; the air, the grass, the insects, the birds, the wolves, and even you are all connected. Everything is this world is in a delicate balance, and the actions all have consequences that in turn affect future events. You are part of this never ending cycle, and you have the potential to shape the future."

Meiling focused on the leaves rustled and songbirds singing overhead and exhaled. Everything is connected.


At the base of Hartz mountain two campsites had been set up; one for the girls and one for the boys. The teachers were already there, stirring an aromatic soup made from wild plants found in the forest.

"Remember that you will be waking up a couple hours before dawn to start climbing the mountain," said Ms Mizuki.

Tomoyo, Sakura and Meiling sat around the candlelight bonfire with the other girls and ate their dinner. It had a pleasant earthy taste.

"Apparently," Presea said, "the eve of the fifth month, Walpurgis Night, was traditionally the night that people used to summon evil spirits."

Tomoyo felt her cousin huddling into her shoulder.

"Yeah," said Caldina, standing up and moving her body. "Apparently they used to dance around a bonfire like this to worship the Devil."

Presea jumped up and joined her. "Like this?"

"Maybe you two shouldn't…" said Sakura.

"Nonsense, Sakura," said Caldina, in the middle of a pose. "It's only one of Fye's silly stories."

"But…"

"Besides," said Meiling, "your dancing is so terrifyingly bad that it would scare Satan himself."

"What was that?!" said Presea. "How about I roast you in the fire or throw you off the cliff side? You have no idea what true artistry is!"

Meiling stood up with fire in her expression. "I'm sure I can dance better than you!"

"Oh, yeah!?"

"Of course!"

Tomoyo tapped Sakura. "How about we go look at the stars instead?"

She nodded gratefully and together they left the ring of light and they took their dinner to a nearby knoll shaded by a single rowan tree. The heaven's light overshadowed the twin bonfires in the clearing below. There were stars, brilliant and infinite, and a sliver of crescent moon ornamenting the night sky.

"Have you ever seen so many stars before?" said Tomoyo.

"I had a dream or something recently," began Sakura. "In this dream, I was on the balcony of a castle surrounded by a sea of sand below and a sea of stars overhead."

"If it's a dream…"

"The stars were singing the same song too."

Tomoyo tilted her head and strained to hear beyond the rustling of the rowan tree and the revellers below. "What are they singing?"

"Hoe? I can't-"

"Your singing is wonderful," Tomoyo smiled encouragingly. She really wanted to hear her sing. She took out her camera.

"What are you doing?!"

"I am recording memories for the future." Sakura singing under the stars; this was a magnificent occasion.

"This is so embarrassing."

"There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Please begin when you are ready."

Tomoyo saw through the camera lens Sakura take a breath, close her eyes and then sing.

"O, golden stars twinkling in the night sky,

I dreamt the same coloured birds fly high.

O, the silver shining crescent moon,

I dreamed the wild roses brilliant and in bloom.

I sing this song on nights I can't sleep,

Feeling alone, I start to weep.

On those nights watch over me and sing,

So tomorrow I will join you, flying with my wings."

"That was superb." Her voice was a beautiful clear bell.

"It really was," said the guide, sitting behind them.

"Hoe!"

"Good evening. What brings you here?"

"Good evening, Sakura and Tomoyo. I just heard some singing and came to listen. The stars enjoyed it as well."

"You can talk to stars?" said Sakura.

"I can and you both can too. They will answer and guide you as those they counselled before you."

"Similar to wishing on shooting stars?"

"Yes, but you can pray to other stars too." The guide pointed to a bright cluster or stars. "See those stars there? They are the flower and blossom sisters. Over there is the mother bear and her cub.

Tomoyo thought she saw the constellations twinkle as they were identified.

"There are many more stars from who you can ask for help."

"Really? Please tell me more." Sakura seemed radiant in the starlight. She has only discovered this side of herself today and already Tomoyo could see her resolution to explore the unknown head on.

She wished she had that same quality.

Aunt Nadeshiko had warned her dream seeing abilities have awakened they will come more frequently unless she learnt how to control her powers. Not all dreams are happy ones, but not all her dreams would be foretelling dreams.

Tomoyo spotted a shooting star and made a wish.


Syaoran was woken up by Guru Clef before dawn. He and the others students packed their things and assembled into groups at the base of the knoll with the single rowan tree. The candle lights barely pierced the thick, dark fog.

It was cold. He was glad that he brought his school cape with him. The woody tea that Ms Mizuki was handing out warmed up him up a little, but it wasn't enough to drive out the fatigue from "Prince" Fye Flowright's midnight pranks.

"You don't want to know," he replied when Sakura asked.

Flowright was a prince all right; a prince of fools.

"Okay, everyone," said Guru Clef at the top of the hill, standing next to Ms Mizuki. "Gather into your groups. We shall start sending you off to see the dawn at the Hartz Mountain Peak."

"Is it me or is the candle shorter than before?" said Meiling, looking at the candle in Daidouji's hand.

"The candle is shorter," she said. "However, yesterday it was not melting at all."

"But it looks like it will last for several hours," said Syaoran.

Syaoran's group were the last leave. Guru Clef pointed them down a path at the far side of the knoll.

"That's strange," said Sakura.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing really," she smiled. "I must not have noticed the path last night when I was here with Tomoyo, that's all."

They were greeting by the guide once then entered the forest. It led the through the forest and directed them on how to focus their energies to communicate with the voices of nature. Sakura had the strongest affinity for this.

They were walking through a practically dense area when Daidouji suddenly dropped the candle.

"Ouch!"

"Are you okay?" asked Sakura, running to her cousin.

The guide picked up the candled. None of the leaf litter had caught alight.

"I think I just touched the candlewax."

"From this point onwards," said the guide, the rapidly shrinking candle in its hands, "you will make it to the Peak of Hartz Mountain by yourselves using abilities and the skills you have learnt."

"What?" cried Meiling, "Are you joking?"

"Trust in yourselves as I trust in you." The guide faced all of them in turn.

All went dark.


Syaoran and Meiling both conjured flames in their hands.

"What's happening?" said Sakura. The guide and the candle were no longer there.

"We're in the middle of a magical forest, with no form of communication or navigation," said Meiling, fear creeping in, "why are the teachers thinking sending us on this trip?"

"Are you okay?"

"I am," she said. "Should we wait here for someone to find us?" She was worried too.

A wolf howled in the distance. Sakura crouched down and released her staff. Syaoran drew his sword.

"What do we do now?" Meiling held her dagger in her hands. There was a faint glow under her feet.

"Maybe we should keep going up," said Sakura. She was sure that the guide was speaking especially to her. "The teachers and the guide all said that we'll see them at the peak of the mountain at dawn. We're only climbing one mountain."

"You're crazy."

"We can't wait here," said Syaoran. There was an edge in his voice. "We don't know what else is in this forest."

Meiling argued back with him. Sakura shut her senses, and gripped her star power gem to help her concentrate on the sounds of nature as the guide taught her to do.

She opened her eyes.

"What is it?" said Tomoyo.

Sakura pointed through the fog. "We need to go this way, come on."

They followed her nervously through the forest, and didn't question when she suddenly made sharp turns to avoid the unseen obstacles and cliffs.

Sakura put her hand out to stop them and motioned for them to keep quiet. She was sure that she heard an injured tree cry for help, but all she could hear now was something crashing through the fog and trees straight towards them.

There was a sharp scream. It sounded like Presea's.

"Sakura!" Syaoran called.

She ran in the direction of the sound and nearly ran into the edge of Lafarga's oversized sword. Presea was sitting on the ground being tended to by Fye and Caldina. They were all out of breath, sweating and pale.

"What are you doing?" said Sakura. Syaoran and the others arrive behind her.

"Can you stand up?" Fye said to Presea.

She nodded. He may have healed the wound, but she was still visibly in shock.

"There's somethin' chasing us," said Caldina.

Sakura noticed that Lafarga's sword was covered in a sticky substance. "You were hurting all of those trees!" she said. "No wonder you were being chased!"

"The guide disappeared," added Fye, "so we tried to reach the get our bearings from above the canopy."

"But then all these vines trapped us," said Presea.

"Lafarga was just tryin' to free us!" said Caldina. "And the wolves were attackin' us!"

"You injured the wolves too?!" said Sakura. "You shouldn't have done that! You need to apologize; offer a large sacrifice!"

"It was only one wolf!"

"They have nothing large enough to sacrifice anyways," said Meiling.

A wolf howled again, followed by several more in the distance.

Lafarga swore, taking up a fighting stance. "The wolves are close. We need to stay and fight."

"Are you crazy?" said Meiling. "I counted seven howls. We'll get ripped to shreds!"

"She's right," pleaded Caldina. "Let's go before the wolves get here."

Two wolves appeared, their irises glowing gold cutting through the mist.

"It looks like we have no choice," said Fye, fingertips glowing.

"Wait," interrupted Sakura. "I'll lead us all out of here."

"How can-"

"There isn't any time to explain." She was still angry, but she could sense how scared they all were. She couldn't leave them here to destroy or be destroyed. The wolves slowly crept closer. "But I need a distraction."

"Leave that to me" said Syaoran, his steady gaze was on her. He wouldn't hurt the wolves. She gave him a swift kiss on the cheek.

Sakura placed a hand the nearest tree trunk, sensing through the roots. The rest of the pack was spread out to south of them but there weren't any along a route leading to the peak.

"I'll carry Presea." said Tomoyo releasing her winged flying staff. Presea sat behind her.

Sakura addressed them all. "On the count of three, head to the right of the wolves and into the lowest branches of the trees."

"One."

She could feel the wind building around Meiling and the other's feet.

"Two."

Sakura clicked her heels together.

"Three.'

Syaoran raised a wind barrier in front of the wolves as Sakura and the others escaped into the branches. She saw him catch up soon afterwards.

Sakura lead them through the terrain as swiftly as possible. The fog started melting away with the lightening sky. There were wolves snarling below them and owls that swooped close to their heads. She heard numerous swears as the others tried to avoid the oncoming branches. Even she couldn't avoid being cut by the twigs.

The forest ended and they ran and flew as fast as they could across the rocky terrain. The wolves and birds spilling out of the forest after them.

Up ahead, Sakura could see a tall flight of floating steps leading to a skyland with a single elder tree. She saw the silhouettes of her anxious classmates and teachers standing in front of a blazing bonfire.

They were halfway across when they realized that their path was blocked. Before them was the guide flanked by two wolves. One was the largest wolf Sakura had seen, it was larger than Lafarga. The other wolf was lying down and had on oozing gash on its right paw treated with healing herbs. They were surrounded by wolves in front and behind, and in the clouds beside them there were shadow of spectres.

Sakura stopped in front of the guide. "Please, don't let the wolves devour them. They don't know what they were doing."

"Sakura, you have done well," the guide said. "You, Tomoyo, Meiling and Syaoran may pass, but let the other's speak for themselves."

Syaoran pulled her up the stairs.

"You can't leave them there," Sakura said. "Ms Mizuki! Guru Clef!"

"You are all in my forest. I will decide whether you deserve to be eaten by the wolves or not," the guide turned Sakura's terrified friends. "So tell me, what did you do?"

"We didn't do anything!" protested Caldina.

The wolves snarled.

"Try again."

"Because we damaging the forest," said Presea.

"Because we hurt the wolf," said Caldina, "We shouldn't have, but we were all scared and started to panic."

"We weren't thinking clearly," said Fye. "We're sorry."

"I was angry because I couldn't lead them through the forest," said Lafarga. "Releasing my frustrations on the things living in the forest was immature. I accept any punishment, and place the blame solely on myself."

The guide then said, "Give me the weapon that you used to cut those trees and hurt this wolf."

Sakura knew that Lafarga's sword was important to him. She watched him hand it over but couldn't bear to watch after the guide raised it above his head.

"You may pass."

"Hoe?" Sakura blinked. The sword was dissolving into glitter and the leaves on the wolf's injured leg fluttered away to reveal undamaged fur. The spectres disappeared with the clouds leaving a lightening sky. "What happened?"

"You're still children, still learning," said the guide, smiling. "Just because you made a mistake once doesn't make you a bad person. Also, I promised to grant you safe passage as long as you're in the Brocken Mountain Range."

The once injured wolf licked Lafarga's hands. "I think that you've learnt your lesson," continued the guide. "The trees are being healed as we speak. But next time the forest won't be so forgiving."

Guru Clef and Ms Mizuki went to help their shaken students. Together they ascended the steps to the skyland in time to watch the sun rise to start the new day.


Author's Notes:

- Hi. Once again I'm really sorry for the longer break than before. These last two chapters required even more editing than usual, and and I was busy. I still am, but not as much as before.

- Thank you to all the reviewers, readers, followers, people who favourited this story =) It brightens my day to know that there are people who enjoy this story. I'm really having fun with writing this tale.

- As I said before, some of the predictions I've been getting have accurately stated some point I was trying to make. At times I'm just like, "Well, do I even need to upload the rest of the chapters?" But don't worry, I definitely intend to finish this. There's only three chapters left.