DM: Hey all! I'm sorry, I know it's been awhile, but applying to college really sucks/is eating up my life. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own CCS.
Curses!
Arc One: Clow Land
Chapter Nine
Brrr!
"What the hell?" Syaoran mused as he followed Sakura's footprints. Now, you may be asking, how can there be footprints if they were just in a forest? Well, as it turns out, about 20 meters away from their campsite, everything was blanketed in snow.
Yes snow, and though it was quite obvious to the casual observer that this was the work of a Clow Card, Syaoran did not think about that in the slightest. What concerned him most was that Sakura had slapped him in the face and run off for no good reason.
Luckily it had stopped snowing, although the trees dripped on him occasionally. Luckily he had thought to put his sweatshirt on before leaving to chase after her. The wood grew denser the further he went in, but a strong feeling of irritation propelled him to find her and ask her just what the hell she was thinking.
"Kinomoto! You idiot! You're gonna get sick!" he shouted. The wind had started to pick up, and he was getting mighty pissed.
Sakura, meanwhile, had taken shelter in a nearby cave and was now crying, her small form huddled in a ball in the corner. She wiped her eyes, noting that it was puffed-up and hot and thoroughly unattractive.
"Why am I so upset? I mean, he was possessed, it's not like he should have stopped for me…" She sighed and wiped her nose on her sleeve.
It was getting dark out, and Sakura was very nervous. She wasn't sure if she could find her way back, especially since it was snowing outside. What was worse, she had this terrible tingly feeling all over her body.
"I wonder if this is what it's like to freeze to death…"
"Sakura! I'm serious! Please come back! I don't what I did, but I'm sorry! Please come back!"
Sakura perked her head up. That voice sounded like Syaoran's, except the wind seemed to be carrying it away from her.
"Syaoran! Syaoran! Are you there?" She yelled back, moving towards the mouth of the cave. Everything was dusky and cold.
"Sakura!" Syaoran's voice was heavy with relief as he ran to her and embraced her. Sakura felt the color rise in her cheeks and her heartbeat quickened. Of course, she wrote it off as being happy to have been saved.
"Sakura…don't run off like that ever again!" Syaoran said, burying his hands in her hair.
"Oh…" Sakura wasn't sure what to do. She had never been hugged this way, much less called by her first name by a boy her own age.
They just stood there for a bit, then a particularly fierce gust of wind hit them hard. Syaoran seemed to come to his senses and let go of her. She felt strangely cold.
"I don't think we can find our way back until the snow clears…" he was saying, shoving his hands in his pockets against the cold.
"Yeah, I was hiding out in this cave." She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him inside.
As they sat down on the hard cave floor, Sakura felt herself blushing again. They were alone together! Not even Kero was around…
"Oi, why don't you create some hot cocoa, Sa-Kinomoto?" Syaoran said, appearing to be very interested in the cave walls. Sakura nodded and released her wand.
"Create Card! Can we have a stove and some cocoa please?" It was so good to be magical. Luckily she had taken to wearing her special Clow Card satchel around her neck (it was one of the more useful items she had found in Nicole's bag). However, that tingly feeling had yet to go away.
"You idiot, you forgot to ask for cups," Syaoran snorted, as a pot of hot cocoa steamed away on the stove.
"Oh, s-sorry." Sakura stared at the floor while calling on Create again in barely a whisper.
"Say, is it ok if I call you Sakura?" Syaoran asked, staring at her. Sakura blushed and wondered how on earth he could be so calm.
"Because I mean, we're on an adventure together and all, and—"
"—Does that mean I can call you Syaoran?" Sakura asked, smiling at him in her usual cute manner.
"I guess so…" Syaoran took a sip of cocoa (it was surprisingly good—no marshmallows though) and looked at the floor. Sakura watched him intently.
"May I help you, pervert girl?"
"Do you always have to say that?'
"Do you always have to look at me like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you want to bang me."
"As if! In your dreams!" Sakura started laughing, but Syaoran remained calmly looking at her.
"Why did you run off?" he asked seriously.
"Ah…"
"Did I do something to you while I was asleep?" He looked so serious that Sakura could barely stifle a laugh.
"You could say that," she said, smiling at the ground.
"See? I knew you were a pervert!" Syaoran said, smirking. He leaned closer to her, and Sakura turned bright red.
"W-what are you talking about?" she asked, suddenly not feeling like laughing at all.
"I did something inappropriate to you, and you're smiling about it. So that means you must be—"
"—W-W-WHAT?" Syaoran continued to move closer and Sakura was now backed up against the wall.
"Well? What did I do, Sa-ku-ra?" He asked, way too close for comfort. At last, Sakura had had enough.
"You attacked me! You were possessed by the Sword Card and you tried to kill me!" She shouted, holding her hands up in front of her face as if in self-defense.
Syaoran sat back down and turned away from her, suddenly horribly embarrassed. Sakura slid back down to the floor, equally perturbed.
After what seemed like an eternity of silence, Sakura tried to make conversation.
"Oh, this cave goes down a lot further. Would you like to explore it?"
Syaoran didn't answer. Sakura sighed and got up. It was best to leave him to himself, she thought as she began walking deeper into the cave. She felt the tingly feeling increase with every step.
There seemed to be a light at the end of the cave, but it was very feeble. Finally she came to the source of it, a huge frozen lake hidden deep inside the cave. The tingly feeling was so bad that she could barely concentrate.
"Is this what it means to sense a Clow Card?" Sakura held her staff close to her chest and took a tentative step onto the lake. Something caught her eye immediately. It was a boy sitting in the middle of the lake and holding a candle. However, his legs were completely encased in ice.
"Whose there?" his voice sounded so scared. He had orangey hair and brown eyes, and was wearing a light blue school uniform.
"It's ok, I'm going to save you," Sakura called out to him, wishing she felt as confident as she sounded.
"Clow Card, show yourself!" Sakura shouted. Nothing happened, but something dark seemed to slide under the surface of the lake.
"Lake monster!" the boy shouted. Sakura panicked, but then knew what to do.
"Power! Help me break the ice!" Sakura gave the lake surface a good hard whack with her staff, and it began to crack.
"Hey, wait a minute! I'm gonna fall i—"
The boy was interrupted by the huge whale-like creature that sprang forth from the lake.
"The Freeze!" Sakura shouted, guessing its name correctly. Now, what would melt the Freeze….
"Sakura, you idiot, your hot chocolate's getting cold!"
Syaoran's voice called out from the cave entrance. She knew what to do.
"Create! Make a fire-breathing dragon to fight the Freeze!"
The boy did not seem to like this idea.
"Hey, have you forgotten about me?!" Syaoran and the boy shouted at the same time, as the Create's dragon began aiming fireballs at the Freeze. One connected, and the Freeze was blown back, about to land on top of the boy, who was clinging to a floating piece of ice.
"Aaah!"
Thinking quickly, Sakura summoned Fly, and zoomed the boy out of the Freeze's path. However, she really needn't have bothered, because the card righted itself a good several meters above the lake. When they reached the shore, Sakura found Syaoran standing dumbfounded as the two large beasts duked it out.
"Did you miss me, pervert boy?" Sakura asked, smiling, as she helped the boy stand again. As it turned out, he wasn't the young kid she thought he was. In fact, he was taller than Syaoran. His candle had gone out in the meantime, and he only stood staring dumbly at the two of them.
A huge crash echoed throughout the cave. The Freeze had fallen.
"Return to the form you were meant to be in, Clow Card!" Sakura shouted, and at last the Freeze was caught. The tingly feeling was somewhat abated.
"My hero!" the guy grabbed Sakura in a tight bear hug. "I thought I was a goner for sure!"
Syaoran dropped the cup of hot chocolate. A shard flew and cut Sakura's leg, and she fell, clutching it in pain.
"I'm so sorry Sakura!" Syaoran said frantically dropping to his knees. He grabbed her leg and focused as the guy watched, mildly pissed.
"How dare you hurt my savior!" the guy said, putting his arm around Sakura.
"Eh? It's ok, he healed me, see?" she showed him her leg, "No harm done."
Syaoran and the guy ignored her, glaring daggers at each other.
"Uh…Let's go outside, I wonder if the snow has calmed down at all…" Sakura led the two of them, who had not broken eye contact yet.
It was still snowing outside. Sakura's tingly feeling returned, full force. A Snow card?
She stepped outside tentatively.
"Snow Card, show yourself!" she shouted. The clouds seemed to part, and the Snow card revealed itself in its young woman form. However, Sakura's triumph was short lived, because the Snow sent a shower of hail her way.
"Agh! Windy! Redirect Snow's attacks. Windy and Snow battled together in the sky, and Sakura glanced back at the cave nervously. Syaoran and the orange haired guy seemed oblivious as to what was going on.
"Fly card, help me get up to where Windy and Snow are!" She shouted, and rode her staff up. Windy appeared to be winning, since it was an elemental card and thus stronger.
"Return to the form you were meant to be in, Snow Card!"
Sakura sighed happily as the snow cleared. However, it was almost evening. She flew back down to where the boys were.
"My hero Sakura!" the guy flew to her and gave her another hug. Sakura sighed, embarrassed by his behavior.
"Sakura. We should go back. Kero's probably having kittens about now."
The three began walking back.
"So, uh, what's your name?" Sakura asked, extremely embarrassed by the awkward silence.
"Nakatsu Shuichi," Nakatsu said, winking at Sakura while blocking Syaoran from her view, "delighted to meet you!"
DM: Well that's it for now, folks. If any of you are thinking, "What's Nakatsu from Hana-Kimi doing here?" the answer is….a secret! Please review and I'll update again before next week!