CHAPTER NINE

The natives in the war paint and thinned-down bamboo garments carried Meiling and Li around on a wicker cage over their shoulders. As they hiked along the wilderness, they chanted a strange foreign language unknown to Meiling.

"What are they saying?" She asked her cousin.

Li concentrated on the primitives' dialect and tried to repeat exactly what they said. "It sounds like… ancient Tibetan? Or is that Taiwanese?"

"You can understand them?"

"Sort of. It sounds like they're saying… 'village' or something."

"Then they're taking us back to their place?"

Li shrugged. "I guess so."

"But why?"

"I don't know."

Moments later, the two found themselves entering through a raised, bamboo doorway which led to a small village complete with huts, campfires and several other primitives awaiting the arrival of their scout party. The women wore simple red gowns made of an unknown cloth while the children ran around, wearing almost nothing but a loincloth.

"Li…" Meiling whispered. "That kid's balls are showing."

"Shh!"

"I'm scared."

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Inside the WarHawk, as Touya and Yukito piloted the jet, Sakura gazed out her window and saw the clouds passing by them. Tomoyo sat close to her friend and tried to comfort her.

"Don't worry, Sakura." She said. "I'm sure wherever Li is, he's fine."

"I just wish I knew why he didn't let me know he wasn't coming home right away." Sakura sighed. "I don't like this feeling."

"What feeling would that be then?"

"Not knowing if he's in danger or not. If he needs me by his side or if he's thinking the same thing about me."

"I know that feeling."

"You do?"

Tomoyo nodded. "It's called love, Sakura." She then glanced over to Eriol, who was speaking with the two pilots. "And right now I would give anything to share that feeling with someone else. That same, exact feeling."

"Tomoyo, you don't have to shy away your feelings for him."

The blue-eyed girl nodded. "I know. But somehow I have a strange feeling that he doesn't feel for me the way he used to."

"How do you mean?"

"He seems more… distant."

Sakura now looked puzzled. "But Eriol's always been in love with you. I don't know why he would want to hide his feelings for you now."

Tomoyo shrugged. "I don't know either." She then tried to turn the subject back over to Li. "As for Li, though. I wouldn't worry. I'm sure he's doing just fine."

¬¬¬¬¬

The scout party tilted the cage and plopped the two young teens onto the dirt floor. The villagers surrounded them, chatting amongst themselves in their aboriginal tongue. Meiling and Li slowly got up on their feet and dusted themselves as a tall, thin man in a more decorative getup walked through the crowd. They all bowed before what seemed to be their tribal chief as Li and Meiling nervously waved at him.

"Hi." Meiling smiled.

"How's it going?" Li smiled as well. "Listen, there's been a bit of a cock-up. You see, we were heading for the temple of Xiang Zhou and I don't--"

"Xiang Zhou!?" The chief interrupted the boy as he pointed a spear at him.

"I'm gonna take a piss now." Li said as he turned around and headed behind one of the bushes.

The chief then started to speak something in his native tongue at a rapid fire speed, startling the young boy even more. Li turned around and tried to mimic the language in an attempt to respond. "You're… guarding it?"

"Li, I don't like this!" Meiling whined.

"Guarding it from what?" He asked the chief.

The chief spoke again but at a slower pace this time. Li was able to understand now and followed along with every word, repeating the phrases and dialect to himself. "Demon Knight? What the hell's a Demon Knight?"

Li then suddenly remembered the phrase his mother told him while she was possessed back at the temple. "Wait a minute. Mother."

"What about her?" Meiling asked.

"She said… 'Demon's might is the Demon Knight. Fear the cost of sin and vice. On the darkest day lies a sacrifice.' That thing that attacked my home. That's a Demon Knight, isn't it?"

The chief slowly nodded as he pointed across the village, where a small cave lay hidden behind the bushes and huts. As Li began to approach it, the chief pointed the spear at him once again.

"Hey, man! The Heart of Gold! I need it!"

Furious, the chief tripped the boy to the floor and pointed the spear right at his chest. Meiling started to panic as she felt completely helpless.

"Oh, God! Li!" She cried.

"I don't want to die lying on a pile of shit!" Li whined.

"Wait!" Meiling shouted as she got everyone's attention. "Hold on a minute. You guys want to see something neat?"

The villagers stared at the young girl strangely as she displayed a very mischievous grin on her face. She then pulled out a Mickey Mouse PEZ dispenser and held it in the air, putting the tribe in a state of awe.

"This… is Mickey!" Meiling shouted. "Provider of all that is sweet, fruitful and everything downright yummy!"

As Meiling lifted the head to slip out a small candy disk, the villagers backed away and gasped in amazement. She placed the candy in her mouth and started chewing, making satisfying yummy noises and intriguing the villagers even more. She then offered a candy disk to the chief.

"You want some?" She waved the Mickey head around. "C'mon. Hold out your hand…"

The chief shyly complied and slowly let his hand out. Meiling then dropped a candy piece onto the man's hand and motioned for him to eat it. Upon doing so, the chief smiled and approved of the sweet treat, raising his spear in the air and exclaiming something to his people.

"Here, take it." Meiling said as she handed the man the candy dispenser.

Li slowly rolled away and stood behind his cousin, wiping himself clean. "Good thinking, Meiling."

Suddenly, all of the villagers lowered themselves to the ground and bowed before the candy dispenser as they all started to chant. "Mee-key. Mee-key. Mee-key…"

Meiling then started to play along and giggled. "Yes! Kneel before the provider!"

Just then, she and Li found themselves being tied up by two of the villagers and blindfolded by some of the children.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Meiling protested. "What's going on!"

The chief started to speak again as Li tried to translate to the best of his ability. After hearing the chief's intentions, the brown-eyed boy gulped.

"What? What is it?" Meiling was now getting impatient. "What did he say?"

"He said…" Li paused for a moment. "…In order to keep the provider happy and fruitful, he'll need a sacrifice."

"Let me guess. We're the sacrifice."

"…Yeah."

"Well, what's he gonna do? Cut us open? Drop us down a volcano?"

"He's going to cook us then feed us to the tribe."

Meiling took this into consideration and shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

The two then managed to break through their ropes and double-teamed the men with spears, stealing their weapons and immobilizing them completely. They swung their weapons around and thwarted off every man sent in by the tribal chief.

"You're going to take us to that temple and like it!" Li commanded.

"Goriga." The chief said.

"Say what?" Li was confused.

"Goriga." The chief repeated.

Soon everyone started to chant the name in a slow and steady motion. "Goriga. Goriga. Goriga…"

"What are they going on about?" Meiling asked.

"I don't know." Li shrugged.

Just then, they heard a loud thudding footstep creep up behind them. The two slowly turned around and looked up to see a tall, young native completely built up with muscle and a face that would scare the ugliest of uglies.

"Looks like things are about to get violent around here, Li." Meiling said to her cousin.

"I think you're right…" Li nodded.

The two glanced at each other, nodded then fell to their knees and pleaded for mercy. "Please! Don't kill us!" They cried.