The Masked Knight
Disclaimer: Most of the main characters all belong to Clamp, and the detailed ideas too. The storyline however belong to this drama that I've been watching Prince of Lan Ling.
(A/N: Finally an update of a new chapter!)
Chapter Three: Trapped
Sakura slowly made her way downstairs the next morning, feeling empty for the first time in her life. The excitements quickly as it came ended too soon for words. It was as though the past two days was just a mere dream.
Sakura's heart sunk knowing that she was not going to see Syaoran again. She sluggishly walked towards her desk and noticed that Syaoran forgot his mask on the side counter.
"He can't go onto the battlefield without his mask," Sakura ran to the counter with a spark of excitement.
For an entire day, she was pacing around the workhouse trying to decide whether she should stay or leave the village. She left the village plenty of time before, but never far from home.
This was a great opportunity to see the outside world and meeting new people, start of something new. It's dangerous, unexpected, and yet exciting.
It was mid-day when she came to a final decision of leaving the village to return the mask to its rightful owner. She did not have the courage to talk to her granny face-to-face, instead she left a goodbye letter on the table.
Deep down she knew if her granny found out, she could never leave.
Sakura wore the key on her neck with the Clow Book in her bag and she walked up the escarpment. She looked back at her village from a distance once last time before leaving the peaceful life behind.
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The gate opened as Syaoran and Snowbeard entered the military base. Madison rode her horse towards the gate and welcomed his return. Madison looked behind Syaoran and noticed that he came back by himself without Touya.
"Syaoran, did you meet Touya half way?" Madison asked nervously.
"I didn't see a living person on my way back," Syaoran immediately knew something was wrong, "Where is he!"
"He went looking for you because you didn't come back for a day," Madison hesitantly said.
"Did I not specifically order that no one was to leave the base?" Syaoran angrily raised his voice at the stupidity Touya pulled again less than a week.
"General Li, you might want to see this," a soldier handed Syaoran a poster. Syaoran unfolded the poster and immediately rushed towards his tent. Without explanation to his troop, Syaoran had the need to break the next object he sees.
"What happened?" Madison ran in front of him knowing that something terrible must've happened.
"Get into your armor," Syaoran continued walking with Madison followed behind.
"What is going on?" Madison pulled Syaoran's right arm.
"He was captured by Valkyrie's army. In two days, he will be executed," he clenched his fist with the poster in his hand. Madison took the crumbled poster from his hand.
"General Li, this is obviously a trap. You can't risk your life for my son's stupidity," Captain Aden Avalon walked up to Syaoran.
"I have to go. We may not be related, but we grew up together like brothers. I will not sit passively until I bring him back to base," Syaoran put on his armor vest.
"I can't let you do that. They purposely publicized this news. We are not fools, and with your high ranking we cannot make that kind of sacrifice. If a battle break out who is going to lead our army?"
"I understand your concern. But I am going. If anything, I trust your military expertise in leading our army."
"Syaoran, I beg of you to be rational with this," Aden grabbed Syaoran's arm, "You lose a friend and I lose a son in the end. But our kingdom needs you more. You can't be selfless and sacrifice for one person when thousands more are in your hands."
Syaoran agreed with his Captain's point of view. His duty was not only to a friend, but also to an entire kingdom. Although he could not shake the feeling that he was responsible for Touya's capture.
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Sakura walked down the street of a small town looking at all things she never knew it existed. Everything was better than she imagined, from the smell of the street food to the music, and the architectures.
After a few days of travelling she could use a nice place to stay and hot food to eat.
After all, living on a tree branch in the forest during cold nights was not a long-term solution. Especially when winter is on its way. Completely distracted, a stranger bumped into her harshly.
"Sorry about that, I wasn't looking," Sakura quickly apologized.
"You okay?" the young man asked Sakura. "I'm fine," Sakura smiled. "I'm Julian by the way," he smiled at her.
"I'm Sakura," she smiled as her stomach grumbled.
"You must be hungry. Why don't I treat you to dinner?" Julian offered.
"Thanks, but I don't have any money."
"Don't worry, it's all on me," Julian led Sakura into this sketchy motel at the edge of town on the other side of the village. It was nightfall by the time they reached there.
Julian was the first friend Sakura met outside of her village. The world may not be as bad as her granny described. Julian showed Sakura around the motel and introduced his auntie to her.
Tonight was definitely a night she won't feel her stomach aching for food. She would have an actual bed to sleep on, and a warm blanket.
"I should be heading back soon, my mother is sick with the flu. No one else is at home taking care of her," Julian said taking a hot steamed bun.
"Thank you," Sakura was very grateful and took one for herself.
"Here you go," Sakura took out a package and handed to Julian, "This ginger root. If you boil it in water it will help calm down the fever."
Julian took the package with hesitation, "Thank you."
Sakura happily took a bite from the steamed bun in her hand, "Why am I so tired all of a sudden?" Sakura spontaneous fell asleep on the table as soon as she swallowed the bite from the bun.
"Sakura! Sakura, I'm really sorry for doing. I need the money to survive," Julian quietly said.
"Take your money and leave," Julian's "auntie" dropped a bag of coins on the table. Julian took the bag and left. The woman watched Julian leave and called for her husband. Together they tied up Sakura and tossed her into the basement.
A few hours later Sakura began hearing different cries near her ears. Last thing she remembered was having dinner. Now she was all tied up lying on the ground.
She felt like she just woke up from ten years of sleep where everywhere on her body felt numb and tingling. Soon she realized it was from the tightness of the rope wrapped around her wrists and ankles.
"It's useless, the rope is too thick," one of the girls said, while others continued to cry.
"Where is here?" Sakura looked up and all around. She noticed the metal bars above were sealed preventing anyone from escaping.
"It's the basement of the motel. The owners of this motel are black market dealers. They kidnap girls like us from outside the town and sell us to a bordello," another girl explained.
"Bordello?" Sakura had no clue what that was.
"It's a place where they take away a girl's innocence and their clothes. Then having awful men dominating their body," another girl explained.
"We got to get out of here!" Sakura panicked and disgusted at the same time. She looked around notice that her bag is gone, "My bag, where is my bag? You've got to be kidding me!" The Clow Cards were in the bag, she would face palm herself if she had any free hands left. She regretted ever to leave her village behind to end up in this hell of a place.
Sakura bunny hopped in the basement trying to see if her bag is nearby. The motel owners must've taken it when she was unconscious. She wanted to give herself a beating right there and then; she should've known it was too good to be true. The first friend she met turned out to be a liar. Boy was she naïve, and this will be the first and last time.
"We can't escape this hell hole," another girl said.
"We have to find a way. I rather die than do nothing!" Sakura looked around the basement and noticed a shelf stocked with clay wine bottles. She hopped over to the shelf and knocked over a clay jar, "We can use this sharp edge to try to cut the rope. Come on everyone. We have to get out of here!"
Suddenly, there were the sounds of horses marching outside of the metal bars window. "Someone help! Help! We are trapped here!" Sakura yelled out the window.
"The only customers that ever come through this motel is to buy one of us," one of the girls said.
"Come on girls, we better do this faster! We can't stay here," Sakura was angry with herself. If she could save all of these girls along with herself then it will all be worth it.
Outside of the motel a group of riders made their way into the yard.
"You want to find a girl in here?" Madison raised her eyebrow looking at the cheap looking place that screams dooms days.
"Buying a girl from black dealers will ensure that no one knows about our plan. Besides no one knows where the girls come from, it's easier for us once we let her go. Madison, stay here while Jake and I go in to greet the owners," Syaoran instructed as he jumped off of Snowbeard.
"Sounds good to me. I am not stepping there," Madison agreed. This was not a place she wanted to enter. She felt safer staying outside with the horses.
As soon as Syaoran and Jake entered the door of the motel, the woman greeted them. "Welcome," she said in a high pitch voice. Syaoran pretended that the voice doesn't want to make him break the table into pieces beside him.
"My master is looking for a beautiful young lady to bare sons for his family," Jake got straight to the point.
"I have a variety of girls here, what kind of a girl are you looking for?"
"I can only decide when I see her in person. Let's not waste any more of my precious time," Syaoran demanded.
"Follow me this way," she led the way. Jake and Syaoran followed the owner to the basement only to find out that there was only one girl left.
"Where did all the girls go?" the woman quickly ran to her husband.
"This little brat help the girls escape. Take a look at it yourself," the husband pointed at the bent metal bars.
"That's genius," Jake was amazed at the work using only a wet cloth and a thick wooden stick to bend the bars. The wet cloth was wrapped around two bars, and the thick wooden stick was used tightened the cloth creating a strong force to bend the two bars towards each other.
"I've met a young woman who was also intelligent like this," Syaoran smiled to himself thinking about Sakura.
"Let go of me you monster," Sakura struggled as the husband grabbed her by the hair.
"How can you have the heart to do such vulgar things?" Sakura broke free and turned towards Syaoran and Jake as her jaw dropped, "It's you."
"She is our newest, I'll sell her to you for half price. What do you think?" The woman offered.
"Let go of me!" Sakura struggled more as the husband was going to hit her.
"Stop right there! I'll take her under the circumstance that she is not harmed in any way. She has to be presentable for my father," Syaoran stopped the husband before he laid another finger on Sakura.
"That's not a problem. I will get her cleaned up and bring it up to your room as soon as possible. Please wait upstairs and I'll be with you shortly," the woman was glad that she was able to strike a great deal so easily.
"I'll be waiting," Syaoran smirked at Sakura before walking off with Jake.
"Give me back my ribbon that you stole from me you monster!" Sakura yelled watching him turned his back towards her.
Next thing Sakura knew she was back to square one with tight ropes around her wrists and ankles. Only this time she doesn't have anything to cut the rope with. Sakura used her teeth to pull on the knot, but it was no use, not effective at all.
Suddenly the door opened as Syaoran walked in looking completely drunk. He had a wine bottle in his hand as he took a sip.
Sakura watched his every movement with great amount of disappointment. Syaoran took a few steps looking like he was going to trip and fall any second. Slowly and finally he made it to the chair in one piece.
"You are just going to sit there and watch?" Syaoran wiped his face with his hand after taking another sip.
"Look what I brought you," Syaoran took out a bag filled with pearled necklaces and emerald bracelets, " This is all for you."
"I don't want it," Sakura looked away. Kill me now.
"I'm going to take a guess that you are clueless. One of these necklace worth a fortune," Syaoran walked towards Sakura. Sakura sat back on the bed getting nervous by the millisecond.
"No, I am clueless for believing that you are a good person," Sakura struggled with the rope.
"You should be thanking me. I saved you from all the perverted men out there."
"Can you just untie the rope and let me go? I did help you once," Sakura put her arms up waiting for him to untie the rope for her.
"What do you think I buy you for?" Syaoran grabbed Sakura's hands and sat beside her untying the rope, "My father won't stop bothering me until I bring home a woman who bear sons to pass on our bloodline. You are going to make him very happy," Syaoran reached for Sakura's face only to be pushed away.
"If you want sons, why not just marry one of your admirers. Why are you here buying young girls who have been kidnapped?" Sakura took off the rope, "You are a general for goodness sakes!"
"Rather than planning out your next move, you spend all your free time being a disgusting monster," Sakura slapped him with the rope over and over again before walking away from the bed. Syaoran glared at Sakura for a quick second in pain before becoming mellow again.
"Don't forget, you gave me your ribbon. You belong to me. You helped healing Snowbeard's wound, which I am very grateful. So, I am returning the favour of giving you the best night of your life," Syaoran smiled like a creep before grabbing Sakura and pulled her back onto the bed, pinning her down.
"Stop it!" Sakura struggled and push him away.
"Let me give you a big kiss!" Syaoran said loudly wrapping his arms around her.
"Get off of me!" Sakura quickly got up and grabbed a wooden bucket near the bed. She threw the bucket and hit Syaoran's head with it.
"Don't-be-shy…" Syaoran fell on the bed completely knocked out.
"I can't believe my granny said you are an honourable knight," Sakura kicked his leg and ran out the room. She climbed out the first window she saw, and stumbled across a group of men dressed in black with their face covered.
"I already put a sleeping pill in his drink. In a few minutes you can slay him and claim your money," one of the men said.
"They are going to kill him," Sakura listened in, "Forget it. He doesn't deserve my help."
As soon as men in the black walked away, Sakura was going to make her escape. She paused, "The guy only wanted children… Syaoran… I hate you so much right now. I am going to regret this!"
Sakura decided to go back to Syaoran and escape together. Sakura went back to the bedroom and Syaoran was still lying there on the bed, unconscious.
"Wake up, Syaoran! Wake up!" Sakura lightly slapped his face, "Come on, I risked my life coming back here to save you. You better wake up!"
Sakura grabbed one of his arms, "Why are you so heavy?! Oh my goodness," Almost breathless Sakura decided to slap Syaoran a few more times on his chest for putting her in this dire situation.
Sakura went over to the table and grabbed one of the pearl necklaces. She broke the string and let the beads fell onto the bed.
As soon as men in black entered the door, Sakura tossed a bucket of water onto them. Then she quickly spilled the beads on the grounds causing three out of five men to slip and fall.
"There are more expensive jewelleries on the table. Take it and please don't hurt anyone," Sakura pointed at the table, "Those worth a fortune!"
"I can spear your life, if you walk your little legs out of here right now," a man from behind walked up to Sakura.
"I was going to leave, but I came back to save him!" Sakura cried, "Please just take the jewelleries and spear his life! Those jewelleries worth a lot more than him," Sakura begged.
"Are you not scared?" the last person's voice was high pitched like a female walked up to her.
"I AM SCARED!" Sakura exclaimed, "But I can't just leave him to die!"
"I never seen anyone who likes to mind other people's business at the cost of their own life," she pulled out her sword as Sakura screamed on top of her lungs.
"That's enough," Syaoran sat up from the bed, "Take a look, I was right about Sakura. She is one of a kind."
"I believe you," Madison put her sword back into the sheath and pulled down her face cover. Jake did the same. Sakura looked at Syaoran and looked at them, "What's going on here?"
"Please forgive me Sakura. Testing you was inevitable," Syaoran apologized.
"WHAT?!" Sakura brushed her bangs away from her face, "You were pretending to be drunk? You guys are on the same team! This was all just a test?"
"To be honest Sakura, we did all this is hoping to save my good friend from execution tomorrow. You were willing to risk your life to save me today. We need someone who is dedicated, intelligent, and brave enough to accompany us for this dangerous mission into the Kingdom of Valkyrie."
"The only reason why I left my village was to return the mask you've left behind. I don't belong to the outside world. I have to go back home."
"Sakura, if it's not for Syaoran here today. You might be sold to someone else. Who knows how bad the outcome would be," Madison tried to convince Sakura.
"Sakura, you said you wanted to meet Prince of Northern Star right? If you can help us with this mission I will personally introduce Prince of Northern Star to you," Syaoran promised.
Madison turned to Jake with a confused look on her face. Jake shrugged not knowing what the conversation was about.
"Really? You can take me to him?" Sakura was definitely convinced if she gets to meet the Prince of Northern Star, "If I help you guys, you better not lie to me!"
"You have my word," Syaoran looked at how easily Sakura was persuaded into helping them.
"So what do we have to do?" Sakura asked.
"We are going to get married," Syaoran replied.
"What?! Are you out of your mind?!" Sakura wasn't expecting that request from him.
Next time on The Mask Knight:
Even though Sakura knew it was fake marriage. She still can't shake off the feelings she has for Syaoran. The plan fell apart bit by bit, and it was up to Sakura to use her Raging Star to create a huge ruse that can help everyone escape to safety.