The Masked Knight
Disclaimer: Mostly the main characters all belong to Clamp, and the detailed ideas too.
Side note: This story is and will be a heavily modified version of the drama Prince of Lan Ling. The reason why I decided to choose CCS as the series to rewrite was because I was not satisfied with the original story. So I am writing this story because this is how I wish the drama turn out to be. Again, this does not mean that I think my story is better. However, there will be similarities between this story and the drama because after all this is a modified version of the drama. As the story progresses I will incorporate my own ideas regarding the plot and character development. Starting with this chapter. I wrote this story purely out of hobby, I am not an English major so my description would be superficial and simple.
(A/N: Please read and review! I am uploading this chapter faster since I finally came up with the idea how the story will unfold at this point.)
Chapter Eight: Figures in the Shadows
Sakura slowly opened her eyes feeling a throbbing pain from the back of her neck. She had no idea where she was or how long she had been unconscious. All she knew was the fact that she is in a forest at the bottom of the cliff. The last thing she could remember was being chased by a group of five Valkyrie soldiers who were trying to either capture her or kill her.
She could hear a male voice calling her name, "Sakura! Sakura! Wake up Sakura!"
She did not recognize the face or the voice. Slowly she drifted into the darkness before her very eyes.
"Sakura, you have to get up," a female voice said. "Mommy, what's happening?" Sakura asked rubbing her eyes. It was the sound of her voice when she was eight years old. This experience felt real, but the feeling was distant and a sense of disconnection. She could feel the softness of the small bed, and the fluffiness from her blanket. A touch by a woman she doesn't know, and yet Sakura felt a strong attachment towards her.
Sakura knew all her life that her mother died right after giving birth to her, and her father died before she was born. She thought to herself, 'Who is this person then?'
"We have to leave with granny to some place far away okay?" Natasha said.
"It's so late and I'm tired mommy," Sakura rubbed her eyes. She was then picked up from her bed by a male figure that she couldn't make out an identifiable facial feature. Yet, this feeling felt ever familiar as well. Sakura wondered who are these people and why she has a feeling that she knew them.
"Sakura, listen to me sweetie. I love you. I love you so much. I will miss you. Just remember this is for the best. You are my special little girl. Unfortunately daddy can't come with you. I don't know if you are able to remember this once you are older. But I hope deep in your heart you will know that I'm always here for you," the male voice said sincerely.
"I love you too daddy," Sakura hugged the male figure.
Everything turned dark in front of Sakura's eyes. She could feel the wind blowing from all direction gathering up her long brown hair, but all she could see was darkness.
Then Sakura's mother, Natasha appeared in front of her floating above like an angel. Natasha's beautiful white wings spread in the air, "In order to restore the Clow cards, you must use your own magic. Let your inner star guide the path."
"My inner star? The cards are destroyed and the Clow key is lost forever because of me. I don't deserve to be their master. I have failed, mom," Sakura looked down feeling ashamed.
"The cards cannot be destroyed, they can only transform. When you reach the lowest point of life you are open to change. What makes the cards so powerful is their master. You are their master Sakura no matter the struggles you have to face. Never forget that," Natasha's body slowly disappeared into the darkness.
"Mom? Mom! Mom, please don't leave me," Sakura dropped to the ground and cried. Suddenly, she was free falling in the darkness until she hit something hard. She then opened her eyes wide open feeling her heart pounding loud and clear in her ears.
A day earlier…
Madison and Sakura stood side by side while King of Moon Gates sat on his throne looking down at the paper work on his desk.
"Now that you have finally arrived on my ship. I am going to guess, Prince of Northern Star is in an unstable condition," Eriol smiled as everything goes according to plan.
"You knew this would happen and used both of us forgetting we saved your life once," Madison said flatly.
"Both of you did save my life. However, let me make this clear that Syaoran is my sworn enemy. The kingdom of Mikaysium will fall with the death of Prince of Northern Star," Eriol replied folding his book and walked down towards them.
"You have it in you to do the right thing. I saw you helping the villagers and playing with the children. You are better than this, Eriol," Sakura said hoping that would change Eriol's mind.
"I did it for self preservation. In order to survive I had to put on an act. I survived all these years and finally took my place on the throne," Eriol justified.
"Of course, a conniving prince crawled his way up the ladder to become a king killing whoever gets in his way. What do you understand about the truth of ruling? A spoiled brat who is selfish and protected from all threats is bound to fail soon or later. You want to know why? Because you-lack-conviction," Madison fished for more information regarding Eriol's background and possibly more about the Kingdom of Tyson.
"Threat is imminent. You are only judging the surface. I may be a king, but I live everyday with a chip on my shoulder looking behind who is watching and listening to my every move. Here is where you are wrong, Tomoyo Daidouji. The corruption within my kingdom is out of my control. I have an army that I cannot command. I have to beg and kneel before my royal advisor just so I can live another day. Tell me again about my - convictions," Eriol fell right into Madison's bait.
"Tell you what. If you help us save Syaoran. Then we'll help you take back your kingdom," Madison struck a deal.
"What is a general's daughter going to do to help me?" Eriol had other plans in mind.
"I didn't take my father's place because I was Alexander Taylor's daughter. You know who I really am. But, you have no idea what I'm capable of. So I suggest you fold," Madison threatened Eriol passively.
"Then you will never find out about the fall of Kingdom of Tyson," Eriol returned the threat.
"I trusted you, Eriol! I helped you! If you don't give me the cure. I will rain down on Valkyrie, and you will watch your kingdom crumble in dust before your very eye," Sakura walked up to Eriol and stared him down, "I will start with this ship. Do-I-make-myself-clear?"
Sakura heard enough of this nonsense with her patience on the line. Every minute she and Madison stay here on Valkyrie ship, Syaoran's health continues to deteriorate.
"Just you?" Eriol laughed, "I heard about that incident with the explosions that destroyed the food supplies storage across my bordering city. A few magic tricks don't scare me."
"Oh key of Clow, power of magic. Power of light. Surrendered the wand the force ignites. Release!" Sakura pointed her staff at Eriol, "How is this for magic?"
"Water and Windy, release and dispel!" Sakura called out. Water and Windy card surrounded the entire ship as the ship started to rock from side to side. Then waves picked up around the ship they were on .and slowly the waves grew in strength.
"Clow Reed's magic. It exists," Eriol watched as the furniture on the ship started to shift left and right, "Okay, I get it. You can stop now."
Madison fell to the floor and slid to the right of the ship as it become more unbalanced on the water, "Sakura, call off you cards."
"Water and Windy card return to your power confide!" Sakura called. The cards were still in its spirit form. Sakura fell onto the floor letting go of her staff. The staff slid to the other side of the ship and straight into the lake. Both cards were out of control, and she couldn't seal them back to its card form.
All the ships on the lake started to rock violently as the waves grew larger and stronger.
The ship then started to incline to the left as Eriol quickly grabbed onto one of the metal bars on the side of the ship. A strong wave then crashed into the ship and hit Madison who immediately she let go of the curtain she held onto. Eriol quickly grabbed Madison arm and pulled her towards him.
Another wave entered through the right window again and then crashed into Sakura. Sakura fell backward onto the floor as the water current carried her away. She washed out of the window and right into the water.
"Sakura!" Madison yelled in devastation, "SAKURA!"
Sakura landed in the lake as the wave on top pushed her lower in the water. Then water card's power decreased as Sakura become physically weaker. However, Windy grew stronger blowing all the Clow cards out of the ship and into the water.
As soon as water's magic decreased Madison quickly jumped off the ship and into the water to rescue Sakura. She swam fast and hard hoping to reach Sakura on time.
Madison grabbed Sakura by the arm as Sakura sunk deeper into the water. Madison pulled Sakura with all her strength and swam as hard as she could to the surface. That was when they watched all the Clow cards falling down from the sky in pieces. The windy card had ripped each of the cards into pieces. Sakura was devastated as she grabbed the pieces on top of the water while chocking on the water in her lungs.
"What… what… have… I done…?" Sakura cried holding the pieces in her hands. She couldn't believe her eyes that each card was completely destroyed by windy. Along with windy itself, it vanished as soon as the cards were destroyed. She could not return to her village now that she became the ultimate humiliation of Clow Reed's descendent.
The legend of Clow Reed has ended with the destruction of the cards. That was not a tale she wanted to pass down to the generation.
She could not face her granny at this point. She remembered what Nellie and Bloom said about her being a disappointment, well… Sakura starting to believe that they were right. She couldn't say anything but balling her eyes out.
Her granny entrusted her with the Clow Cards and not only she failed to fulfill her role as the next master of the Clow Cards. She also destroyed the cards in the process.
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"Sakura. Sakura wake up!" Madison shook Sakura from her sleep.
"What's wrong?" Sakura rubbed her eyes as Madison handed her a small package.
"Give this to Syaoran. The ship just docked. This is your chance to escape," Madison hurried Sakura out of bed.
"What do you mean me? You are not coming?" Sakura took the package and headed to the closet.
"If both of us escape we might not make it to Syaoran on time. I am going to stay to try to control the situation," Madison replied, "I trust that you are going to deliver this to Syaoran. Now get dressed."
Madison instructed Sakura of the plan to escape while Sakura changed into her civilian clothing. There were two guards outside the doors; thus, another escape route was through the balcony. Madison tied a rope to the railing.
"Where did you get all of this?" Sakura looked out the baloney. She saw shadows on the first level of the ships where more guards were patrolling.
"I stole it," Madison smiled. "Wow, you are amazing Madison," Sakura was impressed. Not only did Madison find the cure, she also sought of an escape plan.
"I'm going to jump down first. I'll take down the guards and you have to follow behind me closely," Madison instructed. Sakura nodded feeling a rush of adrenaline. She never did anything like this before. Jumping out of a balcony was definitely not on her bucket list.
Madison grabbed onto the rope and made her way down to the first level. Two guards heard the noise and spotted Madison running towards them. Madison took out a string from her pocket and jumped into the air. She took a dive wrapping the string around one of the guard's forearms and slid down passing between his legs bringing his entire body to the floor.
Sakura jumped down from the second level and quickly ran towards Madison passing the guard on the floor. The guard grabbed Sakura's legs causing her to fell face flat on the floor. Sakura's quick thinking immediately reacted by sending a kick right into the guard's face knocking him out completely.
"Sorry!" Sakura apologized and ran after Madison.
Then Madison wrapped the string around another guard's leg and pulled towards her. Then she jumped in mid-air and dropped her right foot into the guard's chest knocking him to the ground. At the same time she jumped higher in the air towards the next guard in which she landed on his shoulders gripping his neck between her legs choking him. She swung her body backward to the left letting go as the guard who summer salted forward. The guard landed on the ground flat on his back and yelped in pain.
Madison grabbed Sakura's hands as they ran towards the exit of the ship. "Once you escape, don't look back. Just keep on running okay?" Madison ordered.
"What about you?" Sakura worried. "I'll survive, Eriol is not going to hurt me," Madison said confidently. Sakura wanted to ask more questions about Madison, and why Eriol called her Tomoyo Daidouji. Why Madison was confident that Eriol wouldn't hurt her?
There was no time to revise her personal curiosity. Sakura knew she must focus on escaping this ship and reach Syaoran on time before the poison takes his life.
Madison let go of Sakura's hand and ran towards more guards in front of them. She grabbed a few small packages from her pockets. She opened the packages and sprayed the white powder at the guard's eyes.
The guards dropped on their knees one by one. Sakura followed exactly what Madison instructed her to do. She kept on running without looking back. Even though she knew Madison was no longer behind her, but she kept on running.
She had to deliver this package to Syaoran even if it costs her life. Madison sacrificed her chance to escape for her and Syaoran. The least she could do was to make sure that Syaoran lives. She already failed to become the card's master; therefore, failure is not an option for this mission.
Sakura's legs were sore and aching. She had no idea how long she'd been running. She finally stopped and dropped on her knees. Sakura's tears watered down from both of her eyes. She couldn't hold it anymore.
Her emotions of sadness, disappointment, shame, anger, humiliation overwhelmed her entire body. Her heart ached from losing the cards, more importantly Madison, and potentially Syaoran as well. Everything she knew about the meaning of life was only the tip of the iceberg. . When she decided to leave her village she had no idea what the outside world have to offer.
She then heard noises behind her. She looked back and saw a group of five Valkyrie soldiers on their horses running towards her.
Sakura quickly wiped her tears and kept running. The soldiers were getting closer, she could hear one of them calling out her name. The noise grew louder and louder behind her. Sakura panicked, she has to find a way out – fast.
She looked ahead but she didn't see any path. She kept on the running and quickly stopped when she saw she was at the edge of the cliff. She looked behind her as soldiers got off of their horse.
Sakura took a few steps back and decided to jump down from the cliff. She took a chance with her life without thinking too deep. It didn't matter either way because if she stayed she would be captured and possibly killed. Syaoran will die. If she survived this fall, she may still have a chance to save him.
She free fell for a few seconds and landed on top of a tree. She dropped from branches to branches until she finally she crashed to the ground. Everything turned black instantly after the impact, and she completely lost track of time and place.
(A/N: End of chapter. I tried to make all the main characters have their own background stories. Hopefully, I can create a few good twists here and there. I haven't thought of what's going to happen next yet. I do have a bigger picture how the story will go. But… for the time being REVIEW!)