He was very nearly blind, and his hearing was only slightly better than that. It was like being smothered in a thick gray blanket, or perhaps more like drowning. His movements slowed in the thick air, and it was hard to breath.

The only good thing Kurogane could find about the situation was that his enemies seemed to be having as much trouble with it as he did. The wolves drew back momentarily, to try and regroup or else because they couldn't figure out where he was. He used the respite to reach out for Sakura. Where had she been when he could last see her...? After several long seconds, his hand encountered something solid - an arm.

"Princess?" he asked, just to be sure, and immediately decided to do as little talking as possible in this atmosphere. The fog filled his mouth till he nearly chocked on it, and his voice sounded weak and pathetic even to his ears.

"Kuro..." Sakura answered. She seemed to have discovered the same disastrous effects the fog had on the respiratory system, and her voice dissolved in a fit of coughing.

He was mildly concerned about that, but before anything could be done, he heard a growling sound which, given its volume, was either very loud or very close by. Holding onto Sakura's shoulder with his left hand, he shut his eyes and felt a presence just in front of him and a bit to the right. Grateful for the lessons that had been drilled into him, and that he had passed on to the kid, he lashed out and was rewarded with a yelping sound. The wolf scampered off, where it met up with more of its friends.

Kurogane would have cursed, but he couldn't afford to, so he ground his teeth and gripped the princess' shoulder a little harder. She didn't mind, preferring the minor discomfort to the thought of being separated from her protector. After this, she thought with grim determination, I'm going to make Kurogane-san teach me to fight. Even if I just know a little, that would be something. She nodded and clenched her fists, but for now the most she could do was do her best to stay out of the ninja's way.

His initial reservations aside, the battle wasn't actually as bad as he had feared it would be. In some ways, it was easier than the previous fighting against these scaly adversaries. They seemed to have a difficult time sensing him, when he could find them fairly easily. Their agility didn't help them dodge when they didn't know where he was coming from.

On the other hand, his movements were slowed significantly, and he had to keep firm hold of the princess the whole time. She did her best to aid him, stepping forward or back to match his motion, but it still hampered him. More than once, he had to spin her around swiftly to catch a wolf coming up from the other side. It was more than a little like dancing, odd though the thought was, and he dismissed it immediately. Slightly more difficult to get rid of was the thought of Fai teasing him about it.

If there was one more positive aspect to be found, it was that there seemed to be fewer of the wolves than before. It made it easier for the pair to retreat, trying to put the temple at their back. That task took longer that it should have, considering the distance that Kurogane remembered being from the wall, but they got their in the end, wolves lurking a short distance away.

That's when things got weird.

The ground underfoot started to shake, and Sakura's treacherous feet slipped out from under her. She pulled herself up with Kurogane's help and stumbled as she tried to regain her balance. What was going on? She thought she could hear something, but it was so faint that she wasn't sure if it was really there.

The earth settled down after a second, and she would have been relieved if Kurogane hadn't suddenly pulled her closer. Not being able to express her bewilderment, or to read the expression on his face, made her more anxious, but she beat off her worry. At least the ground had stopped moving...

But now there was that noise again, and she still couldn't tell if she was imagining it or not. Perhaps her ears, straining their hardest to hear something through the muffling cloud around, were creating a noise that wasn't there.

There was another sound, this one unmistakable, because they were so familiar with it– a growl from the throat of one of the mutated creatures hunting for them in the fog. Before Kurogane could strike the creature down, though, there was a flash of light. The ninja saw it even with his eyes shut, and Sakura gasped, forgetting the inadvisability of opening her mouth due to the pain as the brightness burned her eyes. The streak of light sped passed them, briefly clearing their surroundings, though neither of them was in a state to look around. Kurogane did notice that the wolves beat a hasty retreat and was thankful for small blessings. The battle was wearing him down quickly, considering the extra effort exerted, and he was having trouble breathing.

The quieter sound came again, and though Sakura still didn't know what it was, she was suddenly seized by the certainty that she had to be wherever that sound was coming from. Now. With her free hand covering her dazed eyes, she stepped slowly in the direction she thought it came from – the same direction as the light.

Kurogane felt her tugging him to follow, but he dug his feet into the ground and remained immobile. He heard no noise, and could not understand where she was wandering off to.

Sakura tugged once more, but had no success in getting him to move an inch. She frowned and hesitated for one moment, but the sound came again, and this time she knew what it was – it was someone calling her name. She had to find that person, and if Kurogane wasn't going to let her, she just had one choice. She twisted her arm and slipped out of his reach before he could react and set off running as quickly as she dared.

The ninja raced after her, a step behind but somehow unable to catch her. They had only been running for a minute, in any case, before Sakura felt a hand on her arm – someone in the fog had grabbed her. She had the presence of mind not to gasp this time, instead trying to twist away from the stranger as she had from Kurogane, but it didn't work. She lashed out with one hand, but met nothing – the person had dodged quickly. Just as she was gathering her strength to break free, she heard that ethereal voice – Sakura.

She blinked. "Tomoyo-san?" She was so shocked to have run into the young priestess that she didn't realize, at first, that she had spoken easily with no trouble from the fog. That second surprise sunk in a moment later, and she also realized that she could move and breathe more easily. She was still blinded from the flash of light, but after a minute of blinking rapidly it seemed...yes, she could just make out Tomoyo's blurry form.

Kurogane heard Sakura's voice and opened his eyes. Since his vision was working properly he noticed immediately that they were standing in a small circle where there was no fog. It was slightly eerie to see the gray walls of mist around them, but he ignored that as not being terribly important. "What happened?" he growled at Tomoyo, pulling Sakura away from her.

The priestess smiled sadly and shook her head. "We didn't make it to the temple in time."

He didn't like the sound of that. "In time for what?"

"Very soon, soldiers are going to follow to do what the wolves cannot. The temple has been sealed off to protect those inside."

"What about us?" Sakura asked, though the question she wanted to ask was, How safe are the others inside the temple?

"This area," Tomoyo waved with her hand to indicate the hollow sphere they stood inside, "Will offer us some protection. Whether or not it is enough – " she shrugged, seeming almost casual. "We won't know that until the soldiers arrive."

"Oh? And is this more protection from your god?" Kurogane asked, making his doubt apparent. "Or more of your forbidden magic?"

The priestess spoke, sounding like a trainer congratulating a particularly clever dog. "I guess I underestimated you. I had hoped you wouldn't figure that out, although things have gotten so far out of hand that at the moment, it probably makes very little difference. Out of curiosity, though, how did you know?"

Kurogane glared at her. He had though that last question would be enough to ruffle her feathers, but no. It was the same old story all over again. He answered, slightly resentful, "I've seen enough magic to have an idea of what it is and isn't. And I've been lied to enough times to have an idea of when I'm being told the truth."

Sakura looked startled. She had, after all, missed Mokona's news and the discussion it provoked. "What about Yuna?" she asked, looking from Kurogane to Tomoyo with eyes that were now working fairly well.

Tomoyo answered slowly. "Not everything you were told is a lie," she started. "Yuna really does protect the temple, and she really did tell me about your coming here, and about the feather. The problem is, for years we have fought a war over magic – whether magic is the correct way to honor Yuna, or whether it is the greatest offense to her, when in fact it is neither. It's simply a part of the natural world. But it's very hard to get two enemies to listen to the truth when they're too busy fighting each other. My intent was for you to help me get the feather and end the war."

"And then what? Things would suddenly work themselves out and everyone will start getting along?" Kurogane hoped to provoke an emotional response that would tell him something, or at the very least be slightly amusing. Again, it didn't quite work out.

"I don't expect it will be easy," Tomoyo answered, a trifle regretfully. "But there are others among the villagers, and among the Venians, who are tired of the war and are willing to listen to reason. Together, we can change."

"Good luck with that," Kurogane muttered. "So why not just explain that from the beginning? Why all the tricks with the damn shadow creature, and messing with the manjuu?"

"Manjuu...?" Tomoyo asked, genuinely mystified. The ninja finally got to hear her tone change to something less self-assured, but he was too annoyed to be happy about it.

"He means Moko-chan," Sakura stepped in helpfully.

"What an odd nickname," the priestess laughed. "But I still don't know what you mean! I was simply trying to help him find you."

Sakura and Kurogane exchanged looks, and their uneasy manner did not escape her notice. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"If she didn't change Mokona..." Kurogane frowned.

"Who did?" Sakura finished in a whisper.

"I'm really starting to hate this place," Kurogane said, making the princess smile very briefly as she wondered how many times he had said that, or something like it. The levity lasted for only a moment, though, before worry set in again.

"You and Akane-san are the only villagers who use magic?" Sakura asked Tomoyo urgently.

"No, there are a few others," Tomoyo replied, not understanding their concern but giving them the benefit of the doubt, "but they don't know much, and they wouldn't act without telling me."

Sakura started thinking aloud. "If it was a Venian, why didn't they just capture him, or capture all of us?"

"Maybe something went wrong," Kurogane grumbled.

Sakura's eyes lit up. "Or maybe they're on our side!" She didn't let the ninja's pessimistic glare damper her spirits, and she turned to Tomoyo excitedly. "You said there are Venians who want to end the war too, who want to listen to the truth. Do you know any of them? Do any of them know about us?"

The priestess shook her head. "I only ever met one of them, because it was too dangerous to risk being caught with the enemy. She died recently. She told me about the others, but I don't know who they are. As far as I know, they don't know about you either, but it wouldn't have been impossible for them to find out."

"The same could be said for our enemies," Kurogane reminded them. "They have magic and they don't hesitate to use it. They could have found out what we were doing here and then tried to separate us."

"But Kurogane-san, if it were them, why didn't they just kill him? Or kill all of us?" Sakura was pleading with him to see her version of events, because she didn't like his very much.

His red eyes focused in on her with an intensity that was unnerving. "That's what they're trying to do right now, princess."

"Quiet!" Tomoyo hissed, and the others jumped a little to hear how forceful she sounded. "Sit down, don't talk, and don't move. The fog's clearing."

Quickly following her instructions, they saw that she was right. The mist did not vanish all at once but faded away. Already they could see the trees at the edge of the clearing and the dark shape of the temple. "The soldiers will follow soon," the priestess added, so quietly they could barely hear her, "but they won't find us if we stay silent and still."

Sakura almost nodded her understanding but caught herself and instead focused on not moving. It was rather like what Kurogane had shown her the night before about keeping watch. A few minutes passed by agonizingly slow before the entire clearing was visible and she could see figures moving in.

There were eleven of them, each carrying a weapon and wearing armor and helmets. Following close to their heels was a small pack of the wolves that had pestered Sakura and her friends throughout their time in the woods. She was relieved when one of the soldiers waved his hands and the wolves dispersed out in the forest, and she had to remind herself that they were not the serious threat.

The soldiers looked around the clearing and noticed that it was empty – or seemed to be, at least. One of them spoke and, since his words were apparently no more intelligible to his companions than they were to the hidden trio, he flipped up the visor on his helmet. "Looks like they all scampered inside the temple."

Other soldiers followed his example so they could discuss what to do next.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

"Think we can get through?"

"Are you kidding? How do you suggest we do that, huh?"

"We tore down that other barrier, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but that was hard work."

"Suck it up!"

"Go to hell!"

"Shut up, all of you," said a man who seemed to be in charge. The arguing soldiers became more subdued, though two of them exchanged hostile glares when their leader turned to look around the clearing. They snapped back to attention when he started speaking again.

"We don't know what kinds of traps they might have laid out before they holed up. I don't want to be caught by surprise, is that clear? Before we start worrying about that temple we're going to secure this place. Check through and through for anything slightly suspicious. In the meantime, our friends can just settle down inside. If worse comes to worse, we'll have a good old-fashioned siege on our hands, and we know how to handle that."

There was some laughter among the men, and they set out to their task with more enthusiasm and camaraderie than before. Two men were walking closer and closer to Sakura, Kurogane, and Tomoyo, but there was nothing they could do but wait and hope.

One of the approaching soldiers tripped, and the other reached out to steady him. "Looks like you found one of the 'dangerous traps' the enemy left behind, eh?" he laughed, slapping his partner on the back. "Maybe you oughta take off that helmet; you're klutzy enough when you can actually see what you're doing."

The first soldier nodded and reached up with one hand to flip up his visor.

Sakura, in her surprise, leaned forward a fraction of an inch.

She froze in place the second she realized what she had done, but it was already too late. The soldier had seen her, she knew it. His eyes immediately focused in on where she was, although once she had stopped moving she had once again become invisible to him. The shock on his face perfectly matched her own shock.

Syaoran.

But not Syaoran, really – just a doppelganger. The real Syaoran was locked up in the temple, safe and out of sight; and yet, though she knew that, for one moment when she saw his face she forgot it was not her friend that was standing a few feet away.

This boy was an enemy.

"Huh? Syaoran-kun, what's up? You look like you've seen a ghost." The other soldier had been teasing Syaoran and therefore facing away from Sakura. He hadn't seen...but it didn't matter. She had already messed up.

"Whoa, you don't really sense a trap, do you?" the second soldier continued when Syaoran didn't answer him immediately. "I was pretty sure the big man was just being paranoid when he said that..."

"What? No, sorry," Syaoran shook his head and murmured. "I was just, ah, thinking about something."

"What?" the soldier asked, suspiciously.

Syaoran just shook his head again. "Nothing important. When I tripped just now, it made me think of that one time, the day after the battle at Tansav – "

The soldier laughed. "Ah man, I remember that! That was absolutely priceless. How drunk were you that day, anyway?"

Syaoran laughed, too, and turned around. "Not as drunk as you were."

"I was not drunk!" his friend protested, and the two walked away from the spot where three people were sitting still and trying to contain their emotions.

For a moment, it seemed like they were going to get out of this alright.

All the soldiers began drifting back to their commander, who became increasingly agitated with every report he was given. "You idiots are missing something," he yelled, "I can feel it!"

"Sir, there's nothing here," one of the soldiers tried explaining to him. "They're in the temple and they probably just didn't have time to set any traps or anything."

"You pathetic excuses for men are going to get yourselves all killed someday, but it isn't going to be today," the leader growled, "because I'm not gonna die for your stupidity. There. Is. Something. In this clearing."

"Er, sir, no disrespect meant, but if that's the case, why can't we detect it?" one particularly brave, or dim, soldier pointed out.

"Because you are blind, lazy, stupid, and the worst soldiers to ever put on a uniform," he snapped, "and because giving someone a trinket does not make them a magician. I wouldn't trust you clowns to find an enemy combatant if he was standing right in front of you, holding a sword to your throat!"

The soldiers shifted nervously – they'd all heard this rant before, but no one was going to interrupt him. Instead, they stood around with the awkward air of children who have just been scolded by their parents, and watched as he drew his sword. He held it before his face briefly, muttering a few words no one could distinguish, and suddenly swung the sword around in front of him. Two of the more nervous soldiers jumped back, though they were already far enough away that there was no danger.

He didn't give any indication of having seen this; in fact, he seemed to be ignoring his soldiers entirely. All his attention was focused on the blade in his hand, which he was now holding parallel to the ground. He moved, very slowly, taking one step forward, turning slightly, taking a few more steps and turning about forty degrees, so that he was facing directly towards Kurogane, Sakura, and Tomoyo.

"Nothing here?" the man sneered at his soldiers, who still looked at a loss. He turned back and looked at a spot a few feet above the head of the priestess, who was wondering what the odds were that one of the few magicians who knew that revealing spell would have been sent on this mission. "You can show yourself, peasant," he called out, "I know you are there, and I can tear down that pretty little charm of yours in a heartbeat."

He wasn't bluffing, exactly; he could dismantle the hiding spell, but it would take a lot of work and time. He simply wanted to make the enemy do the hard work for him. Tomoyo suspected as much, but she had two good reasons to want to prevent him from removing her enchantment. Praying for the wellbeing of her companions, she stood and stepped outside the protective circle, becoming immediately visible to ten very shocked soldiers and their smug leader.

"Well, what do you know," he bragged, lowering his sword. "It's their precious village priestess. Looks like your goddess wasn't doing such a good job of protecting you, hm?"

Tomoyo wasn't intimidated by his sneer, or by the other soldiers who promptly drew their own swords and moved to form a circle around her. She stood as regally as any queen and spoke with her customary calm. "This place is sacred. Whatever you plan to do, let us leave first."

"Not so fast, little girl. We're not leaving here until your friends come out of hiding."

"My friends? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play stupid, girl. The ones hiding in the temple."

Tomoyo's expression changed to one of surprise and horror. "Inside the temple? You aren't suggesting anyone would enter the holy temple of Yuna!"

The leader was a bit taken aback by this response. "...Yes?"

The priestess, despite her short stature, managed to look down at him disapprovingly. "If you were not a barbarian, you would know that entering that place would be sacrilege."

"Well then why did those shields go up?"

She managed to express, without words, that his need to ask that question demonstrated he was the stupidest creature to live. "To stop you heathens from defiling the temple, of course."

Either her very convincing acting skills or his anger prevented him from questioning the legitimacy of her claim. That did not, unfortunately, mean that he was an idiot. "Shut up," he growled. "I don't know where they are, but you have allies hiding here somewhere, and I will tear the forest apart to find them!"

Thoughts were racing through Kurogane's head. The need to protect his companions in the temple. The strange loyalty he owed to this woman who was, and yet was not, his princess. The willingness to sacrifice himself, to come out of hiding, so that Sakura could stay safe.

He could not be expected to know that Sakura was having the exact same thoughts, or that she would make her decision at the same moment that he did. Both stepped forward, glancing at each other with shock, but it was too late to go back now. Already soldiers, who were quickly getting used to the idea of people appearing out of thin air, were rushing toward the rather intimidating ninja.

Kurogane glanced at Tomoyo, who interpreted the question in his gaze and shook her head. He wasn't happy with that answer, but he didn't attempt to fight off the soldier either. One of them took his sword and two others grabbed him by the arms.

What's going to happen, a distressed Sakura thought.

We'll get out of this, Sakura-chan, I promise.

Her eyes widened and she gasped a little. The soldiers seemed to think this was from fear at being caught, but in truth it was surprise at hearing that voice in her head.

Tomoyo-san? she thought, feeling a little silly about addressing the priestess in her thoughts.

Sakura looked over at Tomoyo, who didn't seem to notice but had her gaze fixed on the lead soldier. She did, however, answer. Yes, it's me.

How?

Her voice was joyful even though her outward demeanor remained serious. It's because you helped me with the ceremony, she explained. We have a link between us now.

Two soldiers snatched Sakura and twisted her arms around behind her. Despite her attempts at stoicism, she still had to flinch slightly at the sudden pain. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the soldier who looked like Syaoran flinch slightly, too.

The leader thought that more caution must be taken with Tomoyo. He placed a hand on her neck and chanted something. The off-worlders did not know what it meant, but it sounded unpleasant. When he had finished, he smiled in a predatorily sort of way. "Try using magic without your voice, little girl," he taunted.

Did he really take away your voice? Sakura asked urgently.

Yes, though it's only a temporary procedure.

But you can still use magic, can't you?

No. Not magic like you mean.

Then what?

One does not need words to speak to Yuna.

It was not as reassuring a comment as Tomoyo apparently thought it would be, but it would have to do. The soldiers pushed their captives to get them walking forward, and didn't seem to think that the pace Sakura set was fast enough. They marched very rapidly and did not even slow down when they were out of the clearing, as she had expected them too. She was being half-dragged, and the pain that caused in her arms and shoulders was excruciating. She had to focus hard just to walk without stumbling and not let her pain show, and she was too distracted to speak with Tomoyo, or to notice the odd expression on the face of the familiar looking boy.

AN: Wow, I suck. Last time I posted I was wishing y'all merry Christmas. Now it's Easter. What can I say except that I'm sorry? There was this...weird family issue that sprang up, then finals, and then all my teachers decided that they wanted to make my last semester of high school as FUN as possible by assigning backbreaking amounts of work. Writing, well, just got pushed to the side, and by the time I came back to it, it had been awhile since I'd really been actively interested in Tsubasa, which made it hard to jump back in. (Wait, who's this "Syaoran" person again?).

HOWEVER (and take this with a grain of salt cause we all know what poor planning skills I have when it comes to writing) this story might be wrapped up in a few more chapters. Thank you for your patience and if anyone is still reading this story, please review and let me know how it turned out.