WOW… this last week was a SLOW one!
WHERE'D EVERYONE GO?! Was it something I wrote?
I hope everyone was just on vacation…
Are you wondering about the lake and the willow tree?
It sounds VERY familiar, doesn't it? Ok- So
I had some fun with Fai in this chapter- (Sorry Fai!)
ENJOY!
JustaFanGrell
DEATH!*
One Dark and Stormy Night
Ch.8
Hoping he might find some form of mollusk at the water's edge, Fai appraised the shoreline nearest him. He noticed a large, flat rock that jutted out over the wind-whipped waves angrily attacking the shore. Thinking he might gain the advantage of height for his search, he climbed onto the rock. Peering over the edge, he was surprised to find an eddy in the crook of the rock's base. And there, easily within reach, were several decently large fish attempting to shelter from the storm in the stillness formed by the lee of the stone. Perhaps, he might be able to just grab them- they seemed to be within reach.
"Ha-HA!" exclaimed Kurogane, as the fire he had so carefully nursed along finally caught and began to crackle merrily, emitting little sizzles, wheezes, and pops every now and then as the water-soaked wood began to dry out. A broad grin stretched across the burly man's face. "Figures that crazy wizard 'aint here to see…" he grumbled, even though his silly grin was still in place. "Should be toasty-warm in here in no time." he said in Syaoran's direction.
Syaoran threw a half-hearted "Thanks, Kurogane-san." over his shoulder as he continued to do what little he could to keep Sakura somewhat comfortable. Seeing his companion in such pain over the girl's condition caused his grin to falter. Damnit. One decent step forward never seems to get us very far.
Kurogane stood up and walked over to the pile of wet cloaks. He picked up one and walked over to the wall a few feet from the door and hung it on a few stones that were conveniently jutting out a bit more than their neighbors. With a slight nod and a raised brow, he admired his handiwork for a moment before returning for the other cloak. "Ugh…" he grunted, as he realized how much dirt had clung to the cloak that had been on the bottom of the pile. He carried it over to the doorway and did his best to hold it out into the roof's runoff in an attempt to rinse off some of the dirt-now-mud that had caked onto the cloth, without soaking himself in the process. After the rough rinse-job, he did his best to hang it next to the other one already residing on the wall.
As the samurai turned around, his eye caught the look of despair on the boy's face as the firelight danced across Syaoran casting his flickering shadow onto the stones behind him. The samurai sighed a little, his mind thinking of a day not so long ago, back to a warm spring afternoon when the two young ones had happily chased each other through gently falling cherry blossoms in the fading sunlight, giggling with youthful joy. It had been a day of leisure, a happy day for all of them to just rest and relax. There seemed to be very few of those lately. Their luck seemed to have been accidentally left behind a few worlds back.
He walked over and sat down with a 'hmpfh' next to the pair, and leaned against the cold stone wall. "Good… I had hoped the fire's heat woulda made it over here, but not be too hot on ya. Maybe it'll help dry ya out some." A brief nod was all the response he got from the boy. He reached out and placed his hand on Syaoran's shoulder. "She'll be ok… she's a fighter. Ya know that already. Try not to worry too much."
Fai lay down across the smooth stone and snuck slowly towards the edge. He peered over the edge to see if the fish were still there. Upon verifying that they had not moved from their safe spot, he deftly reached out and snatched up one of the fish, surprising even himself to the point of almost dropping it. HUZZAH! he thought, as he cheered his own victory. After many more repeated attempts (some successes, but mostly failures) he had successfully secured several nice sized fish on a piece of cord he had pulled from a pocket in his cloak. As he arose from lying prone on the rain-slickened stone to fish, his hand slipped slightly. "WHOOPS!"
SPLASH!
Fai found himself sitting in waist-deep water next to the rock he was just on. GREAT. Just great. As if I wasn't SOAKED ENOUGH. He sighed heavily. Luckily he had maintained his grip on the hastily-fashioned stringer of fish, although the fish seemed very happy to have been returned to the water so quickly. Sorry little ones… no such luck for you today… although I am grateful for your sacrifice for my friends and I.
He was able to climb back out of the water and easily gain the shoreline, water flowing out of his clothes and finding its way back into the lake. At least I'm not any more DRENCHED now than I already was from this storm! That thought cheered him a little as he realized his friends would not really be able to tell of his awkward, yet brief dip in the lake. Well, they'll never know that the rain, isn't really to blame…
As he turned to head back and deliver dinner, the familiar and eerie feeling of being watched returned. He looked over his shoulder to see if he could determine from where this feeling emanated. The rain ruined all possibility of seeing more than a few meters. Interestingly, he felt the same presence from earlier too. Quickly turning with his catch in hand, he sought the safety of the woods and the path back to his friends. Just as he re-entered the woods, a fresh track in the mud caught his eye. That is most assuredly NOT mine. So his feeling may have been right… something was out there,and by the look of the paw print, this something was quite large and had rather long and sharp claws.