XVI. Brightness
Seishiro had wandered into the country of Clow by accident – from what he knew about it, there was not much to be found out there. It seemed very peaceful, simple, teeming with sand and hot temperatures, not a place anyone would normally venture, especially those of the blood drinking variety.
So far he hadn't seen any leads to go from, nor had he met the right people to ask.
But one day, he was walking into town where he came across an unusual scene – a group of hoodlums, no more than five, was ganging up against a boy who couldn't have been older than ten.
After a book.
"You hand that book over now, kid." The big man of the group boomed.
The boy was clutching the book against his chest – clearly it meant something to him.
"Look, this isn't yours, it's for my father. You can't have it Ok – just leave me alone!"
Another thug, a wiry one, spoke. "We'll leave you alone after you hand over the book. Now come here!"
Before the thug could lay one finger on the boy's head, Seishiro stepped in, easily throwing the hoodlum over and on his back. More charged in, though this proved little help as Seishiro did away with the group without even breaking a sweat, without even moving an inch.
It had gotten so easy these days, to revel in his superiority over others.
The boy's eyes widened, astonished at the stranger's valiance.
Seishiro took a few steps toward him, noticing the shine of the boy's eyes – they mirrored innocence, a naïveté that he had never gotten the chance to experience.
"Thank you for rescuing me, sir."
"There's no need to thank me, kid - Although I would like to see that book."
The boy clutched the book tighter now, his brows furrowed, a cautious nature replacing the innocence in his brown orbs.
"I'm not trying to steal it. I simply want to see what it says and I swear I'll give it back to you."
There was another pause. Seishiro scanned the book's spine, and without letting it show, a realization came to him.
"That's quite a book. I've heard that it talks about creatures that drink people's blood."
This seemed to pique the boy's interest. "Yeah I've heard of them – they're called vampires."
"You're smart, aren't you?"
"I read about them in one of the books my father has. But it's just a story – they don't exist."
"Actually they do exist. I've seen them myself."
A look of alarm crosses the boy's face.
"The truth is, I'm hunting vampires. Two mean ones in particular."
For a reason unknown to him until later, Seishiro felt almost relieved saying this out loud. It was good to let someone other than himself know of his plan, the one of many goals for his journey.
The boy grows more curious as he presses on. "Is that why you want to look it, so you can find them? Will this book help you track them down?"
As expected.
Calmly, Seishiro replies, "I'm not sure yet. Hopefully. I have to see it to know for certain."
The young boy pauses for another moment, taking in the new information. He extends the book out. "Take it."
The boy's generosity didn't surprise him. "You sure about that? How can you trust me though – what if I don't give it back? I could be just another bandit telling stories in order to steal it."
"I don't know if I can trust you or not, you could be just trying to steal it..." The veil of distrust suddenly vanishes from the boy's eyes. "But still, you helped me without knowing me, so I'm going to help you and this book is the only thing I have to give."
Seishiro smiled, his eyes narrowed, a feeling of satisfaction washing over him.
Later that night, he and the boy were perched on a rocky barrier near the edge of the city, the aged book open in his lap. The task of reading it so far had not been an easy one.
He sighed; addle frustration subtly permeating his voice. "I can't understand a word of this. It's like it was written in a different language or something."
"Yeah, my dad said that it was written in an old-style script that no one uses anymore." The boy replied with a sense of knowledge to his words.
Seishiro chuckled to himself, irony the only word he could think of to describe the situation. "Great, so now I have a book I can't read."
The boy looked puzzled. "You're not actually from this country, are you?"
Seishiro turned to the younger one. "No I'm not, and neither are you. Correct?"
"Ok, so where are you really from then?"
Reflectively, the black-haired man closed his eyes. "Somewhere…" Opening them, brightness flashes against his right eye. "…that's very far away."
The boy look startled. "Your right eye…"
Knowing this, Seishiro replied, "Yes. It's like yours."
"How do you know that?"
"I watched as you were running from those men earlier. You have to know what to look for."
There is a brief pause as Seishiro looks at the little one, his right hand near his right eye. He is suddenly overwhelmed with a brief nostalgia, of what could have become of him, what he had turned into. He also reflects on what the little one could become…if he strayed too far…
The boy breaks the silence by saying, "You were fighting those men earlier – how did you do that?"
Back from his thoughts, Seishiro answered, "Hunting vampires can be risky, kid. I wouldn't survive if I couldn't fight, so I taught myself."
The younger male seems excited at this, hope and optimism in his words. "I hope I can fight like that too."
The older male looked out towards the far off mountains, a small smile on his face. What was this he was feeling? For a moment, now he could recall being…proud of himself…of his own abilities…
"Are you going to catch those vampires you were talking about earlier?"
Slowly, again emerging from his own thoughts, Seishiro closed the book he was holding. For some reason this caught the boy by surprise.
"There's no way for me to know that. First I have to find someone who can decipher this for me."
The boy stands up, the sound of his footsteps vibrating in Seishiro's ears. "Well, there's me - I can read it. My father taught me the script. But if I help you - as a tradeoff – you have to teach me to fight like you."
The older male was stunned – his eyes slightly narrowed, and his mouth agape. For the life of him, Seishiro could not describe what he was feeling. At first, he could feel an immense gratitude towards the boy – it was something that he had experienced only once before, the very act of someone who genuinely wanted to help him without anything strenuous or humiliating attached to the deal. The other emotion, the other thing he couldn't believe, was the sheer act of charity that was being done for him – the act of giving. The boy only knew him for a little while and was trying to help him, despite the fact that he knew the man may be up to something.
And he was right.
Seishiro blinked once, and straightened up. "You have a name, kid?"
The boy was firm, his voice seamless in delivery. "My name is Syaoran."
Seishiro closed his eyes and smiled. "Syaoran – we have a deal."
Yes – there was brightness there, unexplored potential, like treasures buried deep in the sands of time, a hidden power within people being sought after, a desire long obscured finally being fulfilled.
There was no turning back now.
