Destiny

Chapter 14

By Sakura aka Michelle

December 26, 2009

(Disclaimer: CCS does not belong to me. I only borrowed the characters to write this fanfic.)

Sakura was shivering from head to toe. The heavy downpour was making travelling extremely difficult and they had to stop a few times as visibility was bare minimal. Touya had shrugged off his great cloak and wrap it firmly around Sakura's shoulders, which she accepted gratefully for as she was turning blue from the cold.

Seeing that the rain would not be getting smaller anytime soon, Touya motioned for his sister to sit on the damp grass underneath the tree that they were seeking shelter from nature's work. Sakura glanced worriedly at the wet grass as she would definitely dirty his cloak if she sat down but Touya had settled himself comfortably on the ground and was pulling Sakura to sit down as well.

They lapsed into silence, not knowing what to say even though they have many things in their mind that they wanted to say. Sakura adjusted the folds of the cloak more snugly against her small frame and fidgeted, not knowing what to say to break the silence.

"I missed that kick," Touya said softly and turned to look at Sakura, who was trying hard not to break down in front of her brother. She missed all of them too. "I just knew that something was wrong when I see that women sashayed into the castle and announced that she was you. She doesn't even know who we all are! Where were you all these years? Why didn't you come back earlier? Otou-sama and Oka-sama were frantic when they couldn't find you after they came back and found the castle in total disrepair. They thought that you had died!"

Sakura choked on a sob and thought that Touya was blaming her for not going back to Kinomoto castle earlier and had indirectly created this whole lot of mess for everyone. "I didn't mean for all these to happen," Sakura cried brokenly as she thought of her father and lowered her face into her hands.

Touya sighed deeply as he pulled her into her arms, trying to give her some comfort. He did not mean to make her cry but somehow he had and he knew the reason why. His tone did sound kind of accusing. Irritated with himself, he raked a hand through his wind ruffled and damp hair as he thought of what he could say to ease Sakura's self inflicted guilt.

"Hey, it's all right now," Touya soothed, patting her back to ease her sobs. "You make me look as if I am bullying you in the eyes of passersby. Everything is going to be fine."

"It's not going to be all right!" Sakura burst out, pushing away from Touya. "I heard what happened to otou-sama! If only I came back earlier, he wouldn't have met with mishap! It was my fault! It was all my fault! "

Touya remained silent and pensive throughout all her emotional outbursts. "It is exactly like what he has said," Touya commented and Sakura turned to look at him with her teary eyes, a little red from all her crying. "You are pretty close to that Li brat, aren't you?"

"Li brat?" Sakura asked, sniffing a little and trying to stop hiccupping. "You mean Syaoran? Has he reached Kinomoto castle?"

Touya nodded and laughed at the recollection. He only stopped when Sakura nudged him to get her answer. "He arrived yesterday and burst into the castle hall, demanding to see the royalties. Luckily I was there in time to stop him from roaming around the castle wall; otherwise it may call for drastic measures and alert the suspicious ones."

Stunned, Sakura could only repeat, "Dr-drastic measures? What drastic measures? Isn't he a guest at the castle?"

"Indeed he is a guest at Kinomoto castle," Touya assured. "Since otou-sama met with an accident, Princess Sakura has been dictating over the castle matters and most undoubtedly under the instructions of the doctor. She explained that otou-sama has handed over the ruling power to her until he recovers but we have our doubts, for we did not hear anything from otou-sama."

Sakura gasped, "Are they trying to dethrone otou-sama? We cannot let them do this! We have to go back as soon as we can!" Sakura hastily stood up and rushed to her horse, which was tied to a big trunk of a tree near to the one they were currently resting against. She paused when she heard hoof beats coming to their direction and from the sound of it, there were many horses. "Someone is coming," Sakura told Touya in a hushed whisper, her eyes going wide.

Touya barely spared a glance towards the direction of the sound. He shrugged at Sakura's announcement and replied her calmly, "It's probably my bodyguards desperately trying to catch up with me; I left in a hurry before they can get every of my guards to follow me. I didn't even spare some time to explain to them what I have heard from that Li brat. I just took off like that. They must be worried sick."

Sakura stared at Touya and found that he was grinning from ear to ear and she almost laughed; he was not even feeling remorseful for making them worried but even seemed to be happy about it. She could hear the guards' distinctive yells for the prince as they rode closer to where the siblings were currently at.

"Touya-sama! Please reply if you can hear us!"

"Shouldn't you be replying them?" Sakura turned back to her brother and eyed him seriously. "They are worried sick about you. You ought to call out to them before you scare the life out of them."

"They will pass by this road sooner or later and find us right here since we won't be moving any time soon," Touya explained. "Besides, Yoshiyuki was with me when the Li brat told me about you. He should know where to find us."

"I found him!" A bodyguard shouted atop of his horse, waving back at the other bodyguard widely in the heavy rain to catch their attention. "Over here!"

Sakura watched as two bodyguards on horseback approached them and found herself amused by the shock expressions on their faces when they spotted their prince together with a lady. Only one bodyguard's expression remained passive and Sakura assumed that he was Yoshiyuki, the bodyguard who was present when Syaoran broke the news about her to her brother. They slid down their horses and knelt on one knee in one fluid motion, their heads bowed low in solemn respect, and Sakura thought that she would have missed that if she had blinked her eyes.

"That was some kind of chase," the bodyguard with short jet black hair exclaimed as he straightened up and received a blow on the head from the other bodyguard. "Ouch! What's that for, Yoshiyuki?"

"Don't be rude to the Prince, Takashi" Yoshiyuki warned his partner as he rose as well, frowning in obvious disapproval. "Especially when there are people around," he added and took a good look at Sakura, who was staring back at him with a vacant look on her face.

Touya noticed that his sister was staring intently at Yoshiyuki. "Do you know him?" Touya asked and when he received no reply, he gave Sakura a hard nudge.

The startled Sakura jumped visibly and then coloured deeply when she realized that everyone was looking at her. "I was just thinking he looks very much like the knight who…" She then broke off in alarm and she turned to Touya with wide eyes. "Are they supposed to… know?"

Touya shrugged as he made a move to stand up. "They would know sooner or later. Besides, they might have already guessed it from the way I rushed out of the castle after that brat came barging in. So, feel free to say anything you want in their presence, not that you need permission or anything."

Sakura nodded and told them the truth warily, anticipating their reactions, "Yoshiyuki-san looks a lot like the knight who had helped me escaped the castle when the rebels came attacking. Or should I say Yoshiyuki-san is the exact image of the knight and made them look a lot like twins."

Touya blinked and assimilated Sakura's words. "I believed that is his father. Am I right?" he asked, turning to Yoshiyuki for confirmation.

"That would be my father," Yoshiyuki replied solemnly. "He would be very glad to know that Princess Kinomoto is alive and well taken care of. I remember he was extremely grief-stricken to have no choice but to let Princess escape alone while he fought off the attackers. It was my father who has led the search team to locate Princess after the castle was secured."

Takashi was thunderstruck as he gaped at Sakura openly, the disbelief on his face made his expression almost comical. "Princess? If the princess is here, then who is the princess in the castle? I thought we only have one Princess Kinomoto?"

"If you had believed that the princess in the castle is our Princess Kinomoto, then you are totally fooled by them," Yoshiyuki snapped. "Our Princess Kinomoto is gentle and kind-hearted since young. The one in the castle right now cannot be compared to our very own Princess Kinomoto."

Sakura blushed at the indirect compliment that Yoshiyuki had given her. She was about to thank the kind guard when some sounds on her right alerted her. She frowned at the surroundings and closed her eyes to concentrate on the sounds of the forest. "Footsteps," She murmured after a short moment and opened her eyes to find that she was flanked by her brother and his two guards, all with their swords drawn. She turned fearful then. "Are the people there going to attack us?" She whispered but obtained no response and decided it was wise to remain silent.

The tension within the group was escalating. The men looked calm but the rigidness of their stance betrayed their expression. Sakura felt that she looked weak and puny being put defenseless in the middle of their protective circle.

Sakura almost screamed when a group of more than ten people came jumping out of the bushes in the dark with a sharp war cry. Her eyes widened when she spotted the weapons those men held in their hands. Their broadsword looked more deadly then the ones her brother and his guards held. She silently prayed for their safety and cringed when she heard the clang of metal against metal while the men fought to protect themselves and to protect her.

The men were closing in on them and it seemed to her that the odds were against them; they were simply outnumbered, not to mention that their group was vulnerable with their need to protect her. It was difficult for her to see in the dark but she was able to make out a cliff dangerously close behind them and if she were to look down by the side of it, she would most definitely encounter a dark bottomless pit. She shivered at that thought and shrieked when another two men charged at them and swung their swords around wildly. One managed to cut Touya's arm and he went sprawling onto the ground from the force of the sword. His guards flanked him immediately, providing some cover for the prince to regain his footing. Sakura hurried to Touya's side and cringed at the nasty cut on his arm.

Strangely enough, the attackers stopped upon seeing the fallen prince. They wore an aghast expression on their faces as if shocked to have actually managed to land a successful attack on them. Sakura stared as the attackers all looked at each other, wondering what to do next. Touya's guards made use of this opportunity to start their attacks, using the dull side of their blade to knock the attackers down and putting some of them to sleep by executing pressure of the back of their necks when they were caught unaware.

Sakura knelt down beside her brother who was struggling to stand up and join the fight despite the grave injury and the pain it had caused. She had taken a good look at the wound in the dim moonlight and informed Touya that he would need stitches for his arm as calmly as she could. It was difficult when she was already panicking.

"I can still fight with the other arm," Touya muttered as he stood up, his forehead matted with sweat. "Stay back!"

The warning came a little too late as an attacker emerged from the chaos and dashed at towards them at dangerous speed. It was as if time has slowed down and she was watching everything around her moving in slow motion. She watched as her brother tried to push her behind him for cover while his guards tried to stop the man charging towards her. In the next moment, she was pulled away from her brother and then plunging headfirst into the blackness of the cliff before she even had time to blink her eyes.

And the next thing she saw was darkness.

Syaoran rolled his eyes as he tried not to listen to the insistent chattering of the princess as he was dragged along by her, who was extremely keen on bringing him on a tour around the castle. Not a word of what she had said had been processed in his mind; his thoughts kept on returning to Sakura.

"The perimeter of the village is heavily guarded by guards on the surrounding walls and this is our first line of defense against intruders' attacks," the princess explained as she dragged Syaoran eagerly over to the parapet on the side of the throne room where one could view the activities of the whole village. "You see the wall surrounding the whole village at the very far end over there? That's the one I am referring to. That wall is much taller than the inner wall that surrounds the main castle though. Of course, there are more guards on the inner walls to guard the castle against attacks. So we are pretty safe in this castle. It was the latest addition to the kingdom other than the outer wall to prevent future attacks from befalling our kingdom."

Syaoran leaned against the parapet, ignoring the princess's endless chattering as he stared ahead and enjoyed the peaceful scenery just in front of him. He reflected on his short day at the kingdom and recalled the way the villagers treated him upon seeing him in their homeland. It was as if he had been living in this kingdom all along! They had shown no hesitation or rudeness against him, a stranger on a foreign land.

Suddenly, there was a big commotion in the hallway and many servants were running around frantically. Syaoran stepped into the hallway and glanced around at his surroundings. He stumbled forward as a servant crashed into his back, mumbling quick apologies before he ran away, continuing his shouts for one person. Syaoran frowned and turned to ask the princess, "Who's this Yukito-sensei that he was shouting for?"

The princess made a face, "He's the castle's only physician before Hajime-sensei returned with me. Seems to be quite close with my brother but he doesn't like me and I don't like him either."

"Physician…," Syaoran mused. "Someone must have been injured but this seems very serious to send the whole castle into this frenzy."

A servant who overhead his comment paused, panting heavily as she tried her best to explain the situation in the shortest possible time so that she could continue with her tasks, "Prince Kinomoto is seriously injured and that is why we need to find Yukito-sensei this urgently. The prince is reaching the inner gate and will be reaching the castle soon."

Syaoran felt the blood drain away from his face as he took in the servant's words. "What about his guards? Is anyone else with them?" He asked anxiously, shaking the poor servant's shoulders to get her to answer.

"His bodyguards are reported to be with the prince," the servant squeaked out. "There's no one else with them."

When the grip on the servant's arms was loosened, the servant dashed away madly, frightened to be in the presence of Syaoran. Even the princess was a little surprised at his outburst. "Are you all right?" The princess asked out of concern.

"I'm perfectly fine," Syaoran replied and tried his best to mask his anxious expression. He had to get to Touya to ask him himself if Sakura had came back together with him to Kinomoto castle while their group was attacked. Knowing Sakura, Syaoran knew she would probably try any means to come back to her own kingdom. "Please excuse me; I have some matters to attend to at once. Good day to you."

Before the princess could even make a single protest, Syaoran took off in a rush. It took him a while to find out Touya's location. His guards had brought him through the entrance of the castle using a makeshift stretcher, their expressions turned grim when they spotted Syaoran and Takashi left immediately without further explanation once he saw that the prince was in good care. Warning bells jingled in his mind upon seeing their looks and he paused when he spotted a figure kneeling over Touya's prone and bloody form. His alarmed gaze flew to the Yoshiyuki, demanding some explanation.

"We will talk later," Yoshiyuki said, looking pointedly at the growing crowd surrounding them. "After Yukito-sensei has performed the necessary emergency procedure here, we will move to a more convenient place. Meanwhile, Takashi will investigate into this matter."

A groan caught their attention as they snapped their anxious gazes to the injured Touya. He winced when Yukito applied some alcohol to disinfect his wound. He struggled to sit up when he saw Syaoran standing just a few feet away. "We were attacked," Touya managed to talk while trying to ignore the excruciating pain that shot up from his gaping wound. "They have her," Touya gasped brokenly as he sank back down. "They managed to get her!"

"What did you say?" Syaoran nearly shouted as he lunged at Touya to get him to explain further. Yoshiyuki stepped in between them just in them to prevent additional injuries on his prince.

"Later, Prince Li," the guard warned. Syaoran just let out an irritated sigh and started pacing around the entrance. "Takashi is investigating right now."

Syaoran suddenly paused mid-stride and turned to Yoshiyuki with a serious look. "Prepare a horse for me. I'm going after them."

Hi all! I actually started drafting this chapter on Jan 18 this year. To think it was only posted now... My sincerest apologies! Do leave a review if you have enjoyed reading this chapter. Thanks a million! Merry belated X'mas and a happy 2010 to all my readers!