Chapter Fifty-Seven

Evening had fallen in the country of Cirrus.

"How close are we?" Syaoran asked as they sprinted through the empty streets. He would've been more worried about traveling at such a speed if this world had displayed any sort of threat. Thus far, he'd seen no indication of law enforcement, not even a local militia or neighborhood watch. If anything, the people they passed looked curious, not afraid. It's truly as if everyone in this world is a child, he thought, marveling at their wonder.

"It's a mile out," Seishirou answered, moving fast. After a moment, he muttered a curse under his breath. "Now it's moved."

Syaoran suppressed a sigh, stopping short as he looked to the older man for a direction. After a moment, Seishirou turned ninety degrees and ran into a narrow alleyway between an ice cream shop and a library. Syaoran followed without a word.

"Two miles now. Whatever it is, it teleports every few minutes."

"Think we can make it?"

"Maybe."

That's good enough. I've worked with worse odds than "maybe" before. He kicked up his pace, until he was actually exerting himself. Seishirou sped up in response, to lead the way. The buildings, mostly primary colors in this part of Cirrus, flew by as blurs.

They reached the end of the alleyway and shot across the street, almost plowing into two twenty-five year old men wearing bright shirts and overalls, each holding lollypops as they strolled down the sidewalk.

They raced through another alley, toward the other end of town. He waited for his teacher to say that the feather had teleported again, knowing it could happen any second, and likely would. But the words didn't come, and he pressed on. I have to get it back, he thought. For Sakura.

"A mile," Seishirou said.

We're getting close. Maybe we'll get there in time. They'd already missed five chances tonight. The closest they'd come was within a quarter mile. Syaoran had felt the distinct waves of Sakura's presence coming off the feather, had seen the warping of the air as the thing that carried it, whatever it was, vanished and reappeared somewhere else in the city. He didn't want to lose this chance, too.

"Half a mile," his mentor informed him.

"I'm ready."

Another minute of superhuman sprinting. "A quarter of a mile. I see it."

Syaoran looked up. They'd reached the edge of town, where the buildings thinned out, and the only traces of the childish city were the large sculptures in the shape of blocks and the silvery gates that belonged in a fairytale. It's a park, Syaoran realized, homing in on the feather's presence. It was so close now, he could distinguish the stronger waves from the weak echoes. His eyes scanned the grassy fields, trying to identify the source.

Dozens of birds had taken up residence in the park. The most common seemed to be the blue birds with crested heads. They flitted through the grass, pecking at the dirt beneath. As they approached, the majority of the small birds took flight, rising up in one synchronized movement. The cacophony of shrieking birds and flapping wings stabbed at his eardrums, but he couldn't focus on that because, as some of the birds took flight, their blue plumage flashed silver.

Magic, he realized at once. Half a second later, the glowing birds vanished from their place, the only mark that they'd ever existed in that space the threads of blue energy swirling through the air.

Once the first few birds disappeared, Syaoran got a clearer view of the others. Many of them continued to flap their wings, fleeing to the distant perches of the silver fence to roost. Syaoran stared at the remaining birds, trying to identify any unusual qualities. One stole his attention almost immediately. Twice the size of its fellow flyers, and with striking cobalt plumage, it was either an altogether different species, or an animal enhanced by magic. When Syaoran saw the twisting black pattern on its wing, he knew it was the latter. "That one," he said, pointing.

Beside him, Seishirou smiled.

"It moved," Mokona called, voice high-pitched with excitement as her eyes flew open. "It's close! In that direction." She pointed with her paw, leaning out of Fai's shirt.

Sakura glanced up in the direction Mokona had pointed. Her gaze fell across the grassy hillside between her and her feather.

"Let's go," Kurogane said. "Before it moves again."

Finally, she thought as she started running up the hill. Her metal brace clunked with each step, and the deep muscle cramps that had been plaguing her leg all day exploded at the force of her run. It surprised her to realize she hadn't actually run since before she'd received the crippling injury in Tokyo. It feels like so long ago. Like time really did stretch on forever in Infinity.

The others followed, seeming surprised by her sudden burst of energy. Her mind raced. We're close. We're finally close enough to stand a chance. For days, the feather had eluded them, transporting whenever they drew near, as if it could sense their intent and wanted to avoid capture. For a few of those days, they'd tried staying in one place, waiting for the feather to stray within their range. But their hotel room was located right in the middle of the city, and whatever creature was flitting around with her feather didn't seem inclined to stray within the walls.

So she ran up the hill, heart pumping hard as it adjusted for the exertion. Bolts of pain shot up her leg, like a thunderstorm had wrapped around her muscles and shocked her with lightning, but she pressed on. This could be the only chance we get, she thought, mouth opening as her lungs struggled to pull in more air. For all the sword practice she'd endured since they'd landed in Cirrus, she was still hopelessly out of shape. The sooner we get the feather, the sooner we can go to another world looking for Syaoran-kun.

She crested the hill, almost ten yards ahead of her companions now. She wondered why Fai at least didn't run past her. With his vampire body, he should've been able to overtake her in just a few bounds. And Kurogane could've done the same in a few more if he'd been so inclined. After all, I'm just a cripple.

Perhaps this was their way of giving her independence. More than anything, she wanted to get the feather back for herself, to prove she could do something useful besides sit back and win money in games of chance. If they'd noticed her sudden intensity, they might've realized how important this was to her. I don't want to be a burden to them.

As she reached the top of the hill, she took in the scenery below. She noticed a subtle shift from the strange architecture and brilliant colors of the rest of the city. Though this patch of land couldn't exactly be considered adult-like with the sculpted stack of wooden blocks standing behind the gate, it had a more refined air to it than the rest of Cirrus Country. As if it was built for a young princess instead of a simple child, she thought, catching her breath before staggering down the other side of the hill. Her leg gave out as it hit the awkward angle, and she tumbled forward, her shoulder hitting the ground. Her body rolled, the world spinning around her like the mechanical rides that had followed the traveling circus that visited Clow. Little jolts of pain shot through her body, none severe enough to cripple her.

Besides, I'm already crippled. She got to her feet, putting most of her weight on the good leg, and started running up the gentle slope that led up to the silver fence. She didn't even pause as her adrenaline-flooded body vaulted over the waist-high fence. I'm better at this than I thought.

Birds scattered, scared off by her sudden appearance. It reminded her of that place in Clow, where hundreds of desert birds had gathered to stare down at the edge of the city. Of the places she remembered, that one was the most exciting. She remembered bringing someone along, once . . .

Another memory I haven't gained back, she thought, sighing internally. She could think of a dozen people who might've filled that hole: guests from the palace, some of the guards she'd been close to, maybe even Touya. But none of those people seemed to fit in that memory, and she couldn't call back the face of whoever had been with her. Maybe I'll remember with this feather.

The cloud of birds scattered, about half of them flashing blue and teleporting to some other part of the city. Sakura had seen dozens of birds like them since coming to Cirrus, and from the way they vanished and appeared so suddenly, she could only assume that one such creature had gotten hold of her feather and had been evading capture ever since. There are a lot of them here. One of them must be right. She looked around, trying to home in on any that might have a fragment of her memory. Before she could identify any specific bird, two figures caught her eye.

They were standing in the middle of the park, still except for their cloaks billowing in the wind. One figure stood almost two heads taller than the other, and his pale skin contrasted sharply with the midnight black of his hair. The shorter one was of more even coloration, his skin sun-bronzed, and his hair a chocolate brown. If she'd had time to examine them at length, she might've judged the shorter one to be the more handsome of the two, or at least the more natural-looking. But she couldn't focus on that because even as the dominant part of her mind rejected the possibility, a deeper part of her quivered with recognition.

"Syaoran-kun?"

Author's Note

I've been trying to do a bit better job with describing the scenery in this world, since I realized my world-building has been sub-par in the past few dimensions. Anyway, if you're feeling up to it, drop a review saying if this world was better described, or if the description was distracting, or any other recommendations you have. And thanks, as always, to my loyal readers and reviewers.