"Chapter 6"
"Kero!"
After a pause, Tomoyo's voice echoed my thought. She was yelling "Syaoran" before I shimmied up the gall to call out for the harsh warrior.
Our only answer was absolute stillness.
I opened my mouth to shout again, but Tomoyo's hand on my shoulder shushed me up right away.
"Hear that," Tomoyo hissed. Then, she released my arm and walked up to a wall. She nervously pressed her hand to the brown vines and waited. I held my breath the whole time she bravely replaced her hand with her ear.
"It's Kero," she uttered. "He says… Find a way out without…"
"Without what?" I bawled, stepping forward.
She gave me a tacit look that meant 'shut up' and pressed her ear to the wall again. In the meantime, I thought I saw movement as if the wall was coming to life. Very soon I grabbed Tomoyo by the shoulders and pulled both of us to the floor, never mind her being angry at me for distracting her again. She would thank me for not letting the wall gobble her up. We both glued our stunned eyes, to the vines snapping viciously over the wall where Tomoyo had stood seconds ago. The walls were suddenly several inches thicker than the original thickness.
We were clinging to each other as we both found our footing at the same time. "We mustn't touch the walls again," Tomoyo advised. You didn't have to tell me twice. "It's best we start finding our way out. We don't want to still be in this maze by nightfall." I agreed one hundred percent.
Subsequently, I took the lead in our group since I was the one with the Clow Cards and wand. Tomoyo always stood close behind me in case a wall might sprout from between us. Not only did I fear being alone, I didn't want Tomoyo to be alone. Out of the four of us that were out here by the lake, Tomoyo was the least capable of defending herself. Kero was familiar with these Clow Cards and would come out fine, I hoped, even without his true form. Syaoran was probably even more vicious than what we were dealing with here. All I could do was hope that we might bump into each other in this maze or the other parties find their own ways out. I should not have worried about the others. Tomoyo and I had our own problems that I should have considered foremost important.
We practically walked miles and hit multiple dead-ends before I stopped us from going any further. We were at another dead-end when I turned to Tomoyo and whined, "There is no way we can complete this labyrinth. Let's fly."
Tomoyo went along with my plan, but the moment we would come to the ledge of the walls, they would rise higher. We tried flying faster, but that only left our hair wind-blown and us panting for oxygen. I gave up and brought us back to the floor again. Flying was out of the question.
Next, I thought of using water, but before I released the magic, Tomoyo pressed her hand to my wand. "You might risk drowning all of us, including Syaoran and Kero if you used that to wash us out of here. Trust me."
I grabbed one of her hands and felt something in her fist. "What—
Tomoyo placed a finger to my lips and brought her mouth near my ear. "I'm using my magic spool to guide us. It yields an infinite amount of invisible thread. Don't speak of it in case our trouble doer catches on." She twirled her pinky in the air and I caught a glimpse of the thread disappearing over her shoulder. The sunlight reflected a glimmer of the practically invisible fine line.
"Maybe you should take the lead," I said, waving her ahead of me.
"Sakura, you're the best leader among us. Keep going and have faith in your direction."
"I have little to no sense of direction," I grumbled as I led us around again.
It was starting to get dark and I thought we were finished for good. When I mean finished I mean literally being knocked out by a Clow Card. Not entirely implausible. Remember all those close calls? Well, this turned out to be another one of those close calls after all.
We knew we were reaching the end of the haul when we saw an orange glow up ahead. Tomoyo stuffed her spool into her pocket and we both ran for it. Once we were outside and in the forest again, we turned to face the opening. Where were Syaoran and Kero at? I knew they were still inside, so the only way to confirm my assumption was to return the card to its true form.
I did just that. I returned The Maze to a card again and added that to my collection of Clow Cards. Lo and behold, I saw Syaoran standing several meters in front of me, staring blankly at Tomoyo and me. Kero was floating right above his head and he greeted us with a smile.
"You were waiting for us?" I asked, approaching them at a sprint.
I slowed when I heard clomping behind us. Kero flew the rest of the way to meet me and landed atop my head, nestling in my hair. As he hugged me around my skull I saw that Touya and some of his men had just arrived.
"Here's your cavalry," Syaoran grunted without turning around.
"The Governor and his men," Tomoyo sighed.
Touya on horseback drew nearest to our group as the rest of his gang hung back in the meadow. "Syaoran Li, I hereby banish you from—
I cut him off briskly. "Oh, no you don't! For what reason?"
He stared at me, over the bridge of his fat nose. "For endangering the Clow Mistress and—
"There were Clow Cards out here!" I argued. "He happened to show up in the right place and at the right time."
"The attendants at home told me what happened."
"Then, you've misinterpreted the information sent by Kero. If it weren't for this man, I would be hurt or worse," I puffed. "Don't even get me started."
"A young woman should not be in the forest by herself."
"I was with Kero," I blatantly argued.
"You are always to be escorted by a human-guard. Do I make myself clear?" The man was livid. Today he would get his way or else.
I could take it or else. I defiantly crossed my arms and took a stance. "You clearly think you have dictatorship over my person as you do over De Ding."
Touya dismounted, lunging in two strides toward me. "Sakura—
Syaoran stepped in front of me, growling for Touya to stand down.
"Syaoran, step aside, I'll take on the governor myself," I stated heatedly.
"You heard the girl, Li. Now, step aside before I force you aside."
Syaoran stood low on the ground a hand stretched in front of him as if to ward off Touya. "Give me a reason why I shouldn't blast the man who threatens the Clow Mistress."
"You know as well as I do that Sakura is safer with me!" Touya shouted. "You live in the wild, for the love of—
Syaoran relaxed a fraction. "That's temporary, Governor."
"You and I both know that only I can provide protection for her. I plan to take her to Heaven Pagoda to speak with Master Wei Fong," Touya explained reluctantly.
"There will be many festivities next week in celebration of De Ding's anniversary. You plan to parade her around the people," Syaoran accused.
"Li, I know what you're planning. You were going to see him yourself. Did you think I didn't know why you stayed so near De Ding? I could provide Sakura a cover on our journey. The celebration will distract curious eyes and if anyone asks, I'll say she's my sister."
"You're the governor. Everyone knows the only living relative you have is your cousin," Syaoran disputed.
Touya propped a hand over his hip. "Not EVERYONE."
Syaoran went dull with silence, stepping to the side carefully. Immediately, Touya grabbed me by my sleeve and pushed me ahead of him. "Li, although we both have the same destinations in mind, I insist you go your separate way. Or else."
Tomoyo and I protested loudly at the same time. Above our shrieking, Syaoran made a vow. "Of course. I would never travel with you intentionally even if the Clow Mistress begged me."
"Syaoran," I started.
"Leave me in peace," Syaoran grumbled as he turned away from us. I watched his forlorn silhouette standing a distance in a stretch of forestry. He was impossible. Just like Touya and if only they both knew! Oh, they probably did know, but continually deny it.
Touya was a tight-lipped man. I persistently asked him who this Wei Fong fellow was and found out close to zip about the guy. Tomoyo didn't know anything either or maybe she was keeping it a secret, too. She excused herself early at dinner and Touya followed suit a minute later.
"What is wrong with those two? All I ask…"
"It seems like they're protecting you," Kero said thoughtfully.
There was no point remaining in the dining room, moping like a sop. Kero and I returned to my room. When I shut the door, the Sun Guardian immediately transformed. Not into his True Form, since I hadn't caught The Firey, yet. I mean his facial expression and whole demeanor that I had been exposed to at supper suddenly changed.
"I don't believe in protecting someone from the unknown by holding back important information. A moment ago, with those two, I thought it was imperative to act like I was clueless."
I seized Kero around his midsection between my thumb and four fingers. "Kero, who is Wei Fong? You do know!"
"A century ago Clow Reed was a powerful sorcerer among many sorcerers in the world. Like many sorcerers, he taught his magic to followers."
"Apprentices," I finished impatiently, "I know. Now, who is Wei Fong?"
"Precisely. These apprentices learn under a master. Clow Reed was never able to teach anyone his sorcery. He was that powerful."
"That's great and all, but who is Wei Fong?" I repeated edgily. I hate hearing myself repeat myself.
"The student closest to understanding a little of Clow Reed's magic was the boy named Wei Fong."
"Wait a second. Clow Reed lived a hundred years ago! How old was this boy he was teaching?"
"He was seven, I think." Kero answered.
"By golly, he's over a hundred years old!"
"I believe before Clow passed away he left something for Wei Fong."
"What was it?" I demanded.
"Hm… I don't remember," replied the Sun Guardian. Forgetful some? Oh yeah and big time, too.
Yeah, so, I'm sorry this chapter is slightly shorter than what I usually submit. The point of this chapter, other than watching Sakura catch another Clow Card, is to mention one of my original characters, Wei Fong. You'll get to meet him in person soon, so that's something to look forward to. It might be late in telling everybody this, but... I just wanted to remind everyone that we're still in ancient China. I'll try to make it clearer when the setting changes, so you don't have to pull a neuron to understand Sakura's storytelling. After all, Sakura is a bit of a talker, especially in the beginning. She goes off on tangents, but as she grows magically and mentally, her character starts to chill out a bit and her tendency to interrupt herself becomes scarcer. Some of the lightness goes away and Sakura gets serious. I hope that hints to the few readers out there of the pending and very very different sort of ending I'm going to give. Yeah, so it does mean I have a conclusion to this story. One that you will look forward to. I sound like I'm trying to sell this, which I am. Just want a little more reviews and feedback from the community.
Thanks,
MistyWing
