Lilover131: HEEEELLLLOOOOOO. I'm back!
Cry of a Wolf-Chapter Forty-four: Hope
Everything seemed to stand still in the strange moment that overcame everyone. It was clear that even though Syaoran seemed to be standing before them, he was not really himself. However, the love that was shown in that single kiss was undeniable. Sakura was frozen in shock as the lips moved against her own, and the boy pulled away, his expression softer than it had been before she interfered. The girl's face turned red as her fingers shakily moved to her lips in disbelief.
"You…you just…" she stuttered as Shadow tilted his head curiously at her reaction before the girl shook her head.
"…Ehhh…never mind that. Where's Syaoran? Where is he?"
His expression turned blank and he stared at her with deep crimson eyes.
"Why do you care? That boy is nothing…" he spoke quietly. His voice showed little care for the well-being of his host and Sakura bit her lip in frustration.
"He is not!"
Shadow smirked and moved to grab her again, much against her will. He ignored Eriol as he stared and looked at them with uncertainty. What could he do now? Sakura was so close to him, and if he hurt him, he would hurt Syaoran as well…if he was still there. The boy leaned forward to speak into her ear.
"You seem so sure…well, allow me to inform you…he is just a shell meant to seal me…this body rightfully belongs to me," he whispered. His fingers toyed with her auburn locks, letting the soft strands curl around before playfully letting them fall.
"He is a foolish boy…you'd be much better off with someone else…"
Suddenly, a loud sound cracked through the night air and Eriol let out a silent gasp in shock as he saw Shadow hold his cheek with wide eyes. Sakura frowned and lowered her hand, her breath heavy in anger.
"Syaoran is not foolish! He's kind, and brilliant, and wonderful, and I love him!"
Her hands moved to grip his shoulders, her star staff falling carelessly to the ground as tears streamed down her face in a storm of emotions. Her voice was strained as she cried out. Yelan, although barely conscious, could not help but gaze in amazement at her courage and love.
"Give him back! GIVE HIM BACK!"
Shadow sneered in disapproval and harshly pushed her back to the ground. His fists were tightly clenched in anger at having been rejected. Eriol became very concerned for her safety, however before he could act, two familiar auras were torpedoing through the clearing. Kero and Yue flew forward to protect her, and despite Sakura's screams for them to stay back, they continued on. Shadow yelled in fury and sent the two guardians tumbling through the air and into the trees with a large gust of wind.
Sakura ran to them immediately after picking up her star staff, as did the others who had been trailing not too far behind them. Tomoyo, Meilin, and Touya ran in to assist until they saw Yelan's body a bit away. Meilin shrieked in horror at the sight of all the blood and rushed to her aunt's side. The Chinese girl cried hysterically and Tomoyo held her hand by her face in worry. Touya and Eriol moved to check on Kero and Yue, relieved to see that they had not been seriously injured, and Eriol cradled Kohaku in his arms. His gaze trailed back and forth between Sakura and Yelan, and his voice came out in the deep tone he often used when expressing the seriousness of the situation, which was quick to get the girl's attention.
"Sakura…"
Sapphire blue eyes stared cautiously at the furious brunette boy, who seemed to be glaring at him in spite.
"…I'm going to distract Syaoran for a bit…while I'm doing that, you need to heal Yelan-san…but be careful…it seems Naraku is back on his feet…"
Sakura's eyes went wide as she realized that the dark-haired man was no longer in the same spot he had been before, and it was a wonder how this had gone unnoticed by both them and Shadow. Sakura nodded in understanding, refraining from wiping away the tears that she knew would help the injured woman.
Touya inspected the white guardian, and Yue retorted with constant reassurances that he was fine. After he had annoyed him enough, Touya glanced to the angered Syaoran, or so he thought.
"What's wrong with the brat?" he asked. Eriol frowned and looked back down the unconscious wolf cub.
"The dark spirit inside Syaoran has gotten out…we need to help him get control back fast, or else…"
There was no need for Eriol to continue on with the sentence. All knew what was to happen if nothing was done, and the air grew tense. After all that had happened, to lose him now would be a true loss; the first loss that they would have ever really experienced. Everything had always turned out all right in the end of every conflict they fought through…but what would they do if things did not end as expected?
"Everything will be all right…definitely…" Sakura said. All eyes turned to her as she flashed a big smile. It brought hope that, like always, that her invincible spell would prove successful. With a show of determination, she stood on her feet and dug through her pocket for a suitable star card. Shadow watched her with interest, his frown still intact as Eriol passed on Kohaku to Touya's care. Before she could pull out the card to use, Eriol rushed forward with his sun staff in hand towards the boy. Shadow was prepared and attempted to swipe at the reincarnated sorcerer with his blade, narrowly missing his head.
"Get away from me!" he shouted. Eriol smirked and blocked each swing of the sword with his staff, a loud clanging of metal caused from the impacts.
"I'm afraid not, my cute little descendent"
He hoped the words would stir Syaoran within, but all it resulted in was a cry of anger from the boy, and he attacked with more energy than before. Taking the opportunity, Sakura pulled out a single pink card and raised it to the air in a swirl of magic.
"DASH!"
In a flash, she had moved to the other side of the clearing, where Yelan lie on the ground, and Sakura knelt before her, wasting no time to help her.
"Li-san…It's going to be all right…I'm here to help you…"
The girl let the remaining tears drip onto the torrents of blood, watching as some it of drizzled off to the side, stained in red. However, a light glow enveloped the Chinese woman, and she seemed to react with a small gasp. After a few moments of great anticipation, she sat up, her breath steady and much less labored than it had been just seconds earlier. Her ebony hair covered her face until she smiled up at Sakura and placed a gentle kiss upon her cheek.
"Thank you, Sakura-san…"
Everyone, especially Meilin, smiled with relief and with the knowledge that she was now in no imminent danger, Tomoyo traced her fingers over the blood-stained garbs before cradling her face in her hand with a heavy sigh.
"I'm so glad to see you're all right, Li-san…but it's such a shame that your robes were ruined…they were so beautiful…"
The girls giggled at Tomoyo's comment before turning back to the matter at hand. All had looked just in time to see the flash of magic being used between the two sorcerers in battle, and despite Eriol's known strength, he seemed to be struggling somewhat. Sakura knew it was time to help her friend, and before Shadow could hit him, the girl called upon shield to protect him, as well as the others around them. The brunette boy glared and pointed his blade in her direction, his teeth bared in rage.
"Stop! You don't need to fight!" she cried out. All of this fighting was so pointless, and she could not stand by while someone she cared about got hurt. Without listening to her plea, he sped up to her with intention to kill, and Sakura clenched her eyes tight as she waited for the impact. He moved so fast, she did not have enough time to react; it was incredible really. However, the impact never came, and she was shocked to see the blade not even an inch from her head, the boy looking quite torn as his hands shook around the hilt. He winced as if in pain and appeared to be struggling with whatever was going on in his body.
"This is none of your business! Stay out!" he yelled to someone who did not seem to be present. Sakura was very confused by this reaction until it finally dawned on her. Was Syaoran trying to break through?
"Syaoran! Come back! I know you can do it!" she cheered. Everyone around began to do the same and called out to Syaoran, hoping that in some way, his heart might be led back to the surface. The voices seemed to have a bit of an effect, and the boy's breath became heavier. Sakura's hand slowly moved up to touch his with a gentleness that would not frighten him.
"Syaoran…" she whispered. For a brief moment, she thought she had seen his eyes flash back to their usual brilliant amber, but all expressions changed completely as a familiar and almost forgotten aura charged in without warning. Naraku came in from the side, blade ready, and just as he was about to stab the boy, eyes flashed back to red and counteracted with an offense that was even faster. The silver blade that had been passed down in the Li family for generations penetrated through the man's abdomen, striking him clean through. Shadow smirked as a bit of blood stained his face, and he was quick to pull the sword out and send the man to the ground in a heap. Sakura's emerald eyes were wide in horror, and she covered her mouth with her hands in distress.
"You sold your soul for this? You are pathetic, Naraku…" the boy laughed as his foot came crunching down on the wounded man's chest. Naraku hissed in pain, but smirked even as he was quickly approaching death.
"No…" he whispered , "I sold my soul for her"
Shadow seemed angered by this and raised his sword in preparation for another attack, but Naraku did not seem fazed.
"Go ahead…finish me off…it won't do anything…I may be going to hell, but it's only a matter of time before you join me…you killed Himiko…"
With a scream of fury, Shadow plunged the sword into his chest and ended the man's life. Then, the body evaporated into dust and disappeared into the wind without a trace. It was if Naraku had never existed. The man who had caused them so much pain and torture was now dead. Sakura frowned, since she could sense that Naraku had once been a good man. Perhaps it was unfortunate that things ended in such a way, but despite that danger being gone, they were by no means safe.
Shadow was in great emotional turmoil, and the ground began to shake beneath them. Earth cracked and shifted as the wind gushed at painful speeds. From the ground erupted bursts of flames and lightning bolts crashed down from the sky. It was a terrifying situation, and in a way, everyone felt that this was perhaps the end. Yelan swayed her fan in a strong incantation and Eriol muttered his own spells, but neither of them were strong enough to dispel the disastrous power of nature that was being unleashed. Yue formed an arrow of electric blue magic in his hands, but was halted as a soft voice rang through his head as well as the others who tried to oppose Shadow.
"You can't…" said Kohaku, who was starting to come to. Although thoroughly exhausted, she managed to awaken for a moment in order to warn them.
"The magic being used is even more ancient than yours, reincarnation of Clow…it is very powerful and sensitive to emotions…your spells will not work…"
Yelan frowned deeply as she watched her son hover into the air along the wind, his body being shielded almost to invisibility.
"Then what do we do?" she asked. She would not leave her only son in such a state. No one could understand what had happened to evoke such feelings in the first place, so how on earth could they stop it? Sakura focused intently from the ground, watching with wide green eyes until she saw something peculiar. A single tear fell down Shadow's stone-like face and tumbled to the ground soundlessly.
"He's in pain…" she whispered. Without a second thought, she called upon the power of flight and moved into the dangerous gusts. Like before, she tried to speak to the wind, but it was in as much distress as Shadow, and it did little for her in the end. Despite the difficulties, she pushed through, ignoring the small cuts that began to form on her entire body from the painful slices of wind. Her friends and family called out to her in concern, but she was too far to give up now. Shadow stared in confusion at her actions.
"What are you doing? Are you mad? You'll die if you keep trying!" he yelled. Strangely, he sounded both concerned and irritated, and Sakura simply smiled even though she was in great pain. Her voice came out quietly, but Shadow could hear her even through the loud whistles wind and thunder.
"Because…I have to have hope that everything will be all right…I have to try my best no matter what!"
As she continued, Sakura knew what needed to be done, and she shakily pulled out the one card she knew would be her best shot. The girl pressed the card to her lips in a silent prayer and whispered Syaoran's name before she made her way through. Her arms wrapped tightly around the shell-shocked Shadow, and he gasped as the girl smiled up at him. A pink card floated just above her head and emitted a light that nearly blinded him; it was beautiful, but was a force stronger than he imagined.
"HOPE!" she yelled, and the clearing was engulfed in dazzling light.
Lilover131: There we go! New chapter! FINALLY! *gets to working on new chapter right away* Thanks for reading guys and please review to let me know what you think! I'll get the update up as soon as I can, so please look forward to it!