Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Black Wings ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Black Wings

By: Aisaki Sumi

 

Chapter Four

 

A gasp escaped Syaoran's lips as he stared down at the frightened girl sitting in the corner. Her legs were bound tightly together, and her arms appeared to be tied together as well, restricting her from even the slightest movement.

 

She had short auburn hair with the ends of those silky strands barely touching her shoulders. Her face was delicately shaped, revealing an innocence that was rarely seen on earth, untainted by the ugliness of the mortal's world. The long white dress she was wearing complemented her pale, porcelain skin, giving her the appearance of an angel.

 

Her eyes, however, seemed mismatched with her entire complexion. They were emerald green, a rich, unique shade of green color that he had never seen before, yet they were icy and dull, dark with a stony grief, and hollow with a haunted expression.

 

Her face was solemn and sad, and her piercing green eyes were clouded with an unexplainable grief. Yet strangely enough, the gauntness of her face made her appear more mature and beautiful than ever. Her distant and sorrowful eyes and slender figure gave a hint of vulnerability yet mystery.

 

She appeared like a sullen angel, fallen from the heavens and misplaced here on earth. He had never seen such innocent and sorrowful beauty before. An enigmatic and placid aura surrounded her, distancing her from the rest of the sinful, polluted world. Syaoran felt himself drowning in such divine and exoticness…

 

“So what do you think of her Syaoran?” a voice interrupted his thoughts, snapping him back to the reality. Syaoran whipped his head in the direction of the voice, eyes hazy and lost. But when Eriol's smirking face registered in his mind, he quickly realized what he had been doing for the past several minutes.

 

His eyes shifted away from Eriol and landed on the girl's frightened face again, processing the information in his dumbfounded brain. “What were you guys thinking?” was the first thing that came out of his mouth. A deep frown formed on his face as his eyebrows furrowed disapprovingly.

 

“Err… we were thinking about you? And that's why we got the present for you?” Eriol sent Syaoran an inquisitive look, one of his eyebrows was quirked as the words rolled slowly off his tongue, tinged with uncertainty, while his sharp, piercing dark blue eyes watched his friend's expression carefully.

 

“A present?” Syaoran echoed as he stared at Eriol in disbelief. His lips parted as if he were going to continue speaking, yet nothing came out. He was simply overwhelmed by the information offered before him.

 

Silently deciding it was pointless to try to talk some sense into Eriol's impenetrable head, he let out an aggravated sigh and strolled off toward the abducted girl, his supposed `birthday present'. Besides, if this present was for his birthday, at least they should have given it to him on his birthday, not three days in advance.

 

He halted as he neared the girl. Her face was pale with fear, and he could see a faint trace of courage on her white face. He reached out a hand, but she inched herself away from him, jerking her head away from his hand as if it were some offending object.

 

“I'm not going to do anything to you,” he said softly, holding his hand out to show her that she had nothing to fear. The girl said nothing in reply, and he decided it was a sign to proceed with his previous movement.

 

He bent down, lowering his upper body to reach her hands that were tied behind her back. The reddened skin came into view as he loosened the tightly bound ropes from those delicate wrists. The frown on his face deepened as he traced the marked skin with his finger tip gently. Her hand flinched away from his touch as if it burned, and he quickly backed away.

 

She held her wrists close to her heart, her slender fingers stroking the reddened areas as if scarlet paint had been spilled over it. The dark shade red mixed with the rich pink color and stood out from her pale, silky skin, creating a bright contrast against its background.

 

“Sorry about this,” Syaoran apologized sincerely as he noticed her hands and resumed his task of untying the tautly bound ropes around her ankles. Damn it! He swore inwardly as he attempted to pull the tight knots apart. Hiro sure knows how to tie people up properly… the sarcastic thought passed through his mind as the rope finally fall loose.

 

She quickly retracted her legs and wrapped her arms around them, curling into a ball, frightened to have any bodily contact with the tainted room or his tainted hands. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he glanced at her briefly. Eriol and Hiro really did a good job of scaring the girl.

 

“I'll take you home,” he offered as he stood up. Looking down at her patiently, he sought her reply; however, it did not come. Silence was the only response he got. Syaoran held out his hand in a friendly gesture, trying to help her to lift her weight upward, but she refused the hand he offered in help.

 

One of her hands acted as a supporting pillar while she exerted force against the ground to slowly propel her body upward. Though still shaky, she regained her balance and composure. Her eyes glanced over the sketchbook that was lying a few meters away from her, a flicker of an urgent want glinted in the pools of emerald.

 

Syaoran's eyes traced the invisible line of her vision and it led him to the sketchbook and the pencil case beside it. “Is that yours?” he asked carefully, keeping his voice soft and calm, not wanting to scare her even more than she already was.

 

She stayed silent and unresponsive. However, he took as a yes to his question since it was the first time had had ever seen a sketchbook lying abandoned in their base. “Hiro, pass me the sketchbook,” he said, pointing his forefinger at the subject of his interest.

 

And Hiro, who was sitting on the chair comfortably a moment ago, grumbled something unintelligible under his breath and reluctantly returned the sketchbook to its rightful owner.

 

“I don't get why you're being so nice to that girl all of a sudden… besides, she a present…” Hiro muttered a complaint, eyes on the floor as he shoved his hands carelessly into his jeans pockets. His voice trailed off, but Syaoran knew Hiro was displeased with what he was doing and was probably mumbling his displeasure quietly to himself.

 

Ignoring Hiro and the way Eriol looked at him as if he were insane, Syaoran returned his undivided attention to the girl who hadn't spoke a word since his arrival, not even as a cry for help.

 

“Where do you live? I'll take you home. Take it as my apology for the irresponsible actions of those two,” he persisted, gazing at her almost timidly. Guilt reflected in his amber eyes as they traveled down from her face to her wrists. They really had gone too far this time…

 

She tilted her head upward slightly until their eyes met. She stared straight into his eyes, scouting for some motive in his actions, as if making a judgment on whether or not he was trustworthy enough.

 

Her cherry red, naturally glossed lips pressed together and she quickly looked away and down at the sketchbook he had returned to her minutes ago.

 

Flipping it open to a blank page, she ignored the inquisitive and perplexed looks he tossed at her and swiftly began to draw. He didn't have to wait for an answer, however, as she hastily ripped out the page and held it up for him.

 

Syaoran was taken aback by her abrupt movement and gawked at the piece of paper in front of him. He quickly realized that he had received the answer he was looking for. She had drawn a map for him.

 

A smile slowly made its way to his face as he cast her a brief glance, taking the paper and scrutinizing it. “Ah… I've passed this place a few times when I was on my way home from school,” he mumbled with a glimmer of delight in his eyes.

 

“Alright then,” he said with finality, and he gestured for her to follow him out of the room. He left Eriol and Hiro gaping at their backs in disbelief, their eyes hazy with uncertainty and doubt of their leader's sanity.

 

……

 

Sakura followed him outside where a red motorcycle was parked near a cherry blossom tree. She watched him silently as he went over to get the motorcycle, her eyes squinting in a natural response to the brightness of its exterior.

 

He signaled her to hop on, which she reluctantly did, careful not to have any body contact with him. He cocked his head to the right, looking at her doubtfully. “You're gonna fall off if you don't hold on to something.”

 

She bit her lower lip and placed the sketch book in front of her, which took up the space between them, and her hands gripped tightly onto the metal frame of the seat. He had probably meant for her to hold onto to him, but seeing her discomfort with touching him, Syaoran shrugged it off and returned his eyes to the road.

 

The engine roared like a wild beast, a wolf as it sped away. The brilliant, luminous light of the sun burned like an undying flame - a resemblance of passions - and its resplendency was breathtakingly beautiful. Sakura felt herself drowning in its brightness.

 

The hasty wind rustled her hair, causing the strands to flutter messily. She felt her eyes closing in their attempt to resist the violent wind that was threatening to tear her frail form apart. The howling gusts bellowed in her ears, deafening her.

 

“You can hold on to me if you want.” His voice blended into the roars of the wind, becoming insignificant, indistinct and distant in comparison. But she stubbornly refused his offer as she clenched her hands around the cool metallic bars until her knuckles turned white.

 

The motorcycle suddenly screeched to a halt, declaring the end of the ride. Sakura's forehead slammed into Syaoran's back as the motorcycle suddenly stopped. He turned around, looking over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow.

 

“This is your house right?” he inquired, casting a brief glance at the residential structure before them. Sakura rubbed her injured forehead and looked up, seeing the familiar house that she called home.

 

Nodding, she got off the backseat shakily, carrying her precious sketchbook in one hand. He tossed her a grin as his goodbye before speeding away into the brilliant rays of the sun.

 

She brought a hand up into the mid air, shadowing her eyes as an attempt to see through the blinding sunlight. Her eyes widened in astonishment as she saw something spreading out on his back before he disappeared into the bright light.

 

It was a pair of black wings.

 

 

A/N: Lolz, many requested for a longer chap, so here it is! Hope the dialogues and descriptions are balanced out, since I'm a writer who likes to focus more on feelings than words. And if you're thinking about this right now, no, Syaoran is not an angel, but Sakura thinks she saw his wings. :P You'll see how its going to tie up to the story.

 

Wanna a quicker update and a longer chap? Review then!