Card Captor Sakura Fan Fiction ❯ Set Me Free ❯ Salvation ( Chapter 2 )

Set Me Free

By SpringPhireZ

Disclaimer: Me own CCS? I really don't think so.

Summary: ________________________________________________ (fill in the blanks if you want. Otherwise, I don't give a rat's a$$)

Romance: Definitely a Syaoran and Sakura fic…and maybe Eriol and Tomoyo if I'm in the mood…

Author's Notes: I'd like to thank every single person who reviewed and am eternally grateful for all of your positive feedback. If anybody wants to ask me a question regarding this fic, put it in your review and I'll gladly answer them all here in Author's Notes. I hope I can update as frequently as I'd like, but unfortunately, I've got to deal with a major amount of h/w and I've got to make up for the D+ my science teacher gave me. Hey, at least she added the plus. ^_~ Science teachers, Math teachers, English teachers…they'reall evil. Proceed to the story - I seriously don't think that any of you want to hear me going on and on and on…

Chapter Two: Salvation

Sparks danced across the handle of the broom, catching hold of cherry blossom petals as a deadly fire began its assault, creeping ever so slowly to swallow the once-proud broom whole in its flickering tongues. Alarmed cries rang out throughout the cavernous walls of the Ruins, as fellow sisters hastened to witness the spectacle.

"By Mother," fellow-sister Feime murmured, her dark eyes gazing somberly at the broom, reducing to a pile of useless ashes. "They actually did it…"

A louder cry above all rang out, true and clear and filled with heartfelt pain as Daidouji dashed to the broom with coursing tears flowing down her pale cheeks, her dark curls whipping around her. "Sakura - NO!" She clawed at the remains, sobbing hysterically as she gathered the ashes in her trembling hands. "They burnt her…" she whispered, sorrowfully her deep amethyst eyes now damp and moist as she fought effortlessly to keep the onslaught of fresh tears at bay. Strong and weathered hands pulled her away from the vestiges, stroking her dark hair soothingly.

"It comes and it goes," Mother Zawa murmured as deafening wails tore apart the night, mourning for a fellow sister who would never see the light of day ever again…

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

My heart burned and ached with a limitless excruciating pain, smoke rising upward in a suffocating embrace, making my lungs burn as I coughed, my eyes watering from the billowing clouds. I could feel life ebbing slowly away from my grasp, only moments away before eternal sleep welcomed and overtook me entirely.

There were cheers and jeers from the crowd, taunting and teasing without sense of compassion, watching me hurt with gleeful eyes, drinking in the sweet scent of my death. I wanted to cry out - to make them reconsider their heartless punishment for…for…nothing…

"Just die already, Witch!" an elderly man croaked out, his eyes gleaming malevolently in the eerie darkness of the moonless night. A chorus of agreements echoed his cry as the searing pain continued to engulf me. Any moment now…

There was a sudden amount of murmuring, as the crowd parted in bafflement, the thick haze adding to their confusion as a thunder of hammering hooves struck ground in a wild dash. Angry calls surfaced, swearing profusely as a tall figure appeared by my side, atop a fiery-tempered colt that neighed in protest as if demanding to depart from this restless crowd.

There was a sickening sound as the metal of this stranger's blade hit wood, loosening my bindings from the charred stake. (AN: ::giggles:: If stake had been spelt differently the mob would have had a horrible dinner! ~_^) I scarcely dared to believe that salvation had favoured my life, as strong hands helped me atop the colt, waving away furious assaults by the mob as we rode off into the night, the crowd at our heels.

The cool wind whistled past my ears, refreshing my scorched skin as I slumped forward against this stranger's back, exhausted over this entire ordeal.

"I would just like to thank you…" I murmured as I shut my eyes, feeling the horse's hooves sending flint stones flying as we careened through an endless forest of foliage, leaving the crowd behind to adjust to this new turn of events. I had no idea - not even a clue, who this mysterious figure might be who had defied the whole town to rescue me from the danger of death, but I was eternally grateful.

Heaving a heavy sigh, my mind wandered carelessly until everything overwhelmed me entirely and once again, things became a hazy blur…

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

A lock of dark hair brushed past his midnight-blue eyes, behind the flimsy fabric that kept his features from view as he carried the slumbering Witch in strong, muscular arms, taking in her burnt and calloused flesh with pity. She had done nothing to provoke this kind of punishment upon herself, and yet humanity despised her for being who she was. In Tomoeda's eyes, a difference in their routinely lives meant a threat and danger to the world and all its regular joys - a Witch was nothing more than a deadly virus cast upon them to test their loyalty to the upper-class nobles and all their ideals. In their eyes, a Witch deserved no life but to perish in a town's hatred for her kind.

Kneeling by a trickling stream, he tended to her wounds with gentle, careful fingers, cleansing her with cool water to rinse away her deep, red blood - wounds that would always be a painful reminder of tonight's events. She turned her head slightly and cracked open an eye, murmuring incoherent sentences as she lay in tufts of grass, bathed in a tiny sliver of moonlight. It was only a second before he realized she was mumbling a greeting and not casting a lethal curse upon him, and he breathed a sigh of relief, leaning in closer to hear her jumbled words.

"Sakura…" she whispered, reaching upward to unmask her mysterious savior. Understanding what she was about to do, he deftly moved aside, her fingers grasping nothing but air, then fell limply to her sides, her breath low and even as her eyes shut tight once more…

With a last look back, he mounted his restless steed and galloped off, disappearing into the awaiting night. "Please keep yourself safe," he murmured against the steady, rhythmic chirping of crickets within the grass. "Sakura…"

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

"…it was quite a stir, Sir," Senior Officer Takashi mumbled as he stood before Li Syaoran once again - if Yamazaki had believed the noble to be absolutely livid before, it was nothing compared to now. Syaoran's amber eyes had begun to flash dangerously and menacingly and his mouth was set in one straight grim line, his hair tousled in aggravation.

"It wasn't our fault…really, it wasn't," Yamazaki hastened to explain, the other three officers beside him nodding their heads profusely, in agreement. "It was unexpected - yes, definitely unexpected…the darned man seemed to think himself a hero, the way he helped that Witch…yes…certainly a rather idiotic thought…and the mob - why, they were certainly no help…crowding around him like that so that we couldn't get to him and…"

He stopped abruptly as Li Meiling held up a commanding hand, tossing her dark odangos over her shoulder haughtily. "Silence, Senior Officer," she ordered, giving her fiancée a once-over, who was too heated to utter a single syllable, let alone an entire sentence. She patted his arm soothingly, enjoying the way his flesh felt underneath all that fabric, then snarled as Syaoran brushed her hand away brusquely.

"Not now, Meiling," he snapped, his frown deepening as he glanced at the pouting girl with an unwavering gaze. "We have more important things to do - apparently, there's a traitor within our midst…"

~ * o O o <><><><> ~ * ~ <><><><> o O o * ~

YES, I KNOW PEOPLE'Z, THAT THIS CHAPTER HAPPENS TO BE VERY SHORT, BUT I PROMISE I'LL MAKE IT UP TO ALL OF YOU BY HAVING THE NEXT CHAPTER INVOLVE A LITTLE MEETING BETWEEN…OH, LET'S SAY…A CERTAIN AMBER-EYED NOBLE AND AN APPRENTICE WITCH…oh yeah, and I am not shouting. ::grins sheepishly:: I just wanted to make sure that you read this bit. I really do promise that I'll make the next chapter longer.

Hope you liked!

Hmmm…I wonder who Sakura's strange rescuer could be. Do the words midnight-blue eyes and dark hair ring a bell? Whoops! ::sweatdrops:: I'm ruining the whole plot for you aren't I?

Better keep my mouth shut now before I tell you that Syaoran….in….with….Sakura. But that was pretty much obvious! ^_^'

Thanks for all the people who reviewed. This is for you guys, especially Evil Emzo and Princess Apathy, Kirei Blossom and all the rest of you. ^^

Sorry - don't have time to list off countless names as this girl ::points to self:: has h/w to do. ::cries::

In the meantime: Faith, Hope and Charity.