Chapter 10: I'm Almost There
Sakura woke with a fright when she felt something heavy land beside her head. She shot straight up, fully awake.
Ruby Moon had slammed her foot only an inch from Sakura's head, and the impact echoed in the shrine.
Sakura's weariness hit her again. She covered her eyes and took deep breaths to calm her heart.
"Get up." Ruby said sternly.
Sakura stood up slowly, her body ached from sleeping on the marble ground.
"I have another task for you." Ruby said with an evil smirk, which indicated that this task was just as impossible as the last.
Sakura only nodded.
"Down by the river there is a long grove." she began with her assignment. "There you will find a large herd of golden fleeced sheep feeding, there will be no shepherd." She paused for a moment, building suspense for the weary Sakura.
"I want you to go down to the grove and get me a sample of everysheep's wool." She finished, her evil grin looking very sinister. "I want you back here by twilight, I will be here waiting."
Ruby turned her back on Sakura.
"Now I am off to take care of my sick son." she walked away, laughing as she did.
Sakura was left standing there, staring at the floor and pondering the task before her.
"This doesn't seem so difficult." Sakura whispered to herself. "Why would she give me such a simple task?"
Sakura shook the thoughts from her mind and took the task's difficulty as a blessing. And with that comforting thought she left the shrine and started towards the river.
--
Shot was standing out in the fields of flowers, surrounded by the gardeners.
"She seemed so nice." Earthy said in a sad voice.
"What do you mean?" Change, the only boy, replied. "You never met her."
"But I've heard stories!" Earthy replied, tending to the rose bushes.
"She was wonderful." Shot replied with a sigh, he was sitting in the field.
"I know you seemed fond of her, Shot." Flower said, taking care of the tulips. "Then again, you spent every waking moment by her side, I'm surprised you didn't run away with her."
Shot was silent, he just stared out at the field, wondering why he hadn't ran with her. Then he remembered why. She was in love with Li, not him.
That's when something odd caught his eye. He stood and started walking towards it.
"She was a very pretty girl." Silent said in her silky voice. She was watering the snap dragons, and moving them to proper sunlight. "Master was a very lucky god."
"He was." Wood replied, watering the field of sunflowers. "They seemed really happy together. Were they Shot?" she asked, and turned to look the boy in the face, but he was too far away to hear her.
"Shot?" she repeated loudly.
He was sitting on the ground, staring at the grass. He looked very sad.. he was shaking.
Silent and Wood walked over to him to see what was wrong.
"Are you ok, Shot?" Wood asked before she was standing next to him.
Then she saw what he was staring at. It wasn't the grass, but a little wilting purple flower, far away from the other plants. Shot had tears in his eyes as he stared at the dieing flower.
"What's wrong?" Wood asked again, while Silent knelt down and lifted the little flower towards the sun to get a better look at it. "Are you sad because of this flower? It is just a little rebel, it was bound to die out here! We didn't know it was here." she defended her team of gardeners.
Shot didn't reply he just stared.
"I didn't know you cared so much about flowers." Silent said quietly, glancing between Shot and the flower.
"It was outcasted by the other flowers." Wood added. "We didn't notice it." she said again.
"I don't know why." Shot replied in a weak voice. "But it reminds me of her."
He gently touched the flower, and a petal fell off and landed softly on the ground.
--
Li was still laying in his bed at noon. He had the curtains drawn over his latched window, making a false night. He had slipped back into a depression after he had heard the task his mother set for Sakura. He knew she would abandon him once she saw the violent sheep. He didn't notice the young servant and a tall servant that walked up beside his bed.
They exchanged glances, and the tall one spoke first.
"Syaoran?" her voice was comforting.
The god turned slowly and let his eyes adjust to her silhouette.
"Hello, Create." he said quietly. Then he looked at the young girl. "Hello Arrow." he said and turned his back on his servants.
"You don't look well, master." Arrow stated the obvious.
"I don't feel well." he replied.
"We can't find anything physically wrong with him." Dream said quietly.
Create sighed deeply, worried about her master.
"What brings you here?" Li asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"We are here to take care of you." Create replied with a gently smile.
"How can you take care of me?" Li asked. He was slipping back into his depression.
"We brought you news of Sakura." Arrow said with a childish smile.
This caught Li's attention.
"What is she going to do?" he asked quickly.
"She has agreed to do the task." Create said quietly, fearing that Ruby would hear them. They weren't aloud to talk about Sakura here.
"She's crazy." Li stated sitting up in his bed. "Doesn't she know she could die."
"Master, I'm sure she will be fine. She will be by the river." Create said with a small smile.
"So?" Li asked quickly.
"Soooo.. the river spirit will help her!! Right?" Arrow asked more then said.
Li smiled lightly, that is until he heard his bedroom door open and his mother walked in.
"Oh, Li, that is the first time I've seen you smile in days." She said.
"Well, master, if there is nothing you need we will be on our way." Create said. She bowed lightly and moved past Ruby Moon and out the door.
"Uhhh.. Bye bye Li!" Arrow said and she pranced past Ruby.
She looked back at them strangely before giving her attention to her son.
"I was coming to check on you." She said. "Is there anything I can do."
"No." Li replied rolling over to face the wall. "I just... need some sleep."
Ruby sighed, annoyed at her son. She didn't say another word to him, she just slammed the door shut behind him.
Li was left to worry to death about Sakura, but he couldn't help but smile at the darkness in his room.
She still cares for me. He thought to himself. Why else would she do this?
--
Sakura finally arrived at the river. It was a long walk in the hot sun to get there so as soon as she saw water she leaned down and went to dip her hands in for a drink, but she stopped just short of it. She gently placed her hands on the top of the flooded water, barley touching it, causing waved to flow down stream.
"Oh Water Spirit." she said. She didn't actually know if there was one here, but she always wanted to be polite. "I hope you do not mind mine taking a drink from your stream." she said quietly.
She waited a few seconds, knowing that if the spirit didn't approve he would have said something, yet she neither saw nor heard anything. So she proceeded to take a few drinks of the water.
It was freezing cold, she could feeling it all the way down, but she continued to drink. She hadn't had anything to drink since the day before.
She continued this way until an odd reflection in the water. She stared, at first she thought it was the sun, but suddenly there were two of the golden lights on the water, and then three, and then nine. She looked up to see what was going on, and there on the other side of the water was a heard of fifteen gold sheep. Sakura stared in amazement. She couldn't believe her eyes.
She smiled at the creatures, but when one saw her it huffed and bucked it's feet. It looked very angry and violent. Sakura stared at it for a long moment, slightly horrified.
"How am I supposed to get fleece from all of these creatures?" she asked out loud.
She contemplated for a minute, staring at the sheers in her hands. The task seemed impossible. The river was flooded and the sheep were violent. They were bound to hurt her.
Then she thought about Li, laying in his mother's castle, sick and hurt all because of her. She closed her eyes and shook the thought from her mind.
"I can't stop now." Sakura whispered to herself. "I have to keep going.. for Li."
She slowly moved towards the water, raising one foot and preparing to cross the violent stream. She closed her eyes tight and after what seemed like years she slowly started to lower it into the water. Suddenly she felt something pull her backwards and she lost her balance. She fell on her bottom and turned to see what had pulled her.
What she saw startled her. At first she thought it was Kero, but it couldn't be. This creature was black and blue, not yellow.
"Who... are you?" Sakura asked, shocked.
"I'm Spinel." he replied flying in front of her face so she wouldn't have to look back to see him.
"Did... Li send you?" she asked hopefully.
"No." he replied. "I am the spirit of this river."
At first Sakura was going to question how such a small creature could own the large river, but she thought better of it.
"Why did you pull me away?" she asked him.
"You were polite." he said. "And I thought I would stop you from killing yourself." he finished.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"My river is flooded, if you would step one foot in it, it would drag you away and you would drown."
"Then how am I supposed to cross?" she asked, very depressed.
"Why would you want to cross?" Spinel asked. "Those sheep would tear you limb from limb. They hate humans... I think it's their smell."
Sakura could feel tears welling in her eyes. This task was impossible.
"Whoa." Spinel said when he saw her tears. "What's wrong?"
"I have to cross the river!" Sakura said covering her face. "I have to get fleece from all of those sheep or I will never see my husband again."
Spinel stared at her for a long moment, shocked by her predicament. He didn't know what to do or say to comfort her, so instead he just pondered.
After a few minutes he spoke up.
"I know what to do!" he said loudly, catching her attention. "The sheep are angry because of the hot sun. It makes their blood boil! But when it is noontide the heat drives them to hide beneath the sticker bushes for shade. When they are sleeping I can stop the flood, because they can't cross while their sleeping!!" he said triumphantly.
"How am I supposed to sheer them without them waking?" she asked.
"Easy. You don't have to! Their fleece will be stuck to the bushes and the trunks of the trees." he replied.
She jumped to her feet and hugged him close. "Thank you! Thank you so much Spinel!" she said with tears still in her eyes.
Spinel wasn't very good at things like this, he held still as she hugged him, but then patted her back awkwardly.
She let him go and sat on the ground to wait. There was a long silence.
"Why did you cause the flood in the first place?" Sakura asked to break the silence.
"Too keep the rams from getting across and attacking the humans." he replied simply.
"Why are they so angry?" She asked.
"I don't really know." Spinel said. "I just know that they get really angry when they get hot."
There was another long silence.
--
By noontime the sheep were all sleeping, just as Spinel said. Sakura stood at the bank of the river and waited patiently for the little creature to keep his promise. She had a gentle smile on her face. Only hours ago she had lost hope, and yet against another little creature has come to her rescue.
Maybe we are fated to be together She thought to herself it seems the very Earth I stand on is helping me get back to him.
She smiled at the thought.
It was then that she noticed the river die down. It seemed to stand still compared to how fast it was moving previously. Slowly she stepped down into the cold, clear water. When she looked down she saw a small fish hurrying away from her feet. She smirked and cautiously made her way through the water.
She stepped lightly, afraid to wake the angry rams. Their horns shining in the light just as brightly as their golden fleece. She walked slowly over to the sticker bushes where most of the sheep were sleeping and gently started picking the golden fleece from the tiny spikes. The wool was soft and hot in her hands. For a moment she felt really bad for the sheep. The heat was unbearable for her alone, she couldn't imagine feeling it through a think blanket of wool!
She stopped and stared at them for a moment with sympathy in her eyes, that is until she heard one snort angrily in it's sleep. She quickly, but quietly started removing all of the wool from the bushes. She moved over to the trunk of the trees were the remainder of the sheep were sleeping and she plucked the wool off of the bark. She stuffed all of the wool into a bag she had hidden in her robes and moved swiftly over to the river. As soon as her feet touched the cold water she heard something very disturbing, A loud snort and a blood curddling growl. Sakura slowly and reluctantly turned and looked for where the sound came from, and she didn't like what she found. One of the sheep woke up and was staring at her, very angrily. It snorted and bucked the ground, preparing charge Sakura quickly ran through the river and waited on the other side, but her quick movements set the ram in motion and he was charging towards her.
"Spinel!!" she said loudly.
There was no reply, and the ram was getting closer, and he was just as angry. Sakura wanted to run away, but her feet felt like they were glued to the ground. She continued to stare at the rampaging sheep, which seemed to be running at her in slow motion now. He growled and snarled, bearing his abnormally sharp teeth for Sakura to see. She felt her knees give out and she curled in close to her legs.
"Spinel." she whispered, rather then yelled.
Then she heard a different noise. The sound of rushing water. She looked up and found that the river was raging quickly and the ram was left bucking the earth at the other side of the river, looking as if it could breathe fire it was so angry.
"Sorry." Spinel's voice could be heard. "It takes the water a minute to catch up to me."
Sakura took a deep breath and then smiled at Spinel, despite the fact he was no where to be seen. "Thank you, Spinel." she said quietly. "Thank you so much."
And with that she turned around and started back towards Ruby Moon's shrine.
--
Li was laying in the darkness of his room, anticipating the return of his laundry servants, whom he had sent to get information on Sakura. Every time he heard footsteps in the castle he grew both excited, and nerves. He wanted so much to know about his wife while he is injured and broken, but he feared for his servants well being. If Ruby were to figure out what they were doing she would hurt them all and leave Li alone in his room.
She doesn't realize how easily a person can be driven mad by solitude.
Then he heard footsteps.
His heart raced, and he didn't move, he didn't breathe.
Were they coming for him? Was it his mother coming to punish him or was it servants coming with news?
If it was his servants did they have good news or bad news?
He clenched his eyes tightly and let his heart beat in time with the mysterious footsteps. They grew closer.
And closer.
And then they stopped.
He heard his doorknob turn, someone walked in and closed the door behind them. They walked over to the side of the bed and stood there in silence for a moment. He didn't turn, he didn't want to see his mother's face staring angrily down at him. Suddenly he felt a soft hand touch his bear back.
"Master?" it was Big.
Li turned quickly and looked up at his tallest servant, nearing seven feet tall, if she wasn't already. He was so relived to see her he nearly hugged her.
"We have news!" Voice said with a smirk.
Li stared at her for a moment. "Good news?" he asked.
"Good and bad." Libra said moving around Big into Li's view, and Rain moving around her other side.
"Which do you want first?" Rain asked.
"Bad news." Li said quietly, fearing his mother was near.
"Sakura had a run in with one of the sheep." Big said quietly.
Li was horrified. "Is she ok?" he asked quickly.
"She is." Rain replied first. "Are you ready for the good news?"
Li nodded once, fighting the grin that wanted to appear on his face.
"Not only did Sakura get away from the sheep alive she did it with a whole bag of fleece!"
Li didn't hide his smile now, but then a question crossed his mind.
"What stopped the sheep from crossing the river after her?" he asked, confused.
"Spinel." Libra replied. "The river spirit, and our source." she said with a grin.
"Yeah! He caused a flood so it couldn't cross!" Rain said happily.
Li smiled happily. Maybe she will come for me. he thought hopefully.
"Now then." Voice said. "We need your clothes."
"Oh." Rain pouted. "Are we really doing laundry?!"
--
Sakura arrived back at the shrine two hours past noon. She took a deep breath before entering the large marble building. Ruby was standing in the front room, sitting in a golden throne that her worshipers had built for her.
"You're back." she stated, annoyed.
"I am." Sakura replied sternly, with a smile.
"I thought those rams would kill you for sure." she growled, moving towards Sakura and yanking the bag out of her hands.
Ruby opened the sack and stared in at the golden fleece in disgust.
"I know this is not your work alone!" she yelled at Sakura and dropped the sack. "I don't know who is helping you, but this isn't proving your worth at all!"
Sakura stared down at her feet.
Ruby smacked her. "Look at me when I'm talking!"
Sakura did as she was told, forcing the tears back and trying to ignore the stinging of her cheek.
"You do not deservemy son!" she stated angrily. "And I will not let you have him without a fight." She grabbed Sakura by her arm and started dragging her to the back of the shrine.
Sakura felt like her arm was being pulled out of it's socket, but she didn't make a noise, not even a whimper. She feared of the punishment Ruby would bestow on her.
When at last they were in the back of the shrine, where no one can hear your screams, Ruby stared at Sakura for a long moment before smacking the princess so hard she hit the hard marble ground. Sakura stood back up and stared at Ruby, fighting her tears. Ruby raised her hand, Sakura didn't move.
"Why are you doing this?" Ruby asked angry.
"I love your son."
"You're a liar!"
"I love your son."
"Shut up!" Ruby grabbed her again. "Stop saying that, you're lieing! You just want to hurt him again."
Sakura remained quiet.
"You have one more chance to prove your worth to me." Ruby said, regaining her composure. "No help, you will have to do it yourself, and if your screw this up you will never see my son again."
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