Chapter 2: A Strange Discovery
(by Koushiro, added on 2006-08-06 01:13:59 AEST) [Discussion Topic]
“Ryuu-ou!” Syaoran exclaimed, “What are you doing here Ryuu-ou?”
Syaoran went forward to grab his hand. The pilot jerked away, asking, “Huh? Who’re you? How did you know my name? Excuse me, but I think this is our first meeting.” Syaoran hung his head in disappointment.
“Thanks Ryuu-ou, for the ride” Kim said, when they were in the air, on their way to South America. “Oh, and thanks for waiting. My friends here had to do a bit of shopping.” Kim added, glaring at Fye.
“Oh, no problem Kim, after you saved my entire plane from that heat seeking missile two years ago.” Ryuu-ou answered, shaking his head.
At one side, Syaoran whispered to Fye, “That pilot sure looks like Ryuu-ou, you know, Demon hunter with the broad sword, from Outo?” Syaoran explained, seeing Fye’s puzzled face.
“You think…” Syaoran started, but Fye shook his head and said “Nah, it’s not him. He doesn’t even recognize you, and I don’t detect any hint of magic around him.”
Syaoran gave up and sat down, watching the clouds as they passed, reminiscing about the good old times he spent with Ryuu-ou and the gang, about how they met back in Outo, and their dramatic separation.
Soon, they found themselves flying over the Amazon rainforest, strapping their parachutes on their back. Kim asked Syaoran, “You do know how to work these things right?” Syaoran just nodded.
“Alright, I’ll let you guys off here!” Ryuu-ou shouted from the pilot’s seat.
“What? Not landing?” Fye mused aloud.
Ryuu-ou opened the hatch and Syaoran could feel the cool breeze rushing against his face as he felt a hard push on his back.
“AHHHHH!!!” Syaoran screamed as he fell head first from the airplane. Regaining his composure, he opened his eyes and saw Kurogane free-falling a few metres below him. Suddenly, Kurogane disappeared under a sheet of canvas of red and white. Realizing where he was, Syaoran shook off his feelings and pulled the cord leading to his chute. He felt a sudden jerk upwards as his chute opened behind him, slowing his fall.
Carefully maneuvering his chute, Syaoran did a soft landing in a leaf litter next to Kurogane. However, to his despair, Syaoran found himself under his own parachute, frantically trying to pull the canvas off him. After a few minutes of failing to get out, he felt the chute slide off him and Fye’s face smiling widely at him, with a hand outstretched, waiting to help him up.
Moments later, Kim expertly landed beside the three of them, clutching Sakura tightly. She quickly released her parachute to avoid a scene like Syaoran’s, and took off her helmet, revealing her long, flowing red hair.
From the top of the tree came a small voice, “err… a little help here people?” Ron asked sheepishly, precariously perched at the top of the tree, with Rufus waving his hands in a panic.
Kim wanted to move, but Fye’s hand on her shoulder told her otherwise. She looked up and saw Syaoran bounding up the tree with amazing agility. After a few moments, Kim saw Ron fall and land up in a leaf litter, face down. Climbing down the tree was a dirty Syaoran, clutching Rufus in his right hand.
Spitting out a mouthful of dirt, Ron complained, “Aww, why couldn’t you have held on to me after releasing me from my parachute, and WHY COULDN”T WE HAVE LANDED PROPERLY IN AN AIRPORT?”
Syaoran just smiled and handed Rufus back to his owner.
“Wow Syaoran, nice footwork there!” Kim exclaimed, “Wanna join the Middleton high cheerleading squad? We could really use someone like you on our team, especially with that jerk Bonnie.” At that, she screwed up her nose.
“Uh, what’s cheerleading?” Syaoran asked, puzzled.
“Forget it. You’ll find out soon enough, if you’re staying that long anyway, I mean.” Kim said with a shake of her head, turning to her kimmunicator, she asked, “Okay, now where to Wade?”
“According to my calculations Kim, he should be right up front, oh, check your backpack Kim, I left a few useful items for you, Wade out.” Wade told her before putting down.
Even before Kim put down the kimmunicator, the crew found Ron sticking his hand in Kim’s backpack, pulling out a small compact and a lipstick. “Make up?” he asked, “That’s useful? Man! Wade’s standards are really dropping!”
“Laser lipstick and exploding compact Ron, read the labels!” Kim chided, grabbing the items from Ron, then heaved a sigh of relief, thankful that no one got hurt, “Wade said to go forward right?”
Kim started to move forward, walking towards the dense Amazon rainforest, when she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. Fye spoke up, “Kim, stop.” He said, looking very serious, “There’s a very strong magic hanging about this forest. Be on your guard always.”
“Whoa! Even Fye’s so serious today. Better listen to him Kim, he’s always aloof, but he’s a very accomplished wizard in his own right, and when he’s serious, it means something bad’s going to happen.” Syaoran said, his hand on Kim’s other shoulder.
Kim nodded to Syaoran and Fye, gulped, and then started moving towards the forest again.
Cutting through the dense undergrowth of the forest with ‘Hien’, Syaoran, Kim and the rest slowly inched forward, constantly checking for booby traps or any enchantments in the forest.
Suddenly, Ron spoke out, “Ha! Who says I keep losing my drawers? I went through five bushes and there’s not as much as a scratch on my pants!”
Kim hit her face with her hands and shook her head. They all moved forward again. Suddenly, RIP! “Aww man… Just when I thought…” Ron trailed off, suddenly covering his newly exposed yellow polka-dotted boxer shorts with both his arms.
Sakura flushed a shade of magenta as Syaoran and Fye started laughing uncontrollably. Kurogane, however, was unfazed as he just walked on into the forest, oblivious to the embarrassing scene happening behind him.
Without warning, Mokona suddenly jumped off Kurogane’s head, shouting “Mekio!”
Kim, Ron and Rufus stared opened mouthed at the cute little white bun with his eyes wide open as Syaoran, in a fluster, tried to explain everything.
“So there’s a feather around here huh? Do you think Drakken’s behind this?” Ron asked Kim.
Reaching for her grappling hook, she replied with a wink, “Only one way to find out! Ron, shall we?” She unhooked her grappling hook.
Ron reached for his too, and the two teen heroes swung themselves into the tree. From the bottom of the tree, Fye whistled up to them and said, “SWEET!”
After a few moments, Syaoran and Kurogane began to climb the tree Kim was standing in, with Fye and Sakura rooting for the two of them at the bottom of the tree.
When the four of them were up in the tree, and Ron’s trousers securely fastened, they poked their heads out of the crown of the tree, and Syaoran let out a gasp, as he saw what was so familiar to him, the place where it all began, the start of this incredible journey: the ruins of Clow Country.
The sight was so familiar to him, yet it seemed so distant, like a dream he just couldn’t wake up from. Reeling from the strange discovery, he mouthed to himself, “No. It can’t be! What’s it doing here? Is Clow related to this realm?”
Kim was the first to notice the paleness of Syaoran’s face. “Is everything alright Syaoran?” she asked, voice full of concern. Shaking off his doubts, Syaoran looked down, but nodded.
To be continued…
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