Rating: T
Genre: um...general.
Characters: Sakura is the viewpoint character, while Syaoran, Kurogane, Fai, and Mokona are added in for salt and flavoring
Length: 2765 words total. Not a bad amount, considering.
In the middle of the market square of the town of Mubai, our four travelers found themselves in the very center of the commotion. They were standing on a small wooden stage; bond together by long chains attached to their hands and feet.
"Alright, alright," shouted a barrel-chested man in long maroon colored robes, the conductor of this odd symphony. "Next up we have four slaves! Freshly caught and well worth their weight in Mubies!"
Mubies was the currency of the area, and as people gathered around the stage, Sakura could see they all had their hands on their pouches. Pickpockets ran rampant in this world, as she already had the misfortune to discover.
The chain beside her rattled. "Don't worry, Your Highness. We'll get out of this one, I promise." Syaoran smiled at her, the dirt on his face making his teeth seem much whiter than they actually were. His face was sunburn, as they all were, but somehow he still managed to look handsome. Dirty, yes, but handsome.
She gave him a weak nod, saying, "Yes, I know...," She looked around the crowd, at the other people eyeing her and gripped the chains tighter. They weren't especially frightening, but given her current position everyone in the square scared her.
"Syaoran-kun..."
"Yes?"
"I want to say I'm sorry..." She felt her eyes begin to water, "I didn't mean for us to lose those papers, really. It just, I never thought, I--"
"It was a pickpocket, Your Highness. It could have happened to any one of us." By us, he meant himself, Kurogane-san, and Fai-san.
But it wouldn't happen to you, she thought. You would have felt a hand dipping into your bag and grabbing the only bit of document that separated you from freedom. Because of me, look where we are.
"I'm sorry." She said again, more for herself than anything. "...I feel so useless..."
"It's alright--"
"Will you guys shut the hell up?" Shot out Kurogane's sharp tone. He gave the chain a good tug, making it rattle all the way down to Sakura. "I gotta hear what's going on, or else you can kiss our plans goodbye."
"As long as they don't separate us we should be alright, plans or no plans." Added in Fai. Sakura couldn't see him, given that in Syaoran-kun stood next to her, who stood next to Kurogane, who stood next to Fai, though she imagined his reassuring eyes looking at her.
"Right! No separate Mokona from others!" Mokona's small voice whispered from inside of Syaoran's tunic.
"I swear, if I hear one more word from any of you I'll kick you into the next damn dimension, no Mokona needed!" Growled Kurogane, his sneer directed at Syaoran's abdominal area where Mokona was hiding.
Syaoran was the natural holder of the dimension creature, given how slim he was and the tunic he was wearing was prefect for concealing. All the tunics seemed to be only one size only, made out of a strong, but very scratchy material. It was not so much a tunic as a bag with holes cut in for the head and arms and a belt of rope to tie around their midsection. The only one who did not have a tunic on was Kurogane, who wore only his long black pants, given that his upper half was too large for any tunic the slavers had.
"...these two are full grown, perfect for manual labor," the conductor walked from the front of the platform to where the four prisoners stood. "Come on now," he hissed loud enough only for them to hear, "make a good show or else you can forget about staying together!"
From the corner of her eye, Syaoran shrugged. He tugged on the chains and led the four of them up toward the front of the stage, closer to the buyers. The stage was surrounded on three sides by more than one hundred people, all here to buy or sell. It was getting noisier and hotter as the midday sun appeared overhead.
Sakura walked up, trying to remain as composed as possible. She hated the tunic, but the humiliation was almost unbearable. If it weren't for Syaoran's sunny disposition, she would have completely lost her senses.
The conductor moved first to Fai. "Manual labor is a good choice for this man, for he has strong legs and--"
"But weak arms!" shouted someone from the crowd. "Yes, those arms look small. Can he even lift a sword?"."He's not made for labor! Get him off!" "He looks weak, like a woman!" The calls and shouts from the crowd clearly angered the conductor. His large turned red and for a moment he looked at Fai in a disgusting way.
"This next man," spat the conductor as he pointed his hand toward Kurogane, "Excellent fighting skills! Prefect for guarding livestock. He is a large man, too, good for farm work."
"Let's see him then!" "Yes! Someone give him a sword and let's see him fight!" "We don't want weak slaves!" "He looks weak, too." "Ugly and tall!"
The conductor let the voices ring out their cries. Ever the master of the stage, he moved backwards until one of the stagehands handed him a sword. "You want to see him fight?" Shouted the conductor, waving the long sword around. The crowd shouted back their answers. "Yes! Put a sword on him!" "See if he can fight!" "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"Alright. Here, catch!" The conductor threw the sword at Kurogane, who caught it with gentle ease. Felting the hilt of the sword seemed to put Kurogane in a lighter mood, for his gave his distinct grin; upper lip cocked up in a smug half-sneer and showing one canine tooth.
"Come on now!"
Kurogane's eyes glinted with glee, and he took the sword into his right hand. Despite its heavy weight, the muscles in Kurogane's arm did not even bulge. In one swift movement, he threw the sword up into the air, making it twirl once...twice...three times. The sword, ten feet up in the air, was heading back toward the ground, with the blade headfirst. It dived for Kurogane's feet. In a moments flash, just before the sword was about to cut off his toes, he snatched the hilt and swung it around his back, catching it again with his right hand.
The crowd gave a roar of applause and cheered.
"YES! YES!" The conductor threw his hands up into the air, cheering along with the crowd. "Now, we have only one more to get to before the bidding starts."
Only one? What? Thought Sakura. But there are two more people, Syaoran-kun and I. What is going on?
The conductor, took caught up in his joy at the crowd sudden enthusiasm, left the sword with Kurogane and moved down past Syaoran, who eyes followed the man with a hawks focus, to Sakura.
"...And here we have the one and only female of the group."
Sakura felt the sun on her face and shoulders now more than ever as the eyes of over one hundred people looked at her, scrutinizing her every inch of skin they could see. The only thing to bring her any comfort was the fact that the tunic did cover much, besides her shoulders and arms and her legs from the knee down. Many of the people in the crowd were shaking their heads, some were nodding, and others were looking at the conductor, waiting.
The murmur of the crowd's displeasure grew, and the conductor quickly started his play on words, hoping for one last big sale.
"Now, my friends, I know this female is...well, ugly." The words stung Sakura deeper than she thought it would. "Filthy green eyes, yes, and sick-looking skin, but I can assure you, she is healthy." The conductor grabbed her arm and pulled her sharply forward to the edge of the stage, "Ah, but look! Soft hands! She is good for child rearing, and taking care of children."
A woman within the market shouted at the conductor, "Ay, but what can she do! I don't want my children around such an ugly thing!" "Yes! Yes! Haven't you got any pretty slaves?" The murmurs grew louder as the conductor struggled to keep the people under his control.
"So she's ugly! Put her out to the pasture, and have her work! She is a fast learner, and a quick runner."
Sakura wanted to crawl under a rock and diminish. It was horrible! Those things the people said! How could they? Had they no heart?
"Yes, she is unusually skinny. She'll live for at least a year. Look at her legs, strong thighs, no?"
The bidding started now. Various people raised their hands, though most did not want the 'odd' and 'ugly' strangers. The conductor was still in good spirits, mostly because of Kurogane's show.
"100 Mubies!" "110 Mubies!" "112 Mubies!" "123 Mubies!" "130!" and so on until at long last one man stuck his hand up and called out, "230 Mubies!"
"SOLD!" The conductor swept up his arms in a gallant gesture and made an 'X'. "This bidding is officially closed! Next slaves!"
They were quickly pushed off to the side of the stage, unaware of who 'bought' the four of them. The next group of slaves was coming up onto the stage just as a stagehand came up to them.
"Come along," said the stagehand, a young man with dog like appearance. His scarce facial hair covered some pink scar lines, Sakura saw as she led the group following the stagehand. "Your new master is waiting for you."
Sakura did not care. All she wanted was this world to be over with. However, she knew that a feature was still out there, waiting to be returned.
It is just one feather, right? After all, I have a lot of them already. What if we just skip this one and move on?
No, that couldn't be done. Syaoran-kun had worked too hard for her. She did not even want to think about his reaction if she suggested they skip this world's feather. As for Fai and Kurogane, well, she knew that they would not say anything outright, at first, but they were almost just as determined to find her feathers, if not more so. She felt shamed that she even thought of such a horrible idea.
The dog-faced stagehand led them out of the market down a beaten dirt street that was hidden behind the stage. As the shouts and screams of the people died away, Sakura could feel herself relax a bit. The weight of the chains was unpleasant, but now that they were away from the throngs of people, she felt much better.
"Mokona," she heard Syaoran-kun whisper behind her, "You o.k. with it in your mouth?"
Huh? Thought Sakura, turning around to ask what Syaoran-kun meant, but before she could even turn her head was interrupted.
"Alright," said the dog-man. They had stopped in one of the many side streets, away from public view. In front of her was a large, but overly simple, carriage. A big cloth covered the outer frame of the back of the carriage, with the front end open. "Your new slaves, mistress."
"Thank you," said a very feminine voice that carried over to Sakura like a breath of cool air. A petite young girl with raven hair stepped out from behind the carriage. Dressed in a simple dark blue robe that radiated her important stature, Tomoyo came toward them. "It was kind of you to bring them. Here you are," she handed the dog-man a coin.
Sakura watched Tomoyo's face for any hint of recognition. It was not the first time that she had seen versions of people she knew and, even worse so, occasionally had to fight against. Caution was always the best thing to have in these situations. From previous experiences, even a once friendly face could become a nightmare.
"Slaves!" Barked Tomoyo,"Get in the back!"
Sakura looked back at the others, who all had the same look she did. Syaoran-kun gave her a small smile, walking up to the back of the carriage and holding out his hand.
"After you, Your Highness," he whispered, bowing his head the slightest bit.
Feeling a blush coming on, she accepted his hand and jumped onto the hard floorboards. Syaoran-kun and the others followed in after, their chains rattling as they moved. The back was small, and though there was shade provided by the cloth above their heads, it did not do much to cool them from the heat. Outside, there were a few more words exchanged between Tomoyo and the man, then the clinks and clangs of a money purse being exchanged.
"Thank you," came Tomoyo's voice from the side of the carriage, and she moved then around to the back. The soft sounds of her feet shuffled the dirt as she came to the back opening of the carriage. She made a quick inspection, glancing at Kurogane and Fai-san and Syaoran-kun for the briefest of moments. When her glaze landed on Sakura, it lingered there for a bit, and Sakura swore she saw a small wink.
"LET'S MOVE!" Shouted Tomoyo, leaving quickly. Horses were heard being brought up to hook onto the carriage and then they were off. The whole ordeal had lasted only minutes.
Sakura wanted to talk the moment they began moving, but kept her mouth shut. She remembered how Kurogane-san once explained the value of patience.
"Always wait before doing anything. A rash action here equals death. I don't know about you, but I can't die just yet. So don't be stupid, else your cover is gone, and then you'll have me to deal with," this was originally said to Fai-san in one of his more annoying moments, but Sakura thought it applied here just as well.
She settled herself in for the ride, her stomach no more in any knots. Tomoyo is on our side, I just know it, she thought, thinking of the small wink the girl gave her. So, we're fine. In the end, this all worked out, expect...
"Syaoran-kun?" she whispered to the boy sitting next to her. Kurogane and Fai-san were opposite them, Fai-san already asleep on Kurogane's shoulder, or pretending to do so.
"Hm?"
"What did you ask Mokona about, right before we saw Tomoyo-chan?"
His face broke into another smile, "Oh. Mokona took the sword before the traders could get it back. One of her secret techniques, I guess." he whispered, his breath tickling the inside of her ear.
"oh," replied Sakura, distracted slightly.
She settled herself against the hard wood of the wagon. The journey had long instilled within her the notion to sleep and eat whenever possible, in case it was her last of either. Just as she let her head down and almost tucked her chin into the nock in her collarbone, someone nudged her.
Syaoran was looking at her. His brown eyes flashed to Kurogane and Fai-san. Sakura imitated his eye movements. Fai and Kurogane were both busy, one playing with Mokona and the other sleeping, respectively.
Syaoran lowered his mouth toward her ear once more and Sakura could smell his scent. He smelled of sweat, but it wasn't overpowering, it was a nice, manly smell.
"You know, Your Highness...," he started.
Yes? Sakura felt herself ask, his mouth visible just from the corner of her eye.
He seemed embarrassed to say what he wanted to, or so Sakura fantasized.
"Your Highness, I just wanted to say, and I hope it is not out of line," he paused again, his lips parted for a intake of hot air, "...that you're beautiful."
"What?" Her heart was beating up against her chest, growing loud and faster within her.
"I felt horrible when you were up on the stage, and I just wanted to let you know that no matter what world we land in, to me...and to your people of Clow, you are beautiful."
The pause between his words, she wondered, was that deliberate, or did he mean everything he just said? Sakura's mind whirled around long after Syaoran moved his mouth away from her ear and fell asleep soon after. As she put her head down on his shoulder, her thoughts turned towards beauty and she wondered what other kinds of beauty were there to be seen on this trip.
I don't really care anymore, realized Sakura, touching Syaoran's arm as she closed her eyes. I have one person who thinks I'm pretty, and right now, I' m content.
She fell asleep with a smile on her face.