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Pleasure Slave	By : Capitalist Category: +. to F > Card Captor Sakura Views: 84321 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Card Captor Sakura, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 39
- 40
- 41
Chapter 40
‘invasion’

Touya opened his eyes to the morning light falling across Yue’s room, and stirred. The action made him wince; Yue had been overly aggressive again the night before, whether because he was still flush with his victory over Touya or simply punishing him some more, Touya did not know. He tried to crawl out of bed for a few minutes in the bathroom before Yue woke and returned his chains, but Yue sometimes held onto him more tightly in sleep than when awake and this morning was one of those times. Unsuccessfully he tried to wriggle out of his grasp, before he gave up and lay there quietly.
That’s when it hit him. The human mind has odd defenses built up around itself for the purpose of sanity, and these can belay the full impact of even the worst tragedies in life. It might take days for realization to sink in, finally triggered by the smallest of things. Touya was trapped, and at that moment he knew Yue was never going to let him go. He would wake up every day for the rest of his life to see this exact room, feel these same sheets against his skin, the same arm curled around his waist. No more vague hopes of escape, no more daydreams of seeing his home cabin just one more time. He was a slave, now and forever. This castle would be his whole world until his death.
He bolted, sitting up straight and wheezing for air, desperately fending off panic. The sensation was dangerously like that night when Sakura so casually mentioned her birthday, and Touya did not want that again. Breathe in, breathe out. Don’t think about the future, and its bleak prospects. He must remind himself that it is only the rest of his life, after all, and it wasn’t as bad as it could have been…
He’d woken Yue with the sudden movement, and his arm tugged at Touya’s waist.
“Good morning, my slave.”
“Good morning,” Touya lied, his face twisting with the effort of it, “master.”
Yue purred softly with pleasure at the address, and pulled Touya down to lie back against his chest.
“You please me so much, Toya. Just waking up next to you is enough to excite me, I want you again.”
Arms overlapping Touya’s, his hands moved to grasp Touya’s wrists in a firm hold. Touya tried to swallow a whimper.
“Not again, please. I’m so sore.”
“Oh? Then I shall be lenient, and allow you to satisfy me with your mouth. Am I not generous, slave?”
“You are very generous, master.”
It seemed every time the word left his mouth, Yue’s erection grew and hardened. When Yue released his hands, he tried to roll over and climb on top of Yue, only to be held at bay.
“No, slave. On your hands and knees.”
Inwardly Touya groaned. Yue hadn’t missed a single chance to assert his dominance in the past day, and so he rose up on his knees, forcing Touya to prostrate before him in a posture that put considerable strain on his throat.
Another purr escaped Yue when he began, and hands gripped his hair to hold him steady while he thrust into his mouth. The heat and suffocation was unbearable, and Touya could feel his eyes watering before long. Fortunately, Yue was already in such a state of arousal that the session only lasted a few minutes. He climaxed explosively into his mouth, and Touya had to fight to choke it all down while he could still hardly breathe. Contented, Yue sank back down into the sheets and watched his slave cough and gulp for air.
“You are a good slave, Toya. Does it make you happy to hear me say that?”
Touya gripped the sheets, snarling them in his fists for a brief moment. Then he let go. “Yes, master.”
“Good.”
“May I please be excused?” he whispered, his throat raw and burning. “I need water.”
“You are excused, slave.”
Glowing with vindictive pride, Yue watched Touya stumble out of bed and into the bathroom, still coughing. So submissive, so servile… to Yue it seemed almost like a dream. His control over that willful, proud stray from the mountains was finally complete.
Someone knocked on the door, and Yue called his robe to him.
“Enter.”
It was a servant with Touya’s breakfast, accompanied by Ralen. “You wished to see me, my lord?”
“Yes.” He tied the sash about his waist and dropped into his chair. “As punishment for his crime my slave is now restricted to my room and balcony only, and forbidden from wandering the castle. If you see him doing so, you are to report it to me immediately. You will send all his meals here until I say otherwise.”
“Yes sir.” Yue watched Ralen’s perceptive gaze linger on the shackles, lying out on the rug where Yue had removed them last night. “Shall I escort him downstairs to be bathed by servants, again?”
It was a logical question. A chained slave could not clean himself, not very well anyway. Yue watched the serving girl set Touya’s tray on the rug and back away, bowing in silence. Would she be one of those responsible for bathing his naked slave? Would she look, and covet what was Yue’s property?
“No. He will continue to bathe here in my suite. You need not concern yourself with anything but his meals.”
“Yes sir. And will there be any… changes for the girl?”
Involuntarily Yue glanced at the bathroom door, still shut, and allowed himself a small smile. “No. She is permitted her morning walks, and guests.”
“What? But she tried to run away!”
“Are you questioning my orders, Ralen?” Yue shot him a cool look, and Ralen clammed up right away.
“No, my lord. I apologize.”
“Incidentally, Ralen, regarding the matter of my slave’s escape… I am disappointed in you. It was far too easy for my slave to steal your keys.”
Ralen paled, and licked his lips. “My lord, he was- there was this oil and -”
“Stop talking,” Yue suggested frostily, and Ralen obeyed. “The method he used does not concern me. I think it’s rather obvious that my slave is a good deal cleverer than you are, and entirely too adept with his hands. I suggest that, for the security of your employment here, you do not allow him to come within arms’ reach of you from now on. Is that understood?”
Ralen’s expression betrayed his humiliation and fury all too clearly, but he only nodded his head in prim reply.
“Of course, my lord.”
“Good. Dismissed.”
Both servants bowed and left, and eventually Touya emerged from the bathroom looking a little on the wan side. “Eat, Toya. I won’t have you become ill again.”
“Yes, master.”
He pulled on his pants and dropped into a cross-legged posture on the rug, silently and methodically consuming fruit and bread and tea.
“Come,” he commanded when Touya had finished. “And brush my hair. I want it braided.”
“Yes, master.”
Touya fetched the brush and knelt by his side, sweeping through the long strands with slow and steady strokes. The room was starting to feel oddly quiet to Yue; any other day his slave would be full of retorts and smart remarks, lightly teasing Yue about his hair while he brushed.
“You are quiet,” he commented at last, when the silence had become bothersome. Touya looked up from his task with a quizzical look.
“Do you want me to say something?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.” Yue wondered why he didn’t have a better answer and felt irritable for it, his dreamy delight now marred. “But you are a smart boy. I’m sure you can think of something.”
Touya looked confused, unsurprisingly, then dropped his gaze back to the brush.
“Right now all I can think of is Sakura. She’s just a little girl, and she had to go through two terrifying ordeals in the space of one day.”
Yue narrowed his eyes, but Touya’s tone was neutral. If he hated Yue for what he’d almost done to his sister, he wasn’t showing it.
“I’m worried about her,” he continued, still gliding the brush through Yue’s hair at an even pace. “You forbid me to see her, I know, and I don’t even want to see her yet. What happened to her is my fault, and I cannot face her. But if I just knew how she was doing...”
“Your fault?”
“My fault.” His hand trembled, Yue could see the hairbrush shaking. “I almost killed my sister, Yu- master. She almost died because of me. I was supposed to protect her, and I let her fall off the face of a cliff.”
Gently Yue put his hand over Touya’s, holding it steady. A master should not concern himself with the emotions of a slave, but his eyes were so stricken with guilt that Yue could not help himself.
“You did not put her in danger knowingly.”
“Just stupidly. If anyone else had done something like that to her I would have killed him. She trusted me to keep her safe!”
“Shh,” Yue commanded, and pressed a firm finger to Touya’s lips. “I will hear no more of this pointless self-loathing. She is alive, after all.”
“If you hadn’t been there, though…” Touya shook his head, eyes dropping back to his task. “Well, we’d both be dead. I would have thrown myself in after her.”
He resumed brushing, and did not see the expression that crossed Yue’s face. Really, knowing Touya, he should not have been surprised to hear such a thing. So why did it hurt so much?

“He’s been confined to Yue’s room,” Li reported, stroking Spirit’s nose absently. “Apparently, he’s not allowed to walk about on his own anymore, for any reason. According to Siki, he’s eating all meals in the bedroom, so I guess he won’t be joining you for dinner.”
Sakura’s face fell a little, and she plucked at her skirt. “But did Master Yue hurt him? Has he been injured, whipped?”
Li shook his head. “Don’t think so.”
“Are you sure?”
“Servants have been going in and out of that room for a day and a half, to take him his food. If they’d seen any blood, believe me they would be talking about it.”
“If only I could see him and know for sure,” Sakura fretted. “If there was a way to speak to him -”
“Sakura, forget it. It’s a miracle that you’re even out here at all; I don’t know why you’re not being punished too. Ralen can’t figure it out either, and he’s plenty annoyed about it. This is not a time for you to push your luck.”
Sakura looked frustrated, but she knew he was right. With a huff she fell back against the trunk of a tree, and he returned his attention to combing Spirit’s mane. Li’s magic had never been of the psychic variety, but he was a born warrior with all the awareness and reflexes that implied. He was too sensitive to the cool glow of Yue’s magic to not know that he’d just joined them in their courtyard, and Sakura’s startled squeak confirmed it. It was his reaction that surprised him. Li’s first impulse was to go for the sword amulet at his throat.
Yue would have been even more surprised, if he’d been paying any attention to his young captain. If he’d known that the boy was prepared to leap between lord and slave and defend her – likely to his death – he would have been very puzzled indeed. He made no moves toward her, however, and Li stayed where he was. All Yue did was fold his wings and look down upon her. Frozenly, she returned the stare without moving. Here was a girl that had once declared her conviction that Yue was really very kind at heart, and had offered him comfort and solace, but now she could not breathe for fright. Yue did not regret what he’d done, because it was the punishment that finally broke his slave, but looking at her now he felt the momentary pang of loss. He’d become rather fond of her sparkle and cheer.
She cringed when he put his hand out, and Li tensed. “Take my hand, slave,” he ordered softly. “You have nothing to fear.”
It seemed to take ages, but eventually her trembling hand found his. Firmly Yue clasped it and drew her up into a standing position.
“I have come to ascertain your wellbeing. Your brother was anxious to know.”
“My brother?” Sakura repeated faintly, finally gulping for air. “Is he- did you -”
“He is unharmed. But he hangs his head in shame for what he did, because it almost killed you.”
“What? No, he mustn’t! It wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t have known. I don’t blame him at all.”
I do, Li thought pointedly, but knew better than to open his mouth.
“So you forgive him.”
“Yes, of course. Can I see him, Master Yue?”
“Not now,” Yue murmured, after a second of hesitation. “Not yet. I would like to keep him to myself a little while longer. Someday, though, yes.” He lifted his other hand to draw a strand of hair out of her face, and she flinched. “Someday also, I hope you will forgive me for what I had to do. It was not done for pleasure.”
He bowed his head and stepped back, wings unfolding. Spirit neighed and pranced nervously when Yue took off in a great flurry of feathers, and Li had to calm her down before going to do the same for Sakura. She was pale, but breathing.
“Sakura?”
“I’m fine,” she whispered, but didn’t demur when he held her to his chest. “It was a little scary when he touched me but- he looked sad when I trembled. Do you think he’s sorry?”
“If he was going to be sorry then he shouldn’t have done it,” Li growled.
“He asked for my forgiveness, Syaoran, even though he’s the master and I am his slave. And he came to check on me for Onii-chan, even if he won’t let us see each other yet. I know it must sound strange right now, but I really do think Master Yue has a good heart.”
“But he -”
“I know.” She squeezed her arms around his waist. “He lost his temper that night, I think. And then… he found it again. I don’t believe he’ll hurt me anymore.”
She tucked her head under his chin and sighed. And Li wished he could be so sure.

When Yue returned to his balcony later that evening, landing lightly upon the stone rail, he found Touya there staring mournfully at the distant mountains. Quickly he looked away, and just as quickly Yue pretended he’d never seen it. Without comment he withdrew his wings and sat facing him, their knees close enough to touch.
“Your sister is fine.”
“What?” Touya’s head jerked up, his posture suddenly rigid. “You saw her?”
“I did. She’s fine, and does not blame you.”
Touya’s hands twisted at his chain nervously. “Are you sure? Really?”
“Will you question your master, slave?”
“No.” His shoulders dropped, and his hands relaxed. “I was just so scared. What happened must have been a nightmare for her.”
“She is stronger than you think,” Yue asserted. “She is well.”
A tiny smile flickered across Touya’s face, both wistful and grateful. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know that I did not have to,” Yue informed him haughtily. “The task took only moments. I did it so that you’ll stop fretting over the girl and turn all your attention to me, your master.”
Whether Touya believed that was true or not, there was genuine gratitude in his eyes. The sight of it had Yue’s heart fluttering with delight.
“Kiss me,” he demanded, and Touya leaned forward to comply. Yue hadn’t had to order his slave to kiss him in a long time, but that thought he brushed aside. Their lips had almost met when a blast of freezing malice shocked him into jerking back, and reflexively he sntached Touya’s arm for fear he’d lose his balance.
His slave’s expression looked every bit as startled and fearful as Yue felt.
“What was- what is that?”
He shuddered when a second blast hit them, dark and cold as death itself. Yue dragged him off the rail and set him firmly on the floor, wings sprouting again.
“Toya, I must go.”
“Wait, what is it?” Touya clutched at his arm, probably sensing his fear. “That was- it was so much stronger than all the other times. Is it closer? More dangerous?”
“No time!” Yue peeled Touya’s hands off and leapt up onto the rail, adrenaline surging through his body.
“Yue, please!”
Yue ignored the desperation in his voice, with difficulty. Touya was afraid for him, and the knowledge warmed his heart. Perhaps this time, when he returned, he would tell his slave what it was he battled. But not now. Wings outspread, he dove into the air and glided away.

The familiar lump of frustration balled up in Touya’s throat as he watched Yue soar away from the castle, disappearing when he rounded a jutting tower. Frustration and fear, because through their touch Yue had transmitted a jolt of pure panic to which Touya was all too sensitive. He actually looked scared before jumping off the balcony. Though before the feeling of darkness had always receded right away, Touya shuddered again at a third wave. Would Yue return soon? He was no coward, but right now he did not want to be alone.
Several floors below him, Sakura shivered in her cage and hugged her arms to her chest. The castle was not cold, but goosebumps had freckled her arms and something felt strange in the air. It felt… dark.
And several floors below her, on the castle’s north wall for his evening watch, Li paused in his sword drills. The light summer breeze that had been keeping him cool dropped off, with a heaviness in the air that presaged rain though the sky was perfectly clear. A prickling of danger ran up and down his neck and he dropped his sword arm to look around. Three guardsmen were patrolling other sections of the wall, their paces unhurried and posture relaxed. One of the women appeared in a second floor balcony, shaking a rug free of dust. Outside the castle, the forest was quiet and still. Nothing was out of place. But something was not right.
For a few minutes he tried to ignore it. But the feeling pressed heavier and heavier on his senses, until he thought he might go crazy without taking some kind of action. Huffily he retracted his sword and looped the amulet around his neck, then clambered down the ladder to the courtyard floor. For all these months he’d been very strict about leaving guard post when on duty, and he could feel the other men’s surprised stares, but he ignored them and broke into a light run. The gate was firmly shut behind him, a solid iron barrier, and this bothersome notion of danger was surely ridiculous. He would just skirt around the castle quickly to run off this anxiety.
The servants’ courtyard was every bit as unremarkable as the front one. A woman carried an armful of chopped wood into the kitchen, no doubt preparing dinner. Two men off duty were idling in the shade of an apple tree.
Li jogged past them and on to the stables. He took a moment to glance inside and reassure himself that the horses were all fine, which they were, but their usual drowsy contentment was conspicuously absent. Several were antsy, stepping back and forth in their small stables, and the more excitable horses – including his own – were rolling their eyes in fear and whinnying. The only time he’d ever seen Spirit act like this was a time they’d crossed paths with a pair of wolves in the forest. Strong and healthy horses not being on that predator’s usual menu, they had gone on their way and eventually Spirit calmed down. There were no wolves here, so what could be scaring her?
Li checked every stall for snakes, found nothing, and reluctantly left the stables. Perhaps the horses smelled a predator somewhere else in the castle – like a mountain cat? Would it even be possible for one of those things to scale the wall? Li scratched his head and continued on, covering the rest of the distance to the far western wall. Nothing to see here… just the flat gray stones fitting neatly against one another and rising up straight and smooth. He turned to walk along it a little ways, moving toward the back rather than the front. It was rare for any servants to come this way, since the wall only melted into the rear building of the castle. That contained nothing but a few rooms for the women to clean, and Yue had forbidden anyone from approaching its top floor. It was rumored that he spent his days up there, though no one knew exactly what he did. In effect, this meant no one had ever actually seen what lay behind the castle – no one except for the two slaves. Sakura’s description of their escape route was sketchy and confused, but he’d gotten the impression that there was some kind of deep rift in the –
A puff of air tickled his neck, even though he was standing in the shadow of the castle wall and shouldn’t feel any wind at all here. It was a strangely chilly gust for midsummer. Uneasily, Li studied the wall more closely and saw what he’d almost missed: in the crook almost hidden between outer wall and the final building of the castle, a ragged hole showed. Whole stones were missing, the edges jagged and uneven. He stepped closer, and touched unbelieving fingertips to the bricks.
It was not a case of disrepair; the missing stones were nowhere on the ground. Neither had they somehow fallen out and been taken away. Some of the large stones around the edge had been cut right through the middle, their insides exposed and serrated, as if some creature with impossibly strong jaws had gnawed its way right through…
From somewhere in the servants’ yard a woman’s scream ripped through the air, and the sound acted like a trigger for his already highly-strung nerves. In an instant Li was running again, sprinting hard back the way he’d come. Panic did rear its head for a brief moment, but by the time he’d reached the kitchen courtyard it was firmly conquered and stowed away. Siki had burst out of the doors, her face white, and would have run right past him if he hadn’t grabbed her wrist.
“What is it?” he barked. “And where?”
“I don’t know- I didn’t see!” She pointed a trembling finger at the castle. “Lara was in the next room and I heard her scream; when I looked she was gone!”
Li put his fingers to his lips and whistled, loud and long. The sound attracted the attention of the west wall sentries, and when they looked up he waved his arm in a giant ‘come here’ motion. After a second or two of hesitation, they started making their way to the nearest ladder.
“It’s in the castle, is it?”
“Yes sir!”
She was shaking, probably close to freezing up completely, and about to become completely useless. He gave her a light push in the direction of the stables.
“When they come this way, tell them to get every servant on the ground floor in there with you. Nobody leaves it until I give the order. Can you tell them that? Can you?” he repeated, when she didn’t answer.
“Yes sir!”
“Go!”
Where did the other men get to? The pair that had been chatting under the tree were gone, and Li did not see the savage gash across its bark. Impatiently he turned on his heels and dashed under the archways, returning to the front yard of the castle. Again he whistled and waved, and when the incompetents finally figured out they should get down he whipped around and ran inside. No good to have men up on the wall anymore; the danger was already inside. And if it was in the castle then that meant he had to get everyone else out, and the small and isolated stable was at least defensible.
He almost ran headlong into Cale, and had to grab his shirt to keep from falling face-first into the floor.
“Captain! What’s the matter with -”
“Round up everyone you can, and get to the stables! Do it, now!”
Ralen’s second-in-command sniffed. “Do you think you can order me about? I’m not a member of your guard -”
“Listen, you -”
Both of them broke off when a man’s terrified scream echoed in the halls, then abruptly cut off.
“I’m going,” Cale said quickly, and took off down the hall with remarkable speed. For the first time Li thought to press his hand to the gem on his wrist.
“My lord? Yue, something’s wrong in the castle and I’m not sure what. But something’s here.”
Quietly and cautiously he shut a solid wooden door, cutting off the hall from which he’d heard the scream. There was no reply from Yue.
“Yue? Can you hear me?”
Nothing. Rapidly Li swore under his breath, and turned to run to the armory. At least that much was ready for a day like this; all the weapons would be ready for use and he’d grab as many as he –
He rounded the corner and screeched a halt, almost toppling over. The solid and heavy oaken doors that had always guarded his beloved weapons room sagged open, half hanging off their hinges, deep gash marks cutting across the middle where they’d apparently been clawed open. He could not activate his sword fast enough. Only when it was in his hand, solid and sharp, did he creep closer and kick one of the doors further open.
Most of the room looked as if it had been tossed in a storm. Swords and staffs lay scattered across the floor, many of them snapped in two, and the neatly hung bows had been reduced to a heap of trash. How could a wild animal be smart enough to know this room was a threat? It couldn’t.
That oppressiveness squeezed at his chest again, and Li tried to swallow in spite of a dry throat. This was no animal. It was something far stronger, and far more dangerous. And as for why it had attacked this room, that was simple enough to see. A shred of cloth, like from a man’s shirt, was lying amongst the wreckage of weapons.
Li snatched up four bows that still looked functional and as many arrows as he could carry, and ran. The servants’ quarters were silent, as he passed through, no sign of movement from human or otherwise. But the dread of something deadly on his heels lent him unnatural speed and soon he was sprinting across the kitchen courtyard and almost right into the doors of the stable. He had to bang on them for several seconds before someone finally opened one a crack, and allowed him to slip inside.
Which had become a mass of panic. Most of the servants and guard had found their way here, several of whom had heard the screams of friends. That nobody had actually glimpsed what it was prowling their castle only made the horror worse. Their obvious terror was communicating itself to the horses, and now they were rearing up and neighing, hooves beating at their stall doors in an effort to flee.
“Shut UP!” Li bellowed, not to much effect. Snarling, he tore Jen and two others from the mob and shoved bows into their hands. “Let the women cry! You know how to fight, don’t you?”
“But cap, we’ve never been attacked before -”
“What did you think all that practice was for? Fun? You, and you, you’re by the front doors. You two there, go to the back of the stable. Form a circle around the girls, keep yours bows ready but don’t shoot until you see anything. I don’t have that many arrows.”
Mechanically Li set about slapping a few into each man’s hands.
“You there, make yourself useful.” He grabbed Cale by the collar and shoved him to the nearest horse. “Start calming down the horses, they’re going to trample us. And for the love of god, Ralen, shut those girls up!”
Half a second later, his mind caught up with him and he checked the huddle of females again. Sakura was not among them.
“Where’s the slave?”
White-faced and trembling as the rest of them, Ralen had managed to press himself against the steps going into the loft, probably the quickest way to escape if anything came bursting through the stable doors. He only blinked at Li, looking confused, and the captain hauled him to his feet by his shirt.
“I said, where’s the slave?”
This time, Ralen seemed to understand. “She’s in her cage, of course! I wasn’t about to risk my life to go and get her, she’ll be safe enough -”
Li hit him so hard on the jaw that Ralen was knocked back into a stall door, and from there collapsed onto the straw. In the next second he was in Spirit’s stall and up on her back, barely hanging on when she tried to rear.
“Cap! What are you doing?”
“I’m going back into the castle.”
“What! But -”
“Don’t worry about me. Hold your positions, keep your arrows ready, I’ll be back as soon as I can. Now open that door, and bolt it good and solid behind me.”
By now they were following his orders without question, and the two men he’d posted up front hastily pulled back the crossbar. Spirit reared up again, just slightly, and with a good firm grip on her mane Li lowered himself forward. It was the signal between horse and rider to go fast, to gallop as she’d never galloped before. And when the doors opened, she obeyed.

The sun was sinking lower in the sky and with every passing minute Touya’s anxiety doubled, until he was pacing back and forth in his chains and watching the horizon intently for any sign of Yue. The air felt dark, and heavy, very much like… the canyon behind the castle, come to think of it. Far below him someone whistled shrilly, and when he looked down he could see the few guardsmen clambering down off the wall. Odd. This was not the hour they changed shifts, and even if it was there should be new men coming out to take their place. Everyone scampered toward the buildings, until Touya could no longer see them, leaving the castle with a very empty feeling in the light of the setting sun. Touya didn’t like it at all. What was going on?

She was just as eager to take some action as he was, Li suspected. Spirit’s long legs devoured the distance in seconds and then he tugged on her mane, steering her through a pair of doors that had been left open and into the castle itself. The clop of her hooves clattered loudly on the marble floors, its surface unnaturally smooth for a horse accustomed to mountain paths, and for the first time she balked.
“C’mon girl, don’t let me down now,” Li whispered, and kicked with his heels. “I know you can do this.”
She snorted and picked up the pace again, her gallop just a little slower, and the two of them tore through the lower floor. Another pull at her mane, and she took the steps of the central stair three and four at a time. On the second level, they were on their way to the other stairs when she flew past a window, and Li sat up so sharply he almost fell off. It was the signal to slow down, and Spirit slid to an ungainly stop on this alien surface.
“Whoa! Whoa, sorry girl. Back up, back up.” Making do without reins, Li tugged back on her mane until Spirit had backed up enough to give him the full, quite horrifying, view he’d glimpsed on their way past. For the first time, he got a good look at what had invaded Yue’s castle.
It was an animal, sort of, but not like any animal Li had ever seen. Bigger than a horse, its black scaly body hugged the earth in a posture reminiscent of a lizard. A long tail whipped back and forth across the earth, razorlike claws scraping at the stones, its stare fixed greedily upon some unfortunate prey. Rei should have been on the northern wall with the other guards, but perhaps he’d gone off to sneak a smoke or a nap and now he’d been stranded alone, left wandering in an empty courtyard for this creature to find. White-faced with fear, he was backing up toward the castle wall, shouting threatening things and fumbling for an arrow on his back. He was going for the steps that led up to the top of the wall, which were too small and narrow for this thing to navigate, but already Li knew he’d never make it. Its body moved with a sinuous, sleek grace, speed coming in reptilian bursts rather than the steady momentum of a mammal predator.
It was playing with him. “Shoot it!” Li hissed, gripping Spirit’s mane so tightly his knuckles had turned white. The killer darted forward, and Rei managed to yank back his bowstring just in time. But he’d only done so at half strength, and the arrow lodged itself into the leg of his attacker. It didn’t even slow it down before a maw of sharp teeth opened and then Rei was gone, Li quickly averting his gaze.
“I told you,” he muttered, and kicked his heels into Spirit’s ribs.

From up above, Touya’s view of the spectacle was not nearly as close or as gruesome, but it was good enough. Hands gripping the rail of the balcony with stupefied fascination, he watched the unnatural creature pounce on the guardsman, obscuring him from Touya’s view. That thing, whatever it was, had invaded the castle and now it was killing people.
Its prey devoured, it turned with snakelike fluidity and vanished underneath the overhangs on its way into the castle.
“Sakura,” he whispered, and bolted. Those hideous chains almost tripped him but somehow he managed to make it to the door and threw himself at it with all his strength, pummeling at the wood with his fists. Much to his surprise, it opened almost right away and he fell onto the study’s rug face first. Hastily he scrambled to his feet and shuffled out of the room, his panic only blooming with every short and clumsy step. His breath was raspy and shallow.
“Sakura!”

Something like panic flashed through Sakura’s mind, and quickly she shook her head to clear it away. It wasn’t as if she had any reason to be afraid of anything… it was only a strange feeling, after all. At least, that was what she thought until she heard a distant scream somewhere in the castle.
“Hello?” Sakura jumped to her feet and put her hands to the bars, gleaming gold in the sunset’s rays. Ralen ought to have been here by now, to take her to dinner, but there was no sign of him. Who was it that screamed like that, in such a horrible manner? It didn’t sound like a shout of laughter.
“Is anyone there?” she called out, getting more nervous by the second. “Please? Ralen?” Bizarre as it was, Sakura would have welcomed even his appearance right now. Her stomach kept twisting into horrible knots as if something awful were about to happen, and all she wanted was to ignore the feeling and just go to dinner like always.
“Can anyone hear me?”
Minutes passed without a sound, and then Sakura’s heart jumped when she heard scuffling noises from the hall.
“Hello! Anyone! Please, I’m in here and I think someone is hurt – if you could just tell me if there’s anything wrong…” Sakura’s voice trailed off when no one replied, though she was sure the scuffling noise was getting louder. It didn’t really sound like footsteps, come to think of it. Dread was already curdling in her heart when a giant black monster sidled around the corner and saw her.
Petrified, she sank into its stare and didn’t move. It opened its mouth, wide and lined with sharp teeth, flicked a tongue out, and slithered closer. Still she didn’t twitch. It was interested, the hunger plain in its flat black eyes, but stymied by the cage around her. Frustrated, it prowled around its edge once and then pushed its nose at the base. The whole cage tilted up and came down with a bang, and that was enough to trigger full-blown panic in Sakura. Hysterically she started screaming, clutching at the swing to keep her balance while the monster shoved at the cage again and again and then bit savagely into the gold bars. By the time it withdrew to regroup, they were already wrenched and twisted. The next attack, it could almost thrust its snout right through the gap.

Sakura’s terrified screams could be heard long before Spirit even reached that floor, and Li urged her to gallop even faster down this final stretch. She reached the throne room and he pulled her to halt, almost driven to panic when he saw that monster gnawing away at Sakura’s cage. Helpless and trapped, she’d plastered herself to the far edge of the cage and just barely out of the thing’s reach.
“Hey!” he shouted, drawing both her attention and the monster’s. “Hey, get away from her!”
Taken aback, it wriggled backward out of the half-mangled cage and whipped around to face him. That one movement was enough to convince Li that trying to lead it away on horseback would never work – Spirit didn’t have a chance of outrunning this thing on smooth marble and in a confined space. It was too fast.
He was sliding off her back before the thought completed itself, and he slapped her on the flank. “Go! Get out of here!”
Spirit did not have to be told twice. Whatever scent was coming off that unnatural creature, it terrified her and with a snort she bolted down the hall. The monster didn’t twitch, its stare fixed on him much as the same way it had been fixated on Rei. Heart thumping, Li reached for his sword and activated it.
“Syaoran, what are you doing?” Sakura cried. “Run away, quick!”
“Not a chance, Sakura.” Li lifted his sword in an attack position, warily moving in and to the creature’s right. “Just don’t move, and stay calm.”
“Syaoran -” She interrupted herself with a shriek when the monster sprang. Its muscles uncoiled so fast he had almost no time to react, and just barely managed to throw himself to the side. But his sword swung in a horizontal arc, scoring a blow on its hide, and it flinched with surprise. Clearly it hadn’t expected he could strike back, and that tiny edge was all that gave him the time to move back and put more distance between him and the creature.
Angrily it whipped around and started to circle him, looking a little more cautious. Li was wheezing for air but he kept his sword up, hands clenched around the hilt. This time when it attacked he was ready for it, and countered with a couple of short stabs directly at what he assumed was its nose. It screeched in pain and retreated, but did not give up. If anything, the fight seemed to be whetting its appetite. Again and again it feinted forward and Li drove it back by the point of his sword, the two of them moving in a continuous circle around one another in the throne room. After a while Li noticed that its eyes were focused more on the sword itself than him. Just how intelligent was this creature? Did it know that his weapon could be –
Again the monster feinted, and a side swipe of its claws took him by surprise. One powerful forearm knocked his sword right out of his hands, and in triumph it leapt in for the kill. Sakura screamed and Li reacted instinctively, palm thrust outward in the posture his teachers had shown him. Lightning shot out from his hand and into the animal, throwing them both apart by several feet and singing the air. Li hit the floor hard and grunted, then pushed himself up and scrambled for his sword. The monster had been dazed but not killed, and shook its head before it snarled and rushed to attack. He got to his sword just seconds before it got to him, and frantically he slashed across its snout. The blade cut into flesh, he knew it did, but there was no blood. What the hell was it made of? Could it even die? Uttering an angry yelp, the thing backed away to prepare for another round. Something dripped down his chest, and vaguely Li realized he must have gotten scratched. The room was acrid with the smell of burned ozone, and his short burst of magic had severely sapped his strength. He did not know how much longer he could hold this thing off.
Wearily he climbed to his feet, and raised his sword again.

Touya slid down the banister and hit the floor rather clumsily, still unused to moving around in these chains after so long without them. Unmindful of the bruises and aches already covering his body he shuffled down the hall and to the main staircase, the one that would lead to Sakura’s hallway. In his singleminded drive to get there, he did not stop to question what exactly he would be able to do to help his sister, since he had no way to get her out of the cage, and was not in a position to even protect himself, let alone her. Anyway, he was already too late.
Touya skidded to a halt by the rail of the grand staircase, overlooking the floor below. That vicious monster was right there in front of him, snuffling and prowling like a dog hunting rabbits, wandering in the direction of his sister’s cage. Already obsessed with the idea that she was in deadly danger, it didn’t take much for Touya’s mind to leap to the conclusion that this thing was headed right for her and would eat her alive if he didn’t do something.
“Hey!”
He thrashed his chains against the wooden rail, trying to make as much noise as possible, and its head jerked up.
“Hey, you! C’mon!”
It snarled and darted toward the staircase, almost too quick for his eyes to follow. Touya bolted back the way he’d come, moving as fast as humanly possible in these shackles, which was not going to be nearly fast enough. He could hear its claws scraping against the marble as it slithered up the stairs, bearing down on him, and he knew he’d never make it back to the stairs at the end of the hall. Instead he made for the closest door he could see; if he could just get inside a room then he’d be safe and the creature would keep trying to get at him instead of moving on to Sakura. Very close now, he was going to make it –
Touya slammed into the door and jerked at the handle, and it didn’t move. The door was locked. The door was fucking locked, why was it locked?
Helplessly he banged his fist against it and turned to run, but he knew perfectly well it was already too late. His foot caught in his chains and he fell, and rolled over just in time to see the creature pounce. A massive claw flattened him to the floor and rows of sharp teeth opened up to devour him, tear him to shreds. Death loomed- and then hesitated.
Just over a frozen Touya the teeth hovered, almost uncertainly. Deliberately it sniffed, pushing its snout so close to his head that his hair lifted up with the action. He could feel the claw that pinned him to the floor flexing and rippling, and the pressure on his chest was just easing off when something bright and blue whizzed overhead and embedded itself deep in the monster’s neck. A loud yowl of pain almost split Touya’s eardrums and the first – arrow? – was followed by a dozen more, all in rapid succesion, so fast they could not possibly have been fired by human hands. The enraged howl was cut off when his would-be attacker, quite spectacularly, exploded into a cloud of ash.
“Toya!”
He almost inhaled some of the stuff when he tried to sit up, wheezing for air, and then Yue was kneeling by his side, hands anxiously running over his face and his body. They were shaking even more than Touya’s.
“Toya… oh Toya, I didn’t- never thought this could happen – are you alright? Did it injure you?” His face was even whiter than usual, terror vivid in his eyes. Touya tried to answer his questions and found he couldn’t speak, reflexively grabbing Yue’s hand for comfort.
“I thought I’d lost you!” Yue clutched at him and pressed his brow to Touya’s, his own breathing sounding none too steady.
“Sa-sakura -”
“Yes, I know. There’s still one more, I have to go.” But he couldn’t seem to make himself let go. “Let’s rid you of these.” With a hasty wave of his hand the chains on Touya’s hands and feet fell away to the floor. “Much too dangerous. If I had been any later…” Yue shuddered. “Stay here, Toya. Don’t move or make any noise. I’ll come back for you. Just – don’t – move!”
He stood and swept his arm in a long vertical curve, an arc of glowing blue light materializing with the motion. The other arm pulled back, creating the corresponding arrow to his bow, and with a flap of his wings he shot down the hall. Perhaps all of a minute later, Touya scrambled to his feet and followed.

The battle for his – and Sakura’s – survival seemed to have gone on for hours, though rationally Li knew it hadn’t been more than ten minutes. His body trembled with exhaustion but he forced himself to keep the tip of the sword up, his eyes following every ripple of muscle under that thing’s skin, ready to move when it moved. Jaws snapping, it lunged and he tried slashing upward, catching it underneath and almost slicing open the neck. Almost but not quite, and the animal took advantage of his raised sword to slash at him across the torso, not deep but enough to draw more blood and a cry of pain from his lips. Sakura shrieked again and he stumbled back, slashing back and forth to weave a defense. It kept him alive but it didn’t matter, his opponent had sensed victory and was now only biding its time until the kill. Eagerly it prowled around Li, teeth bared, and in desperation Li charged. His blade almost cut a gash right across its face but the thing was just too quick, its reflexes so much faster than Li’s human ones. Somehow it slipped its head just under the arc of his blade and thrust it upward, catching him full in the chest just when he couldn’t stop his momentum. The attack threw him back several feet and he hit the marble floor with a crash, sword flying out of his grasp.
“Syaoran!” Sakura screamed, but the word was just a dizzy echo in his head. Clumsily he groped for his sword, knowing he wouldn’t find it in time. The beast gathered itself and leapt, and in midair was pierced by a glowing blue arrow. It seemed so small and thin, but the force of it knocked it to the floor and it was immediately joined by five or six more. Before Li’s astonished eyes, the creature vaporized into a cloud of ash.
Yue descended to the floor where it had died, just inches from Li’s feet, and looked down on him with an expression he’d never seen on Yue before. Then he turned away, toward Sakura’s cage. With casual strength he pulled apart two of the mangled bars and reached through the gap, gently drawing her out onto the floor.
“My poor slave,” he murmured. “Are you injured in any way? Did it hurt you?”
She was shaking with fright and apparently unable to answer, and Yue patted her down lightly as if to confirm her physical safety. Then he cupped her face in his hands and held her close, shushing her when her shoulders convulsed with a sob.
“Shh… it is gone now. It cannot hurt you anymore. You’re safe, I promise.”
Too limp to stand, Li gave up trying and settled for just getting on his knees. There did not seem to be enough air in the room for his lungs no matter how hard he gulped for it, and with every breath the cuts and scrapes on his body burned. But he was alive, and so was Sakura. By a miracle, they’d survived.
“Sakura!” Her brother ran headlong into the room, took one look at the mangled cage, and almost dropped dead into a faint.
“Onii-chan!” Yue released her and she leapt into her brother’s arms, tears of relief now flowing down her cheeks. “Onii-chan, I was so scared -”
“Are you alright? Are you hurt, anywhere at all?”
Rapidly she shook her head and he squeezed her tightly to his chest, kissing her multiple times in a way that made Li ache with envy. Of everyone in this room he was the only one who could not hug Sakura close and kiss her, though he was the one who had kept her alive. An offered hand distracted him from his resentment, and he looked up to see that it belonged to Yue.
“Can you stand?”
Li wasn’t so sure, but he put his hand in Yue’s and allowed the powerful lord to help him up. It was the first time he could ever remember Yue touching him, and that odd expression was still in his eyes.
“I knew I was right to bring you here,” Yue murmured, while brother and sister rejoiced in the background. “He would be so proud.”
Huh? Who?
Yue straightened and took a step back, putting their usual distance between them. “Captain Li Syaoran,” he addressed, tone abruptly formal, “you have acted beyond all expectations today, and saved my slave’s life. For that I am indebted to you, for she is quite precious to me. Anything of mine that I can give is yours; you only have to name it.”
Reward. The word sunk into Li’s brain after a second or two of delay, implications suddenly flying fast and furious. Yue was offering him a reward for what he’d done – anything at all that belonged to Yue. His eyes flew to Sakura and he knew she’d heard it too; eyes bright with hope met his while her brother petted and fussed over her. After all their hiding, their secrecy and forced patience while he saved his pitiful wages, he’d just been offered the chance to request Sakura right here and now.
Li opened his mouth – and then he faltered.
“I… I d-don’t ask for anything, Lord Yue.”
“What?”
“I- was only doing what you asked of me, when I became captain. I don’t need a reward.”
He could not face Sakura’s shocked and dismayed expression, and looked to the floor instead.
“There must be something,” Yue insisted. “What you fought today, no human has ever fought before. I will give you anything!”
No you won’t, Li thought wearily. He just shook his head. Yue was confused, he knew it, but apparently the lord decided not to worry about his strange behavior just now.
“We’ll discuss this later. Captain, I know you are weak and injured, but I need you to return to the ground floor and take leadership of the guard. The danger is gone from this castle but I must go, it lurks just outside the wall still.”
“You’re not going!” Kinomoto objected, and Yue turned his attentions to the siblings.
“I’m sorry, slave, but I must.”
“No!” Still hugging Sakura to his chest, he clutched Yue by the arm. “Please, don’t. You can’t go now, not after what just -”
“I have no choice.” Yue laid a gentle hand aside his slave’s face. “It is my duty. Take your sister to my room and wait there, I’ll return as soon as I can. No harm will come to either of you, I swear. Please, Toya,” he added, when his slave still looked argumentative. He leaned forward and kissed Kinomoto lightly on the lips, at which point Li looked away. Neither of them had noticed, but Sakura was staring at him with eyes full of hurt, and disappointment. He could not endure it anymore. Even though he could barely move, Li bowed and dismissed himself so that he might go and follow Yue’s orders.

The longest hours of Touya’s life passed that night, waiting in Yue’s bedroom. Sakura could not stop shaking, even though he held her tightly to his chest and said a thousand comforting things, none of which he truly believed. In spite of a cheerful fire and total quiet throughout the castle, his nerves were popping and he hugged his sister close to his body like a child squeezing his favorite stuffed doll. He told himself it was for her comfort but in fact he was just as much in need of it, and would have refused if she asked to be let go. She did not, however, and the worn out and broken-hearted little girl eventually dozed off in his arms. After that he watched the fire in silence, eyes darting back to the balcony every time he heard a noise. Finally, after what seemed a lifetime, Yue landed upon the rail.
Touya almost jumped off the bed to run to him, but Sakura was fast asleep on top of him. So instead he waited, for Yue to withdraw his wings and come inside, seat himself on the bed next to them. There was such a stricken look in his eyes, and he touched his fingertips to Touya’s hair as if he still couldn’t let himself believe that his slave was alive and well.
“I am so angry at you.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve been fighting those things, all this time! Those monsters existed and you didn’t warn us, didn’t even give us a clue!”
“Shh.” Yue pressed his finger to his lips and nodded toward the sleeping Sakura. “I’m sure you want her to rest.”
“How could you? How could you keep that a secret?”
“What would I have told you?” Yue countered. “That a creature of death lurks below our castle, impervious to normal weapons and hungry for human life? Clow insisted that we never tell people of its existence, it would have caused panic and uproar in the city below. If they even chose to believe, which they likely would not. For hundreds of years it has been our sworn duty to thwart it from escaping the canyon and swarming into the valley. Such silent protection has always been enough.”
“Canyon,” Touya repeated. “That’s where they live? Down at the bottom, right behind us?”   A fresh dew of cold sweat broke out on his forehead when he remembered how Sakura had fallen into that darkness.
“If,” Yue answered shortly, “you could call it ‘live’.”
Sakura stirred slightly in his arms and Touya readjusted her head on his chest, trying to make her more comfortable.
“What are they?”
“It is the Void.”
“Voy-d,” Touya echoed, the unfamiliar word tripping over his tongue. “What is a void?”
“The Void is…” Yue paused, groping for words, and it occurred to Touya that this must be the first time he’d had to explain it. “It is negativity. It is the opposite of life.”
“What?”
“The concept is not easy to understand. But in nature for every birth there is death, and so it is the same for magic. For every life that Clow created, a corresponding negative power was born. This happened without his knowledge and certainly outside his control, though once he understood what it was he’d done he set about to destroy it. Unfortunately, he was never successful.”
“You keep saying ‘it’, but there were more than one.”
“No,” Yue corrected. “Those miniature creatures you saw are not separate beings. The Void is intelligent, and self-learning. Over the years it discovered how to draw parts of itself out of its main body, like roving hands, all with the power to destroy and consume as the Void itself can. It sees with their eyes, learns through their minds. Always it is evolving, searching for a way to defeat me and my brother and escape its prison.”
An uneasy feeling twisted in Touya’s stomach at that, though he didn’t know why. “Even if you kill them? This… Void knows what they know?”
“That’s right. It discovered long ago that I am somewhat weaker on the nights of a new moon, and usually attacks then, though not always. Also it’s found other routes out of the canyon, different ways to slip past me, and so Keroberos must hunt it in the wilderness. It is our duty, that Clow entrusted to us, for humans would stand no chance against it. It hates life, and love, and seeks to devour them whenever it can. If I’d ever thought it would get so close to you…”
Yue’s hand squeezed his own with a fervor that made him wince. “I came so close to losing you forever, Toya. It was as if my heart stopped in that moment. And I had thought you would always be safe in my castle.” He gulped, as if choking back a sob, holding Touya’s hand to his face as if it were a balm to his pain. His anguish disturbed Touya, for some reason; the thought that his death could be so disastrous for someone else made him uncomfortable.
“It’s only because you forgot to seal the bedroom door. I ran out because I was sure Sakura must be in danger.”
“I did not.” Yue shook his head. “The door was sealed shut with my magic.”
“Then how did…?”
“Fear for your sister, I’m sure. Your love must have fueled the strength to break through.”
A ghost of Yue’s old jealousy flickered in his eyes, staring at the sleeping girl, then he shook his head and looked away. Touya cleared his throat uncomfortably.
“You’ve been fighting them – or, it – all this time, then. Why did it only just get into the castle now?”
Now it was Yue who looked uncomfortable. “It was clever, this round, drawing me out to fight a distraction while it sent others to invade my home. It had enough footsoldiers to do so, because I was not as thorough as I should have been last time I swept the canyon. I… left the task unfinished.”
Touya was tired, but not so tired he couldn’t grasp the unsaid meaning behind Yue’s words. “It’s my fault,” he breathed, when the realization hit. “It’s because of me, because I tried to escape.”
“No! No, Toya, it is not your fault and you must not ever think that. It is my duty to protect the valley people from the Void, my responsibility. I am the one that knew better, but I let myself be distracted by anger and hurt. I was foolish enough to think that I’d done an adequate job, and foolish again when I let the Void trick me. When I think about what almost happened -”
“Stop,” Touya interrupted firmly. “Because it didn’t. I’m okay, I’m fine, and so is my sister. I’m still going to be angry at you for a little while… but I’m fine. This Void thing- you won’t ever let it get into the castle again, right?”
“Never.”
“Okay.” Touya exhaled, and with a little more sympathy studied Yue’s haunted gaze. Very recently, he’d known the horrific guilt and shame of almost letting someone he cared about die, and it was not a feeling he would wish upon anyone. He squeezed Yue’s hand. “And, thank you. For saving my life.”
Yue looked almost affronted. “Thanks are not necessary, Toya, you are my slave. It is my duty to care for and protect you, no matter what.”
It was, Touya vaguely realized, the first time the mention of the word ‘slave’ stirred no animosity in his heart. Something about Yue’s words seemed so tender, and caring, a feeling he hadn’t known since his mother last pressed a kiss upon his brow. It was rather nice, in a way, to be the one nurtured and protected instead of the one doing the protecting.
He could feel himself falling asleep before the thought was even complete. Compliantly he let Yue pull him close to his body, his head resting against Yue’s chest and the steady heartbeat within, and Yue’s arms loosely encircle his body and Sakura’s. She was in his care and he was in Yue’s... He closed his eyes, and slept.

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Disclaimer: I do not own these characters

And screeeech go the tires as my plot skids in an entirely new direction. Ha HA. Still have a few surprises left up my sleeve, don’t I? To all those who guessed it was the Clow Cards that Yue was fighting, I can now tell you that you were half-right. Void is, sort of, one of the original Cards. Everyone’s seen the second movie, right? Void was not included in the plot of the manga, so if that’s all you’ve done in the CCS world it might behoove you to rent The Sealed Card or borrow it or at least go read a good summary somewhere so you’ve got a better grasp of what Void’s all about. There are a few differences for the purpose of my angsty drama – unlike the show, when Void swallows up something, it’s gone forever. And it uses monsters to eat things and people, instead of the black orbs, because monsters are scarier and make for wicked cool fight scenes. The nature, as Eriol explained it in the movie, is still the same. Void is a negative power equal to the positive power of every life Clow created (I’m not using Cards in my story, but Yue told Touya that the various magics Clow made – wind, water, freeze, etc – are all ‘alive’). By definition, the Void despises life and emotion, and seeks to wipe it all from the face of the earth.
I’d congratulate the reader who already figured out that Yue might not be too happy with his newly submissive slave, but, um, that would be pretty much every one of you. I have the most perceptive readers! I feel like we’re all very much in tune, and reading your comments made me want to do the happy dance. (Or was that the thousand reviews? Oh well.) You guys are totally with it, getting into my characters, predicting their motivations, and showering me with astute observations. Love! Heart! I am so the luckiest writer on this site.

You guys absolutely have to check out Gittachi’s latest: http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa45/chasva/ps2.jpg

It’s beautifully done, G, and a heartrending portrayal of the awkward triangle between Clow, Yue, and Touya. I Loooooove it! I just finished resizing it to make a suitable desktop background, which I now sit and stare at while I wait for the muse to strike. It’s not every fanfic author that can pull up custom illustrations for her own story!
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Pleasure Slave