Bound To Trust- Chapter 1

CHAPTER 11

Sakura crouched in the shadow of a building, breathing heavily, listening for the sounds of the guards from whom she had previously been running. After she was certain that they were no longer following her, and that no other dangers lurked around the corner, she smiled and strode boldly out into the moonlight. The street that she had entered was mostly empty, apart from a few groups of drunks and bar-goers making their way to and from pubs and bars at this late hour.2

If you had been a bystander, watching all these goings on from the shadows of an alley, it would seem to you completely normal for this time of night, save one thing. All of those in the street, and all who lived in the country, for that matter, were not human. They looked similar to humans in their personalities and general physical characteristics, but for the fact that all sported tails, wings, or both. Some you saw had the wings and talons of a raven, their pitch-black eyes piercing even the night itself. Others had the traits of reptiles, such as areas of scale, forked tongues, strange, up-tilted eyes, and long heavy tails which dragged behind them. Sakura herself owned the features of a tiger, with silver and gold colouring. Silver stripes occupied her otherwise pure skin, and a beautiful tail swished happily from side to side under a heavy black cloak. Her ears were also hidden, nestled in a silky mass of startling blood red hair. The only thing that would draw attention to the young, slender female was the pair of piercing emerald eyes that shone out from under the hood of the cloak.3

She slowed as she neared a crossroads, and entered the bar immediately to her right. The door creaked when she pushed it open, though the noise was inaudible above the noise made by the late night punters, and pulsing trance music. She lowered her hood surreptitiously and took a good look around, obviously searching for someone. A smile spread over her face as she spotted a group of four teenage boys sitting at one of the tables spread around by the walls of the room. They were all dressed similarly, in punk-ish outfits, and laughed and talked loudly.4

As she approached, weaving her way through the heaving mass of dancers, the first one on the table to notice her jumped from his seat. Nicknamed V, he was the youngest of the group, with long sandy hair, and a fox’s ears and tail. He raced over to her with a massive grin on his face (if a little perverted); tail wagging furiously, alerting the other 3 boys to her presence.5

“Sakura!” he shouted in greeting, and then threw his arms around her and nestled his head in her bosom. She laughed and pushed his head into an upright position with her finger.6

“Yeah V, hi to you too. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Still smiling, Sakura prised the rest of him off her and proceeded to follow his joyful figure back to the table. V assumed his original seat and Sakura slid into a space next to an older looking 21 year old, with a sombre look on his face. He had a panther’s ears and tail, with a personality, it seemed, to match. He acknowledged her with a nod and a glance before turning his head away to take another puff on his cigarette. Across the table, a warmer greeting was on its way.7

“Hey, Sakura! Welcome back!” 8

“ Thanks Fran. How’s the singing coming along?” She asked in return. Instantly Fran’s eyes lit up.9

“Great! I’ve been practicing that song you gave me every night, and I think I’ve finally got the hang of it!  I can sing it all without hitting a single wrong note!” he chirruped. He was a cheerful looking 17-year old with large honey eyes and shoulder-length dyed dark blue hair. He was topless (as usual) and a beautiful pair of white wings sprouted from his shoulder blades. A heavenly glow radiated from him, marking him out as a celestial being, or at least, a normal person with celestial qualities. The wings were neatly folded behind him, and he leant forward slightly so as not to crumple the perfect image.10

“Yeah, and you kept us all up at night too, angel-boy!” The final member of the group joined in the conversation, Neo, with his short, blond, black-tipped hair spiked up at the sides. Eyeliner shrouded his golden eyes, and talons sprouted from his fingertips to match the carefully coloured plumage, which was his wings, mirroring those of an eagle’s. 11

Almost ever since she had met him, Sakura had felt something…special for him. A forbidden feeling, a glowing orb of light in her darkness. But because of who she was, she could never tell him. Not, at least, until the danger was past. At the moment, she was… dangerous, too dangerous to allow herself to openly love ever again, as much for her own sake as anyone else’s.  Aside from that, Sakura didn’t even know if he felt the same way about her. So, as she had done so many times before in her life, Sakura shoved her feelings aside.12

“Heh. Typical. You have a great voice, Fran, but try to keep the practicing to the day. Or at least practice in a place you won’t keep everyone awake.” She advised. 13

Together, the boys gathered around her formed a band very widely known as Almost Tainted, with Fran as lead singer, Neo on bass, V on lead guitar, and Kane playing drums. They were working their way to the top of the food chain by playing in pubs, bars, and anywhere else they could manage to fit into their hectic schedule. At one point, Sakura herself had been a part of the band, singing breathtaking harmonies with Fran. But due to personal reasons, she had needed to keep a low profile, and had been forced to drop out when the band had begun to get more popular, much to their fan’s protest. But nowadays they were doing just as well without her, if not better.14

* * *15

She spent the rest of the night having fun with the band, getting a little drunk, and being free to act her age for once, instead of carrying the burdens of someone twice her age. When V had dragged Fran and Neo into the throng of dancing girls to ‘socialize’ with their fans, Kane spoke to Sakura for the first time that evening.16

“How are things back home?” he asked in a surprisingly gentle tone. Although he looked far too young, Kane was, in fact, Sakura’s uncle, her mother’s younger brother, and because of this cared very deeply for her.17

Sakura sighed, and drew her knees nervously up to her chest.18

“Mmm… no worse than usual…no better either. But there’s been a hitch with Mel’s powers. She seems to be loosing her ability to heal me repeatedly.  But she can heal everyone else just fine.  Even better than usual, if anything.” She said. Kane put his arm around her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.19

“That’s not true. I have a feeling things are a lot worse than usual. You hadn’t been to see us for a month before this. What happened? Was it just that Mel couldn’t heal you? Or did he beat you so bad you couldn’t move?” he asked fiercely, more out of concern than anything else.20

“No! Just…just stay out of it!” she snapped. Kane raised his eyebrows, and she sighed. “Fine. I…I had a kinda bad session the other week. It was my own fault, really. I know he doesn’t like backchat, and well, I did. Backchat, I mean. Mel did her best, but her powers had hardly any effect on me whatsoever- uhh, Kane?” she asked tentatively. 21

“Yes?” he answered through clenched teeth, his whole body shaking in outrage and anger.22

“Could you possibly release me from your death-grip? I’m suffocating.” Immediately Kane let go and brought his arm back around to his own side. Sakura smiled gently and shrugged her shoulders at him.  “Look, there’s nothing we can do about it right now. I’m just gonna have to take whatever he throws at me until the time comes when I can get away. So don’t worry, o.k.?”  23

Kane just sat and stared at her in wonderment. Sakura looked up and raised her eyebrows.24

“What?” she asked. Kane shook his head briskly.25

“Nothing. It’s just; your mother said exactly the same thing to me before she left us. And, it was the last time….that I ever saw her again. I was just thinking about how much you look like her. I…really miss her.” He looked down into his lap, the anguish clear for all to see in his eyes.  “And I’m afraid…that you might end up the same as her. Your 17th birthday’s only just passed, but this next year’s gonna fly by with your 18th looming at the end of it. He’s already tightening up security, and your powers are developing so much…if you don’t get out soon you’ll be stuck there forever.”26

“Don’t worry about me. It won’t be long until the centre’s finished, and then I’ll be outta there. O.k.?” She reassured him. He nodded, and opened his mouth to say more, but was stopped by the sight of V bounding back over to the table, accompanied by Neo, who sat down next to Sakura with a beer.27

“Hey heeeey! Fran’s popular with the ladies tonight!” V slurred, falling into a chair. Sure enough, when Sakura looked over towards the dancing girls, there was Fran, slap-bang in the middle of them all. He looked vaguely frightened, twisting a little every now and again when someone tried to cling onto his wings, or took a feather. After spotting his friends staring at him, he waved desperately for help. 28

“Hey, didn’t you guys try and dye his wings black just a month or two ago?” Sakura remarked, taking a swig of Neo’s beer, who protested immediately, lunging over to try and retrieve it.29

“Yeah, but he said that it was bad for his feathers and he washed it off as soon as he got the chance. Of course, being away for so long, you wouldn’t know that.” V replied, looking curiously over at Sakura. She frowned, and lowered her head a little, allowing Neo to reclaim his drink.30

“Well-yeah. Hey, shouldn’t one of you go and try to rescue him?” she said, carefully changing the subject. Her suggestion was met with blank faces. “Oh, c’mon! Big strong lads like you can’t handle a few drunk, rabid fan girls? Neo?” Sakura looked at him with pleading eyes, but he just shook his head and took another swig of beer.31

“Nope, not this time. I’ve been mauled enough times to know that those fans are pure animal, girl.” So she turned her gaze to V, across the table, only to find…he wasn’t actually there. He’d vanished. Struck by a sudden thought, she peered under the table apprehensively, and sure enough, there laid a seemingly unconscious V, snoring gently. Groaning, she turned at last to Kane. She said nothing, just tilted her hear to one side and cocked her ears. He glanced at her once, twice, then…32

“Fine! I’m going, I’m going!” he shouted with a roll of his eyes. He made towards Fran, striding purposefully into the crowd, then disappeared. A moment later he emerged, Fran being dragged by one wing behind him. Then without a word he put Fran back into his seat and resumed his silent mulling, lighting a new cigarette as he did so. Sakura and Neo sat in silence.33

“Th-thanks.” Fran stammered.  Sakura snorted, and began to laugh uncontrollably.34

“That was frikin’ amazing!” she gasped, leaning back so she was propped up against Neo, giggling all the while. He blushed, and tried not to look too pleased about the fact that Sakura was so close to him.  He was about to put his arm around her, when he looked up and saw Kane staring at him in a not-so-friendly way. Immediately his arm changed course and Neo scratched his head nervously.35

“Phew…o.k, maybe I should go now. It’s getting late. Or should I say early. It’s gotta be somewhere near 2am now.” She said once she had regained her dignity. She grabbed her coat and leaned over to Kane, hugging him and then kissing him on the cheek. Then she shuffled past Neo, hugged him and Fran, and swung her cloak around onto her shoulders, tying it tightly around her neck. “See you all later!” She called over her shoulder. 36

From the doorway she looked back one last time, imprinting their faces into her memory, just in case it would be while until she saw them next.37

As she stepped out into the street, the could night wind pierced her head like an arrow, and she gasped as her senses became sharper and the pleasant, dull feeling the alcohol provided disappeared. She hurried back through the city streets and reached the all-too-familiar district walls in no time at all. Almost sorrowfully she looked up at them, the stone barriers that hid her home from view. Sometimes she wished that she wasn’t anybody special, that she was just an insignificant peasant with nothing to do with Kings and Princesses and servants and suitors and wealth. But she knew that now matter how much she wished it, she would always be Princess Sakura Jane Sunari, heir to the throne of Regna, High Priestess of the National Temple of the Goddess. Reluctantly she stuck her strong, razor-sharp claws into the wall and began to climb it, each time she moved upwards getting a fuller and fuller view of the palace, until finally she stood atop it, looking down on her home instead of up at it.38

The palace district consisted of the Royal Palace and a selection of grand mansions, home to the richest and most powerful nobles. The palace stood, of course, in the centre of it all, it’s own land stretching out far into the distance. It was surrounded by a wall about half the size of the one Sakura stood on at the moment, separating it from the rest of the district. A pair of small silver gates provided an entrance to the palace, while a larger, grander pair of golden gates stood tall at the entrance to the district itself. Beyond that, Sakura knew, was the rest of the nobility’s district, and next to it the middle class, or the army district. The place which Sakura had just visited was the upper middle class district(or, as it was less formally known, the pleasure district), and beyond that, she knew, lay the shambles of the peasant district. Neo, Fran, V and Kane all made their home in the nobility’s district, living together in a mediocre mansion with a decent amount of gardens. They made a pretty humble living in comparison with the other gentry who lived near them.39

Sakura stalked in an incredibly catlike manner across the wall until she was closer to her own home, and then in a gravity-defying stunt, leapt the distance from the main wall to the palace’s smaller one. She landed with the smallest of noises, and then walked along the wall again, until she reached the place where the gap was smallest between the wall and the palace.  She jumped across this gap like she had before, and clung to the outside wall of the palace with her claws as she landed. Quickly and effortlessly she scaled the wall and fell, less gracefully, through an open window. Nervous all of a sudden, she crouched on the floor in a pouncing position, listening intensely. When no lights were turned on in the corridor outside she relaxed, and got up to brush the dust from her clothes. Finally, she was safe in her own room. As she went to change into her nightclothes, a wave of exhaustion overcame her, and she was barely able to hide her dirty cloak, bag, and clothes, and then slip into her silk nightdress before collapsing onto her bed, sliding between the duvet and the mattress. Before she realised what was going on, she had slipped into a state of deep slumber.40

Unbeknown-st to her, all of her movements from the moment she had appeared over the side of the wall to when she had fallen through the window had been watched. From amongst the trees in the extensive palace grounds, a tall, dark figure watched her, lurking in the shadows created by the moonlight. A flash of white appeared as the silhouette smiled knowingly, and then faded back into the darkness, a spectre in the night. 41