Sealed In Our Fate...

Chapter 2 - The Voyage
A girl across from Sakura immediately caught her attention. She had her hair tied neatly in buns on both sides, and the remaining hung below her shoulders. She was wearing Chinese style clothing, and she looked very pretty too. Sakura suddenly had the courage to approach this girl, since she doesn't want to be alone during the voyage.

"Umm. . . .my name is Sakura. What's yours?"

The girl glared at Sakura, and immediately thought she was a filthy poor girl. She didn't look interested at Sakura, but answered anyways. "It's Meiling. . ."

"Meiling!! What a pretty name!! It's a Chinese name right? You don't sound like you're from Japan. . . . . .anyway, my name is Sakura Kinomoto! I hope we can become good friends!" Sakura squealed happily at her newfound friend, but Meiling didn't find her all that interesting.

"Yeah. . .right. . ." She replied, looking out the window with boredom. The wind from the sea entered the opened window and slashed through Meiling's hair, making it look shiny and smooth.

Sakura was impressed. "Wow!! Meiling-san has really pretty hair!! Unlike mine, which is filthy and dusty. . . . . . . . . could you give me some pointers on how to keep your hair so nice?"

"Maybe. . ." The Chinese girl stayed uninterested and continued to focus outside at the waves.

Trying as hard as she can to start a conversation, Sakura went on, "So why are you applying for this job? And why were you in Japan? I'm just so curious about you! I hope you could tell me why. . ."

"Personal reasons," Meiling snapped, immediately sending Sakura away from her train of thoughts. Her face was very blank and expressionless, sighing and yawning every now and then.

Sakura gave up on her, since she couldn't find a way to bring up a good conversation with Meiling. Immediately, another young girl beside her started a small chat with Sakura.

"She's tough isn't she?" The girl introduced the conversation with Sakura.

Sakura nodded lightly and quietly at her as a reply.

The girl continued, "I've heard she was originally from China, but her family did something really wrong that the country banished them from China and sent them to Japan!"

Sakura suddenly perked up with excitement. "Really?" She glanced over at Meiling, who was still wearing the bored expression on her face. 'She really doesn't look all that bad. . .' Sakura wondered in her mind.

"Sigh, her family was very poor. . .they could do nothing but sell firewood in the market. . ." The girl beside Sakura granted her with more information.

Curious as ever, Sakura wanted to know Meiling better. 'Selling things in the market. . .' Sakura sighed, since her fate was so alike herself's. 'I hope I will get to know her better. . .' "So do you know why she was banished from China??" Sakura curiously asked the girl beside her.

The girl rubbed her chin that indicates her thinking hard. "I'm not sure, but I think it's because she cheated on prince. . ."

The Chinese girl across made a loud grunt, audible enough to frighten both Sakura and the other girl beside her off their chairs. Sakura immediately pulled herself back at her own seat before someone else takes it. She looked across from her and found herself eye to eye with Meiling. Her stare was very cold, as if she was about to stab a knife at you.

"Mind your own business," Meiling murmured, loud enough to send the message to both Sakura and the girl beside her as a warning.

Sakura immediately squealed, "I'm sorry!! I promise I'll never mention a word about it!!" Sakura bowed her head way down low, almost hitting the ground.

Meiling snarled, "You better."

"I will!" She answers immediately, and sat quietly throughout the rest of the afternoon.

~*~

The sky was pitch black during the middle of the evening. Nothing could be seen except for the silver colored moon and the dimly lit candles around the little boat. Sakura was still sitting quietly at her own seat, daring not to say a word after the warning she received from Meiling earlier in the afternoon.

The crowded became quieter every minute, while some people snored loudly to show signs of them being asleep already. Sakura still sat quietly, wondering when she would arrive to China. "Hmmm. . . . I wonder how long this voyage would be. . .would we arrive tomorrow?? Or maybe later tonight?" Sakura whispered to herself.

"We'll arrive in 2 days," Someone suddenly answered Sakura's question. Without even looking, Sakura already knew it was Meiling who answered her question.

"Wow!! Meiling is very smart!! How did you know?" Sakura piped up.

Meiling didn't even show efforts of answering Sakura's question. She rolled her eyes, silently laughing about Sakura's air-filled head.

Sakura was puzzled at Meiling's reaction, but quickly forgot about it. But as she starts to fall asleep, she found the boat swaying exceptionally hard. At first it felt like a cradle, but now it's feeling more like a tug of war between the ocean waves and the boat. Suddenly, the boat tipped far in one direction, causing everyone else to lose their seats and fall flat on the ground, except for Meiling, who gripped herself tightly on her seat. Sakura pounded her head at the edge of her chair, which made her feel dizzier than ever.

Meiling rose angrily and stormed towards the Chinese guard. "Hey, what the hell is happening around here???"

Cowardly holding on to a pole, the guard responded, "There's a storm coming up!!! Probably a tidal wave or something!!!"

Meiling smirked, "Useless cowards." She immediately snatched the heavy sword away from the lifeguard and effortlessly held it with perfect posture.

Looking up, she saw the sails of that boat catching the storm, causing the whole boat to struggle. A grin appeared in her face as she gripped her sword tighter. "Easy job!"

In less than a second, Meiling leaped off the boat, rising at least twenty feet off the ground. Her thick sword was mounted above her head in perfect position, and as she starts to descend, she gathered her strength whipped the sword downwards. The hard blade was slicing the sail in half while the girl slowly descended back down to the floor. A loud RIP caused by the sail startled all the passengers on the boat, their eyes wide opened and gazing at Meiling's strength and ability. The remains of the sail were blown away by the heavy storm and sank down the sea.

The guard's jaws dropped and his eyes were burst wide open. He had under estimated Meiling's abilities, but right now he reacted with panic.

"NOO!!!! What have you done, you foolish woman???? The sail!!! The sail!!!! It's ripped in half!!!!" The guard shrieked in anger.

Meiling replied coldly, "Hey Hey Hey!!!!! I've just saved your damn life!! Is this the way you show your gratitude for me??"

The guard thundered, "I don't care!!! You've just destroyed this boat!! You'll pay for the damage!!!"

"Fine, fine. . . whatever. How much?" Meiling reacted calmly.

"A hundred pounds of gold!!!!" The guard told her.

Meiling became impatient. "What the? This trash boat doesn't even worth over 10 pounds of gold!!! Who the hell are to trying to kid?"

"You better pay or you'll be dead!!" The guard threatened.

"Why you. . . . . ." Meiling's anger had reached to the peak. She picked up the guard with both of her hands and tossed him off the boat, which resulted a large SPLASH of water. Everyone was terrified at Meiling's cruelty, but some of them were actually glad.

The guard splashed in water, dying for a breath of air. "Help!!" he yelped.

Meiling ignored.

Sakura couldn't stand seeing anyone in pain, even if the guard who rude and cruel. She would've jumped down to save him, but the other girls stopped her. With no other choice, Sakura approached Meiling.

"Umm. . . . Meiling, could you please save him?" She politely asked.

Meiling raised an eyebrow. "Why should I?"

"Well, I know he was a rat, but he would die if you won't save him. Could you please, Meiling?" Sakura convinced.

Meiling turned away, avoiding eye contact with her.

Sakura continued begging, "Please, Meiling. Do it for my sake."

Still, Meiling remained uninterested.

Sakura had no choice, yet her heart is still uncomfortable seeing the guard so painful. She shut her eyes tightly and held her breath. "Here goes nothing. . ." Without a minute to spare, Sakura jumped off the boat to rescue the guard.

Finally, Meiling's attention was captured. "God, stupid girl!!!"



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