Torika's Quest

Torika was awoken by a large crash and the noise of her parents shouting, she leapt out of bed and made her way across her room to the door. Suddenly a Large burst of fire took the roof off of Torika's bedroom. She fell to the floor amidst piles of rubble and flame. Torika then heard her mother, Sakura, screaming and her father, Li, crying out Sakura's her name. Torika looked up to the sky and saw a huge black dragon carrying her mother in its clawed and scaly feet. In a crackle of some sort of black magic the beast and Sakura were gone.

Torika didn't have long to dwell on the fact that some demonic creature had just kidnapped her mother, due to the fact that her room along with the rest of the house were in flames caused by the dragon's firey breath. Torika stood up and ran as fast as she could, through the pile of bricks and tiles that had been her roof, out onto the landing were she met Keroberos, the guardian beast of her Heart Cards, carrying her injured father on his back. The three then sprinted down the stairs and out of their burning house.

Kero lay Li down on the ground outside of their house. He was badly burnt and bleeding.

"Daddy are you okay? What was that thing that took mommy? Where has it taken her?", The tears that Torika had been trying to fight back finally overwhelmed her and she broke down and started whale with sorrow.

"Torika you have to be strong", Li forced himself to sit up although obviously in pain, "Torika that thing that took your mother was a servant of the king of shadows."

"The king of shadows?" Torika questioned.

"Yes he resides in a different dimension but a few years ago, when your mother was the CardCaptor, he tried to take over this world but your mother and I foiled his plans. So I guess kidnapping your mother is his way of getting revenge."

"We have to do something, daddy!" Torika exclaimed, "We have to save mommy."

"No Torika you have to save your mother. Here go to this address and tell the person who lives there who you are and what has happened." Li pulled out a notepad and pen and wrote the address of a house in Tokyo. Torika pulled out one of her heart cards and handed it to her father along with her Heart key, the card was the Heal.

"Here take these to heal yourself," Torika said solemnly

"Thank you" Li said trying to put on a brave face.

"Kero I want you to stay here and look after my father".

"But…" Kero tried to speak but Torika cut him off after his first word.

"No buts Kero I am ordering you as your master to look after my father while I go and save my mother" and with that Torika stood up and began to run down the street in the direction of the Train station.

"Good luck Torika" her father called after her. Torika didn't stop running until she reached the train station. Torika purchased a single ticket to Tokyo from the lady in the both the lady tried to question Torika on whether something was the matter but she simply shook her head. When the train arrived Torika embarked but to her she was not simply embarking a train but a quest that would not end until her mother was safe and her family back together again.

Torika had been lucky enough to get a seat in an empty carriage of the train and so avoiding having to answer difficult questioned as to why she was so upset and catching a train to Tokyo by herself. The journey was a very long and lonely one and the site of the Tokyo tower pulling into view made a single tear run down Torika's face when she remembered the stories her parents had told her about when they had been CardCaptors. The Train began to slow and the lady on the tanoy announced that the train was now arriving at Tokyo station.

After Torika had disembarked the train she peered around the crowded station the site of so many families travelling together made her incredibly depressed and if possible more desperate to find her lost mother. Torika pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket and read the address she didn't have any idea where it was so she stopped an elderly lady to ask if she could shed any light on the matter.

"Excuse me do you have any idea where this address is?" Torika asked.

"Umm.. I think it's in the local vicinity", the lady had a puzzled look upon her face, " ah yes I remember now it's over there where those rise buildings are".

"Oh thank you!" Torika exclaimed before taking of at bolt neck speed out of the station and towards the buildings. As Torika approached the buildings they appeared to loom overhead and seemed rather daunting to Torika. Finally Torika arrived at her designed location. The house was very old and seemed out of place in the centre of modern day Tokyo. As Torika approached the door it swung open as if to lure her in. She entered and peered down the long entrance hall suddenly the carpet beneath her feet moved pulling her deeper into the house.

When the carpet became stationary Torika looked up and saw that she was at the feet of a very tall, slim and beautiful women with jet black hair.

"Excuse me miss are you the person that lives in this house?" Torika quizzed remembering her father's instructions.

"Well that would be one explanation as to why I am in the house," the women sarcastically sighed, "well that or I'm a scary burglar"

"Please don't play around with me I've had an utterly awful day"

"I know" the women replied.

"What, how?" Torika gasped in surprise.

"I know everything about you CardCaptor Torika and why you have come here". Torika didn't know exactly what to say to this strange and eerie remark.

"Who are you?" Torika asked.

"I am know by many names but my professional title is the Space, Time Witch I run this little shop we're in but it's no ordinary shop this shop grants wishes".

"Can you send me to the realm where the king of shadows has my mother?"

"Yes, I can if that is your wish" the witch began,"But it will come at a cost!"

"What's the cost?" Torika enquired.

"The cost for my services will be your magical powers." The Space, Time Witch delivered this news to Torika who gasped in horror.

"But then I will never be able to use my cards again!" Torika said in a sad tone of realization.

"Don't worry the loss of your magic powers won't be forever, only until you are united with your mother. I am sorry that I have to take payment under the circumstances but the rules of my shop say that no wish can be granted without the correct payment in return." Torika agreed to the cost knowing that it was the only way to save her mother.

"Follow me". Said the witch as she walked out of the room. Torika obeyed and followed the woman out of the room and down a long corroder into what resembled a large walk-in wardrobe. The women began to sift though a pile of costumes lying on the floor while Torika looked on.

"Perfect", cried the witch as she held up an outfit that resembled one of Maddy's creations, "here put this on quick!" Torika did as she was told and changed from her pajamas into the outfit the witch had selected for her.

"You look great!" exclaimed the witch. Torika hadn't quite made up her mind about the outfit yet; it consisted of a purple floor length chain mail dress that was surprisingly light and a golden chest plate emblazoned with a large pink heart, around her wrists were two golden bracelets and upon her head sat a golden tiara with a pink heart shaped jewel in the centre. "Now you're ready to take on the king of shadows."

"So you will send me to his world now?" asked Torika.

"Yes of course, now follow me." Torika once again followed the witch out of the room and into another one opposite upon the floor was a large magic symbol upon it. "Stand over there", said the witch gesturing to the magic circle. Torika obeyed and was soon at the centre of the room. "Now I will take the price you owe me" the witch informed Torika. A veil of light passed over her and she suddenly felt very weak, her magical abilities where now gone.

"I must be strong!" Torika whispered once again finding herself fighting back the tears.

"I will now send you to the world of the king of shadows. Once you are there you must make your way to his castle where you will find your mother. When you have freed Sakura your magic will return to you and you will be able to return home." Torika nodded saying nothing, "before you leave I want you to have this to defend yourself with" the witch handed Torika a golden sword, " are you ready to go?" asked the witch.

"Yes!" exclaimed Torika.

"Then good luck" the witch waved her arms and the next thing Torika knew she was falling, but it was only a few seconds before she hit something she thought was the ground.

"oow!!!" came a muffled voice from under her , "get off me!" came the voice again.

"I am so sorry" Torika shrieked as she leapt to her feet.

"It's all right, it's not everyday I get rained on by a beautiful young woman." Remarked the person who Torika had fallen on. He was a teenage boy with blue eyes and ruffled brown hair. The remark turned Torika a vivid shade of red.

"Is this the place where the king of shadows lives?" Torika blurted trying to hide her face. "that's just great Torika", Torika thought to herself "A guy just called you a beautiful young women and all you could say was that!". The boy looked taken aback but answered anyway.

"Erm yes. Why?"

"Because he has my mother and I need to save her!" Torika said in a desperate tone.

"I could take you there if you like." The boy said chirpily.

"Okay but only because I need to save my mother! I'm not interested in you and your obviously far too old for me!" Torika said before setting off at a quick pace "there you go again what is wrong with you today!" Torika thought.

"Well that told me!" the boy commented "excuse me miss but you're going the wrong way!" the boy cried after Torika while trying not to smile. Torika stopped walking and turned a deeper shade of red than before.

The scenery of the country was beautiful and it was hard to belief that such an evil being could live there. They where on top of a hill that sloped down to a thick green forest, beyond that was a vast expanse of fields with a sapphire blue river running though them and into the distance where there was a collection of black clouds, Torika guest that was where the king of shadows lived. The pair had been walking in silence for about 10 minutes before the boy broke the silence.

"You got a name?" the boy inquired more to end the silence than out of interest.

"Erm yes I'm Torika"

"I'm Jimmy." The boy replied on queue.

"Nice to meet you Jimmy, although we technically haven't just met." The two laughed and continued walking onward. The sun was just starting to set when the two reached the forest. Close up and in the ever failing daylight it looked very scary.

"Do we have to go through there?" Torika asked.

"I'm afraid so, are you scared?" replied Jimmy mockingly.

"No I'm not scared!" Torika said and to prove her point she went into the forest with Jimmy quick on her tail. The forest was cold and dark and all of the trees looked like sinister figures waiting to grab the two young travellers. They had been going for a good few hours when Torika heard a noise she had hoped to never to hear again, it was the roar of the King Of Shadows dragon.

"That's the beast that stole my mother" Torika exclaimed. "what are we going to do?"

"Run!"

"What that's your plan?!" Torika cried.

"Do you have a Better one?" Jimmy snapped and with that he grabbed Torika's hand and broke into a run. The dragon showered the forest with flames missing them by seconds. Torika's heart had never pounded as much as it did now as she ran through the forest in a deadly game of cat and mouse.

The trees began to thin and Torika realised they were nearing the edge of the forest. They fled from the forest and down to the riverbank where they hid in the reeds the dragon flew overhead and began to circle before it flew back into the forest shrieking as if in pain.

"Of course" said Jimmy

"Of course what?" asked Torika

"The sun's come up and that's a beast of shadow, the light must repel them."

"Great but now what do we do?" as if in answer to Torika's question a black, wooden boat pulled into sight around a bend in the stream the boat was empty save for some large boxes.

"Perfect a free ride!" Jimmy said happily.

"What we can't go on that it looks scary" with a smile from Jimmy, obviously due to the fact that she had said the boat was scary, she added, "besides we don't know where it's going."

"Yes we do it's going to the King Of Shadows, its one of his cargo boats you see a lot of them on the river nowadays, it will take us right to his castle" Jimmy informed her using his knowledge of the world they were in. Jimmy jumped in then turned and offered his hand to Torika. She hesitated a moment before she took it and he helped her into the boat.

"So where do you live?" Torika asked Jimmy.

"On a small farm near to where I met you." He answered.

"Do you live there with your family?" Torika asked.

"No they were killed in an attack on the village where we lived by the King of Shadows." Jimmy told her then looked out over the river.

"Oh I'm so sorry", Torika said in a sad tone "In that case why did you agree to take me to the home of the man who killed your family?"

"Because I wanted to help you be reunited with your mother." He said gazing back at Torika "I did it for you."

"Thank you." She said gazing back. The boat travelled along the river and seemed to be covering a lot more distance than should be possible for a boat of that size. Overhead the sky was beginning to fill with black clouds and the roar of thunder could be heard a strong breeze had whipped up and Torika's hair was being blown about. The boat rounded another bend in the river and then the two saw the King Of Shadows Castle. It was a large stone building with lots of turrets sticking out here and there.

"The strange thing is that nobody ever sees anyone enter or leave that castle apart from the King Of Shadows." Jimmy told Torika. The boat had now picked up a fast speed and was heading toward what seemed to be a dead end but the boat didn't slow it just went faster and faster Torika screamed then suddenly the boat dropped. The boat was now floating on a subterranean lake sailing toward a small wooden jetty.

"I didn't see that coming." Remarked Jimmy

"I think I left my stomach up on the surface." Torika moaned as she got her bearings. "Where are we?"

"I think we're under the Castle" Jimmy replayed. The boat had now come to a stop at a small wooden jetty. The boxes that were aboard the boat began to offload them selves onto a conveyer belt that was moving upward.

"Let's ride that conveyer belt up into the castle!" said Torika

"Good idea it looks like the only way up anyway" Jimmy replied. The two sat on the conveyer belt and rode it upward. It came to a long corroder with only one door at the far end; The King of Shadows was nowhere to be seen. Torika and Jimmy walked along the corroder and Torika pushed hard on the oak door but to no avail.

"I can't get the door open" Torika said becoming quite frustrated, "It must have some strange way of opening".

"Erm Torika I think your going about it the wrong way" Jimmy said with a smirk.

"If you're so smart, you figure it out," Torika snapped at Jimmy as she stepped aside. Jimmy stepped forward and pulled the door open.

"Oh" said Torika as she turned her unique shade of red.

"Come on lets go! We must be really close now." Jimmy said encouragingly. The two went through the door and found that it lead to a staircase. They climbed up what must have been hundreds of stairs until they reached the top of one of the tall towers that jutted out from the top of the castle. At the top of the tower was a circular room with only one item within it; a large birdcage that was suspended from the ceiling and within the birdcage was a sight that made Torika's heart jump with joy.

"Mom!!!" Torika exclaimed with joy.

"Torika!" Sakura cried out of happiness. Torika ran over and hugged her mother through the bars of the cage. At that moment Torika felt warm as she remembered the words of the witch she had met in Tokyo

"Don't worry the loss of your magic powers won't be forever, only until you are united with your mother" Torika was surrounded by streams of energy and once again she felt strong and warm inside. She had her powers back and once again CardCaptor Torika.

"Well done Torika, I didn't think you would make it this far" the low rasping voice came from a figure that stood at the door. The figure was dressed from head to toe in a long black robe with a hood that only revealed his red eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Without a doubt he was the King of Shadows. "But if you want to save your mother you are first going to have to go through me!" The King half growled as he suddenly fired a ball of black magic at Torika she jumped to the side and the ball just missed her continuing to hit the wall behind her blasting the bricks outward and sending them tumbling down to the ground below.

"Torika use your cards!" Sakura cried out.

"I can't, I gave my key to dad because his sword was destroyed along with the house and he needed to use the Heal card!" Torika said panic rising in her voice.

"Well if you can't defend your self it looks like this will be an easy victory for me!" The King said as he prepaid to fire an other spell at Torika. She panicked but just then her hand bushed up against something that was hanging from her waist, it was the sword that the witch had given her.

"Shield!" Torika shouted, striking the card with her sword, just in time to protect her self from the spell the king had fired at her. Torika then remembered the incident with the dragon in the forest and an Idea a cured to her.

"This is for kidnapping my mother" Torika shouted "LIGHT CARD!" The form of the Light card appeared before Torika and unleashed all of its light energy onto the King Of Shadows and within a moment he was no more."

"Wow, you didn't tell me you had magical powers" Jimmy exclaimed as he walked over to Torika.

"Thank you for coming to save me!" Sakura said with tears of joy in her eyes.

"Now we just have to get you out of that cage and we can be off home!" Torika said pulling an other card out "Through allow my mother to pass though the bars of the cage, release!" the card did as instructed and Sakura gracefully slipped through the bars.

"Now we had better get going!" Sakura said. First Torika had something she wanted to say to Jimmy but when she turned around, he was gone. Torika could here the eco of footsteps on the staircase.

"I'll be right back!" Torika said to her mother as she ran down the stairs. Sakura smiled warmly as she watched her daughter run out of the room

"Jimmy Wait!" Torika shouted, as she reached the bottom of the stairs and sighted Jimmy at the other end of the corridor. Jimmy span around to see Torika running toward him. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"I'm sorry I felt like I was intruding on your reunion and I'm really not very good at goodbyes."

"Why say goodbye?" Torika said with a sweet smile.

"Huh" a puzzled looking Jimmy replayed.

"Why don't you come and live in my world, with me?" Torika continued.

"What, do you really mean it?" Jimmy said very taken aback.

"Well only if you would like to." Said Torika hoping he wanted to come.

"Of cause I would like to it would be fantastic!" Jimmy flung his arms around Torika and was delighted when she hugged him back. "I love you," he whispered in Torika's ear.

"I love you too" Torika replied. The two then returned to the room at the top of the tower hand in hand.

"Are you ready to leave now?" Sakura said smiling warmly.

"Yes, but how?" Torika asked.

"All we need to do is hold hands and say we wish to go home now." Sakura explained. The group took each other's hands and said aloud together their wish to go home. An other light passed over the group just like the one that had brought Torika to this world and within a flash they were lying in a heap on the lawn of Torika's house. Sakura, Jimmy and Torika picked themselves up and looked up to see that Li and Kero had been waiting nearby and were now running to great them. Torika smiled now knowing that she had completed her quest to reunite her family and also had found someone very special along the way…