.:Ruined Country.

He was, as usual, kneeling by the side of the underground lake and gazing into its depths. Then he heard heavy footsteps. Too heavy to be Nataku or Yuuto…Kusanagi.

"Kamui!" At the sound of his name, the slender, raven-haired youth looked up, his violet eyes wary. The other approached hurriedly.

"Kamui...intruders!" Instantly, Kamui was on the defensive.

"Of what district?" he asked. If it was him…but Kusanagi shrugged. He didn't know.

"Where are they?"

"The West Gate," Kusanagai reported. Kamui swept up his cloak, grabbing his crossbow as he did so, and began to walk quickly, willing himself to keep a human pace. Kusanagi followed.

As he neared the West Gate, Kamui heard faraway footsteps. The intruders were nearby. He sensed Kusanagi circle around the long way but took a shortcut and leapt effortlessly onto a pile of crumbling rock, lightly and silently maneuvering his way to where the others were waiting. As he neared his companions, Kamui deftly pulled up his hood…no need to show the intruders who he was. The lack of identity amongst them made the intruders afraid, and that was exactly what he wanted.

When he reached the others, they each nodded to him silently. He nodded back, and turned away.

Closing his eyes – no need for anyone to see them burn gold – he threw his vampire senses outward with a deep inhalation, scanning every soul within a mile radius for unfamiliar essences. He stopped at a spot around fifty feet away from where he and the others stood. There, he could feel four new essences – two were powerful magical beings, with one hiding some kind of secret. The third newcomer gave off a very confident aura… Kamui guessed that he was powerful physically. For a human, that is, he thought darkly, smirking to himself. The fourth…was weak in stature but possessed hidden abilities. Kamui listened to what they were saying, not really caring.

"Are they…real corpses?" a breathy male voice asked, his voice lined with worry.

"…Yeah. They've been killed," a deeper voice answered in a flat tone. The first voice sighed.

"Thank goodness Sakura-chan's still asleep…" A distance away from the first two voices, a third, younger male voice spoke.

"Mokona…you can come hide in my clothes…"

"No…" The other voice was absurdly high, childish, and probably not human. "…I need to help find where Sakura's feathers are…"

"Thank you." His voice was filled with gratitude. "Do you sense it?"

"…I don't know. But I sense a great power." Surprise made Kamui's eyes snap open. That was what Subaru had said…before he had…

The young male voice interrupted his thoughts. "Where is it coming from?"

"…From below." Kamui's eyes flashed. No matter what they were looking for, he would never allow them underground, to where Subaru slept…

Footsteps again, of just one essence. The one with strong magical ability, who wasn't hiding a secret. Kamui closed his eyes again and listened to the intruder's sharp intakes of breath as he viewed the destruction and the dead set before his eyes. With a random turn, the intruder stepped into view of not just Kamui but the rest of the group too.

It was a slight, brown-haired boy in strange clothes, with a rabbit-like creature perched on his shoulder. Kamui narrowed his eyes, puzzled. From the rabbit he could perceive a strong magical ability, but from the boy…nothing. Kamui tried harder, and was rewarded with a very faint essence, barely anything. Not a whole soul, but still something…a faint whiff of determination was all he could make out. Surely it would have been more, but for the fact that this soul seemed torn…perhaps he was "E"?

He shook his head, breaking free of his idle thoughts. These were intruders, thieves, he reminded himself. They deserved to die.

"Kill them," he whispered, loud enough to be heard by the others but soft enough to escape the thieves' notice. Immediately, they pulled their triggers and a shower of arrows rained down upon the boy and the rabbit. The boy gasped and stepped back, just in time to avoid being shot in the leg by Kazuki's arrow. He vaulted backwards, narrowly missing a second volley of arrows. He clutched the rabbit tightly to him as he dodged the oncoming assault.

Watching, Kamui finally shot his own arrow, right at the boy's face. The intruder's eyes widened in shock at the incoming arrow and, with more instinct than anything else, he vaulted into the air and kicked the arrow away. Kamui raised an eyebrow. This intruder wasn't as weak as he looked. And there was something else…something familiar about the way he kicked…

The boy began to look tired with the beginning of the third volley. Kamui noted the bleeding cut on his cheek and his ragged clothes. Had he been fighting before this? No matter, he decided, and shot another arrow out. The boy's reflexes were too slow, and he was wounded; this one made its way deep into the intruder's right leg, making him gasp aloud and stagger back against a pillar for support.

"Syaoran!" the rabbit cried out. The others raised their crossbows, ready for the death volley, but Kamui waved them off. Obediently, they lowered their weapons and waited. Kamui, his crossbow still pointed at the boy, spoke.

"You must have a death wish…to have dared enter this place…" he said softly. For the first time, the boy…Syaoran…looked up and saw his faceless attackers. His forehead creased – with anger? Or fear?

"A stranger's face," noted Yuuto casually.

"Those kicks were awesome!" Kazuki, as per usual, was overwhelmingly enthusiastic.

"What are you talking about?" Nataku snapped. "They're intruders!"

"And thieves," Satsuki added, a hint of menace embedded in her voice.

"So," concluded Yuuto, hitching up his crossbow again. "What to do…" – Kamui reached up and pulled his hood down slowly – "…Kamui?"

So that's the first chapter ^0^, I tried to make it as seamless with the manga as possible while still bringing up some new angles and stuff, hoped it worked ^^ Please review, constructive criticism is welcome!