YARGH! This thing is pissing me off! Everything that I wrote here before... DESTROYED! meh. Being a newbie and learning the system here is hard, no? No matter. I shall paraphrase everything:

DISCLAIMER: The characters Syaoran, Sakura, Takashi, Chiharu, and Eriol are based LOOSELY off the characters of the same name in the anime/manga Cardcaptor Sakura, and are owned by their authors/artists, CLAMP. The story, plot, and original characters within this fanfiction are owned by me, and me only. (Pm first before using an original character, please).

Description: In a messed up world where, in order to end all wars, a "game" has been created... each country turns in anyone from age 13-17 into a giant free for all. The last one standing wins, and that country is to take charge of politics for the next year. But there's something else amist here... something or someone is playing the rules, and with national politics tied, the children involved are nothing more than mere pawns in a game of global proportions. Getting sucked into it is inveitable... but can they survive it?

And now, without further adoo:

Team United: The SALAD Chronicles:

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"Syaoran!"

"No good, he's out cold."

"Is he going to make it?"

"Wait! His eyes are opening..."

The voices seemed to be coming from directly above me. I slowly cracked open an eyelid, opening the other one as well to the face of a concerned girl. She had brilliant emerald eyes, light brown hair, and a worried look.

"Ahh, so he's awake! Guess you got to him just in time, Sakura..." said a blue-haired boy from behind her, this one wearing round eyeglasses.

I attempted to stand, but was caught by a sharp, piercing pain near my stomach. The girl gently pushed me back down, saying as she did so:

"Don't move, Syaoran-kun, your wound is bad..."

I laid my head back down reluctantly, looking up at the dark-green sky. It was then that I noticed it was raining; the steady pitter-patter of raindrops became evident, a few drops hitting my face.

I winced as another surge of pain came from my stomach.

What happened to me?

"You don't remember, Syaoran-kun?"

I shook my head slowly, Sakura becoming even more worried.

"What did he do to you..." she said, quietly.

"He's lost a lot of blood. Perhaps it has affected his mind." said the boy, as Sakura continued to wrap more bandages around my waist. Slowly, memories began to float in...

"There, you can move your head now, take it easy... I'm glad you're awake at last, Syaoran-kun." she said this with a hint of affection.

I slowly sat up, wincing in pain from whatever grievous wound I had begotten in my stomach. The first thing I noticed upon sitting up were helmets... everyone was wearing one. Sakura's had a red cross stamped on it, above the words "medic". The helmet was moved back a bit to show her bangs, and it seemed a little oversized for her.

Behind her, the boy with the glasses who spoke earlier was conversing with another boy, who had similar colored hair, and whose eyes seemed to be perpetually closed.

Relieved, Sakura began to put away her medical supplies as I looked around. The dark-green sky I had observed earlier turned out to be a tarp, supported by three metal rods salvaged from broken fencing. Water spilled through a hole in the tarp, drops falling randomly on my face.

My right hand found something... on a dish nearby was a long dagger, bloodily stained from use. This shocked me for a moment, as it was no doubt the same weapon that had inflicted the...

I looked at my stomach. What I saw were many bandages... some stained red with dry blood. With the slightest movement, the sharp pain returned, emanating from it. I grimaced.

Sakura took notice at once.

"Syaoran-kun, please lie down... you'll never get better that way." she said, in the same sorta affectionate way as before. I complied as movement coming from the edge of the tarp caught my eye.

It was another boy; he had rich white-gray hair and a medium build; he was chained with his hands and wrists behind him, sitting on the floor next to a pole.

His gaze turned towards me, and he smirked. Red eyes shone like rubies from him, dark and gleaming.

I also noticed that there was a large bump on his forehead. Ouch.

"Wha... what!? MOM! I told you not to call me on our radio..."

I turned my head towards the direction of the voice. A short-haired girl with eyeglasses was yelling into a microphone, connected to a radio. For some reason, I could only remember Sakura's name... why?

What happened to me?

"You know those giant crossbows used in the old ages? Supposedly, some of the big High-Landers actually carried those to war with them and shot them at people!"

After he had said this, the blue-haired boy without glasses was cuffed lightly from behind by a girl with brown ponytails.

"Again with your lies, you haven't changed a bit, Takashi." she said, pulling the boy backwards.

"Aww, Chiharu..." he said, in an affectionate tone.

"That's Private Mihara to you, Private Yamazaki." she said, dragging Takashi away from the boy with the eyeglasses. He simply smiled and continued reading a small book he had picked up earlier.

Movement again. The white-haired boy stood up... his shackles seemed to slide right off.

Danger... I could sense it as he made his way towards Sakura, who was oblivious to him, arranging her first-aid kit.

A sickening smile formed on his lips as he came within striking distance of Sakura. Out of nowhere, he pulled out a switch-blade, and, after smiling first at me, he sent his free right hand down towards Sakura's head.

For a flash moment, everything was clear; some of my lost memories came back... the memory of how I received this wound. He was the one who stabbed me.

That... smile. He knew I could do nothing, and the others would've been too late.

Instinctively, I grabbed the nearest object... in this case, the bloodied dagger... and threw it at him with all the might I could muster.

The dagger zoomed past Sakura's head, hitting the white-haired boy in his wrist.

He yelled in pain and surprise, jolting back and clutching his hurt hand with his left one. Sakura, equally surprised, got out of the way, crawling next to me. The shock of pain returned to my stomach, so much so that I clutched it with my right hand. The boy with the glasses was alerted to the event, reaching for a hidden holster. Private Yamazaki ran back with Private Mihara, carrying a rifle.

The white-haired boy was too enthralled with the pain in his wrist, blood dripping out of the fresh wound, ironically, made by his own dagger. He was distracted long enough for the boy wearing the eyeglasses to hit him with the butt of a revolver he had drawn, knocking the other out.

Another surge of pain came, this one excruciatingly worse than the others. I fell back, and, without warning, blacked out...

"Syaoran!"

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Author's notes: What would happen... if one were reading a book about war, and thinking about the CCS characters at the same time? Well, you're looking at it. Thought of on the spur of the moment, this exploded into something most of you would probably not imagine... and I'll post chapter two next week.

Hope you enjoyed it... be kind and lead a review at the door. Thanks for reading!

-Macampos