I completely forgot my disclaimer at the beginning of the last chapter. I DO NOT OWN CARDCAPTOR SAKURA. THE SERIES AND IT'S CHARACTERS BELONG TO CLAMP. There.
On with the show~ ^^ Enjoy.
"Tomoyo-chan... Did you really do this after school?"
"Of course!" Tomoyo swooned, taking her camcorder and drifting around Sakura admiringly. Her subject blushed and fidgeted in embarrassment, waiting for the display to be over with.
Finally Tomoyo pulled back for a full body shot, sighing in triumph. The piece was beautiful- the first one she had worked on in three months. Not to mention the fantastically adorable girl in it. The photographer squealed in delight and swiveled to her other two leads.
Eriol gave a polite smile to the camera. "Thank you for touching up my robes. They shine in your handiwork."
"Oh, Eriol-kun! I'm so glad you can appreciate the quality work necessary for an event such as this!" Her camera focused in on Syaoran rolling his eyes as she continued. "The return of our heroes, back in action to maintain the peace they had finally achieved! It is an event that absolutely DEMANDS these fine linens!"
"Absolutely," Eriol repeated, turning to Syaoran with a playful smirk. He gave him a light smack on the arm, knocking him unsteady. "Show off your fine linens, nephew."
"Is this really what we came here for?" Syaoran hissed, hunching his shoulders uncomfortably. The new Card keeper nodded to him seriously.
"Syaoran's right. We need to find the source of magic and try to recover Clow's memories."
The group became silent, focusing on finding a trace of the magic they had picked up so faintly. Eriol opened his eyes first, hiding a small twitch in his features. An arm raised calmly, pointing down the sidewalk. "King Penguin Park."
"Let's go!"
The park came into view quickly at their hurried pace. Eriol pulled to a stop and held out an arm. Sakura ran into him with a yelp, but quickly covered her mouth. His eyes were tense- not his usual, cautiously calm face. She looked around slowly, examining their surroundings.
"Can you feel that?"
"Hoe?" Sakura looked up at Eriol when he spoke quietly. Behind her, Syaoran stepped forward, his sword in hand.
"I feel it- the malice..." His eyes shifted quickly from one end of the park to the next. Tomoyo stayed a few feet back from the park, her camcorder catching all of the emotion. Bravely beside her was Kero, in his full form and ready to jump into action.
"Sakura!"
The voice drew everyone's eyes upward. Sakura yelped again, this time in surprise. "Yue-san!"
It all became a blur; Syaoran was knocked back, Eriol dropped to the ground, Tomoyo shrieked. In the chaos, a figure darted from the top of the King Penguin into the trees. Sakura found herself enshrouded in white wings and two skinny arms. The guardian's eyes darted quickly to Tomoyo- Kero was crouched beside her, on wing over her protectively.
"What is that??" Sakura squealed, confused and in shock from the sudden battle.
Yue held her tight in one arm, freeing the other one to defend her. The trees rustled dangerously, and he prepared himself for it- whatever it was. It held strong magic, with such unfocused anger. Perhaps after his new master?
Not a welcome thought. His grip on the girl tightened, ignoring her struggle for freedom. Whatever this thing was, it had disturbed him from miles away-- through Yukito's consciousness, no less. Until he knew what it was, he would not let her near it, no matter how much she wanted to fight.
Eriol slid to his feet quickly, drawing his staff forward. Syaoran was suddenly behind him, knelt carefully as a second line of defense. The trees rustled again, a storm threatening to break forth behind them. Incantations rumbled from deep inside Eriol's throat, low and blowing with the wind.
The blur darted out of the trees and struck at Eriol, only to be parried by Syaoran's blade. The figure knocked back and faltered, giving everyone just enough time to see it's full form.
"W-what?" Syaoran faltered back as well-- it looked like a Clow Card. The small, girlish figure wielded a spear, which swirled at the back end and curved around her tiny frame. Her eyes were opaque and empty, staring straight into Eriol with an unspoken conviction.
The puppet arms drew back slowly and darted forward again. Her speed was quicker than Sakura could follow. She lurched forward in Yue's grip and screamed in vain. "Eriol-kun!!"
Eriol pushed Syaoran awake and slid in the opposite direction, narrowly avoiding a vertical swing. His foot dragged and slowed him down, but he hopped quickly back out of range from the next swing. Still, the attacker pushed forward. Before Syaoran could jump back in, Eriol had fallen back near edge of the park, getting closer and closer to the tip of the blade each time she swung.
Yue struggled in agony with himself. To go to his old master's aid or to stay and protect his new master? He started forward and fell back, cursing hatefully under his breath. What could he do in this position? If he went to aid Eriol, he would endanger Sakura, but if he stayed...
The sidewalk caught Eriol off guard and he tripped backward onto the pavement. Syaoran bolted toward the fight, only to be knocked back in one swing. He doubled over a few feet away, swearing into the dirt as he held his throbbing chest.
Sakura screamed and tugged at Yue's arms, but was pulled back into the shelter of his wings. Now Yue took the only action he could think to take.
"Keroberos!!"
Kero needed nothing more. Without a second thought, he leaped into the fray and ripped into the attacker. She was hurled away from Eriol like a rag doll and rolled into the sand lamely. The sun guardian knelt over Eriol, growling and snarling at the fight he knew wasn't over.
Now the group had a moment to recover. Yue glided quickly to Tomoyo, who had run to Syaoran's side in the chaos. Sakura dropped from his arms and assisted Tomoyo in the boy's care; Wings hovered over them protectively. At least now one of the guardians was free to help Eriol.
The moment of preparation was short lived, and the attacker stood with that same blank expression. She moved with the same speed and grace as before- it was as though Kero hadn't even touched her.
Again she darted forward, ready to tear Kero and Eriol to pieces with her strike, but never got close enough. A flash of blue appeared out of the trees and swept into her, knocking her back to the ground.
The group shuddered at the ear-shattering shriek their attacker let loose. When Yue looked back to her, he realized that her spear was gone and now in the arms of a young girl in a blue cloak. He took a moment to examine her-- not as young as Sakura, but not as old as Yukito. She cradled the spear like it was a child, shushing it and stroking it carefully as though it would break.
Kero' gasp drew Yue's attention back to the attacker. Or at least, what was left of her. Her body faded into the wind, like mist dissipating in the morning sunlight.
Now all attention was turned to the newcomer. She turned and looked up at Yue- her eyes were as opaque as the attackers, but the feeling behind them was real. She started to stand, but quickly fell back to her knees, as though too weak to hold herself up.
Yue held his ground, but noticed too late that Tomoyo had rushed to her aid.
"D-daidoji-san!" He called after her in a hiss, but she disregarded his warning.
Kero tried too, stepping forward and calling urgently. "Tomoyo! Stop!"
"Why?" Tomoyo snapped, turning on Kero. He shrunk back under the harshness in her voice. "She saved us! You saw her eyes!"
This struck a chord with Yue. Her eyes... the feeling behind them was so soft when she looked at him. Now Tomoyo had supported the girl's shoulders and brought her to her feet carefully. When she faltered, Kero moved slowly and obediently to her side- there was no point in fighting the little Daidoji once her decision had been made. He took the tired girl, still gripping the odd spear, from her and lifted the teen onto his back with a grunt.
"....So what now?"
Eriol had stepped forward, resealing his staff on the chain around his neck; he could sense no more immediate danger. Yue went to Syaoran and lifted him gently into his arms.
Yue looked to the girl with a small sigh. "...There is no chance that Daidoji-san or Sakura would just let us leave her."
Eriol huffed a small chuckle, but cleared his throat. "No. We have to take her with us. Something about her..." He stopped and examined her when Kero crept up beside him. "Something about her feels all too familiar."
Alright!! End of chapter two!!
So, just before I initially ended this chapter, proofread and went back and editted random parts, my computer overheated and died.
And didn't save all of my progress. So this is kind of a disappointment to me, especially compared to the original, but I'm just too impatient to try and retype it all perfectly.
I'll probably take some time to sit and sketch out the Spear girl soon and post it on my deviant art. There'll prolly be a link in my profile when/if I do, so yea. Look for that.
On to chapter three~ Wish me luck! R&R is always love! ^^