Summary: When he was four years old and friendless, Li Syaoran rescued and befriended a Dragon Prince. A year later, the prince had to leave him. Six years later, the prince returned to try to kill Syaoran. But Syaoran is determined to believe the prince still loved him. Is this true? Can the group save him from the prince, or whoever the prince works for?

The Dragon Prince

Group-Plotting in Advance

Touya took the couch for the night. The next morning, Tomoyo came over, as they had agreed to before. She was surprised to learn what had happened last night.

" Is he alright?"

" I think so." Sakura had wanted to check on Syaoran, but Touya did it for her, declaring she should concentrate on preparing breakfast instead.

Syaoran woke with a lot of difficulty. He blinked owlishly at Touya when the older boy checked his temperature. His color was still not good, and his movements were feeble.

" Just what was that spell anyway?" Touya asked, as he noted the red bandages. He opened the door to call downstairs. " Oi! Kid's been bleeding all night!"

" Are you sure we shouldn't get him to a doctor?" Fujitaka asked Kero as the man changed Syaoran's bandages. The wound was ugly, and pus leaked out, the stench heavy around Syaoran's abdomen. " It's infected."

" Iie." Kero shook his head. " It's not infected. It just looks like it. And taking him to the doctor would require some explaining. You can't stop it unless you stop the spell, which we did already."

" Then why is he still bleeding?" Touya asked.

" Leftover from the spell before." The guardian replied. " That stuff's painful. You're doing good, kid."

Syaoran was not listening. He had shut his eyes, exhausted. His limbs felt heavy and he did not want to move, not even to protest as Fujitaka cleaned his wound.

" What exactly is that spell?" Fujitaka asked.

" It's real name is a mouthful." Kero replied. " It's nickname is Scavenger's Mouth. It chews at the wound until you either cancel it out or it chews a hole through you. In addition to that it spreads around the wound so the surrounding tissues die. Very nasty stuff."

" What happens if you let it chew the hole in you?"

" If you let it go on?" Kero scowled. " I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, least of all the kid. Eventually your whole body decomposes due to the spell, not even the natural process. You're probably still alive by the time it does chew a hole through you, so the dying process could take as long as a week. That's suffering to the extreme."

Looking like he wanted to vomit, Touya remarked, dryly, " How bad was it in the kid?"

" Not terrible." Kero replied.

" But he's not clotting and was bleeding all night. How many liters of blood has he lost?"

" He's still conscious."

" That means diddly squat and you know it."

" He'll be fine. We canceled the spell, besides, when Kinomoto-san here was changing the bandages, he was no longer bleeding."

Fujitaka finished binding Syaoran, who sunk back to sleep.

" We gotta get him out of this funk." Kero hovered near the ceiling. The two Kinomotos left the room, closing the door to let Syaoran rest quietly.

" I'll boil some dates to help replenish some blood." Fujitaka told the other two.

" Hai." Touya nodded.

Kero and Touya then joined Sakura and Tomoyo.

" Should I?" Sakura asked Tomoyo.

" Should you what?" Touya asked.

" Call Eriol-kun."

" Can he help?"

" I don't know." Tomoyo admitted. " But there's no harm in trying. It's not like we're on familiar terms with the Dragon Prince."

" I doubt he would be either." Kero replied.

Still, there was nothing else they could do except wait, and Sakura was anxious to do anything to help Syaoran. She asked her father if she could make the call. Fujitaka readily gave her permission.

" Sakura-san," Eriol's greeting was warm enough when he answered the phone, " I hope all is well in Tomoeda? How is your family?"

" We're good." Touya said dryly, as Sakura had put Eriol on speaker. " But Li isn't."

" Oni-chan," Sakura remonstrated half-heartedly. " Eriol-kun, I hope we are not bothering you?"

" Iie, not at all." Eriol sounded concerned now. " What is this about Li-san?"

The group explained the past night's events to him, as well as what Syaoran revealed.

" I did not know Dragons existed." Eriol admitted. " Well, I should not say that, perhaps, but I did not know there are actual dragons. There were creatures, certainly, that match the general descriptions, but I have never heard of an actual dragon, much less a dragon prince. Was he draconian in appearance? How did you guys know, or how did Li-san know, that he was a dragon?"

" Syaoran-kun called him a dragon prince."

" Claimed he was his best friend." Kero added for good measure.

Eriol was silent for a while.

" Hm." He finally said at last. " I…do not know what to say to that."

" Any reason a god would target the kid?"

" What makes you think he's a god?" Eriol asked. " He could be a demon."

" Uh…ano, he's a dragon prince. Dragons…we thought they were gods, you know." Sakura glanced awkwardly at Tomoyo.

" Personally I don't really relish the idea of dragons actually being demons." Tomoyo remarked.

" I'll ask around." Eriol promised. " I have some connections by this time, perhaps they might know something of these dragons."

After about two hours, Eriol called back.

" I have some information," He told the group, after the initial greetings were over. " There is a Dragon Prince—in fact, there are a few of them, all sons of Dragon Kings."

" Kings. Plural."

" Hai. There are a total of four Dragon Kings. They live in the Pacific. Their kingdoms are to the north, south, east, which is near the Central Americas, and West, which is offshore of China. Supposedly they control what happens in the Pacific as well as what borders it, namely the coasts of Asia, Australia, and the Americas."

" So they're not demons?"

" Iie." Eriol sounded a bit unhappy at this prospect. " They are gods; you were correct. They associate rarely with mortals. It is not entirely impossible for Li-san to befriend one, as he claims, but it is incredibly unlikely."

" Syaoran-kun seems pretty certain of it."

" Well, either way, as they are gods, the likelihood of one trying to kill him is low as well."

The group exchanged questioning looks.

" I suppose we'd just have to ask Li-san in the end." Touya muttered.

" Un." Sakura agreed.

There was a ring at the door, and Touya went to answer. Yukito stepped in. " Ohayo." He greeted.

" Ohayo."

" Is Li-san alright?" Yukito asked.

" He's sleeping." Sakura glanced at Kero. " I should go check on him. I'll get the date-broth to him too."

Syaoran had difficulty waking, however, and barely managed to drink the broth before falling asleep again. His aura was so faint it was hard to sense him. Sakura asked Kero again if he was certain Syaoran was alright.

" Oh he's not well." Kero replied. " You can't expect him to be well. But I am pretty sure he won't get any worse. That spell's nasty and the recovery process is long. He'll be sleeping for a while yet."

It took some time for Sakura to wrap her mind around the fact that Syaoran's weakness was much to be expected, and nothing unusual. Neither Kero nor Yue seemed to be worried about the fact that Syaoran was sleeping like the dead. They were more concerned about why the spell was used on Syaoran in the first place.

" It's not exactly a quick killer." Kero told Sakura. " It takes out the opponent, certainly, but they hang in there for a while. Which is odd, because when we arrived on the scene, that prince looked pretty darn determined to cut off the kid's head—something that would definitely be a swift killer."

" Reflex, maybe?" Touya suggested. " Prince wanted to get the kid down, uses spell to make the fight easier?"

" Scavenger's Mouth is not something you normally think of casting." Yue told Touya. " Certainly not in the heat of battle. Usually it is used as punishment, or, in some cases, a way to kill someone without them knowing who the attacker was, or how to negate the spell, assuming they even know it is a spell and not some poison."

" Un, we were able to tell purely because we knew he was hit by a spell and Scavenger's Mouth is the only spell that causes tissue to decay like that. But there are plenty of poisons that do the same thing. Not only would treating it with an 'antidote' not work, it can also worsen the process." Kero added.

" In other words, it's not a battle tactic."

" Iie. It's not a long spell but you'd cast faster spells. Something like Ritardando, or Mirror-Motion."

Touya did not ask what those were. " So what would be the reason for casting a spell like that on the kid?"

" Dunno." Kero's ears drooped. " That whole spiel didn't make any sense to me at all. You, Yue?"

Yue did not reply directly.

" Perhaps it is less about the Dragon Prince, and more about the child."

" What do you mean?"

" We should see what the boy is hiding from us." Yue replied. " See if Li Syaoran has anything significant he has been keeping from us, instead of wondering if the Dragon Prince lost his mind."

" You didn't have to put it that way." Kero scowled. " And I never said the Dragon Prince lost his mind. You have to admit, him attacking some eleven-year-old kid with Scavenger's Mouth? That's fishy."

" On both sides." Yue replied.

" I don't think Syaoran-kun would hide anything from us…" Sakura did not like the idea. " I mean, he doesn't really talk about his family that much…but I don't think he would hide anything that would hurt us."

" What can an eleven-year-old kid have to hide anyway?" Touya scowled. " Well," He backtracked, " From people like us. It's not like he'd have more secrets than the fact that he has magic."

" Li Syaoran has the disposition befitting that of an individual with secrets to hide." Yue pointed out. " He is introverted and does not open up to others. He is distrustful of others."

The group paused at this.

" Well," Touya gestured, " You want to wake the kid up now and demand what he's been hiding from us?"

" What would you even be looking for?" Tomoyo asked.

" You're saying the kid has a reason to get attacked." Kero looked flatly at Yue.

" It is possible." Yue replied nonchalantly.

" Maybe his mom would know more."

" Hai, we should probably tell his family that…" The group instantly grew restless as they realized they should have informed Hong Kong about what had happened.

" Does anyone have his mom's number?"

But only Syaoran had his mother's phone number.

" Is there any way to speed up the healing process?" Tomoyo asked. " I don't know—lending him some energy or something?"

" You would lower the threshold of recovery if you try to accelerate the healing process." Kero floated to Sakura's shoulder. " Maybe I should write an essay on Scavenger's Mouth for you guys, because I'm forgetting to mention a lot of details you're forcing me to remember. In fact, Yue, how come you're not doing some of the explaining?"

Thus pressured, Yue obliged. " Scavenger's Mouth eats away tissue by eating away the core magic. For sorcerers, the their physical being is dependent on their magical core. That is why using an antidote would worsen the spell; it provides more magic for the spell to progress. Once stopped, the individual must replenish the core magic in order to recover. If you transfer energy to force the healing process to accelerate, the healing energy will prevent the core magic from recovering completely. There is only so much magic a body can contain. Eventually the child may recover fully, but it will take a while for him to dispel the foreign magic with his own core magic, since the foreign magic is not directly offensive, so he cannot directly cast it off."

" You're saying Scavenger's Mouth wouldn't work on nonmagical folk then."

" It would hurt them, but in a different way. The initial blast would wound them, but the spell would not consume them, not as they would for magical beings."

Syaoran suddenly moved his arm, revealing that he had woken. He turned his head on the pillow and blinked faintly.

" It consumed a lot." Sakura said with worry, sensing for Syaoran's faint aura.

" He didn't have much to begin with." Kero replied.

" That spell did not last long." Yue shook his head. " All of five minutes."

" So you're saying that it consumed faster than was normal?"

" Iie." Touya replied flatly. " They're saying the spell didn't have to eat that much. He didn't have much to begin with; that was what he said," He pointed at Kero, " And I don't know myself, but if it's really all that weak then why did this kid consider capturing stuff like Clow Cards?"

" Oni-chan!" Sakura exclaimed, aghast at how absolutely rude her brother had been.

Syaoran actually managed to sit himself up, and he leaned, crooked, against the headboard.

" Lie back down." Kero ordered.

" I'm fine."

" You are, but you still need to lie back down."

Syaoran's face contorted, like he was about to cry, but no tears fell, and instead of a sob he let out a frustrated groan.

" Ugh. Don't tell my mother about this."

This was a strange request. The group fell silent, dumbfounded, at this.

" Er, mind telling us why?" Touya asked.

" She doesn't know about the Second Prince." Syaoran's head and torso slid sideways back into the pillows, as he was unable to keep his body up.

" You know what," Kero grunted as he shifted Syaoran's body back up so he was straight, " You really should stop being a stubborn prick."

" You sure you didn't have schizophrenia?" Touya asked. " If your mother does not even know, how do you know that this Dragon Prince friend of yours is real?"

That was it. Syaoran exploded.

" He was real!" He cried, anger and passion giving him strength he normally would not have had. " He was real, he was the only one who was there for me, and by gods, I can prove it! Er Taizi!" He started screaming, " Er Taizi!" And when no sign of the prince was forthcoming, the boy burst into tears, " I need you, please!"

" Oni-chan, you are a freaking jerk!" Sakura glared at her brother, before moving swiftly to gather her friend in her arms. If the Dragon Prince was supposed to materialize, he did not show, and Syaoran fell silent against her shoulder, his weak frame shuddering from exhaustion and distress and repressed sobs. " It's okay, we believe you, I believe you. We'll figure out what's wrong, alright?" She was more shaken by the fact that her friend, her impossibly strong friend, was currently crying, than she was confused as to why Touya's statement would have such an effect. " We'll figure things out.

" He left." Syaoran said dully, the calm sudden and unexpected, leaning heavily into her. Part of his mind thought it was ironic how he and Sakura were even now. They have both cried into the other's shoulder, though in his case, he was absolutely pathetic! There he was, crying when he was already eleven years old—this was ridiculous! But he could not stop, nor could he, in the end, bring himself to care. " He hung around for a year but his father called him back to assume duties. I never saw him again. He didn't even leave me any…anything."

No pendant, no talisman, no amulet, no token at all that the Dragon Prince had ever been there. Just words and memories that may or may not have been real.

" Well we'll find him okay?" Sakura promised. She let go of Syaoran so she could look at him directly in the eyes. " We'll find him then. How about that. When you get better and stronger, we'll go look for the Dragon Prince ourselves. In his domain. I mean, he's got to have one, right? And we demand why he tried to kill you. We demand answers."

" Uh…" Tomoyo did not like that idea. Neither did Touya.

" We go straight to the King, if we have to." Sakura promised, though at the time she was not completely sure what she was promising. " We'll clear things up between you two. Okay? Don't listen to Oni-chan. He's a git. Of course you can befriend a dragon, and either way, we'll make him pay for hurting you like this."

" It wasn't him."

" Well, whoever it was." Sakura replied.

Syaoran closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he sighed, he slumped, and Sakura sensed, more than saw, him fall asleep despite himself.

Once the group left Syaoran to rest, Sakura turned to everyone.

" So…what first. Dragon King, Eriol-kun? Dragon King, then Eriol-kun? Eriol-kun, then Dragon King?"

" What are you talking about?" Kero asked.

" I'm saying what should we do first. Visit the Dragon King, or get Eriol-kun here?"

" You're going to drag Hiirigizawa here." Touya said flatly. " Will he come?"

" Well," Sakura frowned, " He's the one that went on and on about Syaoran-kun being his 'kawaii little descendant'. I think it's the least he could do."

oO

" It's the least I could do." Eriol agreed. " But if you wish to go dragon-hunting, Sakura, it would probably be wiser if you allow Li-san to recover fully first."

" That can take weeks." Kero protested.

" And you can die in a second." Eriol replied smoothly. " It is best not to rush into things. In Li-san's state, I very much doubt we have learned the full story from him. No doubt, some things we learned might be even distorted. Scavenger's Mouth is notoriously draining. However, I will book a ticket to Tomoeda, at the earliest, next week, and we shall proceed from there. Please do not rush into things, and stay safe."

" Hai. Arigatou, Eriol-kun." Sakura nodded, though Eriol could not see, and turned to the rest of the group. " Well. Guess we wait a bit until Syaoran-kun gets better. Then we go dragon-hunting."