Twins of the Talismans
A CardCaptor Sakura fic
author's notes: I started this a while ago and it sorta vanished when my computer died, so I restarted it. It actually evolved a bit from the original version. I don't think the grammer is too good, but I haven't done much editing to this story. BTW, shounen ai between Touya and Yukito.
Episode 1: Light and Dark! The Two Mysterious Twins!
The pink alarm clock ticked gently in a single repeative beat. Huddled beneath the warm, softness of her blankets, the brown haired Cardcaptor breathed out a tired sigh, and she pulled the warmth closer to her body. Curled close to the clock, on the bedside table, the false form of Cerebrus slept. The gentle silence was only broken by the clock's steady clicks. In the distance the sky crackled, sparks of lightning jolting through the clouds.
Suddenly the calmness was broken by the crying and shaking of the alarm clock. Kero was shocked out of his sleep, falling off the nightstand with a yelp. Sakura, on the other hand, remained curled up. The magical beast fluttered upwards, his wings beating madly. Grabbing the alarm clock in his paws, he glided over towards the cardcaptor.
Sakura moaned and the covers went up over her head. Kero growled and threw the metal clock at her head. The girl shot up, crying aloud in pain. She looked around blankly as the clock rolled into her lap. After a moment, Sakura grumbled, "Kero-chan... why'd you do that?"
The beast flew backwards and sat down on the girl's satchel on the other side of the room. "I'd check the clock before I ask questions if I were you."
A groan of exasperation escaped her throat and she looked down at the clock in her hands. As the second hand ticked, Sakura's eyes widened in fright. Suddenly she lept out of bed crying, "Yatta!! Why didn't you wake me up sooner Kero-chan??"
The little creature rocked back and forth and replied, innocently, "I tried to wake you up sooner Sakura b--"
"Sakura! I'm leaving now! You better hurry up or you'll be late for school!"
The brown haired girl jumped around, trying to get out of her pajamas. "Alright! Bye Otousan!!"
As the door downstairs closed, Sakura was still forcing her way into the uniform shirt. Her head popped up, her long hair frizzy. With one sweep she pulled on her jacket and snatched the bag from beneath Kero. The creature fell backwards onto the girl's desk with a loud yelp.
Running out the door, she cried, "Ja Kero-chan!" She didn't bother to listen for a reply because by the time he grumbled, "Ja..." she was already mounting her brother's bike.
"Sakura!!" Bounding down the street, calling towards her friend was the short haired Tomoyo. The girl's blue-black shoulder length hair was teased by the wind as she reaced her.
"T-tomoyo!?" Sakura gulped, shocked. She stared at her friend, who was now bending over, her breath heavy.
She gulped a couple times, not taking in enough air to soothe her burning lungs. After a moment she croaked, "You're late."
Sakura turned red with realization. A hand flew to her head as she cried, "Tomoyo-chan! I'm sorry! Come on, I'll get us there in no time flat."
Her best friend mounted the back of the bike, her arms encircling Sakura's waist, as she pulled herself close. She looked over her shoulder at Tomoyo and smiled. In many ways, she had her shared a relationship like her brother and Yukito. Every morning they would bike to school together, sometimes on the same bike, sometimes separate. She grinned and announced, "Hold on tight!"
Tomoyo blinked and before she could react, Sakura's powerful legs began to work the pedals and dust rose as the bike sped off. She gluped at the rush of speed, and she held on tighter to her. As they sped through the school gates, Sakura stuck her foot down for an immediate brake. Dust rose and distored the view of the riders and the people around them. "Nice timing, " Tomoyo coughed, as she waved a hand in front of her face.
Sakura laughed sheepishly, and began pushing the bike out of the cloud of dust. As they emerged, coughing and clearing their lungs free of any foreign objects, they heard, "About time you got here!"
Standing by the bike rack, Meiling and Syaoran were watching and waiting. It was her who had spoken, he, on the other hand, had his nose in a book, while his eyes peered above the cover. Sakura wheeled over towards them, Tomoyo on her tail.
"Ohayo," the two girls said in harmonic unison.
Meiling replied with a hearty, "Nihao!" Her long back hair was pulled into two fat buns on the sides of her head, each one decorated with a pale blue ribbon.
Syaoran nodded, his face still obscured by the book in his hands. Tomoyo stood on her toes, trying vainly to look over the cover, unfortunately, he had grown much taller than her since 5th grade. He stared at her for a moment and brought the book down to her level. She tilted her head slightly attempting to read the page, only to give up realizing it was entirely in english. Instead she settled on the cover and read aloud, "The... H--"
Syoaran sighed and grumbled, "The Hobbit! The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien."
Sakura stood up, dusting off her hands, the bike chained securely to the rack. "Hey, I read that in Japanese two years ago," she noted, poking at the book.
"Hey guys!"
The three looked over towards the school doors, where they shout came from. There stood Meiling, gesturing with her thumb to get inside. With a loud and audible sigh, Syaoran closed the book, and walked to her. Sakura kicked her bike to ensure it's security before bouncing off Tomoyo.
They piled into class 10-b, where students were still milling about, laughing and talking. Tomoyo and Sakura sighed heavily, thinking the same thing, "I weren't as late as I thought..."
Takashi was writing the date on the board, but also added, "New Semester of 10th grade!"
Syaoran took a seat in the back of the glass, Meiling sitting atop his desk. The other two girls mirrored them, Sakura behind the desk next to him, Tomoyo on top. The Chinese girl was going on about her spring vacation in China, and how the Li Clan were now training her with extreme strictness. She seemed to have a secret, but didn't utter a word. Syaoran on the other hand was still reading that book, but had also piled another bunch on his desk, the whole "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Suddenly Takashi cried, "Tsuttatsu"
The students clammered to their desks, standing at attention. Meiling flipped backwards, and landed in the desk infront of her. Tomoyo wasn't going to try that trick so she hopped off Sakura's desk and scrambled to the desk infront of her. Syaoran's books tumbled to the ground as he snapped to attention. Sakura scooped them up before she jumped up.
During this chaos, the teacher walked in. No one recognized him, so he had to be new. He was young, probably just in his early thirties. He was tall and lean, with black hair and glasses. Sakura blinked, doing a double take. She could have sworn that the teacher before her resembled her father and Yukito. She shook it off, and waited for Takashi's next command.
"Rei!" At that every student bowed in perfect unison. The teacher bowed in return, a sign of greeting. He then made a gesture, and the students sat down.
The man smiled, and placed a hand to his chest. "I am Kikyo Koujin. I'll be you're English teacher for the rest of this year. If you wanted to know, I am well qualified for this role, being that I have lived in England for most of my life." He smiled gently, and adjusted the glasses on his face. "Anyway, I guess this is the term for new arrivals, because there are two new exchange students waiting outside," he announced.
Sakura glanced at Syaoran. She remembered when he arrived as an exchange student over 5 years ago, and here he was, a regular student in Tomoeda. She this made her think about Meiling too. It was then, her mind wandered to thinking about Eriol. She couldn't help but wonder where he was now that his powers were severely limited.
Koujin-sensei was writing names on the board. Sakura stared and read the mix of Kanji and Hiragana. "Futago Ranpu and Futago Kurai?"
Tomoyo leaned backwards and whispered, "I think we got twins coming into our class." At that moment two kids, both around 16, walked into the class. By the looks of it, they were of Japanese and Chinese descent. The boy was tall and lean, but lightly muscular. His hair was neat, and simple, a cut that almost resembled Eriol's hair. However, the color was silver streaked with black. His eyes were amber, he bore a very quiet, yet wise look upon his face. The girl next to him was equal in height, and build. Her hair was short and cut in a boyish style. Sakura nearly started laughing, noticing how much her hair resembled Touya's. It was wild and black, but it was also streaked with silver. Her eyes were a dark brown, and they glimmered with excitment. They wore the proper school uniforms, but Sakura's gaze was focused at the middle of their chests. There, suspended from a thin golden chain, was the yin and yang. The boy bore the yin, the light, and the girl bore the yang, the dark. She couldn't help but think it fitting, because according to Chinese beliefs, the male was light and female was dark.
The two bowed in unison, and the girl announced, "Konnichiwa!" Her hand shot up in the air excitedly and she waved. The boy nodded carefully and said, in a soft gentle voice, "My name is Futago Ranpu."
The girl gathered herself and added, in a medium alto voice, "I am Kurai."
Koujin-sensei layed his hands on their shoulders. "Why not talk about yourselves a little bit?"
Ranpu nodded, as Kurai pushed him aside. "We're twins, I'm the younger one, but only by 3 minutes. We've been constant travellers. Living in China, Japan, America, England, South Africa, and all sorts of places! We've finally come to reside here in Tomoeda, Japan. We don't live with our parents, they're in China, but we live with our cousin Karen Yaki."
Her other half gently pushed her away, a hand suddenly clamping itself across her mouth. The boy smiled and annouced, "Many apologies for my sister's excitment."
"A-a--a--" Kurai was forcing from behind his hand. With a swift moment, broke free crying, "Aniki!!!!! I can't breathe!!!"
Her brother turned bright read and mumbled, "Gomen..."
Meiling blinked and leaned over to Tomoyo whispering, "What a strange pair of kids...."
The English professor blinked a couple times at this display, and told them to take the empty seats in the back of the classroom. Syaoran looked to his left, there sat Sakura, to his right were the two empty desks. He sighed heavily, and turned his attention back to the board. The girl had taken the seat next to him. As Koujin began the first class of the semester, Syaoran found it difficult to pay attention. To his right hey felt much power and magic. He found his gaze travelling to the girl and boy. She shook his head and turned to Sakura, only to find her staring at him.
Silently she mouthed, "What do you think?"
He replied in the same quiet matter, "Don't know." He blinked, feeling a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around he discovered the girl was tapping his shoulder with a pencil. "Yes?" he inquired bitterly.
The girl recoiled slightly at his voice. She recovered quickly and asked, "Do you have a pen I could borrow?" Syaoran glanced at the pencil in her fingers, and his right eyebrow slid upwards skeptically. She followed his gaze to her fingers and Kurai shook her head, "I need a pen. This is my brother's."
He glanced over her shoulder, noticing Ranpu writing the notes on the board with a pen. Again he gave the girl a skeptical gaze. She paled slightly and looked dowm murmmering, "I guess I don't need a pen then." With that she turned back around and started to copy the board.
*********
Syaoran stretched in the tree above the girls, his bento box in his lap, his book balancing next to him on the thick branch. Below Tomoyo was feeding Sakura her lunch and vice versa. Meiling was still trying to figure out the math problem from the previous class, while she was chewing on her chopsticks.
"Here, try this!" Tomoyo placed a peice of pickled radish in her friend's awaiting mouth. Sakura chewed a couple times and grinned, her fingers forming a "v". Moments later they switched roles, this time Tomoyo was getting a mouthful of cold okanomyaki. They started giggling childishly and Meiling cried, "Shut up will you!? I'm doing work here!"
Tomoyo leaned over and stared at the garble of numbers on the piece of paper. Meiling stared at her indignatly, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm just checking your work. This equation was simple you sh--" she paused and pulled a pencil from her pocket. After a swift movement of the pencil she announced, "Taa daa!"
The Chinese girl blinked and asked, "What did you do?"
Tomoyo shook her head, and pointed to a set of numbers. "You forgot the negative."
Meiling turned red and crumpled the assignment and stuffed it in her pocket. "Shut up."
"That's no way to talk."
Sakura glanced upwards, as her spot was shadowed. There stood the new English professor. His hands were in his pockets, and he was looking down at Meiling, shaking his head. The girl gulped and mumbled, "Gomen Sensei..."
He smiled and bowed. "Kinomoto-san, Li-san, Daidoji-san," he paused for a moment and he looked up towards Syaoran and added, "Syaoran-chan."
This promted the poor Chinese boy to fall out of the tree, his book and bento falling after him. The box of food fell atop his head as he echoed, "Syaoran-chan?"
The teacher raised a hand in the air and turned around, leaving them be. Sakura blinked a couple times staring at him before saying, "Am I the only one that thinks he reminds me of Yukito-san?"
Meiling nearly fell over as she cried, "Yukito-san!? He reminds me of Eriol!"
"Ohayo!" Tomoyo looked behind her to see Kurai grinning, and holding out a small basket. She blinked and asked, "Yes?"
The girl bounced the basket a bit, allowing everyone to get a look at the contents. It was filled with lightly browned chocolate chip cookies. "Would you like some" she asked, in a deep, sweet voice.
"Hoeee," Sakura breathed, reaching out for a cookie, "I love these things..."
"Imouto!"
Kurai gulped, and pulled the basket out of her reach, whispering, "Gomen Aniki."
Ranpu stood next to her, his arms crossed strictly across his chest. His brow was furrowed angerily, his foot tapping against the ground. His sister's head bent down, her eyes closed gently. Roughly, he took her by the shoulder and pulled her away. Sakura watched this with wide, shocked eyes.
After being pulled a good distance from Sakura and the others he hissed, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"M-m--making friends," she answered, her voice shaking.
Ranpu sighed heavily, a hand rising to his forehead. His voice was soft again as he spoke, "Did you not recognize those people?"
She stared at her twin brother blankly and mouthed, "Huh...?"
Again he sighed in response and mumbled, "The Plant..."
Kurai recoiled and cried, "They have magic!?!" She began to fumble with the basket, dropping cookies on the ground. "I can't believe it! I can't believe I didn't rec--"
Ranpu's hand found it's way on her mouth again, and he hissed in her ear, "Quiet...!!"
"Mmmph!!" He pulled his hand away, and she bent over, gasping for breath. After a moment she stood up and punched him in the arm. He blinked, and rubbed the area, mumbling under his breath. Kurai sat down on the ground, among her mess of cookies.
"Oh... my cookies..."
***********
Touya wrapped his arm are Yukito lovingly. It was a nice and peaceful moment, they two were sitting comfortably on a grassy knoll just near the dormitories.The silver haired boy, was leaning against his shoulder, eyes closed peacefully. Yet, something was bothering him. A new girl had entered all of his classes, recently transfered from a university in America. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his head, telling him to investigate her further. No, it was more than a nagging thought... it was Yue.
"T--t--to-ya?"
The taller boy glanced down at him, murmmering, "Hai...?"
Yukito took a deep breath and mumbled, "There was a new girl in all my classes today..."
"Ne, Yuki?"
"I think... I think she's just like me," he whispered, his voice getting gradually softer.
Touya blinked for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?"
Yukiyo sighed heavily and murmmured, "What makes me unique To-ya?"
The black haired boy rubbed his cheek against the boy's silvery hair lovingly. "You're unique because you're loving, sweet, cute and very fun to be around."
"Touya!" Yukito scolded, pulling away from their position. The other one looked rather upset at this until he saw his face. The silver haired boy's head was bent staring at the hands in his lap. Touya placed a hand delicately on his back, whispering, "Yuki... Gomen nasai.. you're serious aren't you?"
He could have sworn he saw the boy nod slightly, but it was so faint, it could just have been a glimmer of sunlight. Touya didn't mind the silence, instead he just sat and watched, waiting for more of response from Yukito. After a moment, he decided his friend was having an internal discussion.
Suddenly... "To-ya?"
"Hai?"
"What I meant was... what makes me completely differnt from everyone else?"
Touya sighed heavily and answered, "Yue."
Yukito crawled closer to him, almost in the boy's lap. He whispered gently, "I think that girl was like me."
"Bonsowa-ru Tsukishiro-san."
The two boys looked up, as a thin shadow passed over them. Before them stood a rather slim, yet muscular girl. She had inky black hair that fell to her waist, save for white streaks that framed her face, and a red carnation tucked behind her ear. She was maybe as tall as Touya, or just a couple centimeters shorter. She wore a long black, chinese skirt, and a red chinese shirt. On her feet were a pair of red slippers, and around her neck, on a long golden chain, was a cresent moon.
Yukito stared for a couple minutes before saying, rather slowly, "Bonsowa-ru Karen-san."
The girl smiled and looked at Touya. Her face was pale, almost like Yukito, and her smile was just as sweet. "Watashi wa Karen Yaki."
It took a handful of moments before he replied, "Ore wa Kinomoto Touya."
Before any one could say anything, the sky rumbled, and lighting streaked across the sky. The girl stared at the sight and breathed, "There are no clouds." She quickly shrugged herself out of her stupor and bowed. "Ah, well, I have to take care of my little Kaijuu and her brother."
"Kaijuu?" Touya echoed, rather shocked in hearing someone share a nickname for a younger family member.
Yaki nodded, laughing lightly. "Hai. My little cousin is a monster. She's very excitable, her brother's another story though." She looked up at the sky, which was presenting wild flashing of light. Her face cringed slightly and she held a hand up, "Ah, ah! I have to go! Ja ne, Kinomoto-san! Tsukishiro-san!" At that she ran off, speeding through the streets.
It was pretty amazing, as far as Tomeda was, she still insited on running. Suddenly she shrunk to the ground, bending over. A black glow spread over her, and two raven colored wings broke free from her back, stretching, black feathers flying about. As the glow receded, there knelt a girl with yards of long back hair. It spread about her like a cape. Clinging to her body like a second skin, was a tight, short black chinese dress. The edges were white, and a golden snake swirled around the dress.
She stretched her wings, and rose, in a flurry of feathers.
Suddenly a vortex swirled infront of her, and a beautiful lady with a aura of black appeared. She drew a circle in the air, whispering, "Mistress..."
The circle flexed, and blurred until an image of Kurai appeared. "Tsukiyo! We got a loose one!"
"I'll met up with you in front of the house," she replied slowly.
"Roger that!" the girl replied in english before fading out. Then the lady vanished.
**********
Ranpu stood there, his sword poised and ready. "Looks like the Thunder's brother," he noted watching as jolts of lighting shot down to the ground.
Kurai raised her bo staff to the sky, and cried, "Key of darkness! I, mistress of the yang, command thee to detect it's origin!"
The staff glowed and transformed into a woman black, traditional chinese robes. After a moment she vanished and the staff reformed. The girl shook her head. "It's not mine."
"Then it belongs to you!" A large wolf jumped down from the roof. His silver fur glistened, as he gestured to Ranpu. The boy raised his sword and cried, "Origin!" With that he swung it down, throwing a beam of light to the sky. It shot through the clouds until it exploded and vanished.
"It's over there!" Tsukiyo dived down from the sky, stumbling from her landing.
"You okay?" Hizashi asked, padding towards her.
The winged gaurdian laughed, a hand rising to the back of her head. "Yeah, just still adjusting to the wings is all!"
"Still!?" The wolf looked at her with much speculation.
"Oh shut up," she retorted, and looked away from him.
Ranpu walked over to them, and pushed the gaurdians to the side. "Geez, we don't have time for this."
It was amazing, during that time, Kurai had run off and returned, looking rather charred and haggard. She coughed and stumbled. "Looks like we are gonna need our armor for this one."
"Imouto! What were you doing!?" Ranpu ran to his younger sister, and ran a hand through her short hair.
Kurai cringed groaning, "Owowowoww! Watch the hair!" She pushed her brother away, touching her singed hair.
Tsukiyo pulled out two bundles of cloth. "Your armor?"
The twins wrapped themselves in the cloth, colors of onyx, silver, ruby and aquamarine. Kurai's armor clung to her skin, shaping and forming into black shouldergaurds, silver wrist gaurds and a loose red dress that hung so perfectly it accented her mature body. Ranpu's armor was more heavy, silver shoulder gaurds, chest plate, and a thick heavy blue cloak hung around him, over his blue tunic and black pants.
Kurai spun around her staff, and cried, "Fly! Reveal your true form!" She held the staff horizantaly before her, and a small stone talisman appeared, only to transform into a large glowing black bird. The twins climbed onto its back, and took off towards the sky, as they gaurdians chased after them.
The bird twisted through the sky, skillfully dodging the bolts of lightning. Ranpu swung a blast of energy into the clouds crying, "Fire!" The night sky illuminated with magic, as the talisman revealed its true form. It jumped down from the sky, a large wolf-like beast. It growled, before vanishing in a streak of lightning.
"Shit!" Kurai swore, as the talisman disappeared. "We need to contain it somehow!"
"Lighting it a lot like Thunder, so think about what you did when you sealed that talisman," her brother replied.
Kurai held out the freeze talisman and bounced it in her palm. "I used this little baby, but it didn't work to well." She closed her hand and the talisman vanished. "But, then again... when I sealed the Thunder we didn't have much of a selection."
A silence filled the air and suddenly a bolt raced down towards them. Acting on reflex Ranpu cried, "Barrier!" A bubble surrounded the fly talisman, as it remained stationary in the sky. Kurai suddenly pounded a fist in her hand and she brought the talsiman to the ground. Quickly she sealed it, and it vanished.
"Aniki! I got it!" The girl ran to her brother and shook his shoulders.
"I-i-i--Imouto! Stop!" Ranpu batted her hands away angerily. Before either could speak, lighting struck down next to them, charring the ground. They brandished their weapons, looking around for it's physical form, only to find a brown haired girl in a sleek blue costume, standing next to a Chinese brown haired boy in red. They both radiated a thick aura of magic.
Kurai's eyes narrowed to evil slits. The lighting that attacked wasn't of Maryoku origins. It had a definate undertone of Western magic, a sign of Clow magic. She could feel her staff begin to pulsate, a sign that the yang was waking up, a sign that the Akuma were nearing the burning source of magic. Turning to her brother, she noticed his face screwed in worry, confusion and anger.
"Akuma!! Akuma! Heading this way!" Tsukiyo dove from the sky, whirling in a spiral towards the ground. Hizashi was charging across the ground towards them, crying, "The demons have come to attack!"
Kurai's bo staff rose to the air, preparing to attack. Pushing her brother to the side she cried, "Seal the lightning! Hurry!"
Ranpu cast his sister a look of pure concern before crying, "Fire!" He launched a ribbon of fire to the sky, and took off in its direction, his wolf gaurdian running after him. Tsukiyo's wings were spread wide, as she looked around.
Sakura cast Syaoran a look of fear. "What's going on?" she mouthed silently.
"I don't kn--Uaagh!" Syaoran had begun to speak when suddenly he groaned in pain, doubling over.
"Sya--AHhhhhh!!!!!!!" As she began to kneel down to his assist, she was suddenly lifted into the air. Flailing her arms she cried, "Let me go!"
It was then she heard a voice hiss in her ear. It was cold and vile as it said, "Let you go? Fine...." When it uttered its last word, Sakura felt the invisible grip release her. Sayoran looked up towards her and struggled to his feet groaning, "Saa--" Before he could move anymore further, an invisible hand struck the side of his head. As he fell backwards, the strikes came faster, each one burning to magic.
Kurai struggled to her feet, clutching her chest, blood staining her dress and fingers. Watching as the girl fell from the sky she cried, "Fly!" The bird appeared, soaring upwards, and catching her on the fall.
Tsukiyo was busily fighting the demons around her, striking from all sides. She watched as her mistress's face was suddenly slashed, a red line of blood appearing across her eye. Kurai bit her lip in pain, as she screamed, "Water!" In her fingers, a small stone talisman appeared. She struck it with her staff, and it erupted into a wave of magic. "Seal the Akuma of water!" A mermaid appeared, and along with that many blue colored demons revealed themselves. They were grotesque beings with webbed hands and feet, buggy eyes and scales. The mermaid swept around them, encircling them water. Soon the demons cried aloud and vanished.
Sakura jumped down from the bird and cried, "Thunder!" She flung the Sakura card and released it. The wolf charged toward Syaoran, only to stop short. It froze in position for a moment before returning to her hand, a pink card. She could only watch as Syaoran's robes began to burn from the invisible punches.
Kurai could no longer open her left eye at the moment. She could feel the blood drip down her cheek like tears. Suddenly she heard it, the cry she was waiting for. "Lightning!" The large wolf-like talisman jumped down from the sky, followed by Hizashi with Ranpu on his back.
The Lightning streaked around, revealing the rest of the demons. Large creatures of pure crackling energy. As the magic moved around them, they all cried out, "Tenkou!" before vanishing.
Ranpu leapt of his gaurdian, and ran to his sister, encircling his arms around her. He could feel the sticky blood of her bleeding shoulder against his arms. He ran a finger across her bleeding eye, sensing her wince in pain. Kissing her atop the head, he felt his sister faint.
Sakura gently touched the singed holes of Syaoran's robes. He only winced slightly and hobbled towards Ranpu. Tsukiyo and Hizashi stood between them, her wings spread, his teeth bared.
"Stand down," Ranpu ordered. The two gaurdians cast him a glance and he nodded, gently stroking his sister's hair. They bowed slightly and moved off to the side. Tsukiyo took her mistress from his arms, and folded her raven wings around her.
"Who are you?" Sakura asked, a hand outstretched.
"Enemies of Clow," he replied coldly.
Syaoran's eyes narrowed at the mention of his ancestor. "Who do you know of Clow Reed?"
Ranpu remained emotionless as he replied, "Our ancestor knew him."
"Who?"
He turned to the girl and said, "Harai Maryoku, the demon sealing sorceress."
Syaoran sucked in his breath sharply and hissed, "I know of her... but why do you say we are enemies?"
Ranpu turned away and replied, "You will only interfere with our duty." With that, he swept away, the gaurdians of light and dark, following close behind.
A CardCaptor Sakura fic
author's notes: I started this a while ago and it sorta vanished when my computer died, so I restarted it. It actually evolved a bit from the original version. I don't think the grammer is too good, but I haven't done much editing to this story. BTW, shounen ai between Touya and Yukito.
Episode 1: Light and Dark! The Two Mysterious Twins!
The pink alarm clock ticked gently in a single repeative beat. Huddled beneath the warm, softness of her blankets, the brown haired Cardcaptor breathed out a tired sigh, and she pulled the warmth closer to her body. Curled close to the clock, on the bedside table, the false form of Cerebrus slept. The gentle silence was only broken by the clock's steady clicks. In the distance the sky crackled, sparks of lightning jolting through the clouds.
Suddenly the calmness was broken by the crying and shaking of the alarm clock. Kero was shocked out of his sleep, falling off the nightstand with a yelp. Sakura, on the other hand, remained curled up. The magical beast fluttered upwards, his wings beating madly. Grabbing the alarm clock in his paws, he glided over towards the cardcaptor.
Sakura moaned and the covers went up over her head. Kero growled and threw the metal clock at her head. The girl shot up, crying aloud in pain. She looked around blankly as the clock rolled into her lap. After a moment, Sakura grumbled, "Kero-chan... why'd you do that?"
The beast flew backwards and sat down on the girl's satchel on the other side of the room. "I'd check the clock before I ask questions if I were you."
A groan of exasperation escaped her throat and she looked down at the clock in her hands. As the second hand ticked, Sakura's eyes widened in fright. Suddenly she lept out of bed crying, "Yatta!! Why didn't you wake me up sooner Kero-chan??"
The little creature rocked back and forth and replied, innocently, "I tried to wake you up sooner Sakura b--"
"Sakura! I'm leaving now! You better hurry up or you'll be late for school!"
The brown haired girl jumped around, trying to get out of her pajamas. "Alright! Bye Otousan!!"
As the door downstairs closed, Sakura was still forcing her way into the uniform shirt. Her head popped up, her long hair frizzy. With one sweep she pulled on her jacket and snatched the bag from beneath Kero. The creature fell backwards onto the girl's desk with a loud yelp.
Running out the door, she cried, "Ja Kero-chan!" She didn't bother to listen for a reply because by the time he grumbled, "Ja..." she was already mounting her brother's bike.
"Sakura!!" Bounding down the street, calling towards her friend was the short haired Tomoyo. The girl's blue-black shoulder length hair was teased by the wind as she reaced her.
"T-tomoyo!?" Sakura gulped, shocked. She stared at her friend, who was now bending over, her breath heavy.
She gulped a couple times, not taking in enough air to soothe her burning lungs. After a moment she croaked, "You're late."
Sakura turned red with realization. A hand flew to her head as she cried, "Tomoyo-chan! I'm sorry! Come on, I'll get us there in no time flat."
Her best friend mounted the back of the bike, her arms encircling Sakura's waist, as she pulled herself close. She looked over her shoulder at Tomoyo and smiled. In many ways, she had her shared a relationship like her brother and Yukito. Every morning they would bike to school together, sometimes on the same bike, sometimes separate. She grinned and announced, "Hold on tight!"
Tomoyo blinked and before she could react, Sakura's powerful legs began to work the pedals and dust rose as the bike sped off. She gluped at the rush of speed, and she held on tighter to her. As they sped through the school gates, Sakura stuck her foot down for an immediate brake. Dust rose and distored the view of the riders and the people around them. "Nice timing, " Tomoyo coughed, as she waved a hand in front of her face.
Sakura laughed sheepishly, and began pushing the bike out of the cloud of dust. As they emerged, coughing and clearing their lungs free of any foreign objects, they heard, "About time you got here!"
Standing by the bike rack, Meiling and Syaoran were watching and waiting. It was her who had spoken, he, on the other hand, had his nose in a book, while his eyes peered above the cover. Sakura wheeled over towards them, Tomoyo on her tail.
"Ohayo," the two girls said in harmonic unison.
Meiling replied with a hearty, "Nihao!" Her long back hair was pulled into two fat buns on the sides of her head, each one decorated with a pale blue ribbon.
Syaoran nodded, his face still obscured by the book in his hands. Tomoyo stood on her toes, trying vainly to look over the cover, unfortunately, he had grown much taller than her since 5th grade. He stared at her for a moment and brought the book down to her level. She tilted her head slightly attempting to read the page, only to give up realizing it was entirely in english. Instead she settled on the cover and read aloud, "The... H--"
Syoaran sighed and grumbled, "The Hobbit! The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien."
Sakura stood up, dusting off her hands, the bike chained securely to the rack. "Hey, I read that in Japanese two years ago," she noted, poking at the book.
"Hey guys!"
The three looked over towards the school doors, where they shout came from. There stood Meiling, gesturing with her thumb to get inside. With a loud and audible sigh, Syaoran closed the book, and walked to her. Sakura kicked her bike to ensure it's security before bouncing off Tomoyo.
They piled into class 10-b, where students were still milling about, laughing and talking. Tomoyo and Sakura sighed heavily, thinking the same thing, "I weren't as late as I thought..."
Takashi was writing the date on the board, but also added, "New Semester of 10th grade!"
Syaoran took a seat in the back of the glass, Meiling sitting atop his desk. The other two girls mirrored them, Sakura behind the desk next to him, Tomoyo on top. The Chinese girl was going on about her spring vacation in China, and how the Li Clan were now training her with extreme strictness. She seemed to have a secret, but didn't utter a word. Syaoran on the other hand was still reading that book, but had also piled another bunch on his desk, the whole "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Suddenly Takashi cried, "Tsuttatsu"
The students clammered to their desks, standing at attention. Meiling flipped backwards, and landed in the desk infront of her. Tomoyo wasn't going to try that trick so she hopped off Sakura's desk and scrambled to the desk infront of her. Syaoran's books tumbled to the ground as he snapped to attention. Sakura scooped them up before she jumped up.
During this chaos, the teacher walked in. No one recognized him, so he had to be new. He was young, probably just in his early thirties. He was tall and lean, with black hair and glasses. Sakura blinked, doing a double take. She could have sworn that the teacher before her resembled her father and Yukito. She shook it off, and waited for Takashi's next command.
"Rei!" At that every student bowed in perfect unison. The teacher bowed in return, a sign of greeting. He then made a gesture, and the students sat down.
The man smiled, and placed a hand to his chest. "I am Kikyo Koujin. I'll be you're English teacher for the rest of this year. If you wanted to know, I am well qualified for this role, being that I have lived in England for most of my life." He smiled gently, and adjusted the glasses on his face. "Anyway, I guess this is the term for new arrivals, because there are two new exchange students waiting outside," he announced.
Sakura glanced at Syaoran. She remembered when he arrived as an exchange student over 5 years ago, and here he was, a regular student in Tomoeda. She this made her think about Meiling too. It was then, her mind wandered to thinking about Eriol. She couldn't help but wonder where he was now that his powers were severely limited.
Koujin-sensei was writing names on the board. Sakura stared and read the mix of Kanji and Hiragana. "Futago Ranpu and Futago Kurai?"
Tomoyo leaned backwards and whispered, "I think we got twins coming into our class." At that moment two kids, both around 16, walked into the class. By the looks of it, they were of Japanese and Chinese descent. The boy was tall and lean, but lightly muscular. His hair was neat, and simple, a cut that almost resembled Eriol's hair. However, the color was silver streaked with black. His eyes were amber, he bore a very quiet, yet wise look upon his face. The girl next to him was equal in height, and build. Her hair was short and cut in a boyish style. Sakura nearly started laughing, noticing how much her hair resembled Touya's. It was wild and black, but it was also streaked with silver. Her eyes were a dark brown, and they glimmered with excitment. They wore the proper school uniforms, but Sakura's gaze was focused at the middle of their chests. There, suspended from a thin golden chain, was the yin and yang. The boy bore the yin, the light, and the girl bore the yang, the dark. She couldn't help but think it fitting, because according to Chinese beliefs, the male was light and female was dark.
The two bowed in unison, and the girl announced, "Konnichiwa!" Her hand shot up in the air excitedly and she waved. The boy nodded carefully and said, in a soft gentle voice, "My name is Futago Ranpu."
The girl gathered herself and added, in a medium alto voice, "I am Kurai."
Koujin-sensei layed his hands on their shoulders. "Why not talk about yourselves a little bit?"
Ranpu nodded, as Kurai pushed him aside. "We're twins, I'm the younger one, but only by 3 minutes. We've been constant travellers. Living in China, Japan, America, England, South Africa, and all sorts of places! We've finally come to reside here in Tomoeda, Japan. We don't live with our parents, they're in China, but we live with our cousin Karen Yaki."
Her other half gently pushed her away, a hand suddenly clamping itself across her mouth. The boy smiled and annouced, "Many apologies for my sister's excitment."
"A-a--a--" Kurai was forcing from behind his hand. With a swift moment, broke free crying, "Aniki!!!!! I can't breathe!!!"
Her brother turned bright read and mumbled, "Gomen..."
Meiling blinked and leaned over to Tomoyo whispering, "What a strange pair of kids...."
The English professor blinked a couple times at this display, and told them to take the empty seats in the back of the classroom. Syaoran looked to his left, there sat Sakura, to his right were the two empty desks. He sighed heavily, and turned his attention back to the board. The girl had taken the seat next to him. As Koujin began the first class of the semester, Syaoran found it difficult to pay attention. To his right hey felt much power and magic. He found his gaze travelling to the girl and boy. She shook his head and turned to Sakura, only to find her staring at him.
Silently she mouthed, "What do you think?"
He replied in the same quiet matter, "Don't know." He blinked, feeling a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around he discovered the girl was tapping his shoulder with a pencil. "Yes?" he inquired bitterly.
The girl recoiled slightly at his voice. She recovered quickly and asked, "Do you have a pen I could borrow?" Syaoran glanced at the pencil in her fingers, and his right eyebrow slid upwards skeptically. She followed his gaze to her fingers and Kurai shook her head, "I need a pen. This is my brother's."
He glanced over her shoulder, noticing Ranpu writing the notes on the board with a pen. Again he gave the girl a skeptical gaze. She paled slightly and looked dowm murmmering, "I guess I don't need a pen then." With that she turned back around and started to copy the board.
*********
Syaoran stretched in the tree above the girls, his bento box in his lap, his book balancing next to him on the thick branch. Below Tomoyo was feeding Sakura her lunch and vice versa. Meiling was still trying to figure out the math problem from the previous class, while she was chewing on her chopsticks.
"Here, try this!" Tomoyo placed a peice of pickled radish in her friend's awaiting mouth. Sakura chewed a couple times and grinned, her fingers forming a "v". Moments later they switched roles, this time Tomoyo was getting a mouthful of cold okanomyaki. They started giggling childishly and Meiling cried, "Shut up will you!? I'm doing work here!"
Tomoyo leaned over and stared at the garble of numbers on the piece of paper. Meiling stared at her indignatly, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm just checking your work. This equation was simple you sh--" she paused and pulled a pencil from her pocket. After a swift movement of the pencil she announced, "Taa daa!"
The Chinese girl blinked and asked, "What did you do?"
Tomoyo shook her head, and pointed to a set of numbers. "You forgot the negative."
Meiling turned red and crumpled the assignment and stuffed it in her pocket. "Shut up."
"That's no way to talk."
Sakura glanced upwards, as her spot was shadowed. There stood the new English professor. His hands were in his pockets, and he was looking down at Meiling, shaking his head. The girl gulped and mumbled, "Gomen Sensei..."
He smiled and bowed. "Kinomoto-san, Li-san, Daidoji-san," he paused for a moment and he looked up towards Syaoran and added, "Syaoran-chan."
This promted the poor Chinese boy to fall out of the tree, his book and bento falling after him. The box of food fell atop his head as he echoed, "Syaoran-chan?"
The teacher raised a hand in the air and turned around, leaving them be. Sakura blinked a couple times staring at him before saying, "Am I the only one that thinks he reminds me of Yukito-san?"
Meiling nearly fell over as she cried, "Yukito-san!? He reminds me of Eriol!"
"Ohayo!" Tomoyo looked behind her to see Kurai grinning, and holding out a small basket. She blinked and asked, "Yes?"
The girl bounced the basket a bit, allowing everyone to get a look at the contents. It was filled with lightly browned chocolate chip cookies. "Would you like some" she asked, in a deep, sweet voice.
"Hoeee," Sakura breathed, reaching out for a cookie, "I love these things..."
"Imouto!"
Kurai gulped, and pulled the basket out of her reach, whispering, "Gomen Aniki."
Ranpu stood next to her, his arms crossed strictly across his chest. His brow was furrowed angerily, his foot tapping against the ground. His sister's head bent down, her eyes closed gently. Roughly, he took her by the shoulder and pulled her away. Sakura watched this with wide, shocked eyes.
After being pulled a good distance from Sakura and the others he hissed, "What do you think you're doing?!"
"M-m--making friends," she answered, her voice shaking.
Ranpu sighed heavily, a hand rising to his forehead. His voice was soft again as he spoke, "Did you not recognize those people?"
She stared at her twin brother blankly and mouthed, "Huh...?"
Again he sighed in response and mumbled, "The Plant..."
Kurai recoiled and cried, "They have magic!?!" She began to fumble with the basket, dropping cookies on the ground. "I can't believe it! I can't believe I didn't rec--"
Ranpu's hand found it's way on her mouth again, and he hissed in her ear, "Quiet...!!"
"Mmmph!!" He pulled his hand away, and she bent over, gasping for breath. After a moment she stood up and punched him in the arm. He blinked, and rubbed the area, mumbling under his breath. Kurai sat down on the ground, among her mess of cookies.
"Oh... my cookies..."
***********
Touya wrapped his arm are Yukito lovingly. It was a nice and peaceful moment, they two were sitting comfortably on a grassy knoll just near the dormitories.The silver haired boy, was leaning against his shoulder, eyes closed peacefully. Yet, something was bothering him. A new girl had entered all of his classes, recently transfered from a university in America. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his head, telling him to investigate her further. No, it was more than a nagging thought... it was Yue.
"T--t--to-ya?"
The taller boy glanced down at him, murmmering, "Hai...?"
Yukito took a deep breath and mumbled, "There was a new girl in all my classes today..."
"Ne, Yuki?"
"I think... I think she's just like me," he whispered, his voice getting gradually softer.
Touya blinked for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?"
Yukiyo sighed heavily and murmmured, "What makes me unique To-ya?"
The black haired boy rubbed his cheek against the boy's silvery hair lovingly. "You're unique because you're loving, sweet, cute and very fun to be around."
"Touya!" Yukito scolded, pulling away from their position. The other one looked rather upset at this until he saw his face. The silver haired boy's head was bent staring at the hands in his lap. Touya placed a hand delicately on his back, whispering, "Yuki... Gomen nasai.. you're serious aren't you?"
He could have sworn he saw the boy nod slightly, but it was so faint, it could just have been a glimmer of sunlight. Touya didn't mind the silence, instead he just sat and watched, waiting for more of response from Yukito. After a moment, he decided his friend was having an internal discussion.
Suddenly... "To-ya?"
"Hai?"
"What I meant was... what makes me completely differnt from everyone else?"
Touya sighed heavily and answered, "Yue."
Yukito crawled closer to him, almost in the boy's lap. He whispered gently, "I think that girl was like me."
"Bonsowa-ru Tsukishiro-san."
The two boys looked up, as a thin shadow passed over them. Before them stood a rather slim, yet muscular girl. She had inky black hair that fell to her waist, save for white streaks that framed her face, and a red carnation tucked behind her ear. She was maybe as tall as Touya, or just a couple centimeters shorter. She wore a long black, chinese skirt, and a red chinese shirt. On her feet were a pair of red slippers, and around her neck, on a long golden chain, was a cresent moon.
Yukito stared for a couple minutes before saying, rather slowly, "Bonsowa-ru Karen-san."
The girl smiled and looked at Touya. Her face was pale, almost like Yukito, and her smile was just as sweet. "Watashi wa Karen Yaki."
It took a handful of moments before he replied, "Ore wa Kinomoto Touya."
Before any one could say anything, the sky rumbled, and lighting streaked across the sky. The girl stared at the sight and breathed, "There are no clouds." She quickly shrugged herself out of her stupor and bowed. "Ah, well, I have to take care of my little Kaijuu and her brother."
"Kaijuu?" Touya echoed, rather shocked in hearing someone share a nickname for a younger family member.
Yaki nodded, laughing lightly. "Hai. My little cousin is a monster. She's very excitable, her brother's another story though." She looked up at the sky, which was presenting wild flashing of light. Her face cringed slightly and she held a hand up, "Ah, ah! I have to go! Ja ne, Kinomoto-san! Tsukishiro-san!" At that she ran off, speeding through the streets.
It was pretty amazing, as far as Tomeda was, she still insited on running. Suddenly she shrunk to the ground, bending over. A black glow spread over her, and two raven colored wings broke free from her back, stretching, black feathers flying about. As the glow receded, there knelt a girl with yards of long back hair. It spread about her like a cape. Clinging to her body like a second skin, was a tight, short black chinese dress. The edges were white, and a golden snake swirled around the dress.
She stretched her wings, and rose, in a flurry of feathers.
Suddenly a vortex swirled infront of her, and a beautiful lady with a aura of black appeared. She drew a circle in the air, whispering, "Mistress..."
The circle flexed, and blurred until an image of Kurai appeared. "Tsukiyo! We got a loose one!"
"I'll met up with you in front of the house," she replied slowly.
"Roger that!" the girl replied in english before fading out. Then the lady vanished.
**********
Ranpu stood there, his sword poised and ready. "Looks like the Thunder's brother," he noted watching as jolts of lighting shot down to the ground.
Kurai raised her bo staff to the sky, and cried, "Key of darkness! I, mistress of the yang, command thee to detect it's origin!"
The staff glowed and transformed into a woman black, traditional chinese robes. After a moment she vanished and the staff reformed. The girl shook her head. "It's not mine."
"Then it belongs to you!" A large wolf jumped down from the roof. His silver fur glistened, as he gestured to Ranpu. The boy raised his sword and cried, "Origin!" With that he swung it down, throwing a beam of light to the sky. It shot through the clouds until it exploded and vanished.
"It's over there!" Tsukiyo dived down from the sky, stumbling from her landing.
"You okay?" Hizashi asked, padding towards her.
The winged gaurdian laughed, a hand rising to the back of her head. "Yeah, just still adjusting to the wings is all!"
"Still!?" The wolf looked at her with much speculation.
"Oh shut up," she retorted, and looked away from him.
Ranpu walked over to them, and pushed the gaurdians to the side. "Geez, we don't have time for this."
It was amazing, during that time, Kurai had run off and returned, looking rather charred and haggard. She coughed and stumbled. "Looks like we are gonna need our armor for this one."
"Imouto! What were you doing!?" Ranpu ran to his younger sister, and ran a hand through her short hair.
Kurai cringed groaning, "Owowowoww! Watch the hair!" She pushed her brother away, touching her singed hair.
Tsukiyo pulled out two bundles of cloth. "Your armor?"
The twins wrapped themselves in the cloth, colors of onyx, silver, ruby and aquamarine. Kurai's armor clung to her skin, shaping and forming into black shouldergaurds, silver wrist gaurds and a loose red dress that hung so perfectly it accented her mature body. Ranpu's armor was more heavy, silver shoulder gaurds, chest plate, and a thick heavy blue cloak hung around him, over his blue tunic and black pants.
Kurai spun around her staff, and cried, "Fly! Reveal your true form!" She held the staff horizantaly before her, and a small stone talisman appeared, only to transform into a large glowing black bird. The twins climbed onto its back, and took off towards the sky, as they gaurdians chased after them.
The bird twisted through the sky, skillfully dodging the bolts of lightning. Ranpu swung a blast of energy into the clouds crying, "Fire!" The night sky illuminated with magic, as the talisman revealed its true form. It jumped down from the sky, a large wolf-like beast. It growled, before vanishing in a streak of lightning.
"Shit!" Kurai swore, as the talisman disappeared. "We need to contain it somehow!"
"Lighting it a lot like Thunder, so think about what you did when you sealed that talisman," her brother replied.
Kurai held out the freeze talisman and bounced it in her palm. "I used this little baby, but it didn't work to well." She closed her hand and the talisman vanished. "But, then again... when I sealed the Thunder we didn't have much of a selection."
A silence filled the air and suddenly a bolt raced down towards them. Acting on reflex Ranpu cried, "Barrier!" A bubble surrounded the fly talisman, as it remained stationary in the sky. Kurai suddenly pounded a fist in her hand and she brought the talsiman to the ground. Quickly she sealed it, and it vanished.
"Aniki! I got it!" The girl ran to her brother and shook his shoulders.
"I-i-i--Imouto! Stop!" Ranpu batted her hands away angerily. Before either could speak, lighting struck down next to them, charring the ground. They brandished their weapons, looking around for it's physical form, only to find a brown haired girl in a sleek blue costume, standing next to a Chinese brown haired boy in red. They both radiated a thick aura of magic.
Kurai's eyes narrowed to evil slits. The lighting that attacked wasn't of Maryoku origins. It had a definate undertone of Western magic, a sign of Clow magic. She could feel her staff begin to pulsate, a sign that the yang was waking up, a sign that the Akuma were nearing the burning source of magic. Turning to her brother, she noticed his face screwed in worry, confusion and anger.
"Akuma!! Akuma! Heading this way!" Tsukiyo dove from the sky, whirling in a spiral towards the ground. Hizashi was charging across the ground towards them, crying, "The demons have come to attack!"
Kurai's bo staff rose to the air, preparing to attack. Pushing her brother to the side she cried, "Seal the lightning! Hurry!"
Ranpu cast his sister a look of pure concern before crying, "Fire!" He launched a ribbon of fire to the sky, and took off in its direction, his wolf gaurdian running after him. Tsukiyo's wings were spread wide, as she looked around.
Sakura cast Syaoran a look of fear. "What's going on?" she mouthed silently.
"I don't kn--Uaagh!" Syaoran had begun to speak when suddenly he groaned in pain, doubling over.
"Sya--AHhhhhh!!!!!!!" As she began to kneel down to his assist, she was suddenly lifted into the air. Flailing her arms she cried, "Let me go!"
It was then she heard a voice hiss in her ear. It was cold and vile as it said, "Let you go? Fine...." When it uttered its last word, Sakura felt the invisible grip release her. Sayoran looked up towards her and struggled to his feet groaning, "Saa--" Before he could move anymore further, an invisible hand struck the side of his head. As he fell backwards, the strikes came faster, each one burning to magic.
Kurai struggled to her feet, clutching her chest, blood staining her dress and fingers. Watching as the girl fell from the sky she cried, "Fly!" The bird appeared, soaring upwards, and catching her on the fall.
Tsukiyo was busily fighting the demons around her, striking from all sides. She watched as her mistress's face was suddenly slashed, a red line of blood appearing across her eye. Kurai bit her lip in pain, as she screamed, "Water!" In her fingers, a small stone talisman appeared. She struck it with her staff, and it erupted into a wave of magic. "Seal the Akuma of water!" A mermaid appeared, and along with that many blue colored demons revealed themselves. They were grotesque beings with webbed hands and feet, buggy eyes and scales. The mermaid swept around them, encircling them water. Soon the demons cried aloud and vanished.
Sakura jumped down from the bird and cried, "Thunder!" She flung the Sakura card and released it. The wolf charged toward Syaoran, only to stop short. It froze in position for a moment before returning to her hand, a pink card. She could only watch as Syaoran's robes began to burn from the invisible punches.
Kurai could no longer open her left eye at the moment. She could feel the blood drip down her cheek like tears. Suddenly she heard it, the cry she was waiting for. "Lightning!" The large wolf-like talisman jumped down from the sky, followed by Hizashi with Ranpu on his back.
The Lightning streaked around, revealing the rest of the demons. Large creatures of pure crackling energy. As the magic moved around them, they all cried out, "Tenkou!" before vanishing.
Ranpu leapt of his gaurdian, and ran to his sister, encircling his arms around her. He could feel the sticky blood of her bleeding shoulder against his arms. He ran a finger across her bleeding eye, sensing her wince in pain. Kissing her atop the head, he felt his sister faint.
Sakura gently touched the singed holes of Syaoran's robes. He only winced slightly and hobbled towards Ranpu. Tsukiyo and Hizashi stood between them, her wings spread, his teeth bared.
"Stand down," Ranpu ordered. The two gaurdians cast him a glance and he nodded, gently stroking his sister's hair. They bowed slightly and moved off to the side. Tsukiyo took her mistress from his arms, and folded her raven wings around her.
"Who are you?" Sakura asked, a hand outstretched.
"Enemies of Clow," he replied coldly.
Syaoran's eyes narrowed at the mention of his ancestor. "Who do you know of Clow Reed?"
Ranpu remained emotionless as he replied, "Our ancestor knew him."
"Who?"
He turned to the girl and said, "Harai Maryoku, the demon sealing sorceress."
Syaoran sucked in his breath sharply and hissed, "I know of her... but why do you say we are enemies?"
Ranpu turned away and replied, "You will only interfere with our duty." With that, he swept away, the gaurdians of light and dark, following close behind.
