The New Cards

The New Cards

The Appearance of Kam Un: Chapter Three

By: Sakura

"Aah!"

Flying swiftly through the air, a transformed Kero caught the Card Mistress by the collar of her battle costume with his teeth. Sakura pulled herself up and sat on Cerberus' back.

"Thanks, Kero," she said. "That was a close one." Cerberus landed on the ground and Sakura slid off his back. Di Shang's face showed his obvious concern.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" he asked her.

Sakura nodded. "I'll be fine," she said. Tightening her hold on her wand, she added, "But that card won't be."

The three Card Captors and Kero had been fighting the Combat Card for more than an hour already. What had started off as a walk in the park for Sakura and Kero turned into a fierce battle with The Combat. The Combat had appeared out of thin air and attacked Sakura. Syaoran and Di Shang, sensing the card, went to assist her immediately. Sakura had released the Fight Card and tried using it against The Combat, but The Combat was much stronger and defeated The Fight with a single blow. The card turned on Sakura afterward and knocked her down, then grabbing Sakura by the leg, it used her to practice its throws. Kero transformed just in time to catch her before she was seriously injured.

"Try the Power Card, Sakura," said Syaoran. "It worked against the Fight Card before." Di Shang nodded his agreement.

Pulling the Power Card out of her pocket, Sakura called upon the card to transfer its energy to her wand. Swinging the wand at the card's visible form, the card was hit, crashing to the ground. The Power changed back to its card form. The Combat lay unmoving in front of Sakura.

Holding her wand in front of her, directly over The Combat, Sakura cried, "Combat Card! Return to your power confined!" Slowly, The Combat transformed into a card. But during the transfer, Sakura could feel her energy leaving her and she was weakening again. "No…" she thought. "I…have to…seal it. I…can't depend…on other people. I can do this!" Tightening her grip on the wand, more of her energy transferred to the card and it was sealed. The Combat Card lay at her feet.

Sakura dropped to the ground with a sigh. Picking up The Combat, it changed from a Jiao Card to a Sakura Card. She turned to face the other Card Captors and her guardian, a big happy smile lit up her face. "I did it! I sealed my first card!"

Kero was back to being his small self. "That was great, Sakura," he said, smiling. "If you keep that up, we'll have all the Jiao Cards in no time."

"Don't bet on it."

Kero automatically looked at Syaoran angrily, but he wasn't the one who had spoken. Sakura looked around them. Who could have said that?

"Well, Card Mistress," came the unknown voice again. "You may have changed some of my cards, but don't think for a moment you're winning this little game. You're far from being finished."

Di Shang produced his own lasin board from underneath his robes. Closing his eyes, he centralized his power to pinpoint the source of the voice. He had a feeling that this was the user of the Jiao Cards. His eyes flew open. The user was directly beside Sakura, but he couldn't see him! "Sakura, get out of the way!" he cried.

Sakura looked at Di Shang, perplexed. Suddenly, sensing a movement beside her, she somersaulted to her left. An energy blast landed directly on the spot she had been in just a few seconds earlier. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, but it was short lived. Coming from behind her, the invisible person grabbed her and dragged her through the bushes, out of sight of the others.

"Sakura!" cried Syaoran, Di Shang, and Kero at once.

Sakura was held in a stranglehold. Someone she couldn't see was using his arm to apply pressure to her throat. She tried to pry the arm off, but to no avail. She didn't have enough strength. She had used most of her energy to seal The Combat and hadn't much left after that.

Syaoran wasn't letting this person get away with hurting Sakura, invisible or not. He crept behind the bushes and saw Sakura. Her hands were grasping at something around her throat and it seemed like she was floating on air, but Syaoran knew that someone was lifting her off the ground. Unsheathing his sword, he slashed down upon Sakura's hands…Or, so it seemed. In actuality, the sword didn't touch Sakura at all, but it did cut the arm of the Jiao Card user. The user yelped in pain and released Sakura. She dropped to the ground. Syaoran immediately pulled Sakura out of the user's reach and Sakura was gasping for breath.

Suddenly, directly under a Sakura tree, the invisibility dropped. A pair of midnight blue eyes glared angrily at Syaoran. Kero and Di Shang rejoined the pair, facing the user.

"The Jiao Card user is just a kid?" exclaimed Kero with surprise.

Di Shang shrugged. "I had no idea."

Sakura studied the other boy. He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, with shoulder length black hair and piercing blue eyes. He also wore Chinese ceremonial robes quite similar to Eriol's. He was clutching his right arm, the one wounded by Syaoran's sword. Blood slowly flowed from the cut, drenching his long black sleeve. He watched them silently, not making a move.

Syaoran took a step forward with his sword in hand, the tip still covered with blood. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Why are you here?"

The boy raised an eyebrow at Syaoran's tone. "My name's Kam Un." He paused for a moment, his lips curving into a smirk. "But you can call me the destroyer." He reached up and plucked a few cherry blossoms from the Sakura tree. Looking back at the Card Captors, he crushed the delicate flowers in his palm, smiling. "And," he added. "I'm going to start with the Cherry Blossom." Kam Un rapidly advanced toward Sakura. Syaoran, Di Shang, and Kero were all in front of her in an instant. Suddenly, Kam Un disappeared from view. Di Shang turned around swiftly, having been able to track Kam Un's movements, and spotted him standing on a rooftop, more than twenty feet away. Kam Un smiled darkly and released the crushed blossoms. Once again, he disappeared into the night.

The wind carried the flowers and they landed at Syaoran's feet. The flowers were soaked with blood from Kam Un's wound. Syaoran's gaze was fixed in the direction taken by Kam Un. Di Shang helped Sakura stand up and she murmured her thanks, but she didn't look at him. Instead, her eyes were on the bloodstained petals of the Sakura flower. Di Shang could see the fear in her eyes.

Syaoran turned around and faced Sakura and Di Shang. "Come on," he said gruffly. "Let's make sure Sakura gets home safely." Sakura shook her head in protest.

"Don't worry about me," she said. "I'll be fine. Besides, I have Kero to protect me."

"No. I insist we take you home." There was something in Syaoran's eyes that made Sakura consent. It was as if he was afraid of something…

~*~*~*~*~*~

Outside the gate, Syaoran and Di Shang watched Sakura climb through the window in her room. She waved goodbye to them. Di Shang waved back in response but Syaoran just turned around and walked away.

Di Shang caught up to his cousin and said, with false innocence, "What's wrong with you? It's like you're worried about the Card Mistress or something."

"It's none of your business," muttered Syaoran in reply. The truth was, Syaoran was deeply troubled. He couldn't get the image of the blood-soaked cherry blossoms out of his mind. What if it was to really happen to Sakura…?

~*~*~*~*~*~

The tip of a sword gleamed in the dim light. Suddenly, it slashed down on Syaoran, slicing the sleeve of his robes, nearly cutting his arm. Syaoran jumped back just in time.

As Syaoran backed away, a fist flew out and knocked him down. His sword flew out of his grasp and across the room. Syaoran's eyes focused on the figure looming over him, a broad sword in the figure's hand aimed to kill. His attacker's foot dug into his chest and Syaoran couldn't move. The blade came down swiftly, ready to strike him.

Suddenly, another blade appeared. It was a long, slender sword and it deflected the attacker's blade away from Syaoran almost expertly. It was Sakura who held the slender sword.

"Stop it, Di Shang!" she cried. "Don't hurt Syaoran!"

"Di Shang?" thought Syaoran with confusion. The figure no longer threatened Syaoran and was now facing Sakura. With the foot removed from his chest, Syaoran was able to sit up. He stared hard at his cousin. Di Shang's hair partially covered his face, making it hard to see his expression. Di Shang then turned to look at Syaoran and Syaoran could see his eyes…they were dull and blank…

"Syaoran…" said Di Shang, with a calm deadly tone, roughly pushing his cousin again to the ground…

Syaoran groggily lifted his head up. Di Shang was shaking him, trying to wake his cousin up. Syaoran looked up, saw Di Shang, and leapt back. Di Shang was puzzled at this sudden action. Looking about him, Syaoran realized he was in his own bedroom and that the previous scene had just been a dream. He muttered something Di Shang couldn't hear and stood up. Then, scowling, he said, "What do you want?"

"You're cranky when you wake up," commented Di Shang. He pointed out the window. Syaoran followed his gaze and looked out. The sun had already risen. "I never thought you were one to sleep in on a Saturday morning," he added. Di Shang turned and left the room.

Syaoran watched his cousin leave, his eyes unreadable. What was the meaning of this new dream? It didn't make sense to him, Di Shang wasn't his enemy…right?

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sakura had had a very tiring night, not being able to sleep well. When the sun was rising that morning, she finally settled down and went to sleep.

Leaving his room, Touya was about to head downstairs when he noticed Sakura was still asleep. Glancing at his watch displaying 11:32 am, he thought it was about time he woke his sister up. He knocked on her door. No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer. Opening the door just a crack, Touya saw his little sister still lying in bed, her sheets rumpled around her. He heard a slight thud on the ground and turned to see a little stuffed animal with wings lying on the ground. Maybe it was his imagination but Touya could have sworn he saw it twitch. Ignoring it, he knelt by Sakura's bed, placed a hand on her shoulder, and shook her slightly. "Wake up," he said.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes. "Touya?" she asked, with some confusion.

Nodding, Touya said, "Come on, you've been asleep for most of the morning. Time to get up." He walked toward the door, and added, "I'm going out now. There's a fall carnival near your school today. I'll meet you there at eight and we'll have dinner together, okay?" Sakura nodded and Touya left her room, closing the door after him. His steps could be heard descending the staircase.

Kero instantly flew up with a shout. "A fall carnival? All right! I'm there! There's going to be popcorn and cotton candy and hot dogs and…" A pillow landed on him, knocking him to the ground. Kero flew out from under the pillow. "Hey, what's the big idea?"

"You're not going, Kero," answered Sakura.

"Why not?" cried Kero. "Please?"

Sakura shook her head. "Something doesn't feel right and I'm going to go figure this out…"

"But you need me!" cut in Kero.

"…alone!" she said, tacking in the last word firmly. "I'll bring you back something nice."

Kero folded his arms grouchily. "It better be edible," he muttered.

Sakura's expression softened. "I'm sorry, Kero," she said. "It's just…I want to see if I'm capable enough to do this on my own. What if you weren't there for me?"

"But I'll always be!" Kero cut in again.

"But what if you couldn't?" She sighed inwardly. "What would I do then? I can't always depend on you, Kero. I know you'll try to be there for me as much as you can, but sometimes…you may not be able to…"

Kero raised an eyebrow. "What are you trying to say, Sakura?"

Getting up, Sakura patted her guardian lightly on the head. "Don't worry about me, Kero," she said. "I'll be fine."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Standing at the window, Kero watched Sakura walk down the street. To him, Sakura seemed to be really worried about something. But what could it be? Why wouldn't she tell him?

When Sakura was out of sight, Kero flew to her desk and sat down. "This must have to do with her dream," he said to himself.

~*Flashback*~

Sakura had been tossing and turning fitfully in her bed for the whole night. It was enough to wake Kero from his sleep. He flew over to his mistress' side and tried to wake her up, but she didn't hear him. Instead, she was murmuring something in her sleep.

"Stop it, Di Shang…Don't hurt Syaoran…"

~*End Flashback*~

"Now why would Di Shang try to hurt Syaoran?" Kero said aloud, to an empty room. "They may be rivals, but they're still cousins. Why would one want to hurt the other?" He held his head in his hand. "This is giving me a headache."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sakura was walking aimlessly around town, trying to sense the Jiao Cards. She was dismayed to find none. Hearing laughter, she realized she was near the carnival. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to check it out…

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hmm…" thought Kam Un. "So, the Card Mistress is looking for Jiao Cards, huh?" Pulling a card out of his stack, Kam Un smiled. "Well, I guess I shouldn't disappoint her." Tossing the card in front of him and his staff in hand, he cried out, "Slumber Card! Release!" A sleepy-looking figure appeared before him. "Go on, Slumber," he said. "Stay hidden near the carnival until eight o'clock tonight. Then, use your sleep on everyone, including the Card Mistress." The figure disappeared. "Well," thought the user. "Using two cards wouldn't hurt, either." Shuffling the remaining Jiao Cards, Kam Un placed them on the table. He turned over the top card. It read "The Deceive". Using his staff again, he called upon the card. "Deceive Card! Throw a mist over the Card Mistress' eyes to cloud her vision on my identity!" The Deceive's visible form disappeared as well. Kam Un smiled. "This should prove to be most interesting."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"The carnival is pretty packed," thought Sakura. "I'm glad there isn't a Jiao Card now. Otherwise, all these people could get hurt." She looked around her. Though it was almost seven, the sun had already set and the rides and booths in the carnival were lighting up. Not watching where she was going, Sakura accidentally bumped into someone. Turning, she came face-to-face with the person she bumped into. He was about fourteen, with short midnight blue hair and cool charcoal-grey eyes. She recognized him as a new student from her class.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm not usually one to bump into people." The other boy smiled warmly.

"Don't worry about it," he said. He looked at her thoughtfully. "I've seen you before. Aren't you in my class? Kinomoto Sakura, right?"

Sakura nodded. "That's right. You are…"

"Chen Chi Yuen," he finished. "Are you here all by yourself?" asked Chi Yuen. Sakura nodded again. "I am, too. How about joining me? Some company would be nice." Sakura glanced at her watch. She had more than an hour left before she had to go meet Touya. Sakura smiled.

"Sure!" she answered. "That'd be great!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hyah! Yah! Hah!"

Though it was a Saturday, Syaoran and Di Shang had other things to do besides homework. They were both practising techniques with their broad swords in the park beside their apartments. Di Shang was astonished with the ferocity of Syaoran's attack, ignorant of the dream Syaoran had had. Syaoran simply didn't want a time to come when Di Shang could beat him, almost to a fact that he could kill him. Besides, he couldn't forget his dream. What was it trying to tell him?

With one final sweep, Syaoran caught his cousin off guard and hit the back of his hand, forcing Di Shang's sword to fall out of reach. He dropped his own sword as well, with a clatter, sweat running down the side of his face. He sat down, wiping his face with a towel. Di Shang rubbed the back of his hand, still red from the blow. He bent down and picked up his sword, Syaoran's as well. He walked over to his cousin, dropping his sword in front of him. They both slid their swords back into the case.

"You're pretty tough to beat today, Syaoran," said Di Shang. "Why the sudden relentless attacks?"

Syaoran scowled inwardly. "I just don't want you to get ahead of me." Syaoran got up and headed back home. Di Shang raised an eyebrow, signifying that he didn't fully believe Syaoran. He was about to speak when something flashed in his mind. Syaoran turned around and looked at him. Obviously, he had also sensed it. "A Jiao Card!" they both said.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sakura's laugh tingled like a bell, sweetly and merrily. She was having a fun time with Chi Yuen. They had tried almost every ride at the carnival, skipping the ones with lines far too long. She never got to know him much in school, for Chi Yuen was always so quiet and reserved, almost always hiding in the shadows. Sakura was glad she had this time to talk to him. And he could really make her laugh.

Chi Yuen was also having a good time. He was generally alone and by himself most of the time and he enjoyed the company. Sakura was an ideal companion; always ready to try new things and to do just about anything. Except the haunted house, though. She seemed to be really frightened about ghosts and the idea of them. When he finally persuaded her to go, she pretty much hung tight to him every time something ghastly appeared. But they did have a good laugh in the hall of mirrors. He liked Sakura's laugh. It reminded him of his mother's…

Glancing at her watch, Sakura exclaimed, "It's almost eight!"

His eyes darting around, Chi Yuen asked nonchalantly, "What's so important about eight o'clock?"

"I have to meet my brother for dinner." She turned to him, and added, "Do you want to come? I'm sure Touya won't mind."

Chi Yuen nodded. "Sure."

Sakura scanned the crowd for her brother. "Sakura, over here!" She turned and saw her brother.

"Touya!" she cried, waving in response. Touya walked to where his sibling and some other boy was standing. Yukito was with him. Touya stared critically at the younger boy, but Chi Yuen didn't flinch a bit under his gaze. He turned to his sibling.

"Who's this?" he asked her.

Sakura looked at Chi Yuen with an apology in her eyes before answering. "This is Chi Yuen. I know him from school." Touya raised an eyebrow. "You don't mind if he joins us, do you?" Touya looked again at the calm boy and after a few moments, finally gave his consent. Sakura smiled.

"You know," piped up Yukito. "I know a really great place to eat-" Screams could be heard in the distant, interrupting Yukito. They all swivelled around to see what caused it. They saw what looked like a mist, descend upon them. Soon, everyone standing dropped to the ground. Sakura looked around with panic when Touya fell, too. Yukito immediately bent down to check on him. He looked at Sakura, relief in his eyes. "He's okay. He's just asleep." They heard a thud beside them. Turning, they saw Chi Yuen fall to the ground as well. "Don't breathe in the mist, Sakura!" cried Yukito, realizing what it was. It was too late. Sakura had already caught a whiff of it and she dropped to her knees. Her eyelids suddenly felt very heavy and she had the greatest urge to go to sleep.

With wings sprouting, Yukito transformed to Yue. He picked up his mistress and swiftly flew to the forest, the only area close enough that was out of range of the mist. He gently set her down by the trunk of a tree. "Come on, Card Mistress," he said. "Don't go to sleep. You can't." Sakura murmured something incoherently, but she still wasn't any closer to waking up.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Something tells me we're too late," muttered Syaoran. Both Syaoran and Di Shang had arrived at the carnival, but the mist has already disappeared. Many people were affected by The Slumber and they all lay sleeping on the ground. Di Shang recognized one of those people to be Touya, Sakura's older brother.

"I don't sense Sakura here," said Di Shang, turning to Syaoran. "She was here, but not now." He took out his lasin board. The beam directed them to the forest on the side of the carnival site. They both quickly ran toward there.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"…no…I…won't…let…you……hurt…him…"

Yue shook Sakura gently. "It's only a dream," he said. "Wake up." All his efforts were in vain. Sakura could not wake up. Hearing laughter behind him, Yue looked up above him. Standing atop the branches of the tree was Kam Un, his arms folded, a smirk on his face.

"Yue, your attempts are futile," he said with a sneer. "That will never wake her up."

Standing up, still holding Sakura in his arms, Yue glared at Kam Un coldly. "And I suppose you know how?"

Kam Un laughed. "Of course, I know," he said. "Seal the card, release the effect. As simple as that. But," he added, with a smile. "You won't be able to seal it." Holding his staff up high, he commanded, "Slumber Card! Release your mist upon the Card Guardian!" The Slumber appeared and flew overhead; it's robes shaking out the deadly sleep mist. Yue tried to shield himself from it, but to no avail. The Slumber whirled around him, suffocating Yue with its mist. Yue fell, his eyes closed.

Jumping off the branch, Kam Un landed neatly on the ground. He roughly kicked Yue aside, who still protected his Mistress in his arms, even affected by the Slumber Card. As Kam Un moved to pick up Sakura, he was thrown off balance and hit the ground. He sat up angrily, only to be pinned down by two strong paws. It was Cerberus.

Syaoran and Di Shang joined Cerberus. Cerberus was digging his claws into Kam Un's shoulders, a low growl in his throat. Though he was being threatened by one of the Card Guardians. Kam Un didn't seem to be the least bit worried. Syaoran knelt down by Yue and checked both him and Sakura, relieved that they were still breathing. He turned to tell Di Shang but didn't interrupt his cousin, seeing that Di Shang had unsheathed his sword and was pointing it at Kam Un's head.

"You better free all those people that have fallen victim to your sleep spell," he said.

Kam Un laughed. "Why don't you do it yourself?" He smiled. "On second thought," he said. "You won't be able to. Slumber!" The Slumber reappeared again. It wrapped its robes around Cerberus and Di Shang, pulling them both away from Kam Un, and the mist from the robes forcing the two into a deep sleep. It finally released them from its grip. Kam Un turned around and looked eye-to-eye with Syaoran. Syaoran realized that he was the only one left unaffected. He gathered Sakura in his arms as The Slumber advanced toward him with its robes of mist, and ran toward the school. Syaoran had no idea how he was going to get them all out of this jam. The only thing he could do was to try to keep Sakura safe.

The Slumber was right at his heels. "Think, Syaoran, think," he ordered himself. Quickly, he flipped around, a charm in his hand. With his sword unsheathed, he cried, "Element: Water!" The water swirled around The Slumber, trapping it under its liquidy texture. Silence followed as the water drained away, revealing nothing. Syaoran stood still looking about him, Sakura still asleep in his arms. Did he succeed in destroying The Slumber?

Kam Un's laughter could be heard behind him.

Author's Note: I'm really sorry. There is still more to this part with "The Slumber", but the chapter got to be a little too long. So I had to cut it. *sighs* I'm working on the next part already. You should see me. I carry a large pad of paper and a pen with me almost 24/7. Whenever I have an idea, I jot it down. Whenever I have time, I continue writing this fic. So far the fourth chapter is nearly 25% complete. Sorry about the wait.

*Sakura
~The Animé Archives Team