Sword - Chapter Two
Sword

By Chustang Sundust

Chapter 2
"Capture"


The freshly sealed Storm card fell forgotten to the ground, beside a pile of debris that the whirl had caused as Sakura dashed across the wildflower field. It shook, fragments of wood and stone crumbling off it, as a scratched up, but healthy Kero burst from his prison. The small yellow creature groaned in pain, shaking the dust from his nose and eyes, and looked up to see what had happened. His gaze instantly landed on the Clow Card, and an ecstatic grin accompanied his triumphant yell. "Oh yeah! Nice one Sakura!" he said, fluttering his wings to carry himself over to it. Wry smile around his face, he took the card up in his stubby arms and somersaulted in the air. "I'll be back to normal in no time, now!"
Kero blinked, perking his cute ears, as he realized there was no answer. Sakura was gone. Slipping the card under his arm, he darted into the starry sky to scan the silent field, which had been ravaged in the Storm card's fury. Golden dust drifting from his stringy feathers, he darted forward, noticing a shadowy figure near the tree line of the field. "Sakura? What are you doing?" he asked tentatively. The figure was about the same height and build as Sakura, but the clothes it wore resembled more the robes Li had. The guardian beast curiously flew nearer, focusing on the person who made no move or action to answer. "Hey… who…" Kero began.
In the dark, a pair of ghostly gray eyes flashed open, shining in the moonlight they caught. A smirk crawled up beneath those haunting eyes, making the fur on his spine bristle with an icy shock. Kero flinched, sweat-dropping, and wheeled on air, calling, "Sakura! Li! Get away, its-" At that, the figure narrowed its eyes, lifting a gleam from his side and deftly twirling it in its fingers until the blade just a silver blur. Where the point struck air, a large black bubble seemed to appear from nowhere. Kero yelped, flapping desperately. It couldn't be! Not that spell! But the world Kero knew darkened, feeling the paralyzing orb race and collide with him, drawing him in. His voice muted to nothing, as the creature pounded against the side of his prison. Kero tried popping it by applying kicks and punches to the seemingly thin, black surface.
"Too simple…" the figure mused to himself, stepping out from the shadowy grip of the forest and summoning the orb to his hand. "Hmm. The Guardian Beast and a Clow Card. Quite the catch." Through the wild black bangs, he allowed a light of amusement in his face, and then it hardened to serious. No time to laugh, he dictated himself. His rival was waiting. With that, he lifted the cowl back up around his head to conceal his face and nonchalantly slipped the orb into his pocket. No one heard Kero's warning.

Sakura raced across the field, letting the Storm card slip from her grasp, and her face was dirt and tear smeared. The Card Captor clutched the Sealing Wand to her chest, feeling her heart thundering at her rib cage, and gasped for breath. It was dim around her, standing in the tall, grainy grass that nipped at her bare legs in the subsiding wind. The moon overhead was thin in the midnight blue sky, letting only a sliver of whitish light over the prairie overlooking Reedington. "Li!" she called again, soft green eyes misting over with tears again. "Li please answer me!" Her voice began to crack and burn dryly in her throat.
No answer.
Sakura flickered her eyes across the field once again, only to see the same, silent flowers blossoming to the moon and stars. Another flashback wavered in her mind, water colored from time, and it showed Li bursting through the window of the clock tower and landing easily on his feet. She gulped down her pressing fear, and forced her swirling emotions and mind to take action. Crying and wandering isn't going to help, she convinced herself. Pulling a Clow Card from her peach-highlighted angel battle costume, the girl lifted it to her forehead, sighed a deep breath through her tight throat, and began.
"Glow card," she said, flinging the glowing card out before her. An intricate ring of gold light appeared beneath her, acknowledging her power. Sakura lifted her sealing wand, and twirling it agilely, struck the magical card in midair. "Light me a path to Li!" Instantly, after a breath of suspense, a string of tinted green light exploded from the wand, as light engulfed the card and harnessed its power, and shot across the prairie at a sharp left. In the soft glow of the firefly-like lights, it showed a mixture of pain, dread, and determination fighting for control of Sakura's face. She twisted her lips, then gathered up her courage, unsure of what she would find, and chased the lights to Li.
With the wings of her costume slightly fluttering as she ran, Sakura Avalon kept her desperate green eyes glued to the path and ran without noticing she'd forgotten the Storm cloud; without noticing Kero hadn't congratulated her and without noticing the figure that sulked from the forest after her. Nothing mattered now but the safety of Li. Suddenly, as if they'd been put out like a flame, the glow died out and a dusty area rolled out before her, where the flowers had been ripped from the earth. Sakura staggered, nearly tripping as her foot caught in a furrow made by a falling object, and her heart felt like bursting in anguish.
Li Showron lay unconscious on his back, still clutching the sparking hilt of his sword in numb fingers. His green, gold-framed cap had slid off his head and his wild brown hair bristled in the air. With his eyes sealed painfully, his face was twisted up subconsciously, and his entire body shuddered as he inhaled the cold night air. Where stones had struck him at impact, small lines of red traced down his skin. His left shoulder was twisted oddly under his back. Sakura instantly rushed to his side, dropping the wand beside her and lifting him to rest on her lap. "Can you hear me Li? Come on, wake up," she urged, cupping his chin in her hands. Sad, aqua-green eyes searched his still face for signs of consciousness, and finding nothing stirring, Sakura brushed the bangs from his face.
As she glanced around, a burn of edginess flickered in her, feeling a strange chill, and the slight scorch of the lightning was still fresh along her ear and neck. She sighed deeply, knowing that her comrade was hurt enough for at least a few days at the clinic, and not knowing whether she needed to do something. After all, something could be broken or bleeding and she'd never know. "Oh Madison, I wish you didn't have to go on that vacation…" she said to herself, resting her face in her palm. "You'd know what to do."
"Am I dead? I'm seeing an angel." A tired, strained voice said suddenly. Sakura gasped, and her misty green eyes were met with Li's, and instantly she wrapped him up in a tight embrace.
"You're okay! You're okay!" she yelled triumphantly into the crisp night air, tightening her grip around his thin frame, forgetting her last moment's worries of broken bones or internal bleeding.
"Sakura, take it easy," Li said quickly, before he had all the air squeezed out of him. Once she let go, he sat back and recovered his breath, worn out from the fall. Their eyes met often, and nervously flickered away from each other, like marbles scattering. Li sat cross-legged, and when he moved to slip his sword back into its holding, his arm sent spikes of pain up his chest and neck. Dropping the sword suddenly, he said, reaching up with his good arm, "I think it might be dislocated." Li's dark brown eyes met hers with a vulnerable light that was strange to overwhelm his prideful and cold personality. A slight blush dusted his cheeks as he flashed low and nervous glances at her, in such a beautiful angel costume.
"Are you okay?" A shimmer of genuine concern lit up in her face, as she leaned forward, gently touching his shoulder.
"Yeah, Sakura. I'll be fine," he replied quietly.
A soft smile came to her face, and Sakura helped him up, allowing him to sling his arm around her shoulder. "Let's get you fixed up back home," she said contentedly, closing her marble green eyes as she leaned her head against his good shoulder. "Kero can take the card back for me." It was apparent she was too wrapped up by her joy and bliss to remember that she hadn't seen Kero, or to worry about it.
Li smiled, watching her hair sway as she walked, and felt a strange bubbly feeling like champagne in his stomach. The Card Captor blinked, realizing. Could it be… that I… A slim tilt of his lips expressed the bliss had had now, and he confirmed it silently to himself. He didn't need to say it, just yet.
Suddenly, the shivers of cold chills he'd shrugged off as a side affect of the night air intensified so much that he was shaking with cold, then stopped as suddenly as they began. Li stopped in his tracks, breathing heavily, and his eyes went wide with terror. The same chills evolved into the sense of someone breathing sinisterly down his neck, and by now Sakura had noticed it and opened her curious and worried green eyes. "Li?" she asked, feeling an unnerving ocean of silence envelop the wildflower field.
"Looking for me?" A voice said abruptly behind them. Both young Card Captors spun around, only to be faced with a pair of cold gray eyes, bordered by wild black bangs. The boy who stood before them, roughly about their age, had shed his dark cloak and the white, gray, and black robes nearly identical to Li's blended into the dark. The only thing to discern himself from the night was his golden sword.
"Audrey," Li hissed.

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Author's Notes:
So how do you like it? I want to thank everybody who reviewed. It means a lot to me. Reviews are what make me want to write. Aww, my poor poor poor Syaoran! I'm sorry to torture you, but you are so cute when you are! R&R, as always!