The Warriors of Time

Hello again!  Wow, I'm so impressed, I started this chapter right after finishing Chapter 2!  Golly gee, I'm just so gosh darn…punctual!  K, enough of that…well, I think that's it, so here goes!

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, except for the one lady from Sakura's dream in chapter 1, but you don't know her yet.  And ne-ways, I'm nothin' but an out-of-work high school student…you wouldn't get anything from suing me!  (Unless you value pocket lint…)

IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE…

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*~*~From The Last Chapter…*~*~

"Yup…it'll be difficult, but we'll help you Sakura!" Kero tried to look energetic, but failed utterly.

"NO, Kero, you look exhausted, I want you to wait right here.  What use are you going to be if you get heat stroke?  Please just stay here where it's safe!" Although Kero protested many times, it was to no avail, and in the end, he had to content himself with watching the battle from the shade of the tree.

Finally ready, Sakura stepped forward, with Syaoran behind her on one side and Eriol on the other.  The fight for the Sun Card had begun.

*~*~Continuing With Syaoran*~*~

The three of them stood that way for a few minutes, wondering what the card would do.  Syaoran could see that Sakura was deep in thought…probably worrying about how she's going to capture it…Taking a step closer to her, he gave her a quick hug from behind and whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, Sakura.  We'll do this together."

*~*~Sakura*~*~

Sakura was completely bewildered; she had no clue what she was supposed to do.  The card wasn't directly attacking them, and she couldn't very well attack something that she couldn't see.  As she began thinking what cards could possibly help her, Syaoran stepped up behind her and gave her a quick hug.  Sakura was shocked at first; after all, Syaoran really wasn't the type of person to just go around hugging people. 

"Don't worry Sakura.  We'll do this together."

Oh, he's sooooo sweet…he always knows just what I need to hear…

Blushing and smiling gently, she turned to him and whispered, "Arigato Syao-kun."  As usual, the nickname made his cheeks turn red, resulting in two blushing, stuttering fools where the Card Mistress and the future leader of the Li Clan had once stood.

Eriol just eyed the two with raised eyebrows for a few seconds, finally clearing his throat and saying loudly, "Now, if you two are QUITE finished, can we please move on to more important things?  Namely the capturing of this CARD???"

After each of the lovebirds had muttered something in the way of, "oh, yeah, right….", the group continued staring out at the park, waiting for something to happen.

Sakura was getting frustrated.  It was no fun just standing there in the boiling heat, watching the sweat drip off her nose and waiting for something to happen.  Finally, she called out, "Sun Card, SHOW YOURSELF!"

Immediately, a man appeared.  He looked to be around 21; young and energetic.  He was tall and athletic looking, with bronzed skin that radiated light.  He was dressed simply in a toga and sandals, but he had a glorious sort of crown on; it was gold, and went around his head with long spikes sticking out, looking like the suns' rays.  He was, in short, gorgeous.

"Well, that worked well…I should have tried that earlier…" mumbled Sakura, staring at the being before her with wonder and awe.

"He looks like something out of a Greek mythology book," Syaoran answered, eyeing their opponent with a skeptical look.

"Well, many of these Cards' powers have a basis in mythology, and so many of them look Grecian because of that," replied Eriol.  The Sun Card held up his hands, and a gleaming gold ball of energy began to form.  "More on that later, though, I think we should get moving!" said Eriol hastily, ready to run if that energy ball should come their way.

Which, of course, it did.  The three scattered as the huge ball of energy came crashing towards them, tearing up the pavement and burning the grass.  Sakura looked up from where she had thrown herself, and, seeing the being looking straight back at her, got shakily to her feet.  Hoe…Kero sure wasn't kidding when he said that these cards are more powerful…I've never seen a ball of pure energy that big before…

Trying to quickly think of which card to use, Sakura's hand landed on the Watery Card.  Calling out the spirit, she watched as the Sun card was enclosed in a sphere of water.

With a huge grin on her face, Sakura shouted, "YES!  Haha, I've gotcha now!"

Suddenly, however, the entire sphere evaporated as the heat became too great, and the golden being re-emerged, looking only slightly less brilliant than before.

Sakura's face fell as she looked on, and she shouted to Syaoran, "NOW what?"

Syaoran was concentrating on the Sun card, however, which seemed to be doing something…the being was muttering under his breath, with his long, shimmering arms thrown out palms-up before him.  Huge amounts of light, heat, and energy began to flow through his fingers into him, as Sakura, Syaoran, and Eriol looked on, unsure of what to do.  The Suns' head suddenly snapped up, and he looked straight into Sakura's eyes.  Sakura merely stared back, as though transfixed, and she began to slowly loose concentration…the heat was finally getting to her.  Without her realizing it, the Card let go all the energy and heat he had been gathering, and it formed into a column, smashing down upon Sakura.

*~*~Syaoran*~*~

"SAKURA!"  Syaoran watched as Sakura was thrown to the ground, trapped under all the energy.  Running towards the column, he lowered his head and charged, trying to get inside.  Instead, he smashed straight into the side of the column, with nothing more than a stinging head to show for his efforts.  Powerless to get her out, he watched as Sakura struggled to stand, but he could see that the weight from the column was almost too much for her to bear.

I need to help her!  But how am I supposed to get her out…tearing at his hair in frustration, Syaoran looked up to where the Sun card was hovering a few feet above the ground.  Suddenly, Syaoran glanced over at Eriol, who looked as though he too was deep in thought, desperately trying to figure out a way to get Sakura out.  Running over, Syaoran panted, "Eriol! I think I've got an idea!"

Eriol looked up at Syaoran anxiously.  "What?"

"Well, we just need to stop the card long enough for Sakura to capture it.  My magic isn't strong enough on it's own, and neither is yours, but maybe if we both attacked it together…"

"I've thought of that already, but I still don't think it would be strong enough!"

By this point, Syaoran looked almost crazy with worry.  "Well, we've got to try!  I'm not going to stand by and watch Sakura get pounded by pretty-boy over there.  If you won't help me, I'll do it myself!" Here Syaoran looked back to Eriol.  "Unless you've got a better idea?"

"No…alright then, but we can't attack it separately!  We have to combine our powers, or this won't do any good!"  Concentrating, each one began to summon up all their power, and between them, green and blue powers combined to create something much stronger than either of them had imagined.  Channeling their combined energy into a combination of spells, they glanced once at each other before sending their spell straight at the unsuspecting Sun Card.

"That's one thing about the Sun Card," panted Eriol, as he fought to keep up the spell, "he was always rather cocky…he had figured that he had won already, and hadn't anticipated this at all!" he finished, nodding his head to indicate their spell.

It was true that this new power had come as a complete shock to the Card.  The initial force pushed him right out of the air, and as his concentration slipped, so did the column that was holding Sakura.  Weakly, she managed to crawl out from under it, and looked over to where the boys were struggling to maintain their attack against the card.  Though they had caught it by surprise, the being had gotten over his initial shock quickly, and was struggling against the spell while at the same time preparing for a counter-attack.

We won't be able to keep this up for much longer…but is Sakura strong enough to seal the card?  Syaoran glanced over to Sakura, taking in her battered, tired looking form, and the exhausted expression in her emerald eyes.  She's got to be…we'll all die if she isn't!

"Sakura!  Hurry up and seal the card, while it's defenses are down!" yelled Syaoran.  A quick glance told him that the card wouldn't be vulnerable for long; they only had a few more seconds…

Sakura's voice, though weak, broke through his thoughts.  "Sun Card! Return to your powers confined!"

Vaguely, Syaoran sensed that something was wrong…very, VERY wrong.  Nothing seemed to be happening.  Momentarily taking his concentration off of the card that Eriol and himself were still attacking, he glanced at Sakura.  She was standing with her wand held in front of her, the seal visible beneath her feet.  There was, however, no card being formed at the end of her wand; no powers zipping towards her; nothing.  Oh, no…I don't know what the hell is going on, but this can't be good…

*~*~Sakura…again*~*~

Oh, oooowwww…I really hurt… Sakura crawled feebly out from under the column of energy, looking around her to see why she had suddenly been able to get away…momentarily, at least.  Glancing over to Syaoran, she saw an amazing sight…Syaoran and Eriol had combined their powers, and were attacking the card with full force.  Wow…they're working together…will the wonders never cease…

"Sakura!  Hurry up and seal the card, while it's defenses are down!"  Syaoran's voice cut through her thoughts, and she forced herself to stand up.  She raised her wand and shouted, in the loudest voice she could muster, "Sun Card! Return to your powers confined!"

And then there was silence.  The absence of the usual swishing noise as power got sucked into the form of a card was the first thing Sakura noticed, and opening her eyes, she looked around, shocked.  Nothing had happened.  Sakura looked on dumbly, her mouth eventually falling open, and her arms still outstretched, clutching her staff.  Once the power of movement returned to her startled limbs, she spun in a slow circle, looking around her as if surprised that everything around her remained the same, while she was in such turmoil.

I…I don't understand…what happened? Why didn't it work?  Hoe…what am I supposed to do know?  How the hell are we gonna capture this card?!

Utterly lost and bewildered, she instinctively turned and looked at Syaoran, who looked just as shocked as she did.  Their eyes communicated the confusion that they weren't able to express in words, from pure astonishment.

Slowly regaining a sense of the situation, each of them glanced towards the being, and then towards Eriol, who had been straining this whole time to keep up the attack against the Card.  Eriol, despite his confusion, had realized that, if they dropped their attack, Syaoran and himself would be burnt to a crisp in a matter of moments.

Suddenly, however, the Card stopped attacking.  The power sent by Eriol and Syaoran hit him hard, and he swayed under its' power.  Seeing that he was making no move to block them however, and since they really didn't know what to do by know, the boys stopped their attack, falling to the ground with fatigue.

Running over, Sakura fell to her knees next to them.  "Are you two alright?" she asked in a shaky voice.

Eriol and Syaoran both simply nodded, too tired and stunned to do much more.  This was one of the most difficult battles any of them had faced, and along with the extreme drain they were all experiencing from using their powers so much, (or being attacked for so long, as was Sakura's case) the heat was as intense as ever.  All of them were beginning to be slightly dizzy, and, looking at each other, they all knew that they couldn't keep this up for much longer.

Sakura looked over to the Card, which was once again floating a few feet above the ground.  As it had the two previous times, it locked eyes with Sakura, and suddenly she found herself floating as well, though rather higher than she was really comfortable with.

Tired beyond her wildest dreams, Sakura did not struggle against the card, unsure of what it wanted. What more could you possibly want with me?  I can't capture you; I've tried already.  So why do you insist on continuing to mess with ME?

Calling upon the jump card, Sakura hovered high in the air under the influence of the being in front of her, ready to merely jump off the ground in safety if the card were to drop her.  What happened next, however, was the last thing that she expected.

*~*~Syaoran again*~*~        

Sitting on the grass and panting, Syaoran had no idea what to do.  We aren't strong enough to continue attacking the card, and even if we were, it wouldn't matter since Sakura can't capture it!  Lost in his thoughts, he was completely unprepared when Sakura, who had been sitting by his side, suddenly floated off the ground at the command of the card.  Yelping in surprise, Syaoran got hastily to his feet, standing below Sakura in the hope of catching her if she were to fall.  After all, she's so tired that I wouldn't be surprised if she lost control of the Jump card and did end up just falling…and why is this guy still picking on Sakura???

All of a sudden, a huge force shot out of the Sun Card and collided with Sakura.  Multiple balls of energy came pelting at her from all directions, one right after the other, and being held in midair under the Card's control, she was powerless to escape the onslaught. 

Down below, Syaoran watched in horror as Sakura, unable to move, kept being battered by their opponent.  His fury mounted, watching the one he loved being beaten so relentlessly, until it finally overtook him.  Hardly realizing what he was doing, Syaoran called out his sword, pointed it at the Card, and shouted, "SUN CARD! RETURN TO YOUR POWERS CONFINED!"  A seal appeared beneath his feet, with the Sun in the center and the other eight planets arranged around it.  At the tip of his sword, a card began to form, looking much like the Clow Cards, except that it had a dark blue border.  The being, which only two seconds before had been attacking Sakura, was swept into the card, and sealed in the blink of an eye.  Syaoran reached out, took the card, and then looked up to where Sakura had just begun to fall.  Stepping deftly underneath her, he caught her in his arms, and walked quietly over to where Tomoyo {SS: remember her? =D} and Kero still sat under the tree. 

Now that the card had been caught, of course, sitting under the tree was pointless; all was dark again, and the moon shone brightly down upon them.  A gentle breeze rustled the leaves in the trees, and the cool night air felt wonderful against their cheeks.

Stopping in front of the tree, Syaoran gently lowered Sakura to the grass, cushioning her head in his lap as Tomoyo and Kero stared, dumbfounded, at him.  They seemed unable to do anything else, sitting still as statues with their mouths hanging open and obvious bewilderment in their eyes. Syaoran, however, hardly noticed; he was much too concerned with the still, silent body lying before him.  Taking Sakura's wrist gently into his own, he felt for a heartbeat, carefully masking the frantic worry that was building up inside of him.

Please don't be dead, Sakura…you CAN'T be dead!  {SS: Of course not, because it's only chapter 3!  But I'm not promising anything in the future…}

Relief coursed through his body as, after an unsure, tense, moment, he felt it; her heartbeat was faint and weak, but it was there, nonetheless.  A slight smile spread over his face as he whispered, "You'll be alright, Sakura…just hang in there."

*~*~Sakura*~*~

Everything is dark…so dark.  And yet, I'm dizzy…it feels like my head is spinning.  Sakura kept her eyes closed as she slowly surfaced from the realm of unconsciousness, letting her senses come back one by one.  The first thing she noticed was the smell…she wasn't outside anymore.  Wherever she was smelled…like sandalwood, and autumn.  Next, she noticed the sounds…or lack thereof.  Everything was silent, but in a peaceful way.  She then moved, just a bit, and felt something silky and soft against her skin, gently cocooning her in warmth and comfort.  Finally curious to know where she was, Sakura opened her eyes slowly…only to have her gaze met by a pair of warm tawny orbs. 

"Hey sleepyhead," whispered Syaoran, looking down at her.  "How are you feeling?"

"Kinda dizzy, actually…but I'll be fine," she replied, smiling up at him.  "Syaoran?"

"Hmmm?"

"Where am I?"

Syaoran's gaze faltered slightly, as he replied, "You're at my apartment, Sakura…it was the closest place to the park, and since you're supposed to be spending the night at Tomoyo's anyway, we figured your father wouldn't worry…"

"Oh…where are the others?"

"Eriol and Tomoyo went back home, though it took about 2 hours to convince Tomoyo that you'd be fine," Syaoran replied, smiling at the memory of how worried she had been for her friend.  "They really couldn't do anything else for you, since you were asleep."

Choosing to ignore the fact that she was seemingly alone with Syaoran in his apartment in the middle of the night, Sakura asked, "and Kero?"

"Kero's sleeping downstairs…after he raided my fridge, he just sort of collapsed in a heap on the couch…I think the heat really drained him, what with all that fluff he's got."

Sakura smiled slightly, thinking about her little guardian.  Remembering the nights' events, however, her smile slowly disappeared, and a confused frown took its place.  "Syaoran, what happened with the card?  I passed out while he was still attacking me…I didn't want to, because I knew that would be failing everybody, but I just couldn't take it anymore…he was too powerful for me…"

"Sakura!  It's not your fault at all, don't blame yourself!"  His amber eyes held gentle chastisement, and he gazed at her worriedly.  "You always think of others before yourself…The card was almost too powerful for all of us combined.  We're out of practice…"

Syaoran was silent for some minutes, staring off into space as though it would hold the answers to all his problems.

"Syaoran…"

"Sorry…guess I got lost there for a minute…Sakura, I'm not really sure what happened after you passed out.  I just sort of lost it, seeing you getting hurt so badly…I…." Suddenly his voice dropped to a whisper, as he raised his eyes to her and said,

"I captured the card."

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            Yay!  After putting off finishing this chapter for, oh, *checks calendar* about 6 months, I finally did it!  YAY FOR ME!  I just got soooo busy with work and swim and I know I'm making excuses and I'M SORRY!  I swear I'll try to post regularly from now on.  So, if you're interested in reading this story without 6 month gaps between chapters, I just want to reassure you that that will now be possible.  I'm not promising speedy postings; probably about every 2 weeks or so.  But hopefully, I'll have the next chapter out by Sunday, since I'm on break right now.  So, remember the ever-important golden commandment: REVIEW!  And thank you all; you've been a great audience.  Good Night!